Photo Heavy Recap!

Man it has just been cranking out here.... My 5.0 is all busted up right now (don't ask... it's embarrassing), but it doesn't matter because it's been full on 4.2 every day! Loving it! Anyway, a few people have dropped off some great pictures from the last few days... Thanks photogs!! Enjoy, public!!

These first two are of Charlie from the crazy session last Friday. Check out those smooth faces!! What a sesh!! Photos by Rick Eustis (Thanks Rick!!)



Scratch that 4.2 everyday remark from earlier... It did quiet down on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, but I personally welcomed the break!! Anne and Drew grabbed a sunset sesh at the Hole:

Anne stole my Tabou

Drewski

The wind kicked in again all day Monday, to some pretty intense levels... I happened to see Stu grabbing an evening sesh while I was walking the pooch. He's on a 3.7, jacked!


I had sailed in the afternoon, during my "lunch break." I grabbed a quick Ego Beach session and then bombed around in the Hole for a bit. There were a bunch of people out and it was a lot of fun! Sasha Ostiguy was nice enough to snap some pics and drop them off at the shop today! Thanks, Sasha!!

Outer bar forward loop

Outer bar back loop (attempt... a sequence of this jump would've made you either laugh or cringe depending on your disposition)

Jonathan from Florida in the foreground

He was ripping for sure, as were his entourage!! It's great to see some people throwing themselves around out there!

It was a jumpfest, aww yeah!!

Stuart, Mark, the Florida crew and I all sailed at the Slick this morning... 4.2 again! Yow! Unfortunately, Stuart got a little too rad out there and ended up slicing up his hand pretty bad on his fin (tail grab spock 540 or something??). So the sesh was cut short for a quick clinic visit, but all is well now, only 20 some odd stitches later!! Luckily, he missed his tendons and arterys and all the important stuff and just gouged out the flesh... Anyway, make sure to wish Stuart the best the next time you see him!!

It's blowing again... Time for the sunset sesh!! See y'all out there!!

Friday's Wavesailing Video

***Update*** The vimeo version has completed uploading... It has mildly better quality than the youtube copy... Enjoy!


Ramp 34 Wavesailing from Andy McKinney on Vimeo.

Here's a quick video from Friday's crazy wave sesh out at Ramp 34. Unfortunately, my little point and shoot camera can't really deliver the goods when it comes to zoomed in quality... Especially when compressed by YouTube... but hopefully you can at least get an idea of the conditions out there!

Enjoy!




If you're here in Hatteras swing by the shop and I'll show you the original file... It's not much better, but at least you can see what's going on...

More crazy winds on tap for tomorrow! So, I'm going to bed. See y'all out there!

It Happened....

...Again!

Cranking, warm SW wind with plenty of sunshine all afternoon!! I Love Springtime in Hatteras!!

I swung by the Hole and found Fred of BABA holding down the fort, solo. Where the heck is everyone?!?! Nice job out there, Fred!

Fred, solo at the Hole

Checked out Ego Beach, and decided to skip it due to the shorebreak situation:

Yikes! but where's my surfboard?!

So Keith and I ended up North of Avon on Ramp 34, followed shortly thereafter by Rick, Chad, Dan, and Charlie. I think Olaf made it out, too, but a little further South. In any case, it was an insanely good wavesailing session!! The faces were big and smooth, the lips barreling, and the wind cranking! The outer bar was over mast high, but tough to read and bumpy, and the inner bars were overhead to logo or sometimes mast high with beautifully clean faces. The wind was almost too strong, as it was ripping my 4.2 out of my hands at the top turn... Killer sesh, folks!! I'm claiming it as the best wavesailing sesh of the year!!! Woooohaa!!

Check out the Keith show. I took all these shots in about 3 minutes while suiting up, so the action was non-stop out there!

Outer bar bomb



Keith lining it up

Go Keith Go!

Wooohoo!





Tacking on the face to kick out the back... gimme a break man!!

I shot a bunch of video out there, too. It'll take me awhile to sort through it all, but there are some real gems in there... including some footage of Rick getting CRUSHED by a rogue set wave!! There are dues to pay, I guess, but this just seemed way too harsh... Sorry Rick, but I've gotta post it up!

It's blowing again right now this morning.......... Hope y'all are out there having the time of your lives!!

It's Happening...

Looks like another insane day is bearing down on us, as the meters are already gusting over 30mph at 6am! This is a really similar setup to last Sunday's, which I'd proclaimed the "Most Fun Day of 2009." I wonder what I'll be saying this evening?!

Speaking of last Sunday, Dale B. dropped off a few pics of that day's Ego Beach action! I'd say he did pretty danged well considering his list of circumstances:

1) His arms were jello from sailing all afternoon
2) He was using a brand new camera
3) He was using massive amounts of zoom from the top of the dunes
4) He was not using a tripod
5) The wind is uber strong at the top of the dunes, blowing him all over the place

So, thanks so much, Dale, for the effort! I'll post up two shots to get you guys psyched for today's sesh, and then I'm going sailing:

Olaf approaching the outer bar

The medium size waves (like the one above) were just barely pitching out there, so you could attack them with total disregard for your well being... FUN! The biggest ones (logo-mast) were hitting a lot harder, but still not as heavy as their size would indicate... FUN!

I'm on the inside bar here

The inside bar was smaller but a lot heavier... with flukier wind... kick out early if you're going to play around in there today!!

Hopefully, we can expect more of the same this afternoon!! See ya out there!!! (If you were on my Weather Alert e-mailing list, you'd have already known that it was going to crank today, and you'd have called your boss last night complaining of a sore throat, and you'd be pulling in to the Canadian Hole any minute now to share this insane day with all the other "sick" people!! It's a free service, so what are you waiting for?? Sign up details are here)