Your Missing Out on Some Real FUN!
Yesterday, leftover swell from the recent string of NE wind remained on the east facing beaches providing some really fun summer time surf! The standard surfing crew had it in the morning when the swell was up and the tide was pushing near low with very light offshore W wind. By late afternoon, the wind switched SSE and increased to perfect "Light Air Wavesailing" strength hovering around 10 to 15 mph! I signed off work a little early and headed out to Enterprise St in Nags Head. Solid waist+ set waves were breaking nicely on the outer bar and though the tide was a little high and the surf was mushy, on the SeaLion it really did not matter. The beauty of light air waveriding, even if mushy, if it has a little size, it can still work quite nicely!
I sailed for about an hour or two catching wave after wave as the beach goers looked on and a few surfers were in the lineup just south of my break. However, looking up and down the shoreline from Jennette's to Nags Head Fishing Piers, there were NO OTHER light air wavesailors out!?! Perfectly FUN, EASY, summertime relaxing action, and not a soul out there with a light air board and sail in hand. I know this is a relatively new windsurfing discipline and I try to promote as much as possible the pure fun of this experience, but we really need more folks joining this bandwagon. There was a "heyday" of soundside windsurfing in Nags Head when Windmill Point was the spot many years ago and the sound water was filled with windsurfers just off the marshy beach at the old Kitty Hawk Sports shack. However, now that lot is empty, few windsurfers can be found in Nags Head, and summer time sound side water quality is less than desirable to step into.
However, ocean-side, the water is clear, clean, refreshing, and the fun summertime surf is quite rewarding to simply frolic in! Regular summer SSE seabreezes provide excellent direction for the island orientation off Nags Head as compared to other points south which are more onshore, and the multi-million dollar beach nourishment project last year has provided wider beaches for cleaner wind and nice offshore sandbars for the surf break.
Wow, for those here who are not yet Light Air Wavesailing, boy you are missing out!
Interested in Light Air Wavesailing in Nags Head, contact me via SeaLion Rep box in upper left corner of this blog, or join the OBX Beach Life forum to find out where/when the latest session is happening!
