TS Barry Equals Waves!

Tropical Storm Barry visited the OBX today and brought along some fun wind and waves! The session I sailed was at the first soundside parking area along the washout south of Oregon Inlet Bridge. Winds ranged 25+mph and blew from the south. Early, it was SSE with a switch to SSW late in the day. Waves hovered in the head to overhead high range. The setup was a clean bump free break on the mid and outer bars. Plenty of spacing between the waves provided room for jump speed and down-the-line (DTL) wave rides! The current was ripping and if you did go down inside, the water directed you towards the actual inlet quite quickly. All in all though, it was quite a fun time in conditions produced by the first tropical system to impact the OBX for 2007!

Dan, Caleb, Dana, and I enjoyed time on the water, though some of the crew preferred roadsailing nearby breaks looking for a better spot. However, the location we sailed was quite good given the wind direction. I started off the day on my 4.2m since the winds were near gale force though late morning; however, after a few runs, the wind backed down and I decided to rig 5.3m for the remainder of the day. Intermittent rain squalls rolled though, but nothing extreme. The sun shined often and it set up quite a nice day for wavesailing. Water temps hovered in the low 70s therefore swimming for gear in the zone felt quite refreshing!

Looks like the forecast is calling for continued SW winds though Tuesday, and with Barry set to merge into a northern low pressure system, a healthy north swell may be in store. Stay tuned!

More photos from today:

Arrival on Pea Island with lots of blowing sand!


The flags are flying! Nice markers when viewing the launch from the outside


Caleb finishing up the day with a gear hike over the dune line


Dana M heading out though the break


One kiteboarder, Billy M visiting us after completing an ocean downwinder from S-Turns...about 15 miles!

The 2007 Ocrafolk Festival

Lauren and I day-tripped in her Mini Cooper down to Ocracoke Island to experience the annual Ocrafolk Festival. We attended the annual event for the past four years, enjoying the music, story telling, and local art. Luckily this year, the weather held and all performance stages for the event were outside during the day. In years past, Lauren and I usually spent the night on Ocracoke; however, this year our plans changed with the TS Barry coming in. We were going to camp, but that would have been unwise with the evening weather forecast of rain and wind. During the day, we rode our bikes around Ocracoke Village, and found one geocache located in the heart town. Lunch was "fish of the day" which included Spanish Mackerel at Jolly Rogers' outside cafe.

All in all, though cloudy, a fine day for the event.
Here are some more photos.

Lauren checking out some crafts on display near the Live Oaks Stage


Arts and crafts along one of the streets in the village


Lunchtime view at the Jolly Roger Cafe


Lauren biking along the harbor