Windsurfing near Montrose Beach
- Greenwood Beach (9 km)
- Gilson Park / Wilmette Sailing Beach (13 km)
- Wolf Lake (34 km)
- Keegs (46 km)
- hotel Zeon (53 km)
This is Good is N, NE, S, and SW - the thing to watch for is strong W - this can be tempting, and is dooable but can also blow you out into the lake to feed the Asian carp and snakeheads.
You have to schlog out beyond the jetty to get to the wind when it is S.
This place is wavy in N or NW - when it is strong - like right after a front - it is Great! You can get long rides in shallow water over soft sand.
If it is not strong enough, there is often confused lumpy chop which provides a good opportunity to stand around in neck deep water and have waves crash over you and your gear.
I think the best conditions for hear are the 25 SW that happens sometimes - you can have endless runs with swells on the outside and fast flat water on the inside.
I think the best place to par is at the north end of the beach where the road goes right (heading north) toward the beach - park here or up the road by the beach a bit. THese is soft grass (wathc for dog poop) to rig on. You have to carry your gear down to the beach - this involves going down three or four oversized steps and dodging people.
Sometimes the lifeguards try to tell you not launch from the north end of the beach and say you can launch from the south end. This is fine - except for the fact that you can't park within a 1/4 mile of the beach at the south end. Sometimes you will see people drive up the walkway to the beach on the south end and park near the beach house. I got a 100.00 ticket for doing this once. That sucked and I had to appear in traffic court.
If the lifeguards are doing this, you can park at the north end and carry your gear down and launch from the dog beach - adjacent to the north end of the people beach.
One last note - with an on shore (N - NE) wind - sometimes a truly disgusting fecal slick develops against the beach extending out about 20 feet. I probably lost a few years of my life due to this - but I was stupid enough to go throught it to get to the deep water. Other than this, Montrose is an ideal place to sail.