HOME    TRAVEL LOG    MOUNTAIN BIKING    WINDSURFING    STORY ARCHIVES    RV INFO    PHOTOS    CONTACT US   

home

We came down here in May 2006 after spending the spring at Bird Island Basin in our motorhome. 

Carey had windsurfed down to Baffin Bay once from Bird Island, and that was quite an adventure (chronicled on the CCWA forum here).  We'd been vaguely curious about what it might be like as a more conventional sailing spot ever since, and decided we'd take a couple of days and drive around to check out the launch and overall scene.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we didn't get to sail this time, but it was an interesting visit nonetheless.

We'd found on the internet a nice looking RV campground near the shore (complete with electricity and water and grass and everything) and we were curious to see if it might be a viable alternative to BIB for windsurfing from the RV.

One problem became obvious immediately upon arrival: there's a tall chain-link fence around the whole campground.  We chose a campsite near the main entrance to minimize the amount of fenceline we'd have to walk around to reach the water:

There would be plenty of nice sites to choose from, but unfortunately, they're separated from the shore by the fence:

Beyond the fence there's a road and about 100-200 yards of grass and trees to the shore (just out of frame to the left, below).  That would be a bit of a hike with gear, but it wouldn't be too bad... if it wasn't for the darn fence:

The nearest possible launch to the main campground entrance (the one open spot in the fence) is the pier.  Launching from here would be theoretically possible but definitely challenging due to yet another fence and a concrete drop down:

There was one set of stairs that led down, but you could cross under the pier if the wind direction called for it.  We figured you could either rig on the grass above then use a buddy-system to hand sails down over the fence, or just rig down on the sand.  Not much room to work with though.

About a 1/4 mile up the coast was a new pavilion tower with a "beach" and small jetty.  This seemed like the most practical launching area, but it would a significant hike from the campground and you'd probably just want to day sail from your car:

It all looked quite pleasant from afar, but up close, it was pretty muddy, prickly, and trashy (mostly beer bottles and fishing detritus).  Also note that the water here is quite choppy compared to BIB, though still moderate compared to Oleander or something.

There's a big double gate in the fence at the far end of the campground that would provide pretty nice access to this launch area, but unfortunately it's kept locked (and the staff didn't seem too interested in loaning us a key or anything, ha!).

It's a shame, because otherwise you could nab a campsite down near that end and have a relatively reasonable schlep across to the water:

Overall, it seemed like a viable place to windsurf from, but unfortunately it was not really an alternative to the set-up at BIB, and we figured if you're gonna sail from your car anyway, there's South Padre for that...

The best approach to sailing Baffin is to buy a house and sail from your backyard... or better yet, just hit a CCWA party and sail from Richie's backyard.  We weren't around for such a party, but we did spend a delightful evening hanging out and could definitely appreciate the set-up he has there.

DEBCAR RV Travel Website Home Page