Gabrielle's OBX Visit
Gabrielle paid us a welcome visit today on the OBX. The day started with sunny skies, and warm SE winds in the 25+ mph range. I was at the Cove by 10:00am and on the water soon afterwards. It was a classic Cove setup. Clean outside waves breaking in the chest to head high range. There were a number of people in the water when I arrived, including kiteboarders and windsurfers. Lots of fun ramps for aerial acrobatics and backside riding. The set up at the Cove is unique to wavesailing on the OBX. The waves are very clean, and long swell lines march in to break at the outer bar. The wave sailing is backside, near parallel, to the wave. The swell gets big at the Cove, and by the time we finished during the early afternoon, the wind was howling near 45 mph, and the outside swell was topping 10 to 12ft. I began on the 4.7m and finished with a 4.2m rigged tight as a drum. After the Cove session, I assumed recon duty and headed north to check conditions at Salvo Ramp, and the Boiler on Pea Island. The wind remained side-on at these spots, and I eventually found side to slightly side-off in Nags Head. The wind also backed down as I traveled north, thus I was able to sail 4.7m rigged flat at the Foam House. The surf was much smaller in Nags Head as compared to the Cove; however the current was ripping, making the trek out more difficult.
Once outside, I enjoyed a number of down the line rides on the south swell wave. However, the wind increased as the storm approached the central OBX, and I came off the water around 5:00pm.
All in all, a fun full day of wave sailing both port and starbord tack conditions along the southern and central OBX! I was also interviewed by CBS News Radio, so if you hear the broadcast, post a comment!
Stay tuned for the upcoming GoPro video report. I am still working though the Cove footage, and should have it posted soon!
A few more photos:
A view of the surf zone at the Cove
Kiteboarders and windsurfers enjoying conditions at the Cove
Gotta love the facial expression and hair mid-back loop!
A view down the line at the Cove
15 Comments:
hey bill, kudos for the good vibes towards kiters in your post...saw you ripping it up out there yesterday, good times, and plenty of room for everybody, lane
Uh,wave sailn with kiters sux,they take up way to much room...bill, looks like your in mid back flop
that was way to onshore for "classic cove" ese not sse is classic cove with sideoff,frontside, down the line for as many bottom turns as you can take before your arms and legs give out.I would have rather drank beer with a midget and complained than sail that crap. stop smoking crack and get real.Manque la levre, je t'emmerde aussi...
We were sailing at the Point. while it was fun for a while, and windy, I was on my 5.2 it definately wasn't Cove conditions, and we were launching about 2 miles from where the Cove actually is. In the 8 years I lived there I think I got about 5 good Cove sessions. It just doesn't happen there often. It's the kiters who don't know the location names because most of them weren't around the times when the Cove went off.
I think I saw Dan head down to check out the Cove when the wind turned straight on-shore at 1 pm. Maybe he could post a "Cove Report"
I almost had a chance to head down to the cove and check it out when the wind went straight onshore but wound up back at my truck instead.
What about having a poll to vote for your favorite crack smoking midget?
If y'all could have gotten out of bed earlier, you would've caught it way better. Anybody who complains about sunny skies and honking wind needs to take a reality check. Take what you get and make the most of it.
Yesterday was incredible.
Okey-dokey
Incredible are in the eyes of the beholder or their imagination.
If short steep shorebreak bar with lots of current is ideal and 10-15' swell 1+ mile from the beach, then you're right.
Personally, having broken my leg a half mile offshore, i thought yesterday sucked at the point. Boilers was even better even though had we had low tide in the pm, it would have been epic. Nothing like riding a wave frontside, backside is for Euros, and I'm french, hence i qualify to make that statement.
Be realistic Bill, epic is 2-3 day blow with swell to support, as in 2 or 3 labor days ago on N. end of Ocracoke... That was epic, yesterday was blend, made you go home wanting more, not having had the balls to the wall adrenalin rush associated to epic conditions.
I mean lets not over exagerate the actual conditions.
But I forgot, you are a kiteboard too hence epic conditions you related to where for kiteboarding, right?
A l'ancule qui me nargue, je t'emmerde et va t'assoir sur ta kro puis faire l'avion, tu m'agaces!
Yep, eye of the beholder Emo. Though, I never said Sunday was epic. Read the post!
You can sit around a wait for epic Hatteras which happens a few times a year, or you can enjoy what Mother Nature offers us. Personally, I had a fun time Sunday. There were nice size waves, strong wind, and sunshine. Only drawback was backside, but hey, I had fun!
Are you saying your drive from N.Va was not worth it for the conditions you experienced? Or did you actually have fun out there?
Maybe next time?!
did y'all see the kite vid lane posted @ gmail? no way a windsurfer could go down the line like that in that wind direction.your neg comments about kiters just showcases your petty jealousies and insecurities.lay off the crack and get real.A l'ancule qui me nargue, je t'emmerde et va t'assoir sur ta kro puis faire l'avion, tu m'agaces!
Hey, is there a url to the Lane vid? I would like to see it.
I must admit, I was pretty impressed with the kiteboarding crew who remained out there when winds brought all the windsurfers in to shore. I believe there were two kiteboarders out there still holding it down, when I left around 2:30pm.
I do not take sides either way regarding kiteboarding vs windsurfing, but just wanted to note that they were out there in wind speed that I have never seen kiters out in before. Impressive!
ma queue de poney est trop serrée,
here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30p8F3ToBDc
I agree the best waves and wind angle were up untill 10:30-11:00...
Hey that was a great session huh. I was watching you guys while i was out riding and you were killing it. I saw some really nice wave rides and ariels. till next time...
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