Utah Windriders Association

Had a great time in Texas, sailing with Linda, Fred, Lana, and Gorge buddy Sharon. I must say that it blows hard in Texas. We were on 4's and small boards, 4 of the days. Had a couple of light days, on big boards and small sails trying tricks...hahaha that I am pretty bad at. It was kind of fun, and better than sitting on the beach. Had a couple of days on 7.0 and big boards for some really smooth cruising. It was some of the easiest sailing ever, since you can touch for miles. The narrow shipping channel was the only area deep enough to be over head. the water is so flat that it's hard to tell how hard it is blowing. It's a great place to practice high wind sailing with out much threat. Lot's of older speedy type guys and gear. You can camp for severasl week right on the beach, and sail till you drop.

World Winds, and owner Don Jackson, run a great shop there right on the beach. Lot's of brand new equipment to try. Angela and Randy from the Gorge were welcome, familiar faces, that helped keep everything flowing smoothly. I was amazed at how many starting lessons they would do in a day. I've never seen an easier place to start. So if you are wanting to warm up your sailing muscles, head on down for some fun.

Thanks for the great post! From most reports it sounds very much like the inside (sound side) of Hatteras. Eileen and I are headed to Padre island in April for a few weeks of sun, camping and sailing . Any advice on best places to camp with a trailer?

Hi Dave, If you head to Bird Island, where World Winds is, and we sailed, You can camp with your trialer, for $20, for 2 weeks and then you must leave for 48 hrs. then you can come back. There were lot's of large trailers and RV's all along the shore, at the water's edge. This area is actually North Padre? South Padre, we were told was a 3 hr drive. It does not look that far on a map, but, I'll trust the reports.

you aught to know that there is no electricity, or running water, so have your generator and large supply of water ready. There are a couple of state park style fixed no water restrooms, near World Winds. You must be able to sleep with wind sometimes rocking your rig all night. It looked like a fun time to me.

For food and supplies, you would have to head about 10 miles or so, to town, but it's all pretty mellow. Lot's of good places to eat, entertainment is right on the beach.

As for South Padre, someone else who has been there will have to jump in to comment on the camping possibilities. Good luck....go have some fun! SR

Just got back from South Padre today. Fun time. Had wind every day, but the last day was a little lite. Got my buddy from work up and riding, along with his son and his girlfriend. They all were stoked on kiting. It was fun to see. His son was ripping up wind his second day flying kites, amazing. Best day was doing a down winder from the hotel to the North Flats area on the Gulf side in the waves. Then walking across the island to the North Flats and pulling my first front spin with a down loop. Defiantly a good place to progress and learn new stuff.

Anyway, I saw a RV camping area close to the South Flats area, just north of the La Quinta Hotel. It didn't look like anything special though. It's on the Gulf side of the road and the water is a walk up and over a dune. Also, the South Flats is a County Park and I believe you can camp there, info says you can camp at any county park. There's a 3 dollar daily fee there. This is just on the north edge of town. Air Padre is a good shop to contact to get info from, they have pretty good info on places to stay on their web page too.
The one recommendation I have is definitely eat at Daddy's. It's a Seafood Creole place. Very good. Made me miss the food in New Orleans.

john l

muy bien , no tequila

Best camping I know of on Padre is a trailer park which you get to by going south just after you cross the bridge which takes you from the mainland the the Island. It is on the gulf side so if you want to sail in the laguna you will need to drive north a few miles to the flats where most people sail & kite. Park is very nice with grass, etc. I don't know the name but I am sure you could find it on the South Padre Chamber of Commerce site. Great little oyster bar right by it.

Duane Karren

thanks all on the camping ideas!

Any issues with fin size for those big board / low wind days? Is a 50 cm too long for the water depth? Are weed fins best in that area?

thanks
Dave

AMEN! Great to hear about a good sailing sesh! Thanks Sarah...

Hi Dave, If you are talking sailing at Bird Island around World Winds.....all the boards that we used had standard fins, although I did not use any, as large as a 50....BUT a lot of the locals there had weed fins on their boards, and said for 2 reasons....shallows and weeds that happen a bit later. I think south Padre has a much worse weed and shallows problem, so highly recomended there.

In the area's that we sailed a 50 would work, you would just need to be aware, and learn the areas. Most of the bottom is mud, which I felt, several times when I got too close to small little islands. Never hit anything hard, but be prepared to sink in mud up to your shins, and have your booties full of mud.

The operation at Worldwinds was very good. They had a broad range of equipment but not a lot of depth. Luckily we were there with just a few renters and we didn't all go for the same rigs. I too was impressed with the number of beginers that they could handle in a class.

This is what I personally liked best about our spring break trip to Corpus Christi and Padre Island Bird Island Basin. Thanks for a great trip and another bunch of pleasant memories for the scrapbook in my head. I'm lucky to have such awesome sailing buds.