Finally, Some Wind and Waves!

Today, south winds ramped up late afternoon across the OBX. Along with the warm winds, we had waves! Not sure where the swell came from, but at Ego Beach we sailed solid shoulder high sets with occasional overhead high peaks! It was the perfect inaugural session for my new 2008 Quatro Wave 76. The board arrived on the OBX in early October; however, with no wind or surf in nearly 20 days, it remained dry at Avon Sailhouse. Today though, it had a perfect welcoming to the Atlantic.

Most of the local crew and a number of visiting sailors enjoyed the session at Ego Beach across from the Canadian Hole. Low 5.0m sail size was the call, as winds hovered in the low to mid 20mph range. Near sunset, winds ticked up a notch with gusts surpassing 30mph! Waves were fairly clean with easy to hit head high peaks. I really enjoyed time in the surf with the new ride! The wave cutbacks felt great at the critical sections (except for one overhead high peak I hit a little late?!), and the bottom turns were quick and solid. Really nice top to bottom wave riding!

The only drawback today was the mysterious asian noodle "seaweed." The stuff looked exactly like the thin transparent noodles found in a Thai soup bowl. If you went down in the surf zone, the waterstart included shuffling out this stuff from your harness lines and boom arm. I have never seen it before, especially as thick as it was between the beach and the sand bar. Luckily it did not affect the ride, but only cluttered the booms if you went down on the inside.

All in all, a fun "summer-like" session with warm air and water, south wind, and no need for a wetsuit. If only sunset was at 9:30pm as in July rather than 6:15pm today!


A late day photo near the end of the session. I did not shoot video, and I do not think anyone else was shooting photos since it was the first day of wind and waves in such a long time...perhaps tomorrow?!