Hi, I am heading to hood river in July and was wondering if it’s worth figuring out how to bring my SUP DW 8’2” board from Hawaii.
based on the conditions, there seems to be great days with large, surfable bumps. Bringing a parawing board would be easier to travel with and to carve better, but I’m not sure what the conditions will be low till I’m there.
What has been your guys experience there in July?
Also heading there in July for the first time.
FWIW I’ll be packing an Appletree 87L Midlength (which I can PW/Wing/SUP), a paddle, parawings and Code X series foils.
Unless you really want to paddle up for lengthy downwinders I can’t see a reason not to go a smaller board with parawings. It’s July, we’d be unlucky not to get good winds.
Hey there! For July conditions and summer crowding, I would recommend a midlength board and a parawing that goes upwind. Due to some pretty serious bad behavior by a particular pro team last July, the Tunnel 4 parking area is no longer a legal access point for Hatchery downwinders. It is fully signed and they will be ticketing and/or towing. We are currently using a small zone that is privately owned that holds 10 rigs max to launch from the Tunnel 4 zone. The free-for-all that has been the norm for the past few summers is over and most of our local crew is starting the transition from pure DW to parawing UW/DW due to the fragility of access.
The good news is that Viento to HR downwinders are still good to go as are the eastern gorge sites.
With the advent of good UW/DW parawings, Doug’s beach is another really solid option that develops great swell on the 22+ days.
When you show up at the Hatchery Basement, don’t be surprised or offended if this same info is shared with you by one of our local crew. There were simply so many instances of bad behavior last summer that we will be speaking up more to share best practices for access.
Cheers!
I would say leave your sup at home - I am seeing last model year used Armstrong DWP boards in 98L to 108L for $400-$600. It’s not worth the board fees for what is a killer parawing spot IMO.
We have a heatwave through Monday, but had great conditions last week. It’s on!
This is a great place to practice SUP foil but as you live in Hawaii, just SUP foil there and bring a mid length / parawings. Avoid the Hatchery at all costs unless you’re just passing through on a Viento / HR downwinder. There’s construction on the White Salmon river RR bridge causing traffic issues coming from HR and then there’s the traffic issues getting in and out of the Hatchery itself in July. You can launch from the HR waterfront and be at tunnel four in nine reaches. You’ll quickly learn it’s pointless though as there are no waves above tunnel five anyway 
Save the car shuttling for further East or runs that are more than a couple of miles long. Tunnel four to the basement is only 2.3 miles
if there are no waves above tunnel 5, do parts of the Viento/HR downwind suck?
I’m on visit #5 (45+ days?) or so for HR, so take it with a grain of salt, but here’s how I would rate the sections.
Rufus is an incredible 7-8 miler that once you get past the bridge. @Spraylord has done something like a 50 miler through a bunch of bends so also might have beta.
There can be some dull stretches on that run, but its scenic the whole way and its good practice. I typically spend some time looping the Viento stretch, then blast through a lot of the mid section unless I can find sections to loop at the edges, then do a couple of swell / hatch / basement loops.
The runs near Rufus are great and tons of open river.
Rowena to Dougs is a great parawing / wing stretch that can be looped upwind /downwind. Lots more space there than the hatch. Just be careful of the nasty weeds towards the edges of the river.
do you think a 2.9m parawing is enough, or should I try to get a 3.5 too? I’m around 140 lbs.
If it’s averaging 20+ on the Swell City meter there’s enough to paddle up at tunnel four. It’s just twice as easy by tunnel five. You’re not missing much between four and five.
The Viento meter reads a bit high so it needs to be 27ish average to actually ride waves from there. Staying along the Oregon side is best until you’re past Mitchell Pt. Making the transition to the WA. side to go through the hatchery has stumped me more than once.
The descriptions by both E and V above sound pretty good to me. As the current starts to diminish later in July the waves in the Viento to Hatch stretch become smaller and/or it needs stronger wind.
Still good from tunnel five to the White Salmon. Trying to get to the HR waterfront is always a lot of pumping or a re-deploy of the PW.
Excellent day on the Rufus run today 
You should be fine with a 2.9M!
Yesterday at Rufus was super fun! Saw one guy on a SUP come from somewhere upwind of thge silos, but I didn’t miss the paddle yesterday.
Nice, what size parawings are you going to bring?
I’m coming (from Sydney) via Oahu for a week where I’m hoping to SUP foil surf but will also bring all my parawings incase I get some light wind there.
I’ll have 3m, 4m and 5m F-One Quests
I don’t know if it was mentionned on the X-Foils podcast but can you spill the beans ? Which team was it? Ruining a spot should deserve a call out.
There may have been one particular incident or complaint that sent the situation over the top but…
It was going to get shut down regardless as it was a very dangerous entry and exit to the parking on a 55mph road.
