I'm thinking of heading up tomorrow (Fri) to Lake Andrea in Pleasant Prairie, WI so I don't have to contend with the monster shorebreak on Lake Michigan. The forecast is calling for a NE or ENE with 26+ winds.

Would this be a good place for tomorrow's wind direction? (The flatter water is enticing, but the buildings to the E and NE of the lake, as shown on Google Maps, give me some pause.) Thoughts?

I remember sailing there once last year in a similar wind direction. It was gusty as usual but doable.

Sailed Lake Andrea today, and had a pretty good session. The wind was a gusty 20-30 mph, but it served my purposes, which was to work on jibes. I started on a 108L and 6.0 freeride sail, but because of the lulls, I decided to switch to my 145L board with a small fin. This worked great: on flat the water the board was not too bouncy; I could get through the lulls; and I could tack easily when there was not enough wind to jibe. The wind eventually picked up, so I switched to a 5.2 and that worked well. As I was derigging, the conditions were probably back to a 6.0. Three other guys out there beside myself. One said that SW and NE are good. Another guy said when he sailed SW there, it was more steady.

All in all, I'd say that this is a pretty good option for intermediates on big NE days. There are some wind shadows, both on the north side of the lake and in the middle of the lake due to the factory directly to the east of the lake (see my earlier pic). But I had plenty of runs where I was powered up enough that I could deal with the shadows and still have enough power to jibe. Probably had 20+ jibes. As I was sailing, I thought to myself: the last time I've had this many jibes in one day was in Bonaire. So I officially declared little Lake Andrea my cold-weather "Jibe City."

The place is not perfect (but which place is?) -- it's small, the wind shadows shift as the wind shifts, and it is gusty. But the upsides are these: 1) because it's so small, intermediate sailors have no choice but to work on turns, b) it's a relatively close drive (at least for me, coming from the northern suburbs), and 3) it is safe. No gnarly shorebreak; no danger of getting slammed into the rocks or a breakwall. I do look forward to the day when I will be able to wavesail on the really big stuff on Lake Michigan, but for now, Andrea is a good alternative on the big NE days.

Pics.... Greenwood and L. Andrea, both taken this morning.