Hatteras Goes BIG!!

After a relatively wave less Spring, Hatteras was hit hard with a huge SE swell driven by an extra-tropical storm out in the Atlantic near Bermuda. NE winds from the storm provided the extra ingredient to get us out to surf the big outer bar waves.

Keith McCulloch, Caleb Jacobs, Dan Runyan Jesse Waters (visiting from NY), and myself ventured out off the beach at the north end of Ocracoke Island, famed for world class wavesailing on days such as this.

The setup included minimal shorebreak, and three breaking bars to traverse. The second (middle) bar was the most challenging as an east flowing current and the light NE near offshore wind provided a squirrely area to work though. A number of denials were offered at this area, but once past, the far outer bar provided BIG long line surf in near glassy texture. I rode the Tempo 92 and the 5.3m Legend, and the combo was perfect for the conditions, especially traversing the middle bar area.

All in all it was a fun session, with some great outer bar wave rides in logo+ high surf; however, with the action happening so far offshore, we could not capture it very well in photographs or video.

Though to get a perspective of surf size, Andy posted a great up close shot of Stewart at the Lighthouse showcasing the bombers hitting Hatteras! Great ride Stu!

Here are a few snaps from Ocracoke yesterday: