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WTB - Windsurf Board for learning

 
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andrews



Joined: 04 May 2022
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2022 10:38 pm    Post subject: WTB - Windsurf Board for learning Reply with quote

I'm looking for windsurfing board to learn on. Something like a 293 One Design, Tahe Beach, etc. ...anything wide and floaty around 200 liters of displacement. I don't want a SUP or anything inflatable.

I live in Pasco, WA. I'm willing to drive to Portland, Seattle, Hood River, etc.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2022 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Major swap meet coming up in Hood River on Memorial Day Sunday the 29th. It's not rare to find boards of every imaginable size, and you won't believe the prices. Don't be shy about asking anyone for advice, especially Bart (literally everyone knows him; just ask.) I think you're on the right track, but can't advise you on entry level gear because it's been 43 years since I was at your stage.

Tips:
Don't expect to learn on the Columbia in Tricities. The current will eat you alive any time of the year.

A couple of professional beginner lessons will save you YEARS of frustration, especially around here.

Mike
Kennewick
628-9579 anytime (can't hurt; a thousand scammers all over the world already have the number. Landline; no texting.)
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andrews



Joined: 04 May 2022
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2022 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the tips - I do plan to go to the swap meet on the 29th.

I used to be an intermediate windsurfer. I windsurfed every weekend for about 2 years back in 2006 and 2007 - then I quit cold turkey for no good reason. I was thinking to try the launch over by quary pond - though I'm not sure if it's protected from wind or not. https://goo.gl/maps/LhWvgTzp8cpcCRKy5

I do hope to try launching from Chiawana Park after I get back into things, but I am worried about the current there. My plan is to only launch there when it's offshore and only sail up river. I've kayaked quite a bit there and I have noticed the current is much more manageable close to shore before the drop off.

I want to introduce my brothers and friends to windsurfing, and I don't plan to take them on the Columbia. The big board is for me to start and then I plan to keep it for friends or low wind days when I just want to be on the water to cool off.

Do you have any recommendations about where to go around tri-cities, first to start, and then after I get back into the swing of things?
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 3:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My plan for sailing locally has always been staying upwind. Several problems interfere with that goal: our urban winds are way too fickle and holey, their direction is almost always across or down the river, the current leaves no room for missed jibes or sub-planing lulls, and my biggest board since I moved here in 1999 was 114 liters. My best local days -- and the only days I'd even try anymore -- were strong, dead southerly, very rare (< one day a season, at dusk), at the park where Van Geisen in Richland hits the north-south stretch of the river.

Anything else -- ESPECIALLY any winds with any north in them -- is asking to head for the cable bridge, leave your gear on the lawn, hope no kids use it as a trampoline before you return, and start walking north.

The closest useful spot to "local" is Port Kelley, just west of the silos. Next is Roosevelt, an hour SW of Kennewick. Plymouth can have good wind straight up the river, but the launch is usually laden with garbage and its denizens are sketchy at best. There are a few wild spots east and west of Plymouth that are not far away and are pretty danged good for just getting out on the river in light or strong winds, but they're obscure enough that they're best left to a personal, longer discussion some time.

I just bought a kayak last fall, am eager to learn how to use it in mild Gorge conditions. So far it's been only on the Yakima delta in Richland, where I was usually alone during the Covid closures ... just me and occasionally the Benton County Board of Health director, who says the Yakima is cleaner than the Columbia and that those river access algae closures were primarily to keep people and dogs from drinking the water.

I haven't tried any of the ponds S and E of the Tricities except for my first attempt at SUPing. Some of them are being taken over by gang bangers, according to the local news, so stay alert.

You mentioned sailing primarily on weekends. Many Tricities sailors with real jobs leave home after work on weekdays, put in a few hours in full-on Gorge conditions, and get home in time for a decent night's sleep ... as though that matters compared to three or four hours in head-high swell on a 3.7.
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CUSalin



Joined: 11 Mar 2001
Posts: 405
Location: Hood River, OR

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 11:18 am    Post subject: Re: WTB - Windsurf Board for learning Reply with quote

andrews wrote:
I'm looking for windsurfing board to learn on. Something like a 293 One Design, Tahe Beach, etc. ...anything wide and floaty around 200 liters of displacement. I don't want a SUP or anything inflatable.

I live in Pasco, WA. I'm willing to drive to Portland, Seattle, Hood River, etc.


Come to Hood River for CGW2.org Swap Meet on May 29th. We have several boards to fit your need at very reasonable costs. See: https://cgw2.org/event/cgw2-swap-meet-4/

_________________
CU Sailin'
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