Sunday, February 24, 2008

Fine Coastal Weather (Wind, Rain, Fog, and Sunshine)

We've had a good few days here in Hatteras, with some fine coastal weather...

Caught up with Chad surfing in Buxton Friday afternoon, after the rain passed. Fog was drifting in and out, with moderate offshore winds. Lots of current was ripping up the beach in the south swell. Kind of spooky looking out there.

Chad's somewhere deep within this wave:
Unknown surfer with a late backside drop:
I ended up rigging a 5.0 in the first parking area I found that wasn't foggy, with an hour of "daylight" left. Planing was effortless on my 108 liter freestyle board, especially in the butter flat water I ended up finding! It certainly wasn't an extreme session, but I got some great reconnaissance in for a sicko new freestyle spot, or maybe even a speed run in the right wind direction!

The foggy view while rigging:
Saturday brought light west winds and sunshine, so I surfed the leftover chest high swell from Friday morning's storm. Weird waves, with lots of invisible currents and small cross swells coming from virtually every direction. It got so bad that I felt a vertigo-like sensation from the random rocking. Nonetheless, some of the waves were really good, though few and far between. Sorry, no pics.

Now today, Sunday, was UNREAL at the lighthouse. A huge, macking swell kicked up in no time while I was out schlogging around on a 5.7. Dan snapped this pic of me dropping into a monster:


Fooled ya! Photo manipulation is just too easy these days! I did schlog around on a 5.7 today, got planing once, and the waves were less than epic, but it was a fun session anyway. I had the place to myself, although one kiter came out for about 10 minutes. Here are the unmodified pictures that Dan took (thanks Dan!)

The Original Pic:

Wish I had been on this one!
Setting up for a knee high wave:

9 comments:

EC said...

Not sure on Tuesday forecast, but iffy if veering from south to southwest... Debating leaving tonight and working until 2pm tomorrow in addition to taking wednesday off for W-NW, should definitely be more reliable...
What do you think? In any case, i need to figure a way to come down for $50 a round / trip from DC, this sport is getting too expensive!

Bill said...

Hey Andy, that SurfLine widget notes the Cape Hatteras water temps at 71 degrees. When you were out there yesterday, was it that warm?!

Andy said...

Yeah as amazing as those South forecasts look I don't really trust them very much... The clearing winds are WAY more reliable, especially this time of year.

As far as making it cheaper, grab a friend and carpool. I'm sure Charles is ready to hit the water! Also, I realize you don't like spending too much time in the car, but many transmissions are geared to be the most efficient at 55 to 60 MPH, not 100+... Lose the roof rack, stow the boards inside, slow down a bit, and it'll probably be noticeably cheaper in gas $...

Bill, no dice on the 71 degrees... I think they steal that data from the Diamond Shoals buoy, which is approximately 15 miles offshore, in the gulf stream. However, it was not terribly cold yesterday!

EC said...

dude, cruise control, 3krpm but the $3/gallon hurts!
Forget driving buddies, doesn't work, too complex when you want to gamble extra days for optimistic but unrealistic forecasts!
No racks or gear either, its all at the barn...
Anyway, to be determined tonight for tomorrow, well at least i know my boss won't be psyched...

badneck said...

I'll be on it broham

Anonymous said...

yeah emo too iffy for tuesday you should stay in dc..........west and northwest winds are the most unreliable and gusty winds here wereas southwest and northest are actually the most reliable. Just a little local know how for ya buddy

Andy said...

That's funny, anon, because we haven't a solid 3 day NE in months, if not years, and the SW hasn't really kicked in at all since last June.... So if those are the consistent days you're waiting for, it may be awhile. In the meantime, the rest of us will be sailing whatever comes our way! See ya on the water?!

Anonymous said...

Andy thats awesome what you did with that photo!can you do that with a photo of my genatalia so i can post it on a personals site and get buku dates!?!?

Andy said...

Well to make the windsurf photo I shrunk myself...... Is that what you want?!