Utah Windriders Association

Laguna Madre, North Padre Island, mid-April, sails: 4.6 to 6.5, boards: 86, 111, 133

Obviously only a highly addicted person drives 1800 miles to find warm wind and flat water in April. So Eileen and I made our yearly trek to North Padre for some mid-April sailing on Laguna Madre. Sailed for 12 days on the Kode 86 and the Futura 111 and 133. Sail sizes ranged from 4.6 to 6.5. Some of the 4.6 time could have been on a 4.2. Mostly rode relatively steady wind but had a few gusty days. One day even approached a typical day at Deer Creek. Water and air temps in the mid 70s except when the nor’easters hit.

During the 3 or so weeks on Island, we mostly camped on the Gulf side at Malaquite ($4 per night). Camping is also available at the sailing site, Bird Island, for free. During this time, we had 4 strong nor’easters blow through. I passed on those sessions. The scene is a bit crazy as the front initailly hits. Within less than 1 minute, the air temp drops +20 degrees, the wind ramps to +30 mph, every thing not nailed down is flying down the beach. The night we arrived, this was happening with rain, hail and some snow.

The down side of North Padre is the limited access for kiters. The Nationl Park, which covers most of North Padre, does not allow kiters to launch. Sorry, I have no idea why, given that they have +25 miles of coast line on Laguna Madre. The obvious lesson is that we all need to be aggressive in gaining and keeping access to launch site

Dimitrije Milovich & Jans Wager, Trip and Judi Houk and myself & Sidney Hughes headed to So Padre for two weeks this coming Tuesday. Glad to hear you got such great wind and hope it continues for us. How do you rate So Padre vs No Padre. I have been to No only once and to So many times. My friend who has home @ No says the wind is better up there?
As a memory jogger I am the guy who sold you the 6.5 Sailworks sail last fall.

Sailed down there end of April 4.4 to 5.8. Sweet place to sail, swallow, warm and flat water. Great place for learning new tricks however I didn't land any new moves. Stayed in a condo I would be interested to hear more about your camping location. Did you have a shower? Drive is not that bad. Going back next year . It did seem that the forecast was stronger for North compared to the South Padra when I was there.

I don't have enough experience to compare the sailing at North and South Padre. The recent opinion of a friend who spends time in both places is that the sailing direction and water clarity is better at South Padre. I opt for North Padre for the camping, less developed environment and overall vibe.

Some camping options:
Bird Island (the main sailing site), pit toilets, no shower, but can drive 3 miles for a free shower at the National Park - free camping
Boondock camping - no toilet, no shower, many sites - free
Malaquite - at the National Park, Gulf side, flush toilets, cold showers, some hot water in the bathroom - $8 under 65, $4 over 65
Many other options for full RV hook ups starting at 25 per night (if you go this route, better deals at South Padre)

willy@sturgisdesigns.com Willy Sturgis lives at Corpus, sails a ton, I'd call him local, he would detail the differences. He's always looking for someone to sail with at Bird Island and beyond.