Dare I say it.... Epic?!?!

I was speechless at the end of today's longboarding session. I just milled about, shuffling my feet in the sand. When I looked up at Stuart, he was basically in the same trance, sitting on the end of the walkway over the dunes. He eventually looked up, and a goofy grin spread across his face, slowly, like I had just reminded him of the type of inside joke one can not speak of in public.
Here's Why:We had just sailed down at Isabel's in a moderate NNE wind, probably gusting up to about 20, with lulls in the single digits. Sound epic yet? Not to me, either... Especially when one considers the dune line there, coupled with some current, to make the inside virtually windless. The waves, however, were rolling in at waist to slightly overhead in the biggest sets, super clean, barreling, and fast! They were too perfect to ignore! Today actually reminded me a lot of a baby version of Noel, minus about 30 knots of wind and a meter of swell!

Didn't Lane take this picture six months ago?
I sailed a 5.0 on the SUP, Stuart was on his 4.7. The huge boards allowed us to stay afloat in the 5 mph lulls, and made it substantially easier to pump into the waves. Once on a wave face, board speed multiplied by a factor of 10, and the butter smooth faces were a dream to lay in to! The smaller, crumblier waves were perfect for sailing backwinded, walking the nose, and messing around on. The larger, faster, barreling waves, were the scariest 5 seconds imaginable, racing for the shoulder, driving through a bottom turn at mach 10 on a 12 foot board!! Oh... my....

It Wasn't All Peaches and CreamBut Sometimes It Was!Crazy Clouds
Huge thanks to Stuart for taking the time out to snap today's pictures! In other news, Bill has posted a video of the other day's session at Pea Island! Check it out! Also, my buddy Drew has just created a blog of his own, which will most likely focus on the surf conditions, random fun, and social life here on Hatteras. You can find it here.