Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Reef Run!

Life has lots of ups and downs. Luckily for me, they usually end up balancing out positive. For you, however, well.... So let's write a checklist:

Pro: Today was wiiiiiindy
Con: It stayed North, and never went NE, so the south side chest high waves had dead off shore wind all day (not so hot for windsurfing)
Pro: Due North winds are fun out at the reef in the middle of the sound!
Con: The reef is about 5 miles offshore, and nobody has a telephoto lens that big.
Pro: I built a helmet cam with my new waterproof camera, to catch the action!
Con: I forgot that I needed a hood when I tried on the helmet, and there was NO way I could even buckle the chin strap with the hood on...
Pro: I went sailing anyway, without the camera...

So I got some great sailing in, but you get zero pictures to look at! Good for me, not for you...

Stuart (fresh back from a European Vacation), Olaf, and I sailed out to the reef after work today to hit up some soundside "wave" action! I don't go out there nearly enough! That place is so much fun to sail! Today's waves were occasionally stomach high, but mostly knee to waist. That's a bit smaller than I thought it would be, but it's still plenty of ramp for massive jumps when you're lit up on a 4.2!

I'm glad all three of us are pretty competent sailors with good gear- it's a bit sketchy heading that far offshore so close to dark in chilly temps. Didn't help that it was overcast, a bit foggy, and not the best visibility! The island was definitely out of site when we were way outside playing in the swell. There's a few landmarks out there, but not many... If you ever venture out there, make sure you have buddies, and that all your stuff is in good shape! Overdress, too, just in case!

Lots of action out there. I wish I had the helmet cam set up so you could see what I saw! Stuart was sailing like he never left, and Olaf was sending buckets of spray skyward as he slashed the tops off the waves. The waves were lining up great for full roundhouse bottom turn/cutback combos, where you basically end up sailing clew first/switch stance 200 degrees from your original point of sail to crack the lip! Backside airs were also basically at your fingertips, just point it and go! Super fun. Lots of good loops, too, and some major thwack downs to keep me in check.

One of the best parts of sailing out to the reef is coming back home. The natural flow of things usually puts you a good chunk upwind of your original starting point, so the tack home is generally 10-20 degrees off the wind, lit up, through the flats out in the middle of the sound! F A S T. Next time I'm bringing my GPS, and my (modified) helmet cam!

Looks like a day off for wind tomorrow, but there's a ton of swell in the water, so I'll probably have a surf report tomorrow night! See ya out there!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I've never seen anyone make so much out of nothing, have u ever heard the term passively self absorbed. Its when someone promotes themselves while making it look like they are as humble as pie. Just do it! If u ever do actually land a front loop, not just a back flop. Or a air off the lip, not just flying out the back of the wave. Then just be happy with it dont show it off to whomever is reading your blog.and yeah iam anonymous because I live in north cal and you will never meet me..........

Andy said...

Thanks for the free psychological evaluation! Usually those cost $200/hour! :)

There are three main reasons I write this blog:

1) To spread the excitement of surfing and sailing

2) To highlight Hatteras as the mecca it is for a watersport lifestyle

3) As a personal watersports activity diary. It helps me push myself on the water, so that when I write down what I did for the day, hopefully it includes some form of personal watersports progression.

So, be warned, my blog will certainly consist of stories about, well, me, as well as my friends around me. It is My blog, after all. If you don't want to read about me, that's fine. Nobody's forcing you to!

Hopefully you can glean some sort of enjoyment out of the pictures and words I create, edit and post. If not, well hey, guess I can't satisfy everyone! Good thing you didn't pay me anything for this or I'd have to give you a refund! :)

badneck said...

Andy got my new camera today with a 300mm zoom. So our pictures will be a little more clear than usual. Hopefully I will get some shots this weekend if we get a sw blow and this swell sticks around...see ya then

Catapulting Aaron said...

Andy, f the haters, your blog is great. I'm moving to Northern CA soon, so maybe I'll be lucky enough to find this guy so I can kick him in the nards for you.

"This was from Andy" *thwack*

Andy said...

Ha! I don't really condone violence, but that made me laugh anyway! I don't take any of the BS personally, life's too short to give a rat's ass about what some poser clicks on a keyboard, hiding behind the safety of a computer screen and anonymity! If they had something real to say, I would expect them to say it to my face, in person, "live and direct!"

Anonymous said...

the cali guy seems to have hit a nerve...hatteras windsurfers suck! accept it!