Surfin' and Sailin'

Lots of fun down here on Hatteras Island... We've had some great beach weather, some waves, and some wind to boot! No complaints! I don't have too many stories to tell, so hopefully you'll enjoy the pics. All shots from the beach taken by Anne! (Thanks!!)

Saturday's surf was glassy and fun, all day long, by all reports. Until, of course, closing time, at which point some SE wind gave the waves some insta-bump... Never fails! Oh well, bumpy waves are more fun than no waves at all!


Long one!

Still going...

Me and Drew

Speaking of Drew, he made an awesome announcement on his blog the other day! I am REALLY excited to check these puppies out! Just in time for hurricane season, too :)

By Sunday, when the wind really kicked up, the waves pretty much completely disappeared. Jim and I sailed at 34 in virtually non-existent surf, but juiced up wind, so it was fun. Here are some clew mount pictures:

Carvin'

Loopin'

Splattin'



Keep an eye on that forecast, folks! Looks like quite a bit of SW is ramping up at the end of this week!! Yeehaw!

Harness Line Length

Here's another short vid to help you size up your harness lines! Hope it helps. Try not to fall asleep.

Harness Line Length from Andy McKinney on Vimeo.

Wind is on the way!! Woohooo!!

Have y'all been following the Pozo Competition? Check out the Live Ticker if you get bored :)

Here, there, everywhere!

It's been a fun summer down here on Hatteras Island! We've been surfing, sailing, SUPing... Down in Frisco, Buxton, here in Avon... Dawn sessions, sunset sessions, lunch break sessions... All the sports, all the places, all the time! :)


On Wednesday night, Stuart, Drew and I SUPed at sunset. The waves were alright, knee to chest high and pretty weak but clean. The tide was getting higher and higher, so we were moving closer and closer in toward the beach until we were basically dropping in on the shorebreak... on 10 foot boards... race down the section and kick out, or else! haha... no broken boards or necks so all's well that ends well. But as the sky lit up, pinkish-purple, with teal blue water underneath and reflections all around... Dropping into a wave was a task teeming with distractions. I'll never forget the visions of reflected purple sky morphing into teal blue water as your eye traveled up the contour of the wave... Indescribable really... I should have brought a camera out there... Sorry!


Wendy and Roland have been enjoying their Stand Up Paddleboard, too. They sent in a few pics from down in Frisco last week- Check 'em out! Sweet, thanks for the pictures!





We had a bit of NE wind Thursday. Stu and I sailed a morning sesh on our freestyle gear in side-onshore conditions at the lighthouse. Sheesh, it was fun! I guess we were inspired by all that Lanzarote footage. The freestyle boards plane up instantly, so even though conditions were far from ideal we were able to throw some perfect forward loops on the outbound tack and found the occasional ramp for a back loop attempt. The jumps, coupled with a few decent waves here and there, made for a much better sesh than I thought it was going to be when checking the conditions from the beach. Stoked on that one, for sure!

We went back for more this afternoon. I sailed a 5.0 on the Pocket 80. The waves had kicked up a notch, but the wind was a bit spotty. I was lucky enough to get a few down the line rides and throw a bit of spray, but I didn't have the juice to throw a single jump. I'm really impressed with how early the Pocket planes up, with virtually no sail power. It was kind of weird to see a ramp, and have board speed, but not be able to do anything with it because the sail was running completely on apparent wind and there was no juice to work with. Oh well, those backloops will have to wait until another day...

Tangent Dynamics Reapers!

Low and behold, the Tangent Dynamics weed fins have arrived! I know a lot of you have been waiting for a pretty long time for these puppies... I now have most fin boxes available in the bigger sizes, so give me a call at the shop or shoot me an email and we'll get you hooked up with a new fin!

Keep an eye out for wind on Sunday- It could be worth the trip! And, Pozo is about to start, so keep an eye on the PWA website for details and updates! They did a great job covering Lanzarote, I hope they keep up the good work!

4th Recap, PWA Lanzarote Event

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! We had our fair share of fun down here in Hatteras, that's for sure! HIB has a bit of a tradition running, hosting a party for the last 7 (or so) years in a row. It's pretty sweet, since the fireworks are right across the street at the Avon Pier. So we had a band playing, the grill was fired up, and everyone had a great time!

Drew's got a big smile on his face for some reason

Some of the crowd

Some of The Band (who were awesome, by the way)!

The Surfing and sailing has been ok for the last few days- nothing epic, but I've had reports of a few hours of wind here or there, and some fun little waves around low tide. Wendy and Roland, and Rob, have all come in with stories of SUP glory and huge smiles on their faces :) You're skunk proof with a SUP, that's for sure!

On to some worldwide sailing news- Gollito and Sarah-Quita just won the PWA Lanzarote Freestyle event! This is such a cool place to have an event... When conditions line up, they've got big ramps on the outbound tack to throw huge jumps, and semi-smooth water inside for the more "traditional" freestyle spinny moves. I think it's a much more interesting, vivid, and radical set up for a competition, where competitors can really go all out and show some of the best stuff windsurfing has to offer (except for actual wavesailing). But whatever, check out the video of the last day of competition and make up your own mind:




Sweet, huh?! Let us know what you think in the poll on the top right!