I tried foiling Sunday (July 31st) and managed four turns before the wind dropped. If I was a better rider I probably could have kept going but I couldn't quite launch and I ended up swimming and body dragging to shore, and then doing a long walk up the beach.
Looking at the Jericho Sailing Club weather page it looks like I might have showed up at just the wrong time. Or maybe it was too light all day. Does anybody have advice on how to tell when the wind will be strong enough? I think I need 10+ knots to ride at this point.
Also, is there any sort of mailing list/discord chat/whatever that people use to notify others when they are going to ride? I'd love to go ride with others, and use the institutional knowledge of those who have been here longer to know when to go out.
I'm bummed that I was out of town for the epic riding on July 25th. That would have been wonderful.
I was out from noon 'till 3:00 riding my 1500 sqcm front wing and 6m Peak 4 kite and had decent power the whole time. I found the wind dropped off quickly West of the 1st dolphin though and couldn't make it much upwind past it.
As far as forecasting goes, if it's sunny then most days will produce a sea breeze thermal sucking hot air towards the city. This can be countered by the macro wind though so I would check the TAF for YVR on Alton's site ( https://wtfbc.ca/taf.php?station=CYVR ) as well as the Vancouver City hourly wind forecast ( https://weather.gc.ca/forecast/hourly/b ... ric_e.html keep in mind it's in km/h so divide by 2 to get knots )
You should also be aware of what's happening out in the Georgia Strait ( https://weather.gc.ca/marine/forecast_e ... tionID=WVF ), it wont always make it in to English Bay though but often a decent thermal can pull it in.
We often get out on hydrofoils even when that forecast is for only 7 or 8 knots NW because Spanish Banks has a little extra thermal wind. We find the Tolmie Street launch works well ..the wind may not be as good farther west.
> Sunday was actually pretty good until late afternoon as long as you were on a hydrofoil.
I was on a hydrofoil, but I am not yet as efficient as I would like to be. And, I went out too late. My watch tells me that I started riding at 2:49 pm, from the Tolmie launch right when slappy was finishing. I was on a 12 m Boxer with a big wing, but, practice needed.
If I was a better rider I could have stayed riding longer I'm sure - I need to work on down-loop transitions.
The igetwind page looks interesting - and very promising for tomorrow! Anyone going to be out there? I might try to show up around 11 am and see if I can get in a few laps. I deserve a break from work. Maybe I'll see some of you out there.
Today (Friday) should have nice NW wind in the afternoon.. hopefully.
There are two large black and white dolphins (pilings) along Spanish Banks that mark the edge of the sand flats. The first is the closest and is 2 km west of the sailing centre pier. If you get farther west of it you sometimes find the wind mysteriously dropping.. (it is often actually the tide current that reduces the apparent wind). The wind is generally reliable between that first piling and the Jericho Sailing Centre.
The chart below shows the sand flats area in green and the two marker pilings. The sand flats are exposed at tides below about 6 feet.
It was great getting out that Friday (August 5th) for a solid session on my foil, on my small kite. I didn't love the low-tide walk, but it's okay. I met slappy in the parking lot - putting a name to the face is always nice.
The next day I went to Squamish and got seven days in a row of riding, and I think my foiling skills have moved up a level. My transitions got way more reliable, I finally mastered downloop transitions, and I learned how to ride seated! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnnnY9sj9Vg
The igetwind page says there isn't much wind until Friday, but https://jsca.bc.ca/services/weather/ says that we've been getting 10+ knots all day. It's probably too late for me to go out now, but any pointers on how to decide when to go out when the forecast is underwhelming?
Nice video Bruce. The wind was good today and at least one kiter got out on his hydrofoil. If you see at least 6 or 7 knots on the igetwind.com forecast website for Spanish Banks then it is usually kiteable because we get an extra thermal push on these hot days. Also note that it is always windier farther from shore than the Jericho wind sensor reads. It should be good for the next few days. I plan to kite tomorrow at the Tolmie launch.
Which line of the igetwind.com graph do you trust the most? There are so many and I don't know which is meaningful.
Also, for Thursday and Saturday this week some of the models seem to show the winds starting around midnight and peaking at 5am. Is that real, or is that some weird timezone artifact? 15-21 mph (GFS 13km, the default view) sounds great, but kiting at five in the morning seems contraindicated.
I find igetwind.com underforecasts winds in the summer because they don't account for local thermal effects that CG mentioned. During the rest of the year when wind is frontal, their models are more accurate. In the summer I check Alton's temperature grids (found in the weather links on this site) and look for a temperature gradient between Vancouver and Abby of about 5 degrees, more if it's a really hot day in Vancouver. A good temperature gradient with a few half decent forecasts from the igetwind usually results in a rare strong wind summer session in my experience.