Hatt Trick

View from our hovel Back in Hatteras. Oh yeah. Wonderful OBX. We have 15 crazed kiters packed into a little 12 bedroom/12 bathroom hovel. If we're too exhausted from kiting, we can ride the elevator up to the 4th floor where we can watch kiters skimming across the sound as we sip our wine laced with Advil. We're roughing it here. Crazy Paul As I write this it's nighttime. The wind is gusting to over 40 MPH. It's howling! I can feel the whole house shaking. I love a good ocean storm. It's fun to see the water in the toilet bowl sloshing around from the movement of the house. Crazy Colleen Weather- This is what kiters come here for. The beautiful OBX weather, which means windy. Solid N/NNW/NNE wind every day except Wed. Oceanside has been mostly side off and dirty. We kited Buxton Slicks and Frisco Turnout all week, one aborted attempt at an oceanside downwinder. Crazy jump. I'm not saying I stuck the landing. Cold Enough? Yeah it's been frigid but it's worth it. I never get tired of hearing the howls of pain from people stripping off their wetsuits in the icy wind chill before making a mad dive into the hot tub to soak for a few hours. Getting out of the hot tub is another adventure that's worth a few chuckles. These are the hardships that kiters endure in pursuit of their passion. Hatteras Magic Surf & Turf- I stopped at Shenandoah National Park to hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains on my way down, camped there. Loved it. The Skyline Drive was spectacular. This is why they're called The Blue Ridge Mountains I'm planning on camping and hiking in Rickets Glen State Park in Penns on my way home. The hike goes past 23 watefalls in about 5 miles. Leaving kite mecca to go camping/hiking proves that I'm more than just a crazed obsessive kiter. I'm a well rounded crazed obsessive kiter. Rickets Glen  Credit to Chris L for the photo of my board off attempt. Thanks Chris!!!

On the Ninth Day of Hatteras

I say goodbye to Kite Mecca with a short oceanside downwinder. It's back to perfect side shore wind, NNE. This is the best riding of the whole week! The waves are nice, friendly trolls. Smaller than yesterday but still overhead, easy, fun. Goodbye Hatt! I camp on Chincoteague Island. I'm thinking about kiting at Tom's Cove, Assateague Island, but I'm running out of light, decide it isn't worth it. I throw my camera in my bike bag and take a sunset ride around Assateague. When I crawl into my sleeping bag, in the back of my truck, I'm happy, contented. It's been a great vacation of listening to my heart, exploring, and following the call of the wind and waves. It may take a few days to get the fine sand out of the folds in my brain. Hatt Downwinder, NNE, 15-35, 8M RPM/Mako150, Solo.  Picture- Baby Blue Heron strutting it's stuff on Assateague.

On the Eighth Day of Hatteras

Another oceanside downwwinder. Today the conditions aren't so easy. Side on wind, big shorebreak, waves breaking out as far as you can see, gusty, fully depowered on my 8M kite. I'm glad to have Denn's company on this one. I'm on the edge of my comfort zone. The waves are lumbering trolls. Some are friendly. Some are not. I ride way out, getting lost in the deep valleys of the troughs. There's really no place they aren't breaking. I'm not taking my eyes off of them for  a second. I'm cautious for the first mile or so. I don't drop into anything. Then, I look for smaller ones to ride. Finally I start to loosen up and ride some waves. Oh yeah! Scary fun. It seems like I'm just starting to get into the zone when we're at the endpoint. Frank walks over the dunes at Kite Point just in time to help us pack up and give us a ride back. Thanks! Later, Denn says that he thinks the wave height on the outside was 20'. I can't tell if he's joking. He must be. I do know that I had to pay attention to the angle of my kite when I was down in the troughs. It felt like I could easily loose my wind or snag a line in a lip if I let the kite get too low. I've never felt that before. Tired muscles! It's not a question of which muscles are tired. They all are. It's just a matter of degrees. Hatt Downwider, Kitesurfed, NE 15-35, 8M RPM/Mako150, with Denn Picture- Frank sets the water on fire.

On the Seventh Day of Hatteras

Oceanside downwinder. Soundside downwinder. This is what Hatteras is all about. The ocean is great! After 6 days of NE wind, the waves are showing some spunk but the perfect sideshore wind, NNE, makes the kiting easy.  I kite in front of the house for awhile. If you stay in one place you get to see all the other downwinder traffic blowing thru. One minute I'm kiting by myself. Then I see kites approaching. Suddenly other kiters are all around me, like a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waves. Then they're gone downwind, and the next group approaches. So fun! Just another day in beach bum paradise. Tired muscles. Hatt Downwinders, Kitesurfed, NNE, 15-30, 10M Rally/Mako150, Solo.

On the Sixth Day of Hatteras

Downwinder from Mikes house in Frisco, near Frisco woods campground, to Frisco washout. Strong wind. Denn and I are the only ones who enjoy this downwinder. The other guys are too overpowered on their 12 meter kites. I tenderize a rib on a bad 720. I'm buying an impact vest tomorrow. And a big bottle of Advil. Beautiful sunset session. Our crew is the last to leave the beach. Tired muscles. Hatt Downwinder, Kitesurfed, NE, 15-30, 10M Rally/Mako150, With Denn, Yuly, Alex, Paul. Picture- Yuly carving hard

On the Fifth Day of Hatteras

This is the day with a terrible forecast- cool, rainy, no wind, sad. It's the best day yet! Mostly sunny, windy, happy. Everyone is learning stuff. That's the best feeling. Jane gets up and riding for the first time after a year of bodydragging and kite flying. Yuly gets his first back rolls. I make progress with what I'm working on- back rolls with a board grab to a crash. Such a great day! Tired muscles. Frisco Turnout, Kitesurfed, NE, 10-20, Flx 138/Rally14, with Frank, Paul, Denn, Yuly, Alex, Jane, others. Picture- Dark Slide Denny

On the Fourth Day of Hatteras

No wind. We cook. We eat. We cook. We eat. Talk a little. Cook. Eat. We better get wind soon. Resting and eating all day is exhausting work.

On the Third Day of Hatteras

Our crew is kiting at Frisco Point. I decide to downwind it from Kite Point, 6 miles, even though the wind is fickle and light, always the foolish optimist. I barley have enough wind to get off the beach. I make it all the way except the last 100 feet. The wind just shuts off. I can see Frank leaving the beach with his gear as I land my kite. Wait for me! I rush and make it to the parking lot as the crew is loading up, just in time to get a ride back. I shoulda told them in advance that I was doing this. I can't believe how lucky I am with timing. 6 miles of kiting and if I had started a few minutes later I would have been stranded. A smart person would learn something from this. Hatt, Kitesurfed, NE, 7-17, Solo downwinder.

On the Second Day of Hatteras

5 boards for kiting, 2 for SUP, 1 board for surfing, and a bike, in a pear tree.   Frisco Turnout, Kitesurfed, NE, 10-20, 14M Rally/Flx 138 & surfboard, with Frank, Denn, Paul, Others.

On the First Day of Hatteras-

I don't make it to Hatteras. We have a convoy of 3 vehicles, filled with kites and kiters, heading south to The Outer Banks. I don't make it. I break ranks in Maryland. Head straight to the water. Assateague National Park! I kite in super light winds, a beautiful spot, then bike, dinner on the beach, camp in the truck. So nice!!! Ahhh, I'm on vacation. Assateague Island, Kitesurfed, E, 5-12, 17M Fat Lady/Surfboard, Solo Boardwalk to Twilight

Hatt Notes

It was a great week of playing in the sandbox!! I kited 6 out of 7 days, surfed once, SUP'd twice. Last Day- Frank and I got out surfing in the morning, we all kited in the afternoon at Mile Marker 46. Superb finish to the week. If I come here again- -My back was sore for most of the week from the drive down. Don't be a     hero. Take Advil during the drive. -Try the downwinder from Kitty Hawk kites to The New Inlet. -Or try launching from New Inlet to look for slicks. Watch out for Power lines. -Alligator River Nat Refuge- rent a kayak here to paddle with alligators on a     no wind day. -Bring surfboard and SUP, don't bother bringing boat. -Mile Marker 46 is closest access to Gull Island in SW, only go to island with a     group and a plan. It's waist deep about half way out then gradually gets     overhead for second half. Island is a bird sanctuary, stay off island in     Spring and Summer but sandbars and edges are fine. -Mile Marker 48 is closest access to Planet of the Apes. Can't walk out of the     marsh to the road but can walk along the shore in the event of a     breakdown. Not as risky as Gull Island. -Think about driving half way and kiting in Delaware or Maryland on first or last     day. Maybe camp overnight. Look at EastKB.com kite map for launches.

Lost in Space

I'm at Gull Island, 2 1/2 miles out from Hatteras, (launched from Mile Marker 46). I love it out here. Everywhere I look I see nothing but water, blue sky, beach grass, and every kind of seabird imaginable dive bombing me if I get too close. The paddle out takes 1 hour, paddling slow, with a light tail wind. As I'm paddling back I can see a very subtle darkening start to develop over Hatt. I wonder what it could be. From left to right the distant line of the coast, my destination, starts to blend into the sky. Fog. This is not good. I still have a long way to go. I paddle hard. When I'm at about the half way point the fog has come in so thick that I can only see several feet in any direction. I feel it when I breath. It's eerie, peaceful, beautiful. I pull out the camera for a pic. Twilight Zone "This is cool!", I think. "I'm an ancient mariner." I navigate by wind direction and chop. But I'm still paddling hard.  It's about 1 mile to land. The thinking side of my brain knows that the wind could die or shift and I would have no orientation. It will be dark soon. I don't want to sleep on my board out here overnight, no pillow. I check the water depth every few strokes to make sure it's still getting shallower. I finally see land emerging out of the grey. I make a guess that I need to go left to find my truck but eventually realize that I'm in The Planet of the Apes, oops. I get back to the truck as the light is almost completely gone, 2 hours after leaving Gull Island. The fog is a little thinner and I can see a nearly full moon.  It's a relief to be back! I didn't get my rest day, but I did squeeze some unexpected excitement out of a no-kite day. I had a trip into, The Twilight Zone.

C'mon Baby do the Back Roll

Wednesday- Chimi House. Back Rolls. Everybody's doing em, yeah, yeah. Frank's got em, Stoke's got em, Skipper's got em, Alex tried a few. Back rolls, yeah, yeah. Everybody's doing em. SW, 14-23, Flx 138/14M Rally.

As Good as it Gets

Tuesday-I've decided to stop kitesurfing because it's never going to get better than today. It's all downhill from here.

Downwinder from Chimis to Gull Island- 2 1/2 miles out into the sound. Very secluded and wild spot, beautiful, and So fun until Skippers kite springs a leak. Kites like to wait for the very best time to do that. The brave Skipper is undaunted. After some productive swearing and kicking of sand we leave the island in a hurry.

Skipper's the first back to Hatteras. He stops at Marker 46 turnout, borrows a pump, pumps up his leaking kite and we're on our way. He does it again at Marker 48. Then on to Planet of the Apes. Nice try leaking kite. Skipper wins.

Planet of the Apes- We're all having a blast weaving our way thru the maze of channels and slicks. I zip down one long channel, about 10 ft wide, straight downwind, not knowing if it's a dead end. I get lucky. At the end it turns and rejoins the sound. Walter waits to see if I make it out before he does it. He has good common sense.

The slick in No Ache Bay is perfect, coulda stayed there all day. I can brush my hand along No Ache Island as I fly by in glassy water. I get my best crashes in there! It's a little shallow when I crash but so soft and slimy that it cushions the landing, nice. We pull out at the Salvo Day Use area. Roughly 12 miles, about 4 hours.

Oceanside Downwinder from The Shipwreck Museum to Jean's House- The wind is dropping but it's still fun playing in the waves with my 10 meter kite. Roughly 4 to 5 miles, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Get back to our house in time for hot tub and a 9:00 PM dinner, typical.

14M Rally & 10M Rally/Mako 150, SSW, 14-26, with Stoke, Skipper, Walter.

Monday- Paddled out to a duck blind in the middle of nowhere in the sound, beautiful secluded spot. Then downwinded solo from Kite Point to our house at Avon Pier. Great day, sunny, warm, happy. SE, 10-18, 14M Rally/Surfboard. Picture- Duck blind, Gull Island and sandbars in background.

Oceanside Sunday- Downwinder, oceanside, on surfboard with Stoke from our Avon house to Kite Point. Spent rest of day in the sound at Kite Point. Enough wind to cruise but no jumping to the moon. NNE wind, 8-20, shifty, gusty. Picture- Naish team rider at Kite Point.

Cat in the Hatt

Kite Point I've been working so hard lately that my to-do lists have to-do lists. They have footnotes, sidebars and fully annotated bibliographies. But not this week! This week I'm in Hatteras. My to-do list says go kiting. I'm an indoor cat let out of the house. A jack in the box out of the box. I'm free! Ride down- 13 1/4 hours, 2 pee stops, 40 gallons gas. Saturday- Kite Point, dead offshore wind, slick water kiting in the shallows. Fantastic! E wind, 12-22. Sat Night- Free Naish clinic at Real with Jesse Richman and Naish crew.  Nice to get tips from some of the best. This is a kiting mecca.

Hatteras- Day 5- Sum Up

Friday- A bunch of us rented SUP boards for 2 hours and messed around soundside. Then Frank and I had a great surfing session at the houses right up until the sun set. The waves were the best yet and the setting sun was making them sparkle and glow! Totals- 1 great day of kiting soundside, 1 brief oceanside session on windsurfer with others on kites, lots of small-wave surf sessions, 1 SUP session soundside, great group dinners/hanging out/hot tub times. Thanks to Frank for organizing it all and making it happen! Sum up or Shut Up- It was great to share my passion for sports with other crazy obsessed people like myself, but I did miss Barbara and the boys. We only had 1 windy day ouf of 5, bad luck. Hatt/PEI- How does Hatt compare to PEI? Hatt has better launches- no mussel farming bouys soundside, better waves for surfing oceanside. PEI is 3 times more scenic and has more to do and explore for the down times. PEI also has had much more wind when we've been there but that's just the roll of the dice. PEI is still my favorite vacation spot of all time, sorry OBX. Picture- It takes 6 to sink a SUP board. We're still paddling but we aren't going anywhere. Soundside, SUP, with Frank, Jamie, Sandie, Colleen, Andre, Eric, Bruno, Peter. Avon Beach, Surfed, Acid 94, with Frank.

Hatteras Day 4

OBX surfer at the Hatteras lighthouse I felt a little out of sync today. I was missing Barbara and the boys. How do single people keep from feeling lonely? The wind picked up too briefly to catch. I was first at the Frisco turnout but there was just enough wind for 14-17 Meter kites so I waited for it to pick up. It didn't. The crew showed up after a few hours and the wind just kept getting lighter. They wanted to wait to see if the wind would come back. I couldn't think of any new details of kiting or windsurfing to talk about so I eventually took off for a lighthouse surfing session and a unicycle ride to the soundside. Hatteras Lighthouse, Surfed, Acid94- front straps and mast base removed.

Hatteras Day 3

View from the deck, Matt's kite in the background at Avon Beach I got a taste of Hatteras oceanside windsurfing! Our crew spent the afternoon screwing around with big kites and boards in fairly small Avon Beach surf. I did some skim boarding (without kite). Just before sunset the wind bumped up, so I got happy, zipped back to the house, carried my gear down the road and boardwalk to the beach, rigged, and got about a half hour in straight sideshore wavesailing. The waves were disorginized, soft, but ridable in spots. I got a little grief for sailing classic but it felt great to be out there on equipment that felt so comfortable. Dinner was fantastic, thanks to Wo-Jo, Dan and Sandie! I counted 16 of us eating and a few more showed up for the after dinner discussion about about every detail of kiting and windsurfing that we could think of. We were all in living-is-easy beach vacation mode. Let the good times roll! Avon Beach, Sammi on Florian's 17m kite with Frank's Door64 Avon Beach, Windsurfed, N, 18-25, 5.7/Acid94, with kiters- Sammi, Florian, Colleen, Andre, Bruno, Amine, Matt, Peter, Rob.