The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

In a Ditch...Hatteras Wave Sailing Video

Another installment from The Kooks of Hazard Part Two.   This time Mr. Skelton interpolates logo to mast-high Hat'tress wavesailing with Southern Culture on the Skids.  (I'm gonna get smacked for "interpolates, but whatever...)

(If you missed our first Kooks installment, here it is.)

In other Hatteras news, there is talk of a blogger summit down OBX way sometime around April's Windfest.
Interest has been expressed by OBX Bill, Lost in Hatteras, Mac and James.  I predict the list grows.  Will we pull it off?  Speaking for myself, every time last year I'd planned a quick trip to the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the forecast would start hopping up Long Island way and I'd stick around.   Still, it could be worth the hike!

Hatteras, Nerves, and the Kooks of Hazard

The best distillation of Cape Hatteras that I've even known is found in two videotapes made in the 1990's by  the Hatteras artist (and most excellent windsurfer) Mark Skelton.   They are titled "Kooks of Hazard", and "Kooks of Hazard Part Two".

They are unlike other windsurfing videos.

Below is an excerpt from The Kooks of Hazard Part Two.   Set to the song "Nerves" by Possum Dixon, it's a taste of Hatteras when the waves are bigger and the winds stronger than is good for your health.

Find The Windsurfer In This Photo

.

He's in there.

One of many great images in a post on OBX Bill's Beach Life about a bitchin' Thanksgiving Day sesh on the Outer Banks.

Photo by Keith McCulloch

Goodbye to Hatteras

It is time to leave.

We got a little time in on the water before rolling north, and Jeff and I met OBX Bill in what constituted a windsurfing blogger summit, though we didn't get to sail together. Still, it was good to say Hello. I also met some readers of the Peconic Puffin (no, I was not wearing the Puffin headgear...they recognized the van from earlier posts.)

More on the trip later. Now it's time for the return to Long Island.

(Headgear via Steve. Photo by Jeff.)

Beautiful Day

"Bottle this. Serve it to me hot or cold. I'll have it any time."

Thus spake Steve after a stellar Hatteras Wednesday. Sunny, warm and windy, it was the kind of day you imagine when you're planning an OBX windsurfing trip and dreaming of how great it could be. An October day spent ripping on five meter sails wearing just a bathing suit is outstanding.

First thing in the morning we were treated to a rainbow, which Jeff declared an omen. An hour later the first whitecaps appeared, and we all ran out on 7 meter sails, as the forecast called for morning winds only. As it built, Brewster decided that he wanted to run speed trials on his JP 109. With GPS on wrist he sailed out and upwind to the reef (3 miles) and tore ass downwind on the return, ultimately winding up his board to 31 knots (quite fast for a freestyle board!) Then he'd do it again. And again. As the wind continued to build Brew finally switched to 5.8, and switched his focus from speed to a duckjibing frenzy. Near sunset, with holes in his hands and nothing left in his arms he checked his GPS: He'd windsurfed 80 miles. That would take you from the Outer Banks to the mainland and back, and still leave 20 miles to play with.

Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum was Jeff. Jeff has had Vulcans and other new-school freestyle on the brain since ABK's freestyle clinic in Napeague last month. So while Brewster was lit on big gear, Jeff emulated guru Andy Brandt, and sailed his freestyle board with a 4.2 and my stubby freestyle fin, planing and skidding around the Pamlico Sound all day.

Steve has not been getting his MDR of windsurfing this year, so the first thing he did Wednesday morning was purchase a large weed fin, to make sure he could maximize his time on the moderate winds we'd expected (weeds have been light but there). "One thing I won't be doing with this is sailing with a 5.5," he pronounced, noting its size.

One hour later he was happily eating those words, flashing the blade while working the Pamlico chop for all it was worth.

For myself I had two goals for the day:

1. Hit my first in-the-straps 360.

2. Blow off the water the Limey bastard next door who'd been passing me all the day previous.

The 360 came...three of them, actually. The trick seems to be getting my weight over the carving rail ala a tight jibe while not bringing the back knee forward into the turn (the knee bone being attached to the shin bone, to the foot bone, to the foot strap...) I'm not quite sure how to go about it, but I did hit a few. More study is indicated.

Re the neighbor (who is a very nice guy, actually, except for the bit where he passes me) the best I did was hold position against him on the straightaway. I passed him in every jibe (EVERY jibe!) but on the straightaways he is, um...well...faster. I hate him.

That night a large thunderstorm came through. The day started with a rainbow, and ended with lightning. It was just too good.

(Top: The omen. At one moment we actually had a double rainbow.
Middle: Speed King Brewster takes a rare break. Hanging out in the Carribean warm waters was nice.
Bottom: Michael, mid 360.
Photos by Jeff.)

The Winds of Cape Hatteras, Part One

"Bring all your equipment, and money to buy more."
-traditional wisdom regarding conditions on the Outer Banks.

So far I've been able to use most of my gear. But I need to use it more. I have no torn callusses and have only bled a little. Here's a windsurfing rundown:

Thursday 7.0 sailing alongside WindSport magazines equipment testers, as well as Andy Brandt and his racing buddy Kurt Schumaker (the man who planes in nothing.)

Friday started out as a 6 meter day (I got to perform the jibing demonstration at the ABK clinic...performance anxiety!) but the wind got to 4.5 at its afternoon peak. Peconic Jeff got in on some of the action as well. (I came within an inch of my first in-the-straps 360.)

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday AM were decreed by the gods to be good for nonplaning freestyle. Steve ("I will get wet every day!") focused on clew first helis and working towards a gecko flaka, Jeff is refining his pushtack (and working on all things gecko) and Brewster is in the early stages of helitack wrestling, hitting several.

Tuesday afternoon saw a return to 7.0. It's nice to plane, but we're all aware that back on our home waters, friends have been sailing 4 meter sails and tearing it up. Brewster in particular is in agony (Steve and I understand that to come to Hatteras is to suffer...in the end you have a great time windsurfing but you EARN your wind, and Jeff is just laid back.) While I type this Brewster is reading posts in the Yahoo Long Island Windsurfers forum about the epic conditions. Small puffs of steam emit from his ears.

Last night Jeff and Brewster went out for a bit of night sailing under the full moon. They came back with huge grins on their faces. But Brewster is still bugging out again this AM.

It poured all night. This morning we had not one but two rainbows. Jeff says it's a good omen. And we have a small craft advisory for the rest of the week.

Bring on the wind!

(Top: Brewster inbound at Island Creek. Photo by Jeff.)

"No Chicks"

During an early Puffin Pilgrimage to Cape Hatteras back in 1996, we had an unexpected visit from a friend we hadn't seen since the previous year. The Mighty Mark Skelton walked through the front door, saw Steve and I sitting on the couch, and saw a Seatrend slalom board in the middle of the living room.

"No chicks" Mark said. As a seasoned Hatteras native, he simply used the equation:

Windsurfing equipment in living room = no females in house.

He was correct of course.

As evidenced by these images, the current Puffin OBX adventure is Boys Only.

Puffins to Hatteras!

Slo got it going. Back in June he asked the question: “Are we going to Hatteras?” And he kept asking.

I asked the good doctor if he was on for a trip. As Steve lead the first Peconic Puffin vision quest to Hatteras back in 1994, I had little doubt he’d say yes. And he did. And then bought a van to make sure he was properly equipped.

I asked Jeff if he was interested. He said Yes. It is worth noting that Jeff (bless his windsurfing heart) has basically said yes to every windsurfing proposition I have made to him. If I asked him to jump off a bridge with me, he’d ask what board to use.

Brewster didn’t need to be asked. “Anyone going to Hatteras?” Brewster confirmed faster than Jeff.

The old-school Puffins in particular find this trip particularly important, not only for the infusion of joy and madness that is indicated annually, but to help heal the wound left by missing 2006 (Michael had a dinged wing and the rest of the crew stayed put.) So our need is great.

The pilgrimage is on!

(Top: The Special Edition of the Peconic Puffin, on paper since 1993, for the pilgrims.

Bottom: Steve and Michael in The Purple Cloud, 1995. In those days two of us could get in one vehicle and drive all our gear down (we had a lot less, and didn't think to bring lightwind gear. On the roof are Steve's Scarlet and Queen Jealousy, and Michael's Pamlico Pilgrim.)

Gabrielle, She Storms in Hatteras

OBX Bill has been posting about Tropical Storm Gabrielle, which came into Hatteras yesterday and "didn't do much damage" according to the national media (By Outer Banks standards they probably didn't even tie down their dogs. They know storms in Hatteras.)

Bill reports winds up to 45, good clean fun etc, nothing extraordinary. Then I read this bit:

"Today (Sunday), we are expecting strong SE winds and a rare Cove Sesh! The only drawback to the Cove is that we have heard that the bull sharks are mating there at this time...May have to sail a little conservative in the waves to avoid any long gear swims?!"

The bull sharks are mating. I myself would be disinclined to disturb them in any way. The bull shark is not one of those sharks who, despite their fearsome appearance, actually pose little threat to humans. No, that's not the bull shark. The bull shark officially ranks third in the number of attacks on people, but according to the good folks who produce Shark Week bull shark attacks are underreported, because bull sharks are difficult to identify as a species. Many attacks attributed to big-ass sharks of indeterminate species are likely the work of bull sharks.

Bull sharks eat people who are minding their own business. How do you think they react when interrupted in the heat of passion?

In Search of Ancient Parts?

Many of us have tried to prolong the life of old gear...I remember years ago driving the local shop nuts asking them to replace parts on an old Fleetwood extension (I was too cheap to buy a new extension back then. Now I own five.) More recently I considered trying to find parts to repair the spring-loaded fin on my old Mistral Superlight, but knowing that to be a dark and disappointing road, I opted for a simpler repair.

During my search I did stumble on this site. Sailski lists a decent collection of weird components, and says they have more in the back (email them and ask.) If you really want to repair that 1988 HiFly this may be the place for you.

You can always ask around in your local online forums (recdot windsurfing is often productive in this regard) and down OBX way some of the older shops like Ocean Air, Fox, and Sailworld have ancient bits and pieces on hand.

God knows what Barton's got in the bowels of his shop. That was the last place I ever saw a Fleetwood extension.

Never Leave Wind to Find Wind, or Why I'm Still Not in Hatteras

"I'm planning a trip to Cape Hatteras. Really."

That line gets an increasing number of laughs from people who know me. Even from people who don't know me. I've been saying that I'm going to Hatteras "next week" since March. March! I was DEFINITELY coming down in April. Absolutely coming down in May. June has the best waves, I was told. "I'll be there".
Well, it's frickin' July and there's still no Outer Banks sand in my van.

The problem has been that every time I've nailed down a time to go (wife approved, van loaded, home schedule cleared) the forecast for Long Island has sweetened up. A lot. The choice of driving 500 miles for a forecast of 20+ knots vs driving 5 miles for 20+ knots, well...

But Hatteras isn't just about the wind. I am goofy in love with being in Hatteras (all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.) I've been emailing OBX Bill for the better part of three months, planning a combination windsurfing blog summit/loop fest (he loops, I watch enviously in between bouts of self-destruction) but I keep not showing up!

"Bill,

It's looking like I'll be in OBX no later than Saturday, and as early as Friday, for about 4-5 days of whatever natures gives."

-typical example of my empty words.

At this point he has filed me in the "yeah, right" bin. But Long Island has been so good this spring, and I've sailed in a dozen new spots, and met a lot of windsurfers, and been having a great time up here.

So now it's about October. Really.

Other People's Wavesailing

Doesn't that look like fun? It does to me...I've only sailed in ocean waves* three times (barely) this year, and I envy everyone who is getting more than me. I snagged this photo from Tatiana Howard's blog, which I've only recently discovered. Tatiana is in that photo...somewhere...we thank her for sharing a moment we can relate to!

I keep planning on going down to the Hatteras* for some ocean sailing, but either the Long Island forecast has been comparable or I've had things keeping me up north. Meanwhile OBX Bill reports that they've had maybe too much wind down Hatteras way, describing the prospects of wave sailing a few days ago as "suicidal". I have no sympathy at all for Bill...he LIVES on the Outer Banks.

I must get down there soon, and maybe on some Long Island waves even sooner.

*I've had great fun in the rollers that appear at Sebonac Inlet...low tide and west winds >20 knots is the magic formula. Sebonac is on the Long Island Windsurfing Map.

**Access to Cape Hatteras is becoming an issue, as the only bridge that will get you there is darn near falling down. If you love windsurfing in Hatteras (or doing anything in Hatteras) check out this web site which makes sending a letter to the appropriate goverment agencies quite easy.

Don't Take Hatteras for Granted

The only bridge that connects Cape Hatteras to the rest of the world has been inspected by the Department of Transportation. It's condition has been rated as four out of one hundred. Not four out of ten...four out of one hundred. If you're driving across the Bonner Bridge, sneezing is probably a bad idea.

The state of this gateway to heaven came to my attention as I checked out a post on Bill's OBX Beach Life. I've been thinking about a Pamlico Pilgrimage almost daily for several weeks...the van is loaded, my wife has pre-blessed the trip...all I've been waiting for has been a promising forecast. I've been thinking about that perfect moment when you crest the bridge and see Hatteras stretching off to the horizon. I NEED that moment (or something quite similar) now and in the future.

Some years ago after a hurricane came through the Outer Banks and did the usual (damage, but nothing the lighthouse and the locals couldn't handle, or sail for that matter) Clay Feeter served up one of my favorite Wind Tracks quotes, something like:

That's why you appreciate Hatteras...you never know if it's going to be there next year.

Now we can also appreciate that there's a way to get there...now. People advocating the replacement of the Bonner Bridge can be found and assisted at www.replacethebridgenow.com.