Seatle area Puget Sound/ Lake Washinton windsurfing?

[isobars]

Then you don't want to know that one TriCities high school is among the top 5% in the state. As for culture ... I think there's a library somewhere.
With real books.
But here the wife would miss Portland's and Seattle's absolutely crushing traffic, summertime humidity, incessant winter rain, long and hectic drive to an international airport, jammed and expensive parking, endless harassment by beggars and intimidation by gang bangers (at least in Portland), incredible prices on everything, recession, potholes, ...

As for the toys ... I've hauled dirt bikes and snowmobiles and their trailers around the country fairly easily (in the moving van sometimes); the boat would depend on size. But you'd have great use for boats anywhere out here, even if it meant selling one there and buying another here. There's a LOT of navigable water full of fish in the PacNW.

I suggest you independently verify the information in that collection of PMs. In every forum I've ever been in, PMs regarding publicly available information mean one thing: somebody is trying to sneak his own biases past public/peer review. I've seen, for example, people claim that the TriCities is polluted by Hanford. Umm ... look at a map, consider the tens of billions already spent on cleaning up that mess dozens of miles from here, and realize that the only way your pregnant wife or 5-yo kid could find any toxic waste would be the same way a nuclear terrorist would do it: extensive professional research and planning, camouflage, acoustic and infrared shielding, circumventing guarded fences, penetrating walls a 747 could not breach in a full-throttle dive, knowing exactly where to look under the resulting millions of tons of steel-reinforced rubble, AND penetrating even tougher new high-tech armored waste processing tanks.

They're a zillion times more likely to be exposed to life-shortening pollution in traffic or living in a home just downwind of any busy intersection in any city.

Sheesh.

[SeaDawg]

Miikkkke,

I think you may have put your job with the Seattle/PDX chamber of commerce on the line, better not quit your day job(windsurfer) nite shift(word smith) for the Tri-Cities CoC......

Man it's easy to get spoiled by the Great Lakes, inland oceans and nothing that lives under water that thinks of you as a snack....

Gawd, were did I put that bullet......

62F in Richmond and sunny, went for a 3hr ride on my MC. Great medicene.

[isobars]

Nuthin' wrong with a CofC that can back up its PR.

[gcmigliaccio]

Ivo has already informed you about shortboarding conditions. I want to add something on the lightwind/longboarding side. You can sail longboards year long in Seattle. If you want to maximize TOW, you can sail a longboard afterwork every day (uhmm ..... depending on sunlight) and spend the weekend chasing stronger wind around the sound, up to Lake Wenatchee (NE) or Rimrock Lake (SE) or down to the Gorge (way SE).
If you like to sail with others, in May/June, you can sail with other longboarding (and some FW) aficionados every Wednesday evening at Des Moines marina for the City League series. It is a very informal setting (i.e., no protest and score system based on attendance more than on arrival). With your Serenity, we may finally see some competition against a modified Crit D2 board from 1982. Also, in a urban setting, there is some windsurfing in Union Bay by the UW club (most of my longboard sailing is done there). In term of launching sites, don't worry. There are plenty of city parks around the lake for launching a longboard. However, the most popular for shortboarding in Lk Washington are Magnuson Park on Seattle side, Waverly in Kirkland and Newwcastle (just S of Bellevue). On the Sound, you can sail out of Golden Garden, Edmonds, Richmond Park or even Alki Beach. If you have decided to live down to Tacoma, there are a few sailors living in Gig Harbor/Purdy area.
If you post on NW Windtalk, you will find more local information.
Looking forward to see you in the water. With a Serenity, I will recognize you.

[jota]

Talk about sneaking in biases!

Yeah, I spent two days last week stuck and frustrated in Seattle's crushing traffic. Portland, OTOH, is a breeze (and I am a long-term HR resident with little tolerance for city traffic).

Portland traffic is minimal except for limited rush-hour times and locations. The drive to the airport is quick and easy. Parking is super easy almost anywhere - you can generally park right by your destination, even downtown. Winter weather, while generally dreary rather than actually downpouring, can also often be better than the gorge. Summer weather can sometimes be cloudy and even rainy when the gorge is beautiful (so drive to the gorge, duh), but it's often absolutely stunningly beautiful too, especially later summer into fall.

I have spent countless hours in Portland over the last 25 years and have no idea what Mike means about intimidation by gangbangers. Sure, there are panhandlers but they are nonthreatening and respectful (I was harassed more in Spokane a few weeks ago).

Yeah, Portland's not a "world class" city like Seattle, LA, SF or Vancouver BC, but it's close - and it doesn't have a lot of their world-class problems. And the food is certainly world-class!

[30knotwind]

Having lived in Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Boston, San Francisco, and a summer on Maui, Portland ticks the most boxes for a culturally-interested windsurfer--IMO.

But, Mike has a very valid point about the Tri-cities/Arlington windsurfing quality--I prefer it to the Corridor: you can get as much sailing as you need out there and the quality is higher than the corridor, i.e. wider waves, longer season, warmer temperatures, less gusty and very little 'traffic' chop. I don't have much experience with culture in Tri-Cities, but it's always the warmest place in the NW by 5-10 F, like a misplaced piece of California.

We chose Portland/WS for the culture/scene, access to the east Gorge mountains and Oregon coast. San Francisco has a longer season and more reliable wind--everyday--but less swell where the wind is, also Red Triangle is a little scary.

Maui is just too far/tropical for me, a hard core PNW boy. I LOVE Seattle, water/mountain heaven, but windsurfing is too important to me and Portland is a little warmer for the Mrs.

[isobars]

[isobars]

[deryck.w]

[isobars]