So Over This

I'm up for an adventure as much as anyone else but this N'easter/Tropical Storm Ida remnants thing is sucking the life out of pretty much everyone I think. That said I'm going to write this blog post then I'm not talking about this storm anymore. The most notable thing about this one, to me, is all the attention it has garnered. Granted it has caused a lot of damage to public and personal property and I don't want anyone to read this and tell me I'm being insensitive to people's losses because I do realize that homes were lost, weddings were ruined, and nerves were/are rattled. Here on Hatteras Island the last truly damaging storm we had was Hurricane Isabel in 2003 where significant damage was done particularly to the village of Hatteras, and the island was completely breached requiring not bulldozers to rebuild the road but a dredge of Hatteras inlet to pump enough sand to fill in the breach. In 1999 Hurricane Dennis caused homes in Rodanthe to collapse as well as overwash and tear up Highway 12 at S-Turns North of Rodanthe as well as just North of Buxton. In that area near Buxton there used to be a beach access parking lot but that was lost and the road had to be rebuilt and the power lines moved to the other side of the road. 2 weeks following Dennis Hurricane Floyd passed inland of Hatteras causing major flooding in Tarboro and other areas of Eastern NC where there is a large population of hog farms. The runoff from the hog farms caused major pollution problems in the sound as well as the rivers and tributaries in the region. We can go back further and talk about a multitude of other storms but my purpose here, again, is not to diminish anyone's losses or experience with this storm but rather to point out that Hatteras is a storm battered island and this is hardly the first time anything like this has happened and it certainly won't be the last. Here are some old photos I dug up online:

Aerial view of the breach between Hatteras and Frisco from Hurricane Isabel in 2003

Ground level view of the same breach - note that the road is gone - not cracked & torn up - gone! The website I pulled this pic from said this photo was taken a week after the storm had passed.

An Aerial view of the Avon Pier in October 2003 - note the amount of beach between the pier house and the water line!

Laura and I have taken a lot of photos over the course of this storm (some of them are actually quite pretty!) I was hoping to be able to show the amount of erosion that occurred but in looking over the photos I've found that's it's really kind of difficult to see but the most dramatic perspective starts with the 2003 photo of the Avon Pier above and uses the next 3 photos of the Avon Pier. If you use the air conditioner units on the outside of the pier house as a reference point in the next 3 pics you can get an idea.

This first photo was taken on Wednesday at 2:30pm

This one was taken on Thursday at about Noon

This one was taken today at about 11:30am (you may want to click on the photo to see an enlarged view of it)


Now go back to that first photo from 2003 - the amount of beach we've lost in 6 years is pretty unbelievable! Here are a couple of pics we took of the waves at the Avon Pier yesterday evening:





Ok enough of that! Yes the road is pretty wrecked up at S-Turns but it'll be fixed and life will go on. And I'm very sorry for anyone who lost a home or a car or family photos or anything else to this storm but if you're reading this you still have what is most important to you and you can build another house, or buy another car, and take new photos with the people you love. Even though the ugly is what has captured everyone's attention during this storm there have been some really pretty moments as well and I hope everyone was able to use some of the "lock down" time to something fun that you might not normally do like have pancakes with their friends, or do a puzzle, or make a killer dinner - it's the little things sometimes :)

photo - Laura

photo - Laura

Live From The Dark

Ida, my love, why are you so confused? Everyone around here is calling you a Nor'easter yet you and I both know that you were spawned in the Carribbean and had an encounter with the Central American country of Nicaragua just a few days ago. Even more recently the boys and girls at The Weather Channel were spread out across the Panhandle of Florida and Alabama and even still now are in North Carolina and Virginia. I thought Nor'easters were born off the coast of Massachusetts? Is it this confusion that has you angry and leaves me sitting in the dark sipping Corona by candlelight with a frightened girlfriend from New Jersey? Don't worry - she'll be ok she just doesn't have a lot of experience with the unpredictable weather around here. So yeah the power is out - it's 11:30 pm so no weather channel updates and we just have to see how long the cell service hangs in before sending email from the phone is no longer an option - I've only got 1 bar as I type
this. Is this dramatic enough? To watch the Weather Channel you'd think the world was coming to an end!! We're ok - the power is out - no big deal. We've got a generator which we'll turn on tomorrow if the power isn't back on - food, water and plenty of beer - hey look - I've got 2 bars of cell service again! ;)

Sent from my iPhone

The Marathon

At the end of yesterday I was wondering if the OBX Marathon was the run that Laura and Anne had done earlier in the day or the DAY itself! We were up at 4:45am so that Laura could get something to eat and get a bunch of fluids in. Then get our things together and make the hour drive from Avon up to Nags Head for the 7am start. Anytime you're doing anything before 6am it always feels, to me at least, like you're going to forget something important or make some kind of big mistake based on being tired. Looking back on it though all we really had to do was remember to get some safety pins to put Laura's number on her shirt, bring a change of clothes and her inhalers so I'm not sure what we were stressed about. The weather recently has been pretty chilly and also pretty windy - not conditions I particularly wanted to have for standing around outside but yesterday, as if on cue, the temperature warmed up to 70F the wind dropped to a very light 5-10mph out of the West and the sun came out! I got Laura up to Nags Head to the starting line of the 1/2 Marathon and wished her luck knowing full well that she was going to do great. I hopped back in the car and considered going to look at the surf at the pier in Nags Head then opted to drive on to Manteo to get a good parking spot and spot at the finish line so I could get a photo of Laura as she came across. My decision proved to be a good one as I found a spot about 3 blocks from the finish line right down by the waterfront in Manteo - so close that I was able to go walk around, take some photos, and get a lay of the land then go back to the car and change lenses on my camera then go get some tea and hang out & take some more photos without feeling like I was walking back and forth out of the way to the car. The scene early down by the finish line was all preparations - people scurrying around with everything from towels and water bottles to kegs and barbecue grills. I scoped out claimed myself a great spot at the finish line about 5 minutes before the 7am start of the 1/2 marathon and was expecting to see Laura come across sometime after the 2 hour mark. I was able to see the winners of the 1/2 marathon come across the finish line (after only an hour and 4 minutes!! Holy Crap!) and practice taking photos With 3400 1/2 marathoners I was relying on having a good handle on her running time, my good positioning, my constant heckling of anyone who got in my field of view, and of course ability to pick my girlfriend out of a crowd! I really didn't want to miss getting a photo of her finishing and it paid off because I found her and got a shot as she came across after completing the 13.1mile course in 2hours 14minutes! She saw me immediately so we didn't have any trouble getting together in the reunion area and I was shocked at how good she was feeling and looked considering the long run she had just finished - in fact she even said she felt like she could have run it faster! We took a walk over to the car so she could change her clothes and Andy found us right at the car so we were able to all hang out until Anne finished her full marathon another hour and a half later. Anne also blew me away when she finished with how good she looked and felt. These girls just finished running 13.1 and 26.2 miles respectively - that's impressive! I didn't mention it earlier but there were people coming across the finish line, when I was waiting for Laura, and puking their guts out or looking like they were gonna pass out. After walking around for a little bit Laura and I decided it was time to head back down to Avon so we hopped in the car and made our way back - lots of traffic in Manteo made getting out of there a bit slow but we got back just after 1pm and Laura lay down to take a nap while I watched the Redskins make an attempt to play the game of football.

6:30am Laura looking a little nervous at the starting line

The 1/2 marathon winner crossing the finish line! (1 Hour 4 Minutes!)

Some costumed finishers

Crossing the finish line!!

Congrats Laura!

Anne looking strong at the end of a long run!

Wooo Hooo Anne & Laura!!

While Laura was sleeping Stuart sent me a text message saying that the surf was looking really fun and shortly after Anne called and said that she and Andy were gonna head over so Andy could surf and Anne was just planning to hang out on the beach. Lucky for me Laura woke up just as I was hanging up the phone with Anne so we grabbed my stuff and went up to the beach. It looked great from the beach - glassy and clean with some fast sections. I got myself in the water and caught a bunch of waves but really didn't feel like I surfed well at all. I had one turn surfing on my backhand that felt good but otherwise I felt out of sync and like I missed a lot of opportunities to make waves better by not making sections I should have been able to make, mistiming adjustment turns, and just flat out blowing it. I was frustrated because it's been so long since the waves were any good and I just didn't get it done. I guess beating myself up about it in the process didn't make it any better but surfing isn't a sport where you typically have a coach or someone there with you to tell you to calm down and do your thing. Regardless it felt good to get in the water and go a little fast - especially in retrospect.

Me making the first turn I've done in seeming months!

Andy with a fun looking left!

Me going right

So you tell me; up at 4:45 am., leave the house & drive to Nags Head, Drive to Manteo, Hang in Manteo for 4 1/2 hours, Drive back to Avon, short rest and watch first 1/2 of the Redskins game, go surfing for 2 hours, eat dinner, chill & watch TV, bed at 10pm. Does that sound like a marathon day to you?! Really great day and I'm super proud of Laura - Anne and Laura both. They trained hard and it obviously paid off!

This morning Andy and I cruised around looking for a wave and finally paddled out but it just wasn't what it was last night so we didn't stay out long - not complaining though - hell how long has it been since I got in the water on consecutive days?! Later this week and into this weekend it looks like we've got some nastiness headed our way weatherwise. Forecast winds of 50mph on Thursday night and wave heights of 9' at 12 second periods should make for lots of overwash and just generally nasty conditions the only silver lining being that the air temp is forecast to be mid 60's (although 30 mph wind will make it feel a tad chillier!!)

Check out this forecast!!

Staring Down Thanksgiving

Let me start this post by being a miserable complaining bastard and I promise I won't make a habit of it. This has been one of the worst fall seasons for surf that I can remember. There have been a few standout days here and there but we have had 2 significant swells all fall thus far and November hasn't started out so well either. I'm so stir crazy to go surfing I can't even begin to describe it. I'm looking at the forecast for the next several days and it's pretty much nothing but North wind until possibly Sunday. My girlfriend, Laura, and Andy's fiance, Anne, are in the OBX Marathon on Sunday so we're all heading up there early Sunday morning and maybe Andy and I will bring our gear and sneak in a sesh in Nags Head while the girls are in the early part of their run then meet them at the finish line if the forecast holds true.

In non-surfing news Laura and I took a fun little road trip last week up to DC on Sunday after work to go the the Redskins/Eagles game at FedEx field for Monday Night football. Laura is an Eagles fan and I'm a Redskins fan so it was fun but the 'Skins are playing so poorly this season that it's tough to watch but Laura had never been to an NFL game so we went really early and tailgated and had a lot of fun.

Laura at her first NFL tailgate

Laura and I just before we shut down our tailgate and headed into the stadium.

photo courtesy: some drunk guy

Typically NFL pregame isn't too much to get excited about until you get to the SuperBowl but we got lucky because Miss America, Katie Stam, was singing the National Anthem (and she sang pretty well!) We really enjoyed the fact that she was standing all by herself on the sideline though and Laura made me feel good by yelling out "Hey Miss America - I've got a man what's up with you??" I'm a lucky dude.

Miss America, Katie Stam standing all by her lone self on the sideline.

On Tuesday we were supposed to hang out with my dad for the afternoon then head back to NC but we decided to play hooky from work and make the 2.5 hour drive up to Ocean City, NJ where Laura grew up and where her parents live. Laura hasn't been home since last Christmas so she was really excited to be back home and her parents where equally excited to have an unexpected visit from her. It was my first trip to OC, NJ so I was excited to go someplace new and see where Laura grew up. We went to her parents local watering hole for a beer - Laura's mom did a good job of embarrassing Laura by showing me childhood photos and we had a rousing round of Wii bowling (typical I blew a solid lead in the last frame!) Wednesday morning we got up and went for a run on the boardwalk had a little driving tour of OC then met Laura's mom for lunch. I also wanted to check out the surf shop that Laura's family uses up there - Surfers Supplies. I wouldn't normally plug another surf shop but they're so far away and I really liked it so I don't mind in this case - I even bought a t-shirt. We drove down to the far South end of the island to the Ghost Pier and looked at the surf which was clean and glass with light offshore wind but really weak - even the longboarders in the water were barely catching anything - it was cool for me to see though.

The Ghost Pier - Ocean City, New Jersey

Thursday afternoon we packed up, said our goodbye's and made the short drive to Cape May, NJ and jumped on the Cape May-Lewes, DE ferry then another 30 minutes down the road to Ocean City, MD where we crashed for the night at my dad's place there if for no other reason than to go have dinner at La Hacienda. If you are ever in Ocean City, MD and you have even a mild taste for Mexican food go to La Ha - it's incredibly good. Pretty much all I ever get there is a Neptune Burrito but everything is excellent. Go there and ask for Mike (the manager) and tell him that you read about La Ha on my blog and that I said it's the best place in town - you won't be disappointed. If you happen to be there on a Friday night you can score 2 for 1 Margaritas - booooooyaaaaaaa! From there on Friday morning it was back to Avon and right into packing up Laura's stuff and moving her to a new apartment. Saturday was a fun Halloween party hosted by Jay and Karen of Outer Banks Kiting -

Laura as a Little Bug and myself as a Dirty Hippie

Lost In Hatteras Author, Andy, as a Boxer (note the championship belt) and the lovely Ms. Anne as a Doctor.

Ah then back to work where things are quiet and I expect they will continue to be until Thanksgiving week. My brother and I have a little excursion coming up here soon that I'm not particularly looking forward to. We are flying out to El Paso, TX , which is literally in the far Southwest corner of Texas on the border of Mexico, then driving my grandfather's minivan back to NC with his things. We're flying out there - packing up the van, staying the night in a hotel then leaving at 5am the next day and driving the 30-35 hours back and planning to do so without making a hotel stay stop. I want to get there and get back - keep you posted. Hopefully there'll be some surf to talk about sometime soon here otherwise the next post may be about the OBX Marathon on Sunday.

Annnnnnnnd Summer's Over

While we still get lots of days through October and even into November where we can wear shorts & t-shirts I am definitely wearing jeans and a hoodie today and have been for the past few days. It always seems to happen like this - we're out surfing in boardshorts it's October and it's totally comfortable then we get a hard blow for a few days out of the North and we all have to break out the rubber just like that it feels like summer came to a screeching halt. Since my last post I've only been in the water to surf twice but both times were pretty fun. I went out by myself in Buxton (something I don't normally do) and caught some fun waves before dark. The Towson University Surf Club got down here on Thursday to pretty solid swell - I had a chance to catch a couple of waves with Adam & Peter & some of the other guys at the 2nd Jetty down in Buxton. Some really fun fast peaks but a bit soft on the shoulder. I've been wrestling with a cold since I got back from Virginia from my grandfather's funeral so I kept my session short on Thursday. Yesterday there were some solid waves pouring through but I just couldn't muster the energy to paddle out and I didn't have anyone to paddle out with as Andy and Stuart were both working and pretty busy with the rather large windsurfing contingent that's on the island right now enjoying solid & consistent wind. On a sad note, a 15 year old boy from Hampstead, NC died here yesterday after getting swept under the Avon Pier while surfing. Apparantly his leash got tied around a piling and he was unable get free of the leash due to the current. You can read the full article here. We always try to warn people of the dangers of surfing and swimming here and it's very unfortunate because this type of thing is avoidable and should never happen. So no photos for this post unfortunately but I'm hoping that this cold will be kicked soon enough and we'll have some surf and lots of pics to post. I also don't have any winter travel plans just yet but I'll be doing something for sure so I'll be back with updates on that front as well. I'd suggest heading over to Lost In Hatteras blog and checking out the insane windsurfing action Andy has been blogging like mad. Till next time!

Island Life

Well it's been decidedly slow for surf here recently - a horrible thing when you consider that this is supposed to be the best time of year for surf. I think that since it's an El Niño year and the Pacific is very active with tropical storms another result is fewer Atlantic storms. That said, there is a large tropical wave out in the middle of the Atlantic right now that isn't forecast to do much but is impressive looking nonetheless.
I've not been much of a recreational fisherman because frankly I never really caught much and I had a stint as a commercial fisherman that really soured my desire to go fishing but my girlfriend, Laura, really does like recreational fishing so I've been promising her that I'd give it another shot.

How can you not be willing to give it another try when this is your fishing guide?? The other day on our day off the water and weather was absolutely beautiful but there really weren't any waves so we decided to throw the fishing gear in the truck and an SUP just in case a rideable little wave came up and headed up to the beach. We cast out a few times without catching anything when almost all of a sudden there was a lot of activity on the water - fish hitting all over the surface! There was a guy, Ryan, on the beach who recognized me from the shop and suggested I change my bait and just like that we started catching Bluefish.

Me before the fish started biting - what a beautiful day!

I caught 2 from shore then decided to put the pole on the paddleboard and try to catch some that way. I was trolling around with the bait trailing behind me and caught another three from the board - I have to admit that it was a lot of fun!

The take!

Yes Laura cleaned the fish!

We cleaned the fish up and called our friends Anne & Andy, Jenny & Stuart for some fish tacos - a really fun day and evening with all our friends. In my last blog post I talked about how much I enjoy this time of year - feeling not as taxed from long days dealing with crazed tourists evenings with friends & family and having dinner & drinks on the porch is one of my favorite pastimes. I'm sure all the participants of the Wave Jam last weekend will agree because I know they had their closing awards outside with a little cookout as well in nice weather.

Anne & Andy awaiting delicious fish tacos.

On Saturday I participated in the "Bike the Light" benefit which was and event to benefit the local Kiwanis club. The Kiwanis sponsors the Terrific Kid (the kind of thing you see "I have a Terrific Kid..." bumper sticker from school) anyway at the shop we get hit up for prizes and donations all the time for this raffle or that raffle to benefit someone who's sick or going to rehab or whatever - we decided this year that we are tired of donating to causes that are questionable and that we're only donating to things for kids to get scholarships or things to benefit the kids of this island - it can be a tough place to grow up and unfortunately there aren't always the best influences so we just want to donate to things that promote the good kids or to making sure that its things that encourage the kids to do what's right. Long story short this was a benefit that met the criteria so we gave some gift certificates as prizes and I went down and teamed up with the owner of Spa Koru, Joe Thompson, and we did a Breast Cancer Awareness themed bike (I think I failed to mention that this bike ride was to be in costumes and decorated bikes).

Self portrait of Joe and I on our bike

It was an 8K bike ride from the Cape Hatteras Secondary School to the Lighthouse and back. A lot of local business people were there - I saw my banker and my lawyer as well as some real estate agents the elementary school principal and lots of others. Anyone who knows about east coast surfing should know Brett Barley a Buxton native who is arguably one of the best surfers on the island and east coast - Brett was there with his wife in quite the costume...

Brett Barley on the left but that's not his wife!

In all I believe something like $5000 was raised for the Kiwanis and another $4000 in prize donations and monetary donations were collected as well so for a first year event on a rainy morning after a helacious thunderstorm I'd call it a success (we had a thunderstorm come through in the wee hours of Saturday morning that caused 2 house fires from lightning strikes!!)

Alissa was one of the HIB gift certificate winners!


I forget this little guy's name but he was the other HIB gift certificate winner!

I'll be out of town this weekend to attend my grandfather's funeral, but I'm hoping the surf picks up a bit before I leave and certainly when I get back - otherwise there might not be much to talk about until we get to Halloween! Have a good one all!

Wednesday Surf Report

Good morning! Sitting on the beach at the Avalon Fishing Pier in Kill
Devil Hills, North Carolina it's a picture perfect day aside from the
fact that there isn't a wave in sight. The sky is crystal clear blue
with the only clouds are off on the Eastern horizon over the ocean.
It's warm enough for shorts but I'm wearing a light hoodie to keep the
breeze chill off & sipping a chai tea and watching an old man cast
netting for baitfish. In July or August, sitting in this same spot, it
would likely already be 85 degrees and the parking lot and beach would
be loaded with tourists jockying for position and making a mess of
things. But it's late September and the crowds are gone and even up
here it's peaceful and pleasant and you can hear yourself think. If
there was any surf there would probably be some people exchanging
smiles in the parking lot while they pull on springsuits in
anticipation of some fun waves while playing hooky from work for the
morning. 40 minutes South from here, in Avon on Hatteras Island, it's
a little quieter still with wide open beach to pick up shells or cast
out a line and try to catch your dinner while hearing nothing but the
water lapping up against the shore and the occasional bird squacking.
Why more people don't come here in September, October & November I'll
never understand - this is the nicest time of the year. Enjoy your day
- I'm going to sit here for a bit more until I've finished my tea then
maybe go get a standup paddleboard or a kayak and get some exercise
and a little sun on my skin.