Better World Windsurfing School
  • Home
  • Windsurfing??
    • What is windsurfing?
    • The Windsurfing Bible
    • Great Movie: "Children of the Wind"
    • Windsurfing Action on Sayers Lake >
      • For up-to-date windsurfing action, please see the blog!
      • Bragging: First Planing Jibe with New Severne 8.1
      • Sailing on Sayers Lake with Anna S.
      • Tom & Bill on the Lake, July 1, 2012
      • Planing Si, Jibing No
      • Windsurfing Sayers Lake June 17 2012
      • Sailing with Alex and Sveta
      • Apr 16 2012: Day 4 Sayers Windsurfing
      • Apr15 2012: Sayers Lake windsurf day3
      • 2012 Season Opener at Sayers
      • Windsurfing on Sayers Lake Oct 17 2011
    • How old are people who windsurf?
    • World Class Freestyle: Tonky Frans, One of Bonaire's Best
    • World Class Freestyle: Gollito Estredo
    • Pursuing the World Speed Record
    • Maui Wave Sailing in 2014
  • Your Lesson
    • Cost
    • Prerequisites
    • Equipment Provided
    • What Do We Do? >
      • The Instructional Sequence
      • Danielle's Lesson
      • Video of Part of a Lesson
    • Your Instructor
    • After the First Lesson
    • More Advanced Instruction
    • ABK's Website
    • Gift Certificates
  • Nonprofits?
    • My Favorite This Week
    • For People >
      • Local >
        • Schlow Centre Region Library
        • Eos Therapeutic Riding
        • Mid-State Literacy Council
        • WPSU (public broadcasting)
        • Centre Volunteers in Medicine
        • Habitat for Humanity
        • Howard Volunteer Fire Company
        • Centre Peace
        • Bob Perks Fund (supports cancer patients & families)
      • National & Global >
        • National >
          • Intact America
          • Wounded Warrior Project
          • American Red Cross
          • League of Women Voters
          • Citizens' Climate Lobby
          • Project Vote Smart
          • Disabled American Veterans
          • Democracy is for People
          • Government Accountability Project
          • Food Studies Institute
        • Global >
          • Committee to Protect Journalists
          • Seeds of Peace
          • WorldWatch Institute
          • Human Rights Watch
          • Center for Amazon Community Ecology
          • Doctors without Borders USA
          • Amnesty International
          • The Malala Fund
          • Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
          • Nonviolent Peace Force
          • International Rescue Committee
          • PCI-Media Impact
          • Buddhist Global Relief
          • Union of Concerned Scientists
    • For Other Animals & the Environment >
      • Local >
        • Penns Valley Conservation Association
        • Clearwater Conservancy
        • Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture
        • Moshannon Group, Sierra Club
        • Centre County PAWS
        • Howard Boro Park & Recreation
        • Beech Creek Watershed Association
        • Bald Eagle Watershed Association
      • National & Global >
        • Citizens' Climate Lobby
        • Rare
        • Chesapeake Bay Foundation
        • WorldWatch Institute
        • World Wildlife Fund
        • Union of Concerned Scientists
        • Center for Amazon Community Ecology
        • Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
        • Oceanic Preservation Society
        • National Wildlife Federation
        • In Defense of Animals
  • Alumni
    • Testimonials
    • Centre Daily Times Story
    • Random Alumni Photos
  • Rentals
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Location
  • Other Central PA Places to Windsurf
    • Overview Maps
    • Glendale Lake
    • Rose Valley Lake
    • Lake Chillisquaque
  • National Weather Service Forecast
  • Tips
    • A Comprehensive Learn-to-Windsurf Site (Under Development)
    • An Outstanding FAQ Site
    • Outstanding Carve Jibe Instruction Video
    • Downhaul Threading
  • Wind Forecast by Windfinder
  • Windsurfing Season
  • iWindsurf.com
  • USWindsurfing.org
  • Baltimore Area Boardsailing Ass'n (BABA)
    • BABA's Web Site
  • Jibe City Bonaire
Picture

Report by Ned G. from Bloomsburg:

This is from October 12, 2007:
The weather radio was calling for NW gusts to 30 mph, and, unusually, I had the day off. So I packed up and headed to Montour Preserve [containing Lake Chillisquaque], where the coal-burning plant is (near White Hall, PA). They have a man-made lake that is close to a mile across at its widest end by the dam. There is not much lake for fetching the wind, but the surrounding land is very low on all sides.

My 4/3 wetsuit was amply warm, and my 7.5 sail (with 125-liter board) was overpowered in the gusts. Plane-through carving jibes in Pennsylvania? Yes, and lots of them! After down-rigging to a 6.1 sail, I was still doing speed runs in the gusts. It was definitely my best day of PA sailing. Oh, and did I mention that the parking lot was empty?

There are two launch sites, straddling the widest portion of the lake. The one on the east side has a bathroom and a boat ramp. The one on the west side is right by the dam, has a nice grassy area for rigging, a nice stone beach, and no bathroom or port-a-potty facilities (though there are nearby woods). At its deepest, the lake is about 30 feet deep. The water was not too cold on Friday, October 12. There were no weeds, so I used a straight fin. By the rules, you need a boat permit and PFD to launch. PPL employees drove around in their official trucks, but none bothered me whatsoever.

I launched from the west site and did 0.4-mile reaches across to the divider between the two lobes of the lake. The northwest wind was almost aligned with the west lobe of the lake. A south wind would come over the 10-foot-high dam, which would probably give clean wind. The northernmost half of the west lobe is off-limits for boating. As I mentioned before, I could not see any big hills in any direction. The divider between the two lobes, however, is wooded and kills the wind that goes across it. The big open area by the dam seems pretty darn good for sailing.
The photos at right were taken on an entirely different sort of day. My only visit ever to this fine lake. There was so little wind it seemed to take half an hour to go 100 yards.
Proudly powered by Weebly