A Favorite Place

Bonaire Webcam page

With winter having a reprise here, e.g. snow this morning in the gorge, it's fun to view the scene down in Bonaire.

My wife and I spent a week down there in March 2010; we had a great time. Truth is that I am not a hot weather fan so windsurfing vacations are a convenient way to tolerate a hot and humid climate: stay wet all day long.

The wind there was light but enough that we could sail every day but one--in planing conditions I sailed a 7.0 to 8.5, otherwise I worked on skills with small sails and mid-sized boards.

The warm, shallow water and sunny, warm air were REALLY great for my wife who was working on her waterstarts: she was in the water about 6 hours a day and actually lamented breaking for lunch because she was having so much fun learning by herself--I quickly learned to leave her to learn on her own. Now she refuses to sail if she has to uphaul--what a wind snob!

I'd love to go back anytime to work on new skills and enjoy the laid-back beach scene.

Some Sailing at Port Kelly

While I was sitting on shore at The Wall on Saturday, these guys were having some fun.

Hello, Is anybody there?

I headed down to The Wall this afternoon when it looked like a reasonable place to sail--well below the forecasted 60 mph gusts--but no one else was there so I didn't get out on the water. In fact, I didn't see anyone on the water from The Hatch all the way down to The Wall. Both sites were sailable, although The Wall was mostly sunny and a touch warmer so would have been nice to have sailed it. Attached are a couple videos of, well, not much.

'Action' at The Wall today

A rainbow looking east from The Hatch

Buoy is only 'rider' at The Hatch today

Another Big One

The forecast on Saturday is for up to 65 mph westerlies in the far east. Lighter but still strong from the Hatch to Dougs. Air temp from 46 F at the Hatch to 50 F in Tri-Cities. Water temp is 40 F.

Winds Blow Over Truck

The strong west winds this week pushed over a semi-truck near White Salmon at Tunnel 2. Wow!

Saturday looks like next big day

As Big as it Gets!

The forecast for Maryhill to Port Kelly is a west wind about 40 mph average with gusts up to 60 mph. From Swell to Dougs the average should be almost 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph. Air temps near 50F in Hood River increasing to 63F the closer you get to the Tri-Cities. Water temp is still 38 F.

Gusts to peak at 4 pm today:

Yesterday was also windy with reports of "windiest I've ever seen" from the Hatch to Viento. Link

Biggest wind on Wednesday

Starting Tuesday, 35 to 38 mph gusts from Dougs east with highest potential in the Maryhill area. Morning direction SW shifting to W in the afternoon. Averages on Tuesday 20+ mph; Wednesday 30+ mph. Air temperature nearing 60 F farther east; water temp is down to 38F. High wind should start early Tuesday and taper off after dark on Wednesday. (Some forecasts are calling for gusts up to 65 mph in the far east on Wednesday--stay tuned.)

NOAA 

Wind on Tuesday and Wednesday

The forecast looks good for some wind and air temps near 55-60 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Water temp is still about 39 F. Best bets will be out east.

Heli-tack Help, Please?

I'm still trying to figure out my Heli-tack. Take a look at this video and help me if you can. Thanks!
Click on picture below to view help request video:

This is a really killer video!

Watch when you need to remember how fun windsurfing is:
Source: Epic Sessions

Really, really great video!

A classic whenever you need a boost:
Source: Trudy Lary

Amazing wind

The Gorge in the winter has even stronger wind than it does in the summer, you just have to be willing to sail in 35-45F air temps and 38F water temps. My colder water temperature gear was stolen out of my van last fall--which I have been slow to replace--so I've missed the big wind we've seen here this year. Below is data from Rooster Rock this week from iWindsurf.com.

Rooster Sailing

Here are some shots from sailing Rooster this week:

River Temperatures are increasing

The average temperature of the river began to increase on February 7. The low, 3.3 C, is 37.9 F, which is a bit higher than the current water temperature, 37.5 F. Recent wind, up to 55 mph at Rooster Rock, should make those sessions the burliest of the year.

Long swell ride

This was a long ride on the same day, very fun!

Big wind and swell

This s a video of some of the best conditions ever in the Gorge: wind, 30+ mph; Columbia River discharge ~525,000 CFS; sunny.