Padre Island January 2020
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 10:20 amA couple weeks ago I made a winter windsurf trip down to S. Padre initially, then hit N. Padre on the way back. I tried to time this with good wind forecast, but wind ended up light and inconsistent throughout the trip. Here are some takeaways:
- The drive is ~24 hours with halfway point at Roswell, NM. Hotels are currently cheap (~$60) in Roswell and on S. Padre.
- Social distancing was no problem, going in gas stations was probably biggest chance of exposure.
- S. Padre wind predictions and reports seem quite optimistic. Possibly all the large buildings compromise wind with South direction. On one day all forecasts were for 20-25mph, but all I saw was 8-10.
- There are some locations around S. Padre off the island that reportedly do better with a light S. wind.
- Sailing off the beach at S. Padre sure looks fun, but never had enough wind to try it.
- Sailing S. Padre on the laguna side is really shallow (2-3ft at south flats, 3-4ft at north flats) and weedy. I didn't have a weed fin and this was a big problem at south flats. North flats was better, but still wished I had a proper fin.
- After several windless days on S. padre and strong forecast with wind a no show I decided to throw in the towel. As I was driving toward Corpus Christi the wind seemed promising so I swung down to N. Padre and sailed Bird Island Basin (BIB). The wind was light, but straight offshore so I managed to stay planing with a 7m. BIB is a little deeper than S. Padre and doesn't seem to have weeds. Also, no big buildings nearby.
- Camping at BIB is decent, right next to the sailing beach and well utilized by a crew of windsurfers. Otherwise, hotels are ~20miles away.
- Ocean sailing at N. padre looks same as S. padre, just need a decent wind.
Maybe I just had bad luck (again), but the historical data from Iwindsurf showing consistent sailable wind in January sure didn't play out for me. Forecast and report for 20mph seemed more like 10-12mph at the beaches. I've sailed N. padre twice in March in the past and it was much better.
- The drive is ~24 hours with halfway point at Roswell, NM. Hotels are currently cheap (~$60) in Roswell and on S. Padre.
- Social distancing was no problem, going in gas stations was probably biggest chance of exposure.
- S. Padre wind predictions and reports seem quite optimistic. Possibly all the large buildings compromise wind with South direction. On one day all forecasts were for 20-25mph, but all I saw was 8-10.
- There are some locations around S. Padre off the island that reportedly do better with a light S. wind.
- Sailing off the beach at S. Padre sure looks fun, but never had enough wind to try it.
- Sailing S. Padre on the laguna side is really shallow (2-3ft at south flats, 3-4ft at north flats) and weedy. I didn't have a weed fin and this was a big problem at south flats. North flats was better, but still wished I had a proper fin.
- After several windless days on S. padre and strong forecast with wind a no show I decided to throw in the towel. As I was driving toward Corpus Christi the wind seemed promising so I swung down to N. Padre and sailed Bird Island Basin (BIB). The wind was light, but straight offshore so I managed to stay planing with a 7m. BIB is a little deeper than S. Padre and doesn't seem to have weeds. Also, no big buildings nearby.
- Camping at BIB is decent, right next to the sailing beach and well utilized by a crew of windsurfers. Otherwise, hotels are ~20miles away.
- Ocean sailing at N. padre looks same as S. padre, just need a decent wind.
Maybe I just had bad luck (again), but the historical data from Iwindsurf showing consistent sailable wind in January sure didn't play out for me. Forecast and report for 20mph seemed more like 10-12mph at the beaches. I've sailed N. padre twice in March in the past and it was much better.