TC Port Alberni Wind Article Today - FYI
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:26 am
nice find!!
Port Alberni ideal for windsurfing, kiteboarding
By Quintin Winks, Canwest News ServiceJune 15, 2009 8:01 AM
It's a known fact among windsurfers and kiteboarders that the Alberni Inlet is among the best places to windsurf on Vancouver Island.
In fact, it might be one of the best places to surf in Western Canada. Like clockwork the wind throughout the summer rises to 50 to 60 km/h right around 3 p.m. Log booms also keep the water flat, making ideal conditions for those who like to surf at high speeds.
Despite the fantastic conditions, scenery and proximity to services and amenities, those in the know head almost anywhere but Port Alberni to pursue their waterborne passions. That's because there's no access ramp to get riders and their equipment into the water.
"When the tide goes out there's a big mudflat across the bay," said Dale Moffatt, an avid kiteboarder. "So you have to swim across a channel with your gear, which is pretty tough. So I don't go out that often."
Like many others, Moffatt would rather drive 1.5 hours south to Nitnat Lake. There he has the significant space required to set up his kite and the 30-metre cables attached to it.
But unlike Moffatt, who's a local resident in the Alberni Valley, David Strang drives all the way from Nanaimo, such is his passion for windsurfing. Most days he said he'd rather surf in Port Alberni and in order to keep tabs on what the wind is doing, Strang approached the Port Boat House to mount a webcam on the business's roof.
He got permission from manager Steve Cyr and now the webcam links into the Boat House's Internet connection and provides up-to-the-minute images of the Inlet and weather conditions at www.bigwavedave.ca.
Cyr said he agreed to the webcam because it's good for windsurfers as well as fishermen and that's good for tourism. But along with Moffatt and Strang, Cyr said the port just isn't set up to accommodate windsurfers or kiteboarders. He said it would be good to build a small dock, even just a day-tie dock, for watersports enthusiasts.
"We've been trying to encourage the Port Authority to make it user friendly so we can surf here," Strang said. "The city really should consider this another industry. I mean, how many mills need to shut down?"
If an adequate launch was built the word would get out and attract surfers to Port Alberni from all over, Strang said. What's more, their sometimes-spectacular maneuvers and high speeds would draw a significant audience. In turn, that would increase business to local restaurants, caf?s and shops.
"Port Alberni is a very friendly town," Strang said. "Businesses and locals are welcoming and a good deal of windsurfers have money to spend."
And that's exactly what's driving a push by local city councillor John Douglas to develop Port Alberni's waterfront real estate. For now Douglas is focusing his efforts on a patch of land between the Harbour Quay Marina and the Port Boat House. The land is currently owned by a large oil company, Douglas said, adding that it's fenced and ringed with barbed wire and has been sitting idle for at least five years.
"I think they don't want to pay for the clean-up costs so they just let it sit," he said.
What Douglas would like to see on the property is some form of water access. He'd like to see the blast rock that now forms the beach be replaced with sand, much like Vancouver did to create beaches along English Bay. Higher up he'd like to see grass and envisions an area with picnic tables, perhaps the kind of area "where people go to watch old guys play chess" and a place for social gathering.
"Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. you'll see people down there swimming," Douglas said. "But it's not a swimmer friendly beach because of the slippery rocks and steep entrance and that speaks volumes to the demand that's out there."
Douglas is hoping to get the public involved in demonstrating its desire to develop the land, thereby encouraging the landowner to move in that direction.
Creating the small park with a launch for kayakers, windsurfers and other watersports enthusiasts is just one small part of Douglas' push to develop Port Alberni's waterfront all along the Inlet from the old orange bridge, past downtown and on to the old plywood site. He wants the entire waterfront to be accessible to the public. While he's the first to admit his plan will take years, decades even, to come to fruition, he said his emphasis is in the direction that Port Alberni takes, and that's to develop the property that fronts onto Port Alberni's attractive waterfront.
"Any development on the waterfront is a good investment in our future," Douglas said.
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
