VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

trying to gauge kiter, windsurfer, surfer population in BC and where they play. I recall being one of very few Harrison Lake sailors in 1987 with a few more Squamish and Nitinat sailors at the time, but not that many, more surfers than windborders I imagine....this # has exploded with our newish kiter community.

Anyone have some educated guesses about #'s in BC centers?
For example: Are there 30 active kiters and 30 sailors, 20 surfers in Saanich,Vic, Sooke area for example? Courtenay, Campbell R, Nanaimo? How many in Van, Whistler, Squamish? Kamloops, Merrit? Okanagan? There's a couple in Terrace, Rupert I know, anybody up there have good estimates of your pals? Some of the dealers might have good clues.....There were some 350 active Nitinat society people at one point or am I off base? BWD memberlist show 140 and does have indications of locations but not all are on net and some have more than 1 family member active.

thx for any input. Poll is kinda weird , will give it a try or respond to message directly [smilie=beer.gif] Cheers. Kus

i know of many people that have never registered on here, or just don't have the internet ... also, why lump surfers into this? ... there's probably hundreds of surfers that never even come to this site, and many don't bother with internet either.

Well, I figure there's a number of us who sailboard/kite and when there's dick for wind we surf or bike....was gonna throw mountain biking into this thing but that wouldda gotten kinda broad...and lots of people figure they mountain bike when riding a graded road...

Hundreds of people who surf more than 7 days/year in BC? Kinda doubt it....but maybe. That's the idea of the question.

KUS wrote: Hundreds of people who surf more than 7 days/year in BC? Kinda doubt it....but maybe. That's the idea of the question.

it's true ... the s coast is retarded these days ... and longbeach is even worse

if you went to the beach everyday it was windy in vancouver you could see different faces all the time. lots of ppl own kites but dont use em......

why do want to know...curious...?

35+ in Kelowna
20+ in Penticton
10+ in Vernon
10+ in Merritt
25+ in Kamloops
15+ in Revelstoke (Three Valley Gap Lake)

These would be the most common faces at the beach. There is the odd weekend warrior too.

these are the numbers for the north coast,
windsurfers - 7 in Rupert, 11 - Terrace, 5 - Smithers, 1 - QCI
surfers - 5 - QCI (locals) 2 - Rupert , most i've seen in any spot
at one time ( 3 )

so, standing on a construction site at Highway 4 outside of Ucluelet I counted upwards of 50 surfboards going by within an hour and a half ....in the pouring rain.....90% new cars, new board bags and obviously wealthy owners.

Can anyone confirm that these things ever get wet? That the beaches there are crawling with surfers?? I just can't see the "gently raised" people out there in the rain and cold givin' er without perhaps a spa on the beach within reach, I guess there are a few now.

I haven't been to Tofino since 1988 but I observed two surfers there all summer then, holy crap!

KUS wrote:so, standing on a construction site at Highway 4 outside of Ucluelet I counted upwards of 50 surfboards going by within an hour and a half ....in the pouring rain.....90% new cars, new board bags and obviously wealthy owners.

Can anyone confirm that these things ever get wet? That the beaches there are crawling with surfers?? I just can't see the "gently raised" people out there in the rain and cold givin' er without perhaps a spa on the beach within reach, I guess there are a few now.

I haven't been to Tofino since 1988 but I observed two surfers there all summer then, holy crap!

yep i tried to tell you ... there's a much bigger population of surfers than windsurfers/kiters (at least on the island)

still, judging by the shape of the bags, drivers and cars I bet these boards are as much as status symbol as the benz and porsche hood ornament..... even if they do actually get wet it's likely not 7 days or more per year, ya think?

well what i think is judging people by their vehicles and their gear on the roof is pretty weak, and pointless. i also think that people buying nice gear and not using it much is good for both the shops and for bottom feeding used gear consumers like myself.

Surfing is a symbol out here, thats why I quit. I surfed here probably 8 years ago when I was visiting home from San Diego and it was nice, not many people in the water, everyone friendly. Now it is a zoo, I think surfers out here watch the Cali videos and figure that is how they should be. I surfed most of the major breaks in South Cal and never had a problem because surfing is a culture there. Mind you you can't be an idiot on the waves either. As Kus said surfing is a status symbol here, it is the "in thing", problem is this fad is not going away. Now I just sold my last bought surfboard ( I kept one I made for those very North island adventures) and am getting windsurf gear.
So now all you windsurfers are stuck with another Kook windsurfer to watch out for... By the way, thanks for all the help in my many posts asking for tips and feedback, hope I can pass it on one day.

looks like a dead thread,.. but i was in Tofino surfing this weekend.. and the beaches we busy.. there were probably 80 people out even when the weather turned ugly....

I'd say there are 1000 people on the island who surf 7 or more dayes a year. I was in a group of 20, and we were a minority on any wave...

alec wrote:looks like a dead thread,.. but i was in Tofino surfing this weekend.. and the beaches we busy.. there were probably 80 people out even when the weather turned ugly....

sorry to rant like this, but the south island was F-ing g/\y last weekend as well ... both spots at J were completely plugged with sh*tloads of hippies and people i've never seen before and that was with lame surf too! ... paddled out and only knew one other person ... then had to surf around kook pylons all over the place ... what a F-ing joke ... shoulda gone to columbia!

everyone's a F-ing surfer these days