hampton beach harbour

[icesailing]

hi gang, had monday off from work and went sailing with paul from nh windsurf, steve and roger a couple of other local sailors there. what a blast. it was 5.5 conditions all day. you have to get out past the chop and get upwind to where its much flater but once your there its rock and roll.

[spark1]

I've been wanting to check out Hampton Harbor. Where do you park and launch from? Also, looking at the Google map, it looks really shallow (at least from space). Is it tide dependent? Thanks.

[JRuffus]

you park along the road on the south side of the bridge. its obvious. as for the tides, you can sail in any tide however at full high you can sail every where and at low tide it is obvious where you can and cant sail with the bars...mid tide, if you are not familiar is the toughest as you will most likely run aground a few times for sure ; ) but you will figure it out as the day goes. Also the current can be ripping there, so if there is an outgoing tide dont get near the bridge if something happens you can get sucked out under it especially if the wind dies, so one thing for sure be very certain of when high and low tide are pay attention to the tidal flow of water, this is crucial for safety. typically its gusty but fun for sure. generally its best to get up wind, to the back channel, less boat traffic and flatter water for sure.

on a side note we kite there as well, so between the moored boats, the fishing boat traffic, us kiters..you have to have your paying attention hat on, but its a blast. also, if its a hot sunny weekend, parking gets really thin so best to get there early, or you will bewaiting for a spot or walking your gear pretty far, thats the biggest negative for sure.

[JFred]

Don't forget the Sars mask for the fallout. When its windy the place goes nuculear. Heavy localism there... from a boy in spandex.

[spark1]

Thanks for all the great info JRuffus. I'll definitely be checking it out soon.

And thanks for the tip on the heavy localism, Ride. I've seen the the spraypainted "locals only" at the wall [img] I'll respect the pecking order [/img]

[icesailing]

low tide,flat water like pleasure bay. west wind required. formula boards work well here. sailing the back channel great for speed runs.

[icesailing]

high tide lots of chop. freestyle board or wave board works well here. west wind works best. sail high upwind to get to flater conditions.