Nimpkish is a reliable high wind spot for June/July on Vancouver Island.

Trip Location: Nimpkish Lake is about a 3 hr and 20 min drive from Nanaimo, mostly on a paved road. There is at most a 10-min dirt road at the end. Follow highway 19 past Woss, and in about 20 minutes there will be a turn off to Nimpkish Lake Windsurfing Trail. [Need more here]. At the end of this document is a picture that shows the final destination. In the picture, the left turn is not Kinman road, but the next left turn (a bit after the campground). 

Campsite conditions etc: There are no assigned campsites. Head for the big open grassy area near the water that will be on your left as you drive in, and find a spot nearby to put a tent that is at least a little bit protected. Some picnic tables are available. There are many RVs at this site that stay for weeks at a time and feel very possessive about the place, and the spots for tents can be limited; we may have to be quite close to each other. While the open grass area is great for rigging, it is slanted and open to the wind gusts so not the ideal place to put a tent. The only facilities are the outhouses. There is no water, but the lake is a freshwater lake and many locals drink the water. Bring some purifying tablets. You can also drive to Port McNeill (about 30 km north) to get water/groceries. At the turnoff to Nimpkish from highway 19, there is an old building where you can get access to WiFi (last year it was 20 bucks for a week). Good enough for loading messages but not much else. There is a nice coffee shop in Port McNeill where one can hang out with a laptop. 

Sailing conditions: This trip is awesome for intermediate to advanced L3s. Wind starts late (3 pm or even 5 pm some days), and often blows late (until 8 pm). The wind is less reliable than Nitinaht, so we may not sail everyday. For good wind, look for a gradient between Woss and Port McNeill. A wind forecast for Johnstone Strait

is also helpful. The wind blows down the lake. As you can see from the picture below, there is a giant wind shadow at the beach, which gets quite strong wind gusts every few minutes. You may need 3-5 waterstarts to get out. :) For this reason there are also no kiters launching here. When the wind is strong, there are bigger waves than in Nitinaht, and the conditions are generally more challenging/fun.


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