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kerplunk
Joined: 29 Mar 2000 Posts: 28
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: New to the Delta |
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In Sept. I'll be moving to the Delta area (actully Oakley). Are there sailing sites on the Antioch/Oakley side of the river? With high gas prices and the toll to cross the bridge, I would like to sail as close to home as possible. I haven't sailed the Delta before, what's the season and what are some tips (besides being nice to the locals). |
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ERROR!!!
Joined: 26 Feb 1998 Posts: 170 Location: East Bay
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject: Oakley, CA |
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California borders are now closed, sorry. Just kidding, see you soon!
Unfortunately, the San Juaquin River usually isn't very windy (unless it is absolutely howling--maybe two or three days of the year). Also, there aren't any developed launch sites for boardsailers on the Antioch side of the river--only a long board windsurfer would want to enter there. The Sacramento River side of the Antioch bridge is where it is windy. Check the dynamic map on iWindsurf to see the flow of the wind. The wind comes from Pittsburg into the delta and goes East or ENE, rather than heading for Oakley. There are plenty of launch sites (Sherman Island Access (fee), two Delta Windsurfing Association launch sites (small membership fee), Rio Viento resort (fee), the power lines area (free), Windy Cove park (fee). You can look at web sites for most of these launch sites. Rio Viento even has a webcam, but it is out of service and will be upgraded soon. You could transport by boat to avoid the bridge toll. Or get a very small vehicle (or some passengers?) so you could cross free during commute hours. The locals on the South side of the bridge would love to stop crossing it, so please post it here and tell us if you find a solution.
On my wish list is the hope that one day, there will be a great launch site in Pittsburg (Google Maps--McAvoy, Pittsburg, CA) because that's where there should be a park with parking lot and launch. It's really windy there! |
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ERROR!!!
Joined: 26 Feb 1998 Posts: 170 Location: East Bay
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject: season |
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By September, the season is generally considered over, but there have been surprises. With the weather this year being so different, maybe there's hope for a longer season. There are a few days after September that you can sail until about April. The Fall winds can be up and down and the winter storms are wild and cold (wet suit!). But when the fog season gets going in the Bay Area, you can look foreward to fairly steady strength winds from 20-25 on many days. However, the fog comes and goes, so there are also days when you do not sail. This pattern makes wind prediction by iWindsurf valuable. People usually have a range of sails from 4.0 to 6.0 and above because the wind speed varies--both day to day and hour to hour. Consult iWindsurf to see the variation. Some people even have two boards. You start the season in a full wetsuit and change to a shorty and then a bathing suit as the Summer progresses. It can be useful to aim for an ebb tide because it takes a little less effort and it creates waves. Combine an ebb tide with good West wind and you get nice ramps! Maybe you can save up and arrange a vacation in Maui, Hawaii or La Ventana in Baja California in order to get you through the Winter. Don't forget to find out about other sailing venues in the Bay Area too! Oakley is about an hour from Berkeley (port tack jumping) and further across the bay is Crissy Field. iWindsurf has the sailing locations shown on its map. By the way, don't expect to find restaurants or a shopping center across the Antioch bridge. Rio Vista is the closest town to the North. |
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Arrgh
Joined: 05 May 1998 Posts: 864 Location: Rio
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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Hey kerplunk,
A lot depends on your work schedule as well as - how do I put this nicely? - just how cheap are you? Whoops, that wasn't nice, sorry. Seriously though, most windsurfers, on a cheap scale of 1 to 10, seem to fall into the 8 to 11 category, except of course when it comes to equipment (seems reasonable to me.) With gas at $4.50+ a gallon that bridge toll doesn't seem so bad. If you happen to have a cargo van and can convince somebody to accompany you, you can avoid the toll on weekdays during the peak commute times. Some people only sail Sherman Island May to early September, but last year I sailed thru mid-December (west wind) but hey, I'm retired. You can sail the Nasty North wind in winter, but the best launch for that was Windy Cove which is now closed. The most important factor about sailing the Delta, other than wind, is the current. Some will only sail on the ebb. If you want to sail on the flood, you'll be on bigger gear (and you might occasionally do the walk of shame.) You can peg tide and current charts to your iwindsurf home page. And you can get a tide chart with your $20 membership fee to Rio Vista Windsurfing Association. Get it at Delta Windsurf. Here are a couple of links for launch info, but be aware that some of the info is outdated. See you on the water.
www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=125&siteID=1427&Isection=Local+Info
www.rvwa.com |
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afolander
Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 74
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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September is a transition month. If you look at the wind archives for SI from last year there was dependable wind (time periods with 20+) most days through mid September, taporing off towards the end of the month. If you are o.k. with mid teen wind minimum you can launch from the County Park a couple times a week on average through Feb. when it starts picking up again.
There is a park on the South side of the Antioch bridge that I've seen seen kiters from lauch from occasionally, but not windsurfers the past few years. There is also a reservour south of you (Bethany?) that guys sail out of. |
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kerplunk
Joined: 29 Mar 2000 Posts: 28
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks very much for the info.
I'm looking forward to the sailing. And if we get any winter storms, skiing isn't too far away. Thanks again |
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gregorvass
Joined: 21 Nov 1996 Posts: 1113 Location: Behind You
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geohaye
Joined: 03 Apr 2000 Posts: 1437
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:06 am Post subject: |
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Gregorvass,
We got your point on this. If you prefer to use Windfinder, then use them.
iWindsurf.com is Free also. Thousands of free wind sensors plus all the government forecast models for each spot. All Free.
To supplement the free stations, iWindsurf also has it's own network of wind sensors that they install and maintain -- and they need to charge for access to those. |
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