Hood River

[windsass01]

I need some advice, I am trying to set myself up for an amazing summer in the gorge windsurfing. I've been looking for jobs along the river and may have an opportunity in Rufus. Ideally I wanted to live in Hood River, but since Rufus is about 45 min from there, I was thinking of setting up somewhere in the middle like the Dalles?how does it compare to the town of Hood River for lliving and windsurfing?

[isobars]

I'd kill to live in Rufus if it had more teeth.
Literally.
50 people @ 10 teeth each .. that's about ... um, carry the zero ... multiply by .99 ... 438 intact teeth in the whole town. That's not going to support a Walmart, or a Home Depot, or a movie theater, and the only girl in town has ... 10 teeth. I watched Rufus's Fourth of July fireworks display one summer; it resembled a few guys looking for a lost wallet with flashlights.

But it's dead center of mass of the Columbia River's finest windsurfing, IMO. With The Zoo 45 minutes to its left, Three Mile Canyon 30 miles to the right, and some of the cleanest shore-to-shore swell on the river at your feet, it's a great midpoint spot.

The problem is the size, not the location, of the spot. What's more important to you ... the spot or the swell? Parties or open spaces? Shopping or walking to work? Cheap rent or hustle and bustle? To get more people in your neighborhood you gotta put up with more people in your swell. It's a personal call. I like small -- actually no -- crowds everywhere in my life, but small and microscopic are different animals.

You will have to drive every time you sail, so the only difference is how far. Any guess I might make regarding one's gasoline cost for an entire summer from one spot vs another would be a joke, because there are way too many factors, including the weather, job flexibility, and personal sailing preferences. Over just about every other factor, I'd guess that if your priority is shred time and quality, by far the most important factor is the work schedule. The freedom to sail when and where it blows and work when it doesn't is absolutely priceless, IMO.

The Dalles has more teeth than Rufus, but only because it has more people. Ya wanna find whole mouthfuls of teeth, so to speak, ya gotta go to Hood River. I could see commuting between The Dalles and Rufus for work, but not btw HR and Rufus. Besides, every time you wake up in HR and the wind is out east, you'll hit yourself in the head. Ditto waking up in Rufus with all the wind at the Hatchery, which often happens in the summer. Midsummer sailing quantity favors the corridor, while quality favors anything further east.

Mike \m/

[cgoudie1]

Like Mike says Rufus is small (and old). Plus it's become THE place to
Kite the Columbia. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes
it's tough to get down to the water because of the strings. It'll probably
take you 20 minutes to get from a door in Rufus, over to The Wall on the
Washington side where the windsurfing can be excellent if it blows.
But during the mid Summer, there's not as much wind out there, and
you'd be driving in at least to Doug's or Avery.

The Dalles isn't a bad place to be, and housing is considerably cheaper
there than HR, but if you were considering Rufus, maybe you should
consider Lyle as well (very close to Doug's). There will be a lot more
cheap housing potential in the Dalles, and the trip
into the Hackery (on days when it only blows in
the Corridor) is about 25 Minutes. Doug's is just over the bridge and
West a few miles, with conditions that make your mouth water, but it
does get really crowded mid Summer. Rowena is
about 12 minutes from the Dalles on the Oregon side, with square chop, but fetching up river
between there and Doug's will get you some excellent conditions. Or,
if you need an uncrowded launch, over the bridge and to the East
you can park & rig right next to the water at Avery, just don't go mid
day. You can also go right down to the Dalles River Front park. Not
a great place to sail (wind and water conditions), but very convenient.

The Dalles is much bigger, and more "industrial" than HR
(even though the "industry" has left). The vibe is totally different.
HR is a wonderfully friendly place. The Dalles isn't unfriendly,
and it has big department stores and such, but the drivers
aren't going to stop for you to cross the street like they do in HR.

So all that said, I spend as much of my Summer as work allows
in HR (where I have a residence), and spend most of my time
driving out to Doug's or over to the Hackery. Many have been the days
when we've dallied till early evening and then zipped down to
the Event site for an quick evening sesh though. If you didn't need your
gear you could walk there from HR.

Good luck with your job search, and might I suggest Insitu (in
Bingen), or Google in the Dalles as possible places of employment.

-Craig

[WMP]

Many challenges living here in the Gorge... need to stay as flexible as possible. Hard to make a living and have enough time to enjoy the place. Even if you have lots of free time... wind doesn't always cooperate and coincide with your time off. HR can be a really depressing place to spend time during those long stretches of relentless calm, hot days in summer. It's best if you've got several alternative outdoor sports to enjoy during those calm times.

And if you find employment in Rufus, let us know your work phone# so we can all call you up several times a day and ask what the conditions are out there. Trust me, you'll be a very popular person around here!!

- WMP

[andymc4610]

WTF is a laced Wig? Yeah this is a great site to spam sell wigs, LOL. I see someday the windsurfing community fully embracing laced wigs as a fashion statement.

[isobars]

Don't sweat it. His account is being canceled shortly, as was the luggage spammer recently.

Mike