South End Wave Sailing. Nicely Powered.

Alan, Donald and I wave sailed near Ft Fisher Friday.  Nice SE swell and sideshore wind.  It was cloudy enough to keep the temps moderate and the water was perfect.  Fishcamp showed up after work and even broke out a kite when there was a lull in the wind.  That little surf board was pretty cool.  It was sooo nice being on the plane and jumping on the trips back out.  Not to mention having enough swell to cruise upwind coming in for the ride.  I was riding through the best conditions so no pics to mention.

I'm pretty sure Donald got some better shots.  I hope he did.  Here's Alan on a calf slapper.

Wave Sailing the 10'5 SUP. Not so much light wind.

I hope all the dads had a great fathers day. 

We got to OIB around 2:30 Sunday and brought a t-storm with us.  We waited in the car about 20min for it to skirt by with a beautiful lightning show over the Atlantic.  Of course this cleared the beach and we had the place to ourselves until sunset.  Not to mention perfect temps after the oppressive heat- a little cloudy and just plain perfect.

I don't know if it was left over wind driven waves or a combination of that big t-storm laying offshore but the swell was coming in SSW and way nicer than I expected.  The waves were jacking up on the mid-outer bar and mushing gradually as they made it toward shore.  Great drops on steep faces with a few turns and then a fairly easy jibe or quick tack back out.  The wind was on side on but clocking sometimes on shore or a little more side side on- it was a good opportunity to practice holding clew first on the wave after the bottom turn.  As sunset approached the wind ramped up and the waves got more punchy.  I could have certainly broke out the Kode but had to head back to my parents.  No complaints after a surprisingly good SUP wave sailing sesh! 

Jennifer took these photos after a little body boarding.  Love you sis.

Wave Sailing Sunday. More haste less speed.

Hatteras magic all right.  It has been hot hot hot and windless inland.  When Sam and I drove across the Alligator River there was no wind or swell Thursday.  That was weird and I was a little worried.  Once on Hwy 12 heading south we took our time and stopped by the Salvo day use.  Good luck wading through all the kites stretched across the little beach to launch your windsurfer.  There was a little breeze though and we struck out for Avon.  After checking in and rolling into the hole we rigged 5.8s and hoped for the best.  We got the best.  The wind ramped up pretty quickly and we sailed hard until sunset.  Friday was a repeat performance. 

Saturday the wind backed off quite a bit so we scouted around and ended up in Frisco on the beach for some SUP wave sailing and SUP paddle surfing.  Sam got his first taste of side on wind and we both got some fun rides.  Just a note- if you do plan to surf or sail on any of the beaches get there early.  Tons of people out there from Frisco to north of Avon.

Sunday was the real highlight day of the trip.  We checked out and got out earlier for low tide wave sailing.  Luckily some of the SE swell was already coming in and we got rock star parking in front of a great break.  We both rigged 5.8s and Sam used the 10' SUP while I used the 112L Kode.  The wind was light and side side off blowing hit and miss but man did we have fun.

Sam's first sailing waves. 

Trolling for surfers 

I tried some gopro helmet cam video.  Clew mount would have been much better but it is great reliving some of those waves either way.  It took lots of concentration with air that light but it makes you appreciate the rides that much more.  Can thigh high waves and no planing wind be that much fun?  You bet your skinny mast it is.


Light Air Wave Sailing- Windsurf and SUP Sail OBX, NC from r d moore on Vimeo.

Light Wind Freestyle Sailing on SUPs

So officially May was one of the least windy in recent history which is quite a let down following an amazing April.  So far June has been more like August but lets hope that turns around.

The past couple weekends have been SUP weekends.  Sure we did lots of flat water paddling but we've also gotten into light wind freestyle.  A couple weeks ago Leah learned to heli tack and the upwind 360 on the SUP with a 4.7 in really light south wind.  Yesterday I used the 7.5 on the SUP in really really light NE and had a blast working on sail 360s, heli tacks, upwind 360s, backwind wake rides and anything else that popped up.  Andy got out and learned back wind sailing too- we were having so much fun we didn't notice how much the wind had clocked east so at the end of the day we both got to swim our kits in.  Totally worth it!

In the recent issue of Windsurf Magazine Josh Sampiero wrote an article questioning if SUPs possibly hurt windsurfing.  It was a great writeup on the subject and generates good discussion.  My opinion is that SUPs that can be sailed can only help grow windsurfing.  In inland summer wind a SUP with cushy padded deck is awesome for lightwind mucking about.  Working on sail handing using the SUP as a platform will make you a better sailor.  Compared to Formula or longboard windsurfing I think the fun factor is higher without compromising much on upwind ability.  When you factor in being able to paddle and surf the thing when the wind goes to 0 you just can't beat it. 

Rob, Mac, Mark, Addict circa 2009.  Rob and Mac's photo.

A phone call from Mark reminded me of this trip when Awesome Bill from Yadkinville learned to SUP.