About Sauvies?

grinder · Sat May 30, 09 7:04 am **About Sauvies?**

I live in the Gorge just across from Dalton's Point. After three years of "flexible" employment the current economic reality means I gotta start an 8-5 gig in downtown Portland - so late afternoon weekday sessions in the Gorge are, as of today, a thing of the past. Sad

Can someone give me the down low on Sauvies?

- Can you make this work if you bail from work like at 4 or 5?
- How long to get there from downtown?
- How late does it go off?
- Where is the best place to get (or interpret) info on wind and forecast?
- Do I gotta come with a 14 or 16M to play?
- Is there some info posted somewhere on site details, parking, protocol, etc??

Thanks much!

Bettyboarder · Sat May 30, 09 7:21 am

http://www.nwkite.com/guides/sauvie_island/

Bettyboarder · Sat May 30, 09 7:21 am

http://www.nwkite.com/guides/sauvie_island/

grinder · Sat May 30, 09 7:40 am

Perfect, bettyb! That is exactly the info I needed. Thx.

specialk · Guest

Sauvie's after work is the ticket. I work 12 hour shifts, jump out of work in the dead of summer and still can get an hour in @ Sauvie's! It's great. Good people too. Bring beer, just in case it shuts down... Many others are more qualified to tell u about the weather patterns in this zone, but, in general if its NNW10+ you will have fun with a larger board or skim board and a 12m + kite.

Blue · Since 03 Jul 2007 469 Posts I used to be Obsessed

Also, check these real life comments from SI regulars.

pdxmonkeyboy · Sat May 30, 09 9:05 am

one huge hint about sauvies, if you look west and can see clouds, your percentage of having good wind really dies off.

Also, if your debating if it will go, jump on wind on the water and see what jones beach is doing. If you see Jones spiking around 4 or 5, you can be relatively assured that sauvie will increase as well.

One other trend that I have noticed about sauvies as many times the decision waffles between staying and waiting or leaving...

If the wind has been mild but relatively consistent, then you will typically get a bigger puff in the late evening when the sun is going down. LOTS of people pack up and miss this event but there have been many times that I am riding fully powered with no one on the beach and I pack up in the dark.

If the wind was strong during the day but then cuts back a good deal later in the afternoon, then it is pretty much over, the wind won't come back.

Lastly, low water levels in the late summer (august) and the tide swings make it very difficult to kite out there unless there is a big tide draining. You can buy a kelly point tide table for $1 at a fishing store. It is really helpfull.

Cheers.

FlyDunes · Since 09 Oct 2007 1034 Posts Aloha XTreme Poster

Knapp Landing is the closest point to SI for tide predictions. Free on-line data is here:

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2009&stn=1038+Astoria&secstn=Knapp+Landing,+Wash.&thh=%2B4&thm=26&tlh=%2B6&tlm=28&hh=*0.0&hl=*0.0&footnote=wc5

Currently the outflow is nuking and it's adding roughly 3mph to the wind speed.

If you dump your kite and lose your board be prepared for a long drag to recover it.

grinder · Sat May 30, 09 9:23 am

Thanks for all the great additional info. I got to thinking about getting there and Google shows it to be 41 minutes from downtown Portland - while Stevenson is just 48. I am way better off to go to Stevie since it is just 20 minutes back to home - where Sauvie then is an hour and a half -(especially bad considering all the beer I guess I am required to drink after sessions there!)

Seems like the one advantage is when Sauvie works it can blow late which is less likely at Stevenson. So with all your advice I will show up sometime when the set up looks good and enjoy.

Any ideas on being able to predict wind at Stevenson past 6PM?

Ride on!

pdxmonkeyboy · Sat May 30, 09 9:39 am

Stevenson starts to fall off around 6. not always but more often that not.
Really it boils down to if your working on the east side of PDX then go to Stevenson. If your on the west side, go to Sauvie.

For me, its better to get 1 solid hour of high winds, big boosts, and less crowded kiting than 2 hour of mowing the lawn and doing shuvits on my skim.

That said, I've been to sauvie about 4-5 times this year and stevenson only twice. Crying or Very sad