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Yesterday's Wind In Dallas

 
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mwood5



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:46 am    Post subject: Yesterday's Wind In Dallas Reply with quote

What a strange day. I'm not used to Westerly winds and had to struggle to think of a decent launch. I hadn't been sailing in over a month and was really stoked just to be in the water.

Not a bad chart for Dallas in early Sept.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=118&siteID=367&days=1&Isection=Wind+Yesterday

later,

m
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Given that my brother lives in D and that it has several big lakes, I was disappointed to learn how lame its winds are. What a waste of all that water and flat land! I've sailed three of its lakes, but it took a lot of time and effort to catch wind at them. Tip: I've never yet been refused a polite request to use private land as a launch. It has worked every time in several parts of the country at hotels, private home lawns, neighborhoods, farms, parks, industrial parks, office buildings,etc. The Corps of Engineers or State Park HQ (I forget which ran that part of the lake) once tossed me the keys to a large waterfront campground closed for the winter, asking merely that I return the keys when I left.

Ask, and ye shall launch.

The sole exception I've encountered has been the heated power plant lake on the windy plateau above I-84 west of Boardman, OR. They won't respond to any public access inquiries.

If there's no one to ask, such as the time I drove up to a grassy sideshore of the biggest lake inside Ohio, I just rig and sail. If anyone doesn't want me there, they'll speak up. So far no one has ever objected, not even the fancy Salt Lake City hotel whose large, man-made, landscaped, manicured, front-lawn pond was too good to pass up.

As Glen Taylor's book put it so succinctly 30 years ago ... "Wherever there's wind and water ..."

Mike \m/
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mwood5



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, it's inland lake sailing for sure, but we can get some wind. I had a 5.2 day last week...the day of the chart...and just couldn't get out the two previous days that were definite 4.5 to 5 days. That's 3 days the first week of Sept. If Ike comes through this weekend, or early next week, I'm banking on 2-3 more good days of sub-6 meter sailing. It's no Gorge, but get's me in the water.

You made me think of a funny story that happened back in the early 80s sailing on a local (now closed) powerplant lake here in DFW. North Lake in Irving ('burb of Dallas), in the winter was always great as the powerplant made the water very warm. I was out on my then sole board....an obrien something. Weighed a ton and handled like a pig. A storm came up as I was putting around the lake and just about instantly blew me to the other side of the lake...right at the power plant. In a matter of seconds, a truck pulled up to ask me a lot of questions. When the guy saw I just just a punk, skinny kid, he actually gave me a ride to my truck. He then let me drive into the plant property to de-rig.
The city has since closed all access to that lake. What a shame as it was a nice little lake that had great wind protection in parts for waterskiing. I'd imagine there's still a slalom course sunk in one of the coves. Come to think of it, there's a ramp there as well for ski jumping.

later,

m
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've sailed there. Has anyone approached the power plant for permission to re-open it to the public? A good reference source might be New Mexico's Four Corners Power Plant, which loves having WSers there. They've bent over backwards to cater to our needs. In a similar vein, the Albuquerque district of the Corps of Engineers publicly praised windsurfers as the best-behaved, most self-reliant, most cooperative user group at their Cochiti Lake recreation area. We have street cred; maybe that and the Dallas Morning News Sep 5 discussion (see http://tinyurl.com/http-www-dallasnews-com-shar) of North Lake property reallocation will help Dallas WSers approach the right agencies and regain access to the lake.

Mike \m/
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mwood5



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool...thanks for the info. I missed that article, but knew that they might be getting close to some decision. I just might try to get the local club to send an email or set up a meeting with someone to try to get in there.
Again, while the conditions aren't just great there...it's close to where I work and the water's warm for winter sesh's. That might mean I could get a lunch run or two in during work days. That'd be great.

m
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mwood5 wrote:
while the conditions aren't just great there...it's close to where I work and the water's warm for winter sesh's. That might mean I could get a lunch run or two in during work days. That'd be great.


Sailing from a muddy bottom minutes away beats the heck out of NOT SAILING on pristine sand an hour away.

Mike \m/
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