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Wind Direction | Compass Heading | Notes |
South West | 240° | Pocomo Point - The classic direction - Sideshore at Pocomo (more info on Pocomo Point), sailing across the harbor to Coatue The more you are heading down to the right, or towards Wawinet the more West there is in it and the more you are heading up towards town the more south is in it. The more west there is in the breeze the better it is on the outside of Coatue Downwinder: Jetties beach (on the inside) to Pocomo. Insane downwinder, hit four points along Coatue as you sail to Pocomo. Three are jumpable. Short Downwinder: Drop a car down by the Wauwinet. You can park on the road by the ranger station just before the hotel. The quick downwinder from Pocomo to Wauwinet is fun on a light wind day if it is hard to stay in the pond at Pocomo or if you are sailing with people who can't stay upwind. Jumping Bass Point, right across from Pocomo is fun and there is a big pond on the other side. You can kind of hug the shore of Coatue all the way down but there really isn't any great flat water after the first point. The best place to land at the end is just a bit upwind of the Wauwinet dock. The beach is nice and wide there. The Wauwinet House has an outside bar in the Summer. Ocean: Really, you can sail the whole south shore on SW. Cisco is the best. But in the summer, its windier at Pocomo. It just is. |
South | 180°-200° | The ugly stepchild of the Southwester. South can be solid but it is usually more gusty and junky then the classic SW. The best kiteboarding is at Pocomo. If it is due south it is directly side shore to the west side of the Point. You sail straight up towards town. Watch out because if you go downwind and miss the point the next stop is Coatue. You can also sail inside the pond, especially if it is more like 200° (the more west the better). Giant pond and you will never see it line up better for jumping the point. Madaket: If it is a blow out at Pocomo or you are looking for a nice combo of Ocean and Pond Madaket is a good choice. People have also been sailing south wind in Madaket Harbor, launching from the beach at the guard house at the enterance to Smith's Point. Most of the year you can also drive on at Smith's point and that is often the best option. The wind is dead off shore and can be really gusty. Here you will get either the best session of your life or the worst. You can sail the inside on your twin and then walk over to the ocean for a little surf board session. Tom Nevers: South and SSW sets up side on to dead on at Tom Nevers and can be fun if it is windy enough |
West | 270° - 250° | The more west in the breeze the better it is Outside at
Pocomo. Cross over Coatue for small to decent sized waves. It is a bit
out there but sail with some friends and it is ok. West is also a fantastic point jumping direction at Pocomo. Ocean Option: Dead West (270) is dead side at Madequecham. The beach changes over time so sometimes it is a tight launch but sometimes it is spacious. The surf break is pretty good and if there is a swell running and it is ripping W you will be very hard pressed to get better ocean conditions. Great Photo Gallery of a truly epic Madequecham Day. (Photos by Josh Harde) |
North West | 315° | Jetties: Side on towards the west jetty on the outside and side off on the inside. It can get flat as glass on the inside but if it is low tide there may be no water. Be careful of the channel, this is really an off season only launch. Also be aware that strong currents here can be very dangerous. North and North West winds are usually morning only so skip breakfast if it looks good first thing. Water Tower: Probably the best place to sail some small waves on NW. It is a bit of a sail out to them and it can be a bit choppy. It has to blow quite a bit to work up some waves so it is hit or miss but it is a safe place to sail.Plus, if it is going more North NW, its not off-shore. Water Tower can be like a mini ocean. Ocean Madaket to Cisco: Insane ocean direction when the breeze is good. Perfect sideshore.If it is NW and you are looking to Park & Play, Madaket is the beach. |
North | 360° | Jetties: Side shore on the inside, onshore on the outside. Pretty good sailing on the inside during the off season. Pocomo: Great sailing, heading towards town on starboard tack. You can work upwind a little and get some nice butter underneath fourth (?) point. You can jump that point from this direction and then get some butter all the way to the shacks. |
North East | 30°-50° | Jetties: Classic NE spot. Can sail either the inside or outside but the outside is much better. The outside is side on from the right. Not flat and sometimes the chop can be a bummer but it is a little less right inside the west jetty. A little further off you can get some nice waves built up and along the shallow water on the inside of the jetty you can get some small breaking waves. If you have a problem you will just end up down the beach with a bit of a walk back. On the inside it is side on and choppy. Not sailable in the summer. Beach Club: Just downwind from Jetties. It you can't sail Jetties in the summer you can still here. Windsurfing only. Water Tower: if it is summer you can sail here but it is better to sail from Jetties or the beach club. Pocomo: off shore wind but the pond on the west side of the point is just amazing. You can easily hit three or more tricks in one run along the point. If you break something you are gone. Downwinder: Pocomo to Jetties: The last bit from first point into Jetties can be tricky.
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East | 70° - 100° | Jetties: Side to side off on the outside. Kind of sketch as it goes more offshore. This is a unusual direction but it is total butter along the jetty. However it is kind of sketchy because of the off shore situation. Ocean: I say Tom Nevers but Surfside and Cisco can be awesome. When it goes North of 70 it goes a bit off-shore. You can sail 'Sconset, but there is just something weird about it. |
South East | 140° | Cisco to Madaket (Ocean): sideshore. Some of the best ocean sailing available. Downwinder from Cisco to Madaket is unsailed but looks awesome on paper. Coskata: Awesome sailing. Sideshore to side on. This is a great and very safe place to sail. If you get blown downwind you will just end up down the beach on Coatue. No flat water but the chop can get pretty steep, which can be fun. The more south the wind goes the more onshore it is. During the summer you have to buy a beach sticker to get out there. Tom Nevers rocks the E and SE. Its fantastic on starting at 60 degrees and going south. |