What I hear: (never been there)

The chop will drive you insane. It is cool for the first couple sessions and then you are sick of it

Variety: there is none. On Maui (or in Oz) you can get flat water slalom, and a wave spot and a choppy B&J spot all in a couple of kilometres. Gorge gives you only the latter.

Cost: 1 month in gorge or 3 in WA?

Explosive f###ing wind from dawn til dusk. Sounds good to me!

I went to the Columbia River Gorge about 15 years ago to windsurf. We had a car to get around. You could park yourself at Hood River and sail from the foreshore. However there are good launches in other places. The wind varies in strength up and down the river. The area is so beautiful and different to Australia that you would probably want to travel. You have to remember we are talking about America, a place that makes Australia look like the world leader when it comes to public transportation. I'd be surprised if there is any public transport around the George as its country area. If you go there, the bargain food is salmon. Buy a fish everyday and cook it in different ways. Very nice and cheap.


I also went to Lancelin for a holiday about 10 years ago. There isn't a huge amount to see around there; no mountain ranges, waterfalls or volcanoes. Once there you could just hang out there and go windsurfing. If you could, camping at the caravan park would be the go as you would probably hook up with some windsurfer tourists from England and the rest of Europe.

Firstly you need to understand that the best time to go to the Gorge is Mid June to Mid August. The windiest time is probably late July. However, they have good and bad years. The wind is mainly dependent on cold air over the Pacific and warm air over the desert. This weather setup unfortunately can reverse or stop altogether any time of the year. I went there back in '91 and never sailed anything bigger than 4.5 during my 2 month stay. I also went in '02 and only had 2 days of wind in the 21 days I was there (apparently it was their worst year on record).

Now specific to your questions:

Cheaper than Maui: Yes...

Windier: Yes and no... but when it blows it usually blows big... read you will need a 3.5 sail or you won't have a lot of fun.

Driving necessary: It can be done... I have met this German guy who stayed there for 6 months and always caught a lift with someone. He also scammed his way into the local Pizza joint to get "free" access to their salad bar and sweet talked his way on to the couch in a house full of windsurfers.

If that's not you thing than you could catch a Greyhound from Portland to Hood River. Either stay at Youth hostel in Hood River (sail the Hood River marina) or at the Bingen Inn Hostel (sail the Bingen Marina). Too problems with this: Firstly, to get the best wind you will need to travel as the sector with the most wind seems to travel up and down the river depending on how the pacific weather systems are. Secondly, the Gorge is more than just Windsurfing. You will need transportation to see all the cool places there.



So what gives, if I'd be you I'd learn how to drive a car and get license. The Gorge has been one of the best places I have ever been too. The overall combo of friendly people, lots of wind, lots of non wind options make this is fab place. Then if you feel like a wave sail you can simply head down to the Oregon coast. There are some world calls wave sailing spots. Just get ready for the ice waters of the Pacific.

shi thouse said...


Surely if your going to travel you can do a lot better than travelling all the way to sail on a river. Why not go to England in the middle of winter to sail on one of their lochs if thats the case?

The Columbia River is a mighty river. No river in Australia flows through country similar to that the Columbia River flows through. No Australian and probably English river has the volume of water flowing in it that flows down the gorge. Massive barges sail up and down the river all the time. Its a wide river too, in a fairly narrow valley.

A yank windsurfing magazine is more likely going to look at windsurfing spots there than those overseas.


I doubt many English lochs have towns setup for windsurfing on their banks and have heaps of wind every summer. The Columbia Gorge is a special place geographically and for windsurfing, just like Maui.

W.A Geraldton, Sunset Beach Caravan Park, is on the beach, if you wanna sail out thru the whitewater. Coronation beach about 20 Km away the best of everything there, ref break or flatwater,

I've been to the Gorge and I've sailed it in August and it was damnnnn cold when I was there.