Home on the Riviera

Above you can see the entrance to our summer place, "Rowena Shores". This is a fabulous five acres of park like setting located right on the Columbia River in the heart of the spectacular Columbia River Gorge, just 12 miles east of Hood River, located on one of the windiest stretches of the River. This is pretty much the only spot you can rent right on the river in the mid columbia and windsurf, kite or boat right out your back door.

Below is another photo of this scenic spot, taken from right down next to the wind meter, looking back up at the house. Gives you a good idea of the scope of the place, with a nice view of one of the little sand beaches, the gorgeous lawns and the incredible forested mountain backdrop of Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range.

This is a great place to spend a week for the whole family. Many of our regular returning guests have young children. It's a real treat to be able to let the kids run and play in this wonderful, safe environment while the adults go out sailing. This is something you just can't do, even in the best public launch areas. You just don't want to let young kids wander around a public park alone. Here, there are acres of grass to play in... tons of sand toys for the sand beaches leading into the river with a kid-friendly sandy bottom, kayaks, children's bicycles, an outdoor hot tub and lots more.

Here's a nice thank you note from one of our guests in 2007:

As linked from Infonet-online.com, Rowena Shores is also a popular spot for weddings. Over the years, a number of happy couples have exchanged their vows here... May and early June as well as September are the best times to schedule a wedding in the Gorge. Also a popular spot for family reunions, you just can't pick a better spot to get the family together for a fun week with hundreds of activities to choose from.

f course many windsurfers come to The Gorge specifically for the high winds... and you'll usually find plenty of that at Rowena Shores. Just downriver from the famed Doug's Beach, Rowena Shores is located on one of the most consistently windy spots in The Gorge. And even if the wind is better one day at one of the other public spots, east or west, Rowena Shores is located conveniently right in the heart of the Windsurfing Capital of the World, just a short hop down I-84 in either direction to all the hot spots. We've had some monster days in The Gorge over the years, when the river has truly earned its reputation for 'nuclear winds'. Here's a link to a week in the late sailing season of 2007, as immortalized by Clay Feeter former publisher of Windtracks magazine in his Weekly Gust newsletter.

The Gorge has also become a popular spot for kiteboarding as well and Rowena is an idea spot for it especially on lighter days.

Of course there are quieter times at Rowena Shores as well. We also have some other great toys for you and your family to enjoy including a canoe, kayaks, some inexpensive mountainbike-style bicycles, croquet, horseshoes, or just relaxing by the river in lawn chairs or in our luxurious outdoor Jacuzzi spa, and taking in the gorgeous scenery. For our guests and enjoyment and safety we also have a 9' inflatable Zodiac moored in the middle cove with an 8HP outboard. This is available for our guests' use after a brief verbal familiarization, either in person or by telephone. We also have a 20' ski boat that we can take people out for complimentary waterskiing or wakeboarding on the occasional calm day if we are around.

See a lot of fun sunfish videos on YouTube and in particular this David Loring racing video for just how exciting sunfish sailing can be.

Get the video from Dave Loring at SunfishRacing.com

Speaking of "toys", how about a game of TicTacToe?
Click on the button next to each position to put an X there.
Note: Requires JavaScript capable browser...

Message:

Difficulty: Very Easy Easy Medium Hard (may think a long time)

Thanks... that was fun! OK, back to the Gorge...

Property Description

The spacious air-conditioned house is available to rent during the sailing season. The main floor has three bedrooms and 2 baths plus a den with convertible sofa and is large enough to accommodate several couples and/or children. The daylight basement with separate entrance has an additional 2 bedrooms, another bathroom, a large family room and an auxiliary kitchen. The whole place is very comfortably furnished, including a home entertainment center upstairs and down, with televisions, DVDs and VCRs (with library of popular films on DVD), and stereos with CD and cassette player.

All sheets, towels and linens are supplied as well as a full complement of dishes, pots and pans and utensils. The kitchen is equipped with refrigerator, dual ovens, microwave, garbage disposal and dishwasher and there is also a washer and dryer for your convenience. Everything has been provided to make your stay in the Gorge a pleasant and memorable one.

We've even added wireless cable internet access so bring your wireless enabled laptop! Ethernet cables also provided. There is also a gas barbeque on the deck, so you can kick back, have dinner, soak up a few local microbrews, and watch the sun set in the western Gorge. Sit out there awhile and you'll see the moon rise behind you and more stars than you've ever seen fill the heavens.

We generally request you leave your pets at home, however special arrangements can be made to bring dogs by discussing the options with the owner. Only small well behaved dogs are ever allowed in the house. A good local option if you want to being your pets is the Cascade Pet Camp.

Not only is Rowena Shores located in one of the windiest spots on the Columbia River, just downriver from the famed Doug's Beach, it is VERY popular with families with children as well. Nowhere else in the Gorge but the private launches in Rowena, can families with young children feel comfortable leaving their small children outside to play all day while everyone enjoys sailing, picnicking and playing on the beach. You just can't find a safer, more pleasant spot for the whole family to vacation than Rowena Shores.

And if you happen to be here one day when the wind is not to your liking and you're still not ready for a sailing break, Rowena Shores is centrally located in the Gorge with great sailing spots both to the west and east. See our webpage for the top 20 sailing spots in the gorge.

House Interior

Situated on 5 acres with 220 feet of riverfront, including two private sand beaches and a private cove, the house may be rented upstairs only with 3 bedrooms + den and 2 baths. The whole house can also be rented, including the daylight basement area, which includes a large family room, an additional auxiliary kitchenette and brings the total to 5 bedrooms and 3 baths with room allowing for a couple more families. For a look at the inside of the house click here.

Rental Rates

Our summer guests have a way of coming back year after year, and the summer of 2008, is, as usual, booking very quickly. We offer our accommodations Sunday to Sunday, by the week, and the year 2008 rate will see a small increase over 2007 to $2800 per week for the upstairs for up to three couples with a smattering of children, and $3950 for the whole house upstairs and down with two more bedrooms, a bath, a big family room, etc. For summer 2008 reservations, email us.

Discounted rates are also available pre and post season (before mid June and after Labor Day).

We are now accepting bookings for the 2008 season. As a courtesy to our regular returning clientele, each fall we always offer first choice on dates for the next summer to them. The summer "High Season" is largely booked now with some specially discounted availabilities for smaller groups.

Rental Availablity

This is the remaining current availability for summer 2008:

We welcome email inquiries about specific availability. Early and Late season or "Shoulder Season" (May and the first couple weeks of June) and then all of September after Labor Day) are generally available at a discounted rate... normally about 2/3 the normal rate. This can be negotiable on a case-per-case basis.

Oh and if you really want waterfront accommodations and Rowena Shores is booked, try our neighbors just down the way.

Since we operate on a "seniority system", if you would like to be able to reserve a week during the high season of June, July and August, we suggest taking a week early or late season one year to qualify as a "returning guest." This is about the only way one can normally acquire the seniority necessary to get a choice summer date in future years. We hope you will be joining our extended family of summer guests one of these years soon.

NOTE: We begin accepting rental reservations for the summer season in September of the previous year once the high summer season is over for the year.

We are confident you'll agree this is one of the best vacations you've ever had. At "Rowena Shores", you will find that the same attention to detail which has gone into this website, arguably one of the most extensive windsurfing websites on the Internet.

Well, we hope you've enjoyed our little tour of the Rowena Riviera. For lots more interesting links try the menu at the top left of this page. You might also enjoy the little Quicktime movie of sailing at "Rowena Shores". And see a lot more exciting Gorge windsurfing videos on Youtube. Be sure to also check out some of the great links to the Oregon experience as well as other windsurfing sites on the World Wide Web as linked from our menu.

If you'd like to continue doing a little touring of the area, the marvelous photographer Kimberly has put together a beautiful photographic tour of the Columbia River Gorge your viewing enjoyment. Here's a handy link with a list of events and things to do in the area. And don't forget to check out all the links on the great city of Portland. And here's a map to give you a feel for the whole state. Before you leave Rowena Shores though, be sure to return to our main page and bookmark our site so you can return any time you need a little "Gorge fix".