The Gorge

[Dwight (DW)]

Things that surprised us. FYI, even though we’ve been doing wind sports for 43 years, we’ve never  been here.

Hopefully this helps others.

It’s not as cold as we feared. Florida is colder in the same temps. I’m riding in just a wetsuit top and boardshorts.

The gusty wind is not as bad as we feared. Ft Pierce Florida is just as bad sometimes.

The waves. Some spots are better lined up and fun than others. Some places, it’s just a washing machine. Super fun at the right spots.

The number of people. Wow. Reminds me of Florida…stay home on weekends and ride weekdays. Unless you find the secret spots. (in Florida it’s jet skis than ruin weekends)

The cost. Where am I Aspen? Restaurant prices! Gas $1.00/gallon more than Florida.

Worth the 5 day drive to get here. Fun place.

[Admin]

Gorge trip!  That's great. What spots have you been winging?  Stoked to hear of your adventures and impressions.  Keep 'em coming.

[surfcowboy]

Yeah, I'm following on Instagram but love the commentary. Which tacos?!

[Dwight (DW)]

We are vegan’s for health reasons, so our visits to Taco shops, are always bean and rice burritos.

Rufus was a shocker. Sky’s dad Mike, told us we’d have to just foil downwind the whole session due to the current there. Mike decided to kite it. He is still new to winging.

Boy was he right. If you allow yourself to ride until you get tired, you can be serious screwed. Jacky got tired and started falling about 3 or 4 times in a row. Bam, she got sucked upriver to no mans land fast. She just barely made it downwind to the gap between the island and home. What a nightmare it could be if sucked upwind to where you cannot exit the river at all.

I feel like we need to scout the sailing spots each day to find where the true wind direction is lining up with the river current to get the best river surfing. Kind of like doing surf checks at home. The I-windsurf sensors are worthless because they all show the wind lining up wherever they are located, but that’s not the case when you get there and read the water.

Spots we’ve ridden so far. Twice the Hatchery, twice the Event Site, once Rufus. Thinking Mosier next. We liked the look of that spot. Will do more Event Site on weekdays. Hate the weekends.

[Admin]

That is a nice selection of spots!  I hope you guys get to see Roosevelt on a good day.  The river is really wide there (over a mile) and the wind and swell is super smooth.  Even when the river is flowing fast elsewhere current is mellow there due to the width.  On a great day it will blow your mind.  Huge, long, and smooth swell.  Arlington shares the same water but on the Oregon side. Roosevelt has a grassy park and a long stretch of flatwater before it swells up.  It is a drive but its worth it.

[Dwight (DW)]

Thanks. We will definitely try Roosevelt. It’s a short drive compared to the 5 days it took to get here 

[Deep Sea]

To add to your Gorge experience, get out on the forecasted east wind tomorrow. Ten to noon is often good somewhere between Viento, Home Valley, and/or Stevenson. It’s not the classic rolling swell we wish for but definitely worth experiencing if you’re here visiting.

[Admin]

Thanks. We will definitely try Roosevelt. It’s a short drive compared to the 5 days it took to get here 

Hah!  This is a really helpful tool.  https://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=219&Isection=Pressure+Report

If you see the gradient up from PDX to the Dalles you are going to have west wind in the central gorge.  If the Dalles to Pasco is up then out East works better.  When they are both strong that means the whole gorge is funneling wind.  If the gradients are bigger out east those are the driving days!   If it warms up and goes easterly for a while and then the coast to PDX cools of quickly, those are your epic days. Stoked for you guys!

[PonoBill]

Rufus is one of my favorite/least favorite spots. So much fun, but so easy to get screwed. At least with a wing foil you can get where you want to go--eventually. I used to downwind there a lot with SUP boards and you can find yourself parked in the current with no way to go: Turn upwind and the wind keeps you in place, turn downwind and the current does the same. You have to find the eddies to get out of the current.

The current is actually down a little from some years at this point. It's all dam controlled and it's fiddled with to maintain levels and generation for varying rates of snowmelt. They're holding the levels high right now so the flow is lower. Right now it varies between 150-300,000 cubic feet per minute. The typical flow for this time of year is 300-400,000 and we sometimes see as much as 500,000. The record is 980,000.

Mosier is great fun. Uncrowded in the water, crowded on the beach because there's just one narrow spot to launch. No big deal though. Rowena tends to be uncrowded and it's great foiling. There are a million "secret spots". It's a lot of river.

Yes, it's not cheap, though when we come home from Maui it feels like everything is free. House prices are through the roof. Everyone wants to live here until the winter hits, then it gets very empty. Not that I'd know. When the first few drops of cold rain hit my shoulders we bolt to Maui, along with a quarter of the town. Another quarter bolts to Mexico.

Temira is a good source for wind predictions, the swell you just have to figure out yourself. https://thegorgeismygym.com/forecast/

[Dwight (DW)]

Yesterday at Mosier, we met a local who was at Rufus the same day we were. He said he looked at the conditions and said nope, not riding here, it’s crap. Current stronger than normal and wind direction wrong. That’s good to know.

So far, our most fun sessions have been taking off at the Event Site and riding the swell over by the Hatchery buildings and the river mouth on the Washington side.

Checked out Doug’s Beach, but didn’t ride it. Tom Carroll and Brian Finch were testing gear there.

[PonoBill]

You nailed it. My standard session is to launch at the event site, run upwind to the hatchery, downwind on the Washington side to get the best of the bumps from the hatchery and the white salmon bridge, rinse, repeat.

In a month the current will be down to 150K or so. The swells still work but it's less work to ride in the channel.

The big advantage of the EC is that the spit, which is currently invisible mostly but it's still there, blocks the current until you want it for the bumps. Easy to get rolling and ten minutes from the fun.

The river looks like a lake this morning. If the predicted east winds blow you won't see typical whitecaps that get your pulse pounding. It will be a fun and rare session. Just realize that the wind and current are going in the same direction and do go too far downriver or you'll probably get to do some walking. In the unlikely event you want to see what ADHD looks like in full bloom I'll be at my shop all morning. 503-936-7660.

[Dwight (DW)]

[PonoBill]

Yup. You go out with a four because it's a little light and two minutes later you can't hang on to it and you need a 2.5.

This has been a particularly challenging year for wind variability. Usually, it just nukes all day long and you need two wings: a 4 and a 3. In the old days, you needed one sail (4.5) for Maui and two for the Gorge (4.0 and a 3.0).

Today I went out with a 6.0, but I've got some Afib going on, and being overpowered in the channel just kicked my ass. Shortest session ever. I see the doc on the 20th to get this fixed.

[JohnnyTsunami]

Headed there in later August for the first time.

Will I be screwed if my smallest wing is a 3m?

Looks like DW is riding 3 and 2m wings, but I think you like to be on the small side?

[PonoBill]

August is often spotty though we'll have some nuking days. It's reliably windy though, but sometimes light. Like 8-20. It's 25+ about 40 percent of the time.