Double Teamed (first wind, then waves)

First things first, if you haven't checked out Bill's blog yet, go ahead and have a peek! He's posted a sweet video of yesterday's Ego Beach action. It's really great to see everyone throwing themselves around and trying to go bigger, faster, snappier... even when the waves are terrible! There are some awesome crashes on this vid, and a few bright moments as well! Big thanks to Tony for sitting on the beach and taping, and Bill for editing!

It was worth getting out of bed today for quite a few reasons. First and foremost, the sand was... warm... between my toes. What a sensation after wearing shoes in the cold for a few weeks! Let 'em breathe! That alone made my day. Beyond that, however, a mediocre forecast ended up being a full on day, with a lit up dawn sesh at the Hole, and then a great surf sesh at sunset. It's amazing how worn out you can feel from too much windsurfing, and then an hour's worth of paddling a surfboard and everything's back in balance and ready to roll! It works vice versa, too, with windsurfing being rehab for an oversurfed body...

Anyway, the dawn session broke all the longstanding rules of Hatteras morning Westerlies. Usually, it's not as windy as it looks because the sun accents the whitecaps. Today, it was windier than it looked, and I was WAY overpowered on a 5.7. Also, the wind usually fades as the morning rolls in, so you usually rig one size bigger than you think you need. Today, the wind just kept gusting higher as I put off downrigging longer and longer, expecting it to die... Long story short, I went sailing, but was too lit to do anything but mow the lawn, except during the weakest of lulls... Stuart and Mark were also on the water, here's Mark ripping around on a 4.2 and 66 liter board:

This could be a postcard!
Banana scopes out the action
Mark throwing some spray!
Later in the afternoon, the wind did finally fade, and left a nice sized swell ripping up the beach. Avon kindly returned some of it's sand to Salvo today, after Salvo so nicely deposited their "extras" during the last North blow... Give and take, it's very healthy, really... So offshore winds cleaned up the South swell and provided really fast barreling lefts, and really long, crumbly rights. Here's Brian and Stuart making the most of it:

Brian on a nice peak
Stuart drops in late
Brian tucking in
No rest for the weary, it looks like the next few days have some serious potential! Could be time for all you out of towners to pack up the vans and head to the beach for a weekend romp in the water! Check the forum for updates! See you out there!