Windsurfing Diary

Nags Head 9/14-9/18/11

2011-09-22T18:17:00.003-04:00

Its been a horrible summer for water sports. Buying and moving into the 1901 has taken up a great deal of time, as well as being very busy at work. Hurricane Irene screwed us out of our wave sailing contest and cut a few new inlets so we rented a place in Nags Head. That's right, Nags Head. I know, I know, but whatever.

The major players were all there: RAAV, Crouching Tiger, Dan, Carl, Chris Burgess, Ben from back-in-the-day, and Chris Burgess' tramp stamp.

We picked up the tiger at the airport Wednesday AM and headed down, stopping at Southland so we could walk through the redneckly awesome, smoking allowed, disgusting electronic gambling area on the way to get our BBQ sandwiches. We walked out the same way.

Dan rode down with me and RAAV, proudly driving M.D. Smith's aging F-250 packed to the gills with windsurfing, surfing and SUP gear, rode with the Tiger. We got our key from Kitty Dunes and the Tiger received an anxious phone call from Vegas. He had forgotton to sign his own permission-to-go-on-a-windsurfing trip form, so he had to get it emailed to himself, sign it and get it back to his wife before we could really proceed with our trip.

We had tenative plans to meet Pat et-al and after getting more SUP gear from Bill Bell, we managed to meet at the house. Our next stop was a ponderous windsurfing rental situation (to be repeated over the next few days. RAAV really took the lead. If left to his own devices, the Tiger would still be there figuring out what to rent (not really, but you get the point.)

We finally got to the beach and met Pat, Chelsea, Dave, Jeremy, Jeremy's girlfriend. Surfed decent waves all afternoon, drank beers, no windsurfing. The Corolla set went back north before dinner and we hit Tortugas for sushi night, a real winner. Dan had some sushi and we don't know if he liked it or not.

More ponderous rental torture then an unbelievable day of SUPing and windsurfing. The videos below tell the tale.

7/22-7/30/11 Cape Cod

2011-09-22T18:13:00.002-04:00

Cape Cod comes through again. 1 nice day at West Dennis 6.2/101 South. I awesome day of SUP surfing at Coast Guard Beach. Waist to chest waves just kept rolling in. Clear water could see all the way to the bottom, just six miles away from where they were seeing Great Whites. Rented a second SUP from Nauset sports, a Hobie. LML liked it enough to get on it just about every day, starting in small lakes and progressing to the Cape Cod Bay. All the kids from the various families liked it. Oechler, Isaac, Fabbri.

7/3-7/4/2011 Corolla

2011-07-05T07:14:00.003-04:00

2 Days of really the first SUP surfing sessions with enough success to report on. Thigh high and clean all day for both days. Especially Sunday AM. FUN. Hung out on beach all day with LJM, Agnes, Matt, and the girls. Several sessions per day.

6/25/11 Avon

2011-06-26T15:23:00.007-04:00

Picked up Rob at 11ish AM and headed into OBX traffic. After checking the wind every 15 minutes for 3 hours we arrived in Avon around 3pm. It was SSW at around 20. We decided to check the waves at ramp 30. Not much. Almost got stuck but careful driving and 10lbs of tire pressure won out and we made it off the beach. Swung into the turnout and after making fun of the people who were there (kiters,) we rigged our 6.0's and 100 liter boards.

It was flat as hell for the first 1/2 hour or so as we stayed close, getting our timing back and making sure there really was wind. Rob tried a few vulcans, I slammed into as many laydowns as I could and then we went to the Reef. The REEF is VERY close to the turnout, like a mile straight out, in case anyone was wondering. Rob mooned me on the way out, he's got great tan lines.

For the next couple hours we hit every possible wave getting as much air as possible off the port ramps (or as much as one can with a 6.0 off a 3 or 4 foot semi steep wave.) The jibing on the outside was nice and there was even some decent wave rides on the way in.

We then took a break, drank 2 liters of water each, checked in with almost all of the Tidewater windsurfing crowd at the HOLE, left 2 or 3 messages for Contos (or so we thought) and then jammed our 7 boards and gear back onto the truck and headed out to Ramp 34 for an ocean session.

By this time it was pushing 5.0 on the sound and was solid 6.0 on the ocean SSW. There were waist high peelers coming in and we drove north of the ramp a mile or so and found a nice bar that looked like it was working. Rerigged the 6.0's and 100l boards (our idea of strapping them rigged on top of our other gear for the ride to the ocean didn't really pan out) and hit it. The sailing was fantastic. Solid 6.0 with BEAUTIFUL swells on which to jibe. Saw Rob hit many a sweet duck before picking a nice swell to ride back to the break. The wave riding was F-U-N. EASY. Classic down-the-line wave sailing, but on small waves with little or no impact zone. We each had many great rides. Just pulled into one after another.

Then the wind started getting questionable. Normally this would have been the end of the session, but thanks to Kung Fu Jack and Billy, Rob and I now own SUP's. Popped those 6.0's onto the big boards and wave sailed till dark. For those of you who have never considered getting an SUP, get one for times like this: ocean sailing when there is wind less than 18. Nothing but fun. These boards are so at home in the waves. Very relaxing to sail, easy to turn, and hard to fall off of (at least when sailing them.)

After a few cold ones on the beach we re packed the truck (this took like 45 minutes), and headed up to Nags Head to get dinner at Tortuga's. I was thinking about ordering a nice piece of grilled Mahi with a side of rice and beans and a little salad. Maybe some steamed shrimp as an appetizer. I think Rob was thinking Tuna, but whatever, Mahi's better. We passed Tortugas by mistake, so we pulled into Goombays. Kitchen closed. Lame. Ended up at what used to be Hooters eating a cruddy sandwhich after an even cruddier app of crabmeat over french fries (Rob's idea.) Rob had fish tacos which he complained about. I had a beer and a coke to drink and Rob had-get this: a diet Red Bull and vodka. He actually asked the bartender if they had the diet Red Bull. And they HAD it. Weird. Made it back to ORF without incident. Parked the car at Rob's for unloading in the AM.

Moral of this story?

Go to Hatteras whenever possible.

CRL

4/16/11 Buckroe

2011-04-17T08:41:00.002-04:00

Forecast was for SE 25/Big rain in the afternoon. The air temp was high 60's-low 70's. Me, Raav, Kung Fu, Knight, Derek, Carl. Launched from playground at Buckroe, north of pier. First went out on Acid w/ 5.3. Got blown off the water so switched to 74/4.4. This was the wrong thing to do. I did need a smaller sail, but the wind was unbelievably gusty. It would blow 35 for 10 minutes, then 20. Towards the end of the day I put the 4.4 on the acid and had a decent end of session-session. When the wind was up, we had some decent wave riding and some decent port jumps. Raav and Carl getting nice jumps on starboard. I really only had an OK session. Need to get back on the water and get my timing back.

4/2/11 Avon

2011-04-03T12:17:00.002-04:00

Contos/Jack. Contos' van. Windsurfing Magazine test cottage. Lots of 105-125 l boards all over the place. Met editor of Windsurfing Mag. West wind. Anywhere from 18 to 40. Temps water and air low to mid 50's. New suit and booties worked well, no gloves. Looking back the best setup would have been the 101 and the 5.3 all day long. Leaving the 101 in Norfolk was possibly a mistake. Started the day powered on 74/4.4, got off the water for an hour or so, then rigged 6.2/86 and ripped for the rest of the day. 6.2 is actually too big for the Acid, despite what "they" say. Squall came through and it ripped my entire rig out of my hand while I was adjusting outhaul, rig flew up at least 30' into the air and 50' down wind. Fucking spectacular. I laughed, and started trudging after it. When the squall died down there were enough decent ramps to catch some 6-8' jumps for about 15 minutes. Saw Deja that night at Lazy Horse in Chesapeake. I don't know anyone besides Ted and Contos who would set foot in the bar. It was great.

3/19/11 Aydlett

2011-03-23T16:27:00.002-04:00

First session of the year if you can call it that. Some not very satisfying ENE 6.0/101 conditions. At least I got to try out the new Pro Motion wetsuit. Nice and comfy, just like the man says. Air:65, water low 50's.

Aydlett 11/7/2010

2010-11-07T20:57:00.002-05:00

5.3/86. N 25-30 Gusty. Contos, Jack, Billy, Chad, Chuck Rhodes. Best session yet at Aydlett with lots o' ramps and tons o' air. 4/3 full with Etan boots (1st session with these). 53F. Hands were OK, but much colder and would need gloves. Water in the high 50's. Need to order some padding for the Acid.

Ted's Visit and Bachelor Weekend

2010-10-04T17:56:00.003-04:00

Ted arrived on Thursday night (Plastic's birthday) after we both drove through the remnants of Nicole, Ted getting the worst of the weather. Closed down Cantina. Met Rob for breakfast at Charlies, then sailed at Aeries (N 5.3/Acid) for several hours with Jack and Carl. Following cheeseburgers we then shot over to first landing and sailed (N 6.2/101). Tango was experiencing failure to launch, Raav and I sailed out past Cape Henry for some fantastic jumping and wave riding, head high ramps and waves, along with dolphins and a tremendous smack to my balls on a mid-air bail out. Almost passed out. Sailed back to first landing and Raav scurried home while Contos lumbered out and sailed with the now successfully launched Tango for another hour of 6.0 fun swell sailing immediately in front of the launch site. Plastic cooked dinner and we had the fire department called when Huck thought our London Broil was a fire in the Temple.
Saturday was a formula day with Chad contributing a rig to me and Kashy a board. Kashy was holding a regatta a lots of local sailors and visitors were there including Contos, Hooper and others. Formula beckons.
Drank our faces off all night. Plastic, Pat, Ted, Rob, Jack, Contos. Everyone home safe.

9/27/10 Buckroe

2010-09-28T17:22:00.002-04:00

SE 20 101/6.2. Raav. Short (1 hour) but sweet session. Ended up in the Daily Press. Knight missed it.

Here is what was in the Daily Press:

Rob Spurgeon takes to the air on a wave off of Buckroe Beach Monday as Spurgeon and fellow surfer Chris Lewis both of Norfolk enjoyed the stiff wind off off of Buckroe Beach Monday.

Chris Lewis and Rob Spurgeon both of Norfolk pass each other off of Buckroe Beach Monday as the two windsurfers took advantage of brisk winds Monday.

9/26/10 Buckroe

2010-09-26T15:59:00.001-04:00

N 20. 6.2/101. Pretty fun 2 hour session with Derek. Some nice turns and airs way out in the channel. No-one else showed. Still a little hung over from Spruill party.

Kashy's 8/15/10

2010-08-15T23:34:00.004-04:00

7.2/102. Kashy, Contos, Javier, Glenn, Coyne, Quinn. SE 18. After walking 9 with Contos and shooting better than I ever had before, we slipped into Kashy's for a quasi surprise thermal. Flattish but nice. Sailed fastish with Dave as he was testing fins. Sailed his slalom board, and no shit he's fast, it's EASY.

Kashy-Cam at York Point, August 15, 2010 from Javier Garriz on Vimeo.

Cape Cod 7/26-7/31/10

2010-07-31T18:35:00.002-04:00

The Cape delivers again. Despite Great White sightings off Chatham, 3 days of 6.0/102 and 1 day of Acid/5.0. Fun. 2 sessions at West Dennis, 2 in Eastham. Lets face it, the Acid rips. The 101 really performed well too. The 2 sessions at West Dennis really went well, especially at the rock. The breaking waves on the inside of the rock created really nice jibe zones, and when it was 5.0, really nice rides. A few nice airs, ramps not fantastic. Still fun, I feel I've got some of my sailing mojo back. Really ready for a bug jumping day somewhere. Fall is coming. Dates sailed: 7/27, 7/28, 7/29.

6/27/10 Avon

2010-06-28T10:47:00.002-04:00

Rode to Avon with Carl and Raav. Met Contos, Jack, Pete & Kim. Wind came up to 6.0 around 3 and we sailed at the Hole. Long run to a smallish but fun reef, Contos eating it HARD on the way out, running aground at full speed. 6.2/101. SW 20. Rode Raav's new Quatro FSW and Pete's 90L Real Wind. Neither is for me. I still need a smaller weed fin for the 101. Also need to get the footstraps back to the inboard positions where they belong.

6/12/10 Willoughby

2010-06-14T07:46:00.002-04:00

10-20 S/SW. 7.2/150L Mistral Explosion. Board is slow but comfortable, did make me think that a board of that size might have its place. Jack was there to have a few Corona after the session at that bar at the marina. This was the night of Beyond the Lighted Stage.

6/6/10 Messick Point

2010-06-09T20:18:00.002-04:00

Billy, Rob Solly, Contos, Jack, Lam, Trumbolt, 5 or 6 others. SW 20-35. Fun. Sailed 101/6.2 for a while then switched to Acid. Weed fins. Wish I had smaller fins for the 101 so I could have sailed it with the 5.3. Sailed all day, very tired. Actually was the second time at Messick, the first that I drove there. Will go there again for the decent chop and that O-So-Sweet Jibatorium on the south side.

5/29/10 Corolla

2010-06-06T08:24:00.001-04:00

Dialed in session on the sound. 101/7.2. Nice SW 15-20. Should have rigged to 6.0 but left the 7 up. Fun.

5/8/10 Rodanthe

2010-05-10T07:37:00.002-04:00

Road trip with Contos. SW 30-35 4.4/74. Fun but too many weeds even for the Wardog. Had to go with the too-big Surfgrass on the 74 and this made the board a little out of control. Ate shit hard and slammed my thigh into the mast. Still hurts badly on 2 days later as I write this. Contos, Billy, Steve N., Chad, Lisa, Lam, a few others. Sailed Contos' AHD wave board and will be selling my RW 74 as soon as I get around to it. Forgot about GoPro.

4/30/10 Kashy's

2010-05-02T17:05:00.002-04:00

Sailed Formula gear for the first time. Lots of work. Will sail again if the opportunity presents itself. I think that the racing aspect of that type of sailing is what keeps it alive, the gear is cumbersome and the sailing is anything but relaxing. The boards do perform in light winds so I can see some advantages. In Corolla the next day I watched Pat blast along, albeit straight downwind with a 16m kite. That also holds some interest as well. No more sailing for me this weekend even though it was windy. Plastic's arrival trumped windsurfing.

Corolla & Jockey's 4/25/10

2010-04-26T08:36:00.003-04:00

First session of 2010 and first session with the GoPro! Some footage below. Hung over from dinner with LJM, Rob, I mean Raav, Sybil, Contos (oh yeah), Sooz, Jack, Nikki, Dave later. Very gusty all day, but the first session of the year was better than nothing. Sailed Corolla in the AM and met Carl at Jockey's after lunch. Gusty there as well. Sailed all gear in 1 day.

Costa Rica 12/4-12/12/09

2009-12-19T10:26:00.004-05:00

The best surf trip so far!!!

Me, Pat, Francis, Dan, Dave, Jeremy, JC, Josh, Derek. As far as I could tell, everyone got along great. Stayed at The Flying Scorpion. 2 HILUX's. Waves were chest to overhead every day. When it got too big in front of our cabina, we took a short ride to an empty left point break. Rooms were sparse and hot, but ceiling fans kept it liveable. Bugs got me a few nights. Food was fantastic. Broke my yellow Jed Noll on Wednesday. Dave was nice enough to let me use his longboard frequently for the remaining 3 days. The pictures tell the story.

Me, Pat, Francis, Josh shared this room.

This was taken on the hike to the waterfall.

Sucked.

Plastic moved faster than I have ever seen him on this trip.

This was a perfect "A" frame about head high. I went right, Dan went left. Perfection.

Sweet right in front of our hotel.

Pat on another sweet right.

These 2 pictures were taken at Punta Coyote, a left point break that only works at head high and bigger.

11/22/09 Aydlett

2009-11-23T08:09:00.002-05:00

6.0/101. NE. Gusty, coldish, first session with booties. Also rode the Kode 94. Very nice. Thin, skatey, loose, fast as shit. Contos, Jack, Billy, Bob, George Lam. Hoping for window installation today.

11/1/09 Old Lighthouse

2009-11-01T19:38:00.003-05:00

NE 25 5.3/Acid. Raav, Andy M. Fun medium waves with big swells on the outside. Raav got worked a few times but it happens. Raav also was demoing the Tabou Pocket wave 85. He liked it. Margaret then lent us an 82L fast wave for a week or so. Maybe ride it tomorrow.

10/25/09 Chicks

2009-10-25T14:31:00.001-04:00

20-25 N. 101/6.2. Raav, Contos. FUN waves and lots of port ramps. Really just a playground. Great session, AM only but still great.

10/18/09 Chicks

2009-10-18T19:25:00.004-04:00

Photo by Raav on the way.

NW wind blowing 30-35. Contos insisting it's 18-24. Britt complaining that his wave board is too turny (huh?), Jack rigging his skate sailing gear (ballsy), and Rob "Raav" Spurgeon asking not to be made fun of for wearing a 5/3 full suit (it's a Pro Limit-WOW-with rubber skin so the wind can't cut through it and it's soooooooo comfortable). Tide going out. Waist high breaking swells to the West, Chest high breaking and non breaking swells on the bar and head to logo high waves up by Lynnhaven Pier. The sailing was as follows: Launch on starboard and pinch across the channel. It was fluky inside. Jibe just before the opposite shore and blast out towards the pier while looking for Raav who went out first and is wound up on his 4.2/85l FSW. Completely jacked on 4.4/74l. (with an 8.25" fin Mr. Contos). All the port tack jumps you wanted on the way across to the pier. Most over 10', some over mast high. Say like about 4-5 per run. Then you get to the waves at the pier. Find a nice one just about to break and jibe on its face and ride it backside on starboard as longs as possible while attempting to smack the lip backside a-la-Karl Quist. Blast back across the bar hitting lips, and generally backside riding as much as you can. When you cross the bar the swells spread out and create perfectly smooth jibe-a-toriums. Insert jibe of choice here. At this point you have probably worked you way upwind too much so you attempt to head back on a broad reach towards the pier without scaring the shit out of yourself. You then proceed to hit the port ramps again going way too fast but what the hell? Find Raav and flag him over and advise him to get off the 85l FSW which must be like sailing a formula board, and onto the 72l Maui Project. Sail out from the breakers on the inside of the pier. Avoid that big plastic thing floating near the bar. Prepare to Jibe. Wonder where everyone else is. Repeat.

Also Rob from DC/England. Great sailor, hit a few starboard fwds.

10/17/09 Chicks

2009-10-18T19:24:00.001-04:00

Decent 6.2/101. NW. Contos, Jack. Some air, some riding. Full suit, first cold day.

10/7/09 Factory Point

2009-10-07T21:28:00.002-04:00

Very gusty 5.0/Acid. Billy, Bob, George Lam, Glenn, Pete Toth, a few others. Some air early on then it flattened out. 24" harness lines seem to be OK. Jibes were working nicely.

9/26/09 Corolla

2009-09-27T21:44:00.010-04:00

E. 20-25. 6.2/101FSW. Photography and Mojitos by Robert "Raav" Spurgeon.

9/25/09 Aydlett

2009-09-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

Billy, Bob, 5.0/Acid, NE. Gusty, sailed for about an hour, then wind died. Drank beer and waited for LJM to go to Corolla.

9/13/09 Chicks

2009-09-13T19:05:00.001-04:00

7.2/102. Marginal but fun. NW. Contos, Jack. Sailed 2 hours and wind died. Decent session.

8/31/09 Chicks

2009-09-02T15:28:00.002-04:00

6.0/101. Raav, Carl. NE. Very choppy but fun. Good, not great. Sailed for 2 hours. Endurance was way up. The 101 shines at Chicks. It really turns better than the 102. Also the 6.2 really does perform better when I rig it the way Olaf says. Wierd.

8/2/09 Ego Beach

2009-08-03T09:16:00.002-04:00

SW 20-25. Pete, Kim, Chad, Lisa, Uvee. Rigged and sailed at the Hole and sailed on the sound for about 30 minutes as the wind increased. When I was slightly overpowered on 6.2 I hit Ego. Underpowered for the first 2 runs, then it filled in nicely. Overpowered at times but 6.2/102 was the correct choice. It was 5.0 on the sound. The ocean was flat on the inside with some 3'-4' swells on the outside. Sailed with Pete and 2 others. Water was noticeably cooler than the sound which was refreshing. A nice ocean sesh which could have had more waves.

7/31/09 Kiptopeke

2009-08-01T10:00:00.002-04:00

Had a fun little session at Kiptopeke. 6.2/101. Had my gear with me from the Cape and it was blowing up and down the east coast. Kiptopeke was wound 6.0 almost straight onshore. I rigged and went out. Spent five minutes or so slogging in a lull then it ramped up to like about marginal 4.5. Instead of rigging down to 5.3 or 4.4/Acid, I flattened the 6.2 to within an inch of its life and had an excellent session. All port tack jumps with some 4' rollers breaking on sandbars. Good air, lots of fun. The session was a nice reminder that Kiptopeke is an underutilized launch. The fact that there is a great little bar literally at the launch should be an incentive to get more people to sail there. But at the end of the day nobody will.

7/24/09 Chapin

2009-07-26T09:50:00.003-04:00

NNW 25-30. 5.3/Acid. Overpowered, too lazy to re-rig to 4.4. Ahhhh Cape Cod, never seems to disappoint. IWindsurf was screwing up foreskins, I mean forecasts all week, but CC came through BIG time on Friday with awesome conditions on the CC Bay. Very similar to Chicks on a N/NNW. Waist to head high swells breaking on an outside bar with so many BIG port tack jumps that I almost wasted myself in the first 30 minutes. The shallow water was warm but the outside was COLD. I was wearing shorts and neoprene top and was chilly on the outside. I ate it on one jump and smacked my nuts so hard that I thought I would pass out. After I finally got back in and rested for 15 minutes, I was good for another 2 hours. There was about 15 other sailors there including that dude Peter from last year. Great session, had to hurry back to the house to catch dinner by 4:15.

7/11/09 Sandy Hook

2009-07-12T12:14:00.009-04:00

Well the first real session at Sandy Hook had its good points and bad. After a 4 mile run on the tracks, I headed down 287 to the GSP. Shore traffic was heavy but moving. When I got to Sandy Hook it was blowing 5.0. I rigged up the 5.3/Acid and headed out on the flat water side, while waiting to meet Pete Asheman to sail on the much-more-enticing-but-strangely-empty-of-windsurfers-ocean. Well, sailing on the inside of Sandy Hook sucks. Kind of reminded me of sailing at St. Mary's College. Pete and I hit the ocean after a few hours of dicking around on the bay, and had a great short-but-sweet session, I had switched to the 101. Obviously the deal with Sandy Hook is that, other than NW, the ocean is the place to be. SW would probably suck on the bay or the ocean. We had S/SSE wind so there was a clean side shore fetch on the ocean side. I think Sandy Hook would rock on a N/NE. The traffic leaving Sandy Hook was absolutely staggering from about 2PM to 9 PM, with lots of northern NJ types lurking around all over the place. It's so funny to see a bunch if dudes from, say Newark, trudging down the beach in oversized shorts, wife beaters, basketball shoes, and Met hats turned sideways, their girfriends screaming at them about one thing or another. We had a bite to eat at the restaurant on Sandy Hook while waiting for the traffic to ease up. Great meeting Pete and his wife, I look fwd to hanging out with them again, possibly with LJM tagging along. Cape Cod coming up.

7/3-7/5/09 Corolla

2009-07-05T21:51:00.002-04:00

Some knee to waist mushy waves, better than nothing. Beautiful couple of beach days in Corolla, great fireworks, dog drama on the beach, 5' Black snake in the driveway.

6/20-6/21/09 Corolla

2009-06-21T18:07:00.002-04:00

Well as strange as it sounds, Corolla delivers for the second week in a row. We had waist to chest waves with a light offshore breeze, some flies. The waves were perfect. Surfed with Bracken, Pat, Kevin, Patrick (Earl's grandson.) while Lauren and Amy hung out on the beach with Hooper, Brody, and Indy.
The next day it blew NNE 25-30. Smallest gear I had was the 101 FSW and 6.2 Icon. It worked though. Awesome, awesome session, right at the end of Bismark, used the golf cart to get the gear to and from the beach. Nice airtime, nice swell riding, with the occasional wave to get a turn on.

6/13/09 Corolla

2009-06-15T08:07:00.003-04:00

Knee to waist at the end of Bismark. 2 sessions, late morning, late afternoon. Tons-o-dolphins. Very nice, water was beautiful. Boston Terrier central, with 6 dogs at one point. Golf cart is back in the rotation but seems like it may fold in half, literally. Dropped off O'Neill Guru 3/2 with Dave at IR. Maybe he can do something with it, if not, I will have to send it back to O'Neill. Maybe head back down next week.

6/5/09 Avon

2009-06-06T09:33:00.002-04:00

Rented Tabou Pocket Wave 85 and sailed it on the sound w/ a 5.3 for a couple hours. Turns great, jumps nice and extremely comfortable. Slow. Too slow, and is a little hard to get upwind. Wind then went 4.0 and we sailed the reef for another couple hours. Me, Billy, Contos, Rowland. Reef was very rough and was not setting up very well. Still, lots of BIG air. Fun day, returning to a semi flooded Norfolk.

5/20-5/24/09 Avon

2009-05-25T12:21:00.002-04:00

Rented a gigantic house with Rob, Ted, Dan, Crouching Tiger. No wind for the first 2 days. Had waist to chest waves in Frisco Thursday and Friday. Nice. Rob and Dan rented a Starboard SUP which Rob rode very well. Margaret and Olaf came over Friday night for a rigging lesson and we drank and shot pool after pizza. Saturday we had 7.0 wind at Jockey's ridge. A very unfullfilling session followed by Ted forbading us from eating peanuts in his GMC K1500 Suburban. I also did a small amount of damage to the 101 after running aground at JR. Fun few days, not nearly enough wind.

5/19/09 East Beach

2009-05-19T16:25:00.001-04:00

ENE 20, 101/6.2. Short session w/ Jack, Billy, Bob. Much nicer than Buckroe. Dan and The Crouching Tiger arrive tomorrow.

5/18/09 Buckroe

2009-05-18T14:37:00.001-04:00

NNE 20-25. 6.2/101. Choppy, uncomfortable, funish. Me, Billy, Glenn, Knight.

5/17/09 Chicks

2009-05-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

5.3/Acid. Shifty, Gusty, Biggish. NNE. Fun but extremely disorganized. Sailed with Rob.

5/9/09 Corolla

2009-05-10T17:34:00.004-04:00

WSW 25. Acid/5.4. I don't sail too often in the Currituck anymore. It is more difficult to access the sound than it was when you lived there. Also I am usually in the ocean, even if its blowing SW. This past Saturday was an exception. It was WSW 25 solid. No wind on the ocean side. I decided to sail the sound for the first time in like 3 or 4 years. I launched at the Whalehead Club which now has beautifully manicured lawns all the way out to the point. The rip rap along the shore makes for treacherous footing and there is junk on the bottom once you get in but with care you can get in safely. As I was carrying my rig across the lawn to the water I heard something at my feet. I look down and see the biggest damn cottonmouth I have ever laid eyes on slithering away from me. It was as thick as my arm and pushing 5 feet long. Ugly bastard too. It got the juices flowing. The session was fun. The Currituck sound has some decent chop when it blows, more than in Rodanthe or Avon (with the exception of the reef.) The weeds there are unreal. When you fall in, they wrap around your legs and torso like vines. Even with the snakes and weeds, I'll hit it again. Pics by Lauren.

5/3/09 The Reef

2009-05-04T07:52:00.002-04:00

Sailed out of the turnout with Contos. RW/4.4 completely wound, perfect conditions for the little gear. Big jumps and decent waves. Hard to lay off the reef when its blowing over 30. Ocean was flat. Picked up a 5.9 Icon for Raav. His first Simmer. Nice day.

5/2/09 Sandbridge

2009-05-02T13:05:00.002-04:00

Back Bay 101/6.2 short 2hrs with Contos and Don Watson. Flat but nice only wore neoprene top. Susan's knife party is tonight. LJM is nautious.

Windsurfing Magazine May 2009

2009-04-13T10:52:00.000-04:00

4/11/09 Informative Message

2009-04-12T18:10:00.002-04:00

4/11/09 Chicks

2009-04-11T18:29:00.003-04:00

Epic 5.0 N, Acid, HUGE AIR, and so many, as good or better of a session than at West Dennis last year on that S. Me, Rob, Karl, Jack. Maybe even a 6.0 session tomorrow, we will see, after all, its Easter.

4/10/09 Avon Ramp 34

2009-04-11T18:24:00.003-04:00

First Hatteras trip for Rob and I together in 2009. Great time. S/SSW 25 gusty. Sailed on Acid and 5.3. Up and down, knee to waist high waves if at all. Rob, Bill Bell, couple of other sailors. Drove the truck out on the beach, no prob. Got a flat on the beach and changed it using a flip flop and a fin for a base for the jack. Wind died and sailed the 101 and 6.2 for an hour or so, just a great combination. Drove into town and met the girls for dinner at Wine House. We were looking forward to the N wind at Chicks the next day.

4/4/09 Factory Point

2009-04-05T08:58:00.002-04:00

6.2 Icon first session/101. 17-22ish wind, gusty and flat. Pete Toth only person on water when I got there, Bruce was packing up. I did not sail out to the channel or the other side of the island. Water temp was decent, wore booties and 3/2 but probably did not need the boots. Icon is not as powerful as Crossover but still pumps nicely and handles better, feels a little lighter. It will be a better sail in the bay and on the ocean. Ran into Rob, Sybil, Carl and Dana at Tortilla West.

4/3/09 Jockey's Ridge

2009-04-04T09:43:00.002-04:00

4.5/5.5 S/SW/W gusty. Rob, Carl, Billy, Bob, Contos, Wayne, Tom B., Pete Toth, Steve Lowe. Good group of sailors sailing very gust inconsistent wind, good when it was good though, first 1/2 hour was great with some BIG air on the outside on the 4.4/RW. Smashed my left shin on a bail, and got published.

3/29/09 Jockey's Ridge

2009-03-30T18:31:00.002-04:00

SSW 30-35. 4.4/74RW. Billy McKendree, Tom Britt, several others. Met Steve Lowe, lives in Ghent. Session was great, big swells and big jumps, best sound sailing other than the reef. RW is so nice, so easy to sail, handles the high wind beautifully; needs to be completely powered, no surprise.

3/11/09 Jockey's Ridge

2009-03-11T20:49:00.003-04:00

S-SSW 20-25 FSW 101/Dan Cunnison's 6.2 North Instinct. Nicely wound, overpowered at times. Had not sailed there in a long while, shallow in areas, nice rollers on the outside. Water was cool, 3/2 no boots, could have used them though. Some nice airs, Instinct was a nice sail, still like the Icon's better. FSW 101 really turns on a swell better than the 102. As advertised I guess.

3/9/09 Sandbridge

2009-03-09T17:11:00.002-04:00

Lou Stahl drowned last night. Did not sleep well.
Sailed FSW 101 (Maiden voyage) and Margaret's loaned 5.6 Icon in gusty west wind. Board great, as expected, sail decent, maybe had too much outhaul. Sailed with Raav and Bob. Air 75-80, water low 50's, I did not wear boots and was fine, Raav did not wear boots and was coldish. Conditions were OK, very nice to get on the water in the warm, not a place I will choose to sail if there are other options, Factory was low tide in the middle of the day, so we decided against it (perhaps a mistake, although it would have been much colder water.) Some nice jumps for Raav and I, really nice lay downs. No swells.

2/23/09 Ghent

2009-02-23T09:21:00.005-05:00

New JP FSW 101 Pro arrived a few days ago at the offices of Atlantic Charter Insurance and was entrusted into the capable hands of Robert "RAAV" Spurgeon. He, under extreme pressures mostly from his new puppy, was able to take delivery of the board and transport it from said insurance offices to my garage where it stayed, still wrapped up, until I was able to retreive it on Monday AM. As usual the fin looks like it sucks. Tom Britt bought the 2006 FSW 102 a few weeks ago.

2/1/09 Rodanthe

2009-02-01T22:39:00.003-05:00

Warmish air. Cold water. Good forecast, dissapointing conditions. Billy, Mary, Glenn, Marcy, Bob. Marginal 6.0 to 7.5. Tested the 7.5 X-Type lent to me by Margaret. Much more powerful than the Crossover, not nearly as manueverable. Also rode Marcy's 118 JP SS. Fast, fast. Feet got cold, watched the Superbowl. Sick to my stomach. Too much junk. Basically a reminder that I hate the cold.

10/25/08 Buckroe

2008-10-25T17:24:00.001-04:00

Forecast was for SE increasing through the day, got there around noon, rigged 5.4 and Acid and sailed on and off gusty conditions for 3 hours. Big crowd showed up, just crap conditions. Some nice jumps and a few nice wave rides but hardly anything to shout about.

10/16/08-10/19/08 Avon

2008-10-20T08:20:00.005-04:00

Simmer 4.4 and RW 74 in like about 35 gusting to 40 in the sound.

Rented a house in Island Creek behind Windsurfing Hatteras with Raav, Ted, Carl, Chris B, Dan. Contos came in for a night. Billy, George Lam, Wayne and Bob R, were renting a house 2 miles south. Thursday was dead with a slight 7.0 session in the evening. Went to visit Billy Thursday night and narrowly avoided getting a DUI thanks to Contos and his quick thinking (telling the officer where we were headed using street names.) Friday started off with 7.0 in the sound out of the northish. Raav was testing the Quatro 105 FSW then the JP FSW 101 then the Quatro Fast Wave 100. He ended up with the JP. Not a big surprise. Afternoon session was 6.0 at Ego beach and was fun. Some good jumps but the wind was marginal. Saturday was 5.0 and 6.0 all day and we stayed on the sound, sailed the reef and whatever. Sunday morning was 4.0 out of the North. The reef was pretty crazy, with Raav and Carl getting HUGE air and great wave riding and some big airs for me. Raav broke his boom so we cut the session off early only to be stuck in Rodanthe by water blasting through and flooding the road at S-Turns. Dan missed his flight out by like 4 minutes and the Sox lost the ALDS. Good trip, back to RRHF.

That house on the left as you ride into Rodanthe 10/19/08.

9/20/08-Aydlett

2008-09-21T21:41:00.003-04:00

N/NNE/NE 25-30. Flatish. Acid/5.4. Wound. Some decent jumps. Lauren, Hooper, Billy, Wayne, Steve, Contos, Barry, a few others. All sorts of jibes were working well, sailed fast. only a relative handful of decent jumps for a full day session. Checked out Steve and Barry's BMW GS 1100's. Totally kool. Ljm was taking pics today, this was the most exciting. Contos in the background with some dudes sail he just bought.

9/14/08 Factory Point/Messick

2008-09-14T20:44:00.002-04:00

SW 15-25, 102/7.2. Shot out to Factory on a Sunday afternoon. The place was deserted when I got there but field glasses revealed a few sailors off Messick. Walked my gear out 200 yards until the water was deep then ripped upwind to Messick in a few tacks. Contos and Billy were there so I sailed with them for 2 or 3 hours. Messick is a nice setup. Grassy bluff to rig, would be great for spectating. Also a cove across the water coupled with a venturi effect makes for an impressive jibe (or Vulcan) zone. The jumping would be good if on smaller sails. Definetely a place to think about when it blows SW and we can't make it south.

TS HANNA Buckroe 9/6/08

2008-09-06T18:07:00.003-04:00

At the garage at 7:30 AM, at Pilot Ave at 8:15, on the water shortly after. ESE/SE 30-35 sustained with gusts into the 40's. RW 74/4.5 Ezzy wave. 8.25" Wardog wave fin. $. Raav, Knight, Kashy, Derek, Uvee, and 1 other sailor. Shore break moderately challenging but nothing to sweat over, the wind was side-on from the right so plenty of pointing ability to get through the breakers which were all over the place and about 3-4'. Most of the challenge came from the fact that at the beginning of the sesh the inside had lulls and a 74 liter board does not float me at all. Outside was incredible. HUGE swells 8-10' tall and FAT. Plus the usual Buckroe chop in places. Saw Raav get into a few backs, and get some nice air. Port jumps were not everywhere but they reared up occasionally giving me a bunch of nice hits. It was windy enough that the landings were nice and soft, even on BIG airs. The swell riding and the swell jibing were simply intense. Cranking hard into a 10' face as it jacks and flying out at faster than full speed is what I do this stuff for. Sailed until noon and quit when the wind jacked up to 45 with gusts over 50. The beach at Buckroe looked like blowing snow. One down side to the EPIC session was that I got 2 blisters on my left hand (as seen below.) Not too sure why this happened. One final observation was that this type of sailing requires CONSTANT immense concentration in order to stay in control and this type of intensity is as tiring as the physical demands the conditions require. Can't wait for the next one.

9/5/08 Buckroe

2008-09-05T20:48:00.002-04:00

Day before Hanna. 7.2/102 E. Raav, Knight, Britt, Glen. Fun marginal then nicely powered. some nice jumps for 7.2, and nice turns. Back felt good, looking fwd to a BIG day tomorrow, we all hope it pans out.

8/23/08 East Beach

2008-08-24T08:22:00.002-04:00

Another 7.2/102 day. Longer and more consistent ENE wind. Me, Contos, Jack, the Aussie scientist and some odd bird from outside DC. Fun afternoon into evening sesh with some cold ones afterword.

8/22/08 East Beach

2008-08-23T08:25:00.002-04:00

After coming down from NJ, I met Contos and had a fun 7.2/102 session. Wind was ENE and had to use one of his booms because I FORGOT mine.

8/10/08 Corolla

2008-08-11T09:25:00.002-04:00

Crowded beach and thunderstorms accompanied the first session on the new (yellow) Jed Noll. Knee high but nicely formed waves, with a few thigh highers which were actually pretty fun to ride. Surfed for a couple of hours out in front of our house, then the rain came forcing LJM, Hooper, and I off the beach. Lobsterfest 2008 this coming weekend, I wonder if it will be windy so I can shoehorn a session before dinner. Pat is bringing a date but will not commit to who it will be.

Cape Cod 7/18-7/27/08

2008-07-27T16:42:00.003-04:00

First session was 7.2/102 Eastham in front of house. Got into the straps after a low tide long walk. Nothing too spectacular. 2 More days of 6.2/102 at West Dennis SW. Swell riding fun very few ramps. Thursday it blew 25 SSE. 5.4/Acid then 6.2/Acid (first time, not a real great combo.) Overall session was fantastic, one of my best ever, and THE best ever on the Cape. Tons of 2-4' ramps which were lining up perfectly, lots and lots of BIG air and some fabulous wave riding. The change of direction makes West Dennis a completely different experience. It would be worth a trip up there for a weekend if we knew the direction it was going to blow. 4 sessions total, The Cape comes through again. Pictures above are 5.4/Acid in front of our house at Eastham, at the end of the big day. I had driven back from West Dennis exhausted but went back out for a short session anyway. 2 women driving a Subaru Outback (hint) watched me.

7/6/08 Rodanthe

2008-07-07T07:23:00.002-04:00

Sailed on the ocean at the end of Bob Rowlands' street with Bob and Contos. 7.2/102 nicely powered. Some really good swells on the outside and some sporatic small rideable waves on the inside. Sound was 6.0, but with the occasional holes and houses the ocean was 7.0. Saw a huge turtle swimming towards the beach on one run and lots of skates and jellyfish as well. Sailed for 3-4 hours. Fun, Fun, Fun.

7/4/08 60thish Street, Va Beach

2008-07-07T07:21:00.002-04:00

45 minute 7.2/102 ocean session. Very marginal, but worth it. Went to Scott's for fireworks.

6/28-29/08 Avon

2008-06-29T18:03:00.002-04:00

Left Norfolk around 9:30 AM Sat. with plans to stay until Sunday afternoon. Things worked out. Lauren and Hooper, Acid, Radical, 5.4/4.5/3.7. Sailed the hole for about an hour on 5.4/Acid (boring/zero ramps) then went over to Ego for a few hours of normal 5.0 ocean sailing. It was a nice reminder about how much better the ocean is than ANY other place to sail. Came in around 4 PM and Bill Bell asked if I wanted to be a judge in the Loopoff. 5 local sailors, 30 min heat, some nice loops, all fwds. Went back out for another 1/2 hour or so then went back and checked into the Avon Motel. Fun fact: There were 2 well used flyswatters on the bullitin board in our room. Lauren rallied MD Smith style and got on board.
As we were pulling into the parking lot of the hotel, we ran into Uvee and Dave the tree trimmer. We said a quick hello and made plans to catch a few beers at the Mad Crabber later. Later came and we did meet them and were thoroughly entertained for the rest of the evening.
Next AM after coffee and blueberry muffins we headed back to the Hole where I rigged a 4.5/RW and sailed the sound for an hour or so, again boring (ocean looked a little light and offshore when we arrived.) Went and checked the ocean again and swapped the RW for the Acid and had the best 2 hours of sailing of the year, real nice easy wave riding, wound 4.5, and some decent port ramps on the way in. Left for home around 2:30 PM. A great weekend with Lauren, Hooper, wind, a skeevy motel and a very interesting dinner conversation.

6/14/08 Corolla

2008-06-18T10:19:00.002-04:00

7.2/102 SE ocean North Beach. Sailed for about 30 minutes and the wind backed off. Nice. Also got a new Jed Noll longboard. Leo ate LJM's bra and spread around $1500.00. Sold the Explorer to Dave.

Avon 6/4-6/8/08

2008-06-18T10:14:00.002-04:00

Windsurfing weekend, if you want to call it that. Tango and I drove into wound 5.0 conditions Wednesday PM. Sailed Acid until dark, Ted sailed his 5.4 and the AHD. Fun, the sound was better out in front of the really cool rental house than at any other place in Avon other than the reef. Sailed the next morning with the guys on 6.2 and cracked the nose of my 102. Ding sticked it and went back out on the 7.2 Crossover maiden session. Nice. Wind then died for the rest of the weekend. We rented Kona's which were not too fun.

5/20/08 Rodanthe

2008-05-21T06:59:00.002-04:00

SW 25-30. 4.5/RW74. Very little loop progress, ramps not lining up, balls not lining up either. First session on the Sumo 400. Good combination, way better for me than the old 370. Billy, Bob.

5/19/08 ODU

2008-05-19T17:00:00.002-04:00

W 20-30 5.4/Acid. Decent but gusty session with Billy. Some decent jumps, tried throwing myself over the front of the board a-la fwd loop with some success, trip to Hatteras tomorrow could see more progress.

5/9/08 Anderson Point

2008-05-10T08:40:00.002-04:00

The first session here. SW/ 20-25 6.2/102. Really good session, a place we will definitely frequent more often. Nice starboard ramps, really big port ramps way out by the markers, it is big water, and to get to the nice swells you have to really go far out. The wind died and I swam for a while until Contos rescued me with the Cat and an Exocet Cross. Knight, Billy as well.

5/8/08 Avon

2008-05-09T18:25:00.002-04:00

Well I invited Billy to come with Raav and I on a planned trip to Avon. While everyone is friends it is always an adventure to bring someone new with us. You just never know...
No problems, the ride down was full of tech talk, chick talk, food talk, nothing reallt important. We went directly to Avon Sailhouse and got our 2 NL mast plugged by Margaret. Olaf was his usual off-putting self. Raav got 12 footstraps, Billy and I got some downhaul line. Went and got Contos' useless brand new 5.5 Warp from sailworld. Tried to get out of there as fast as possible. Hit the turnout with solid 5.4/Acid. Raav on 5.0 Ice/FSW 85, Billy on Hucker 4.8/Seatrend ATV. Weeds negligible, reef was decent, not great. We all had some nice moves and jumps, some real high. Stayed out there for 2-3 hours, came in for Chicken Parm subs, and then back out for 6.0 sailing until dusk. Ride home was full of pot, beer, and going over every single sailing event over the past 6 hours. Nice. Got home after 10PM. Nicer.

5/3/08 Rodanthe

2008-05-04T08:39:00.002-04:00

Flat water. SSW 6.2/102, then winding up to Acid/5.4. Sailed all day fast, and turned great, including some fast tacks. Getting on the Acid was so nice compard to the 102. Just so easy to pop out of the water, and the jibing was just unreal. Rowland, Mckendree(s), Perkins, Marcy, a few others. Only a handful of decent airs, really only 1 or 2 that I got excited about, the ramps were just not lining up. Transformers will be fun if I can ever get anyone down there to sail.

4/24/08 Corolla

2008-04-27T10:03:00.002-04:00

Surfed with Pat and Josh at the lighthouse ramp. 3/2 and booties. Some OK knee to waist high waves. Used Pat's Jed Noll board, liked it but not as much as my last board. Also looked at the CSS at some of Mike Cherry's new Jed Noll's and unfortunately found nothing I liked.

4/22/08 Buckroe, Raav in Rare Form

2008-04-22T17:43:00.003-04:00

So Raav began texting me last night about sailing today. His "idea" was to go to East beach at 6AM and sail until 9AM. The funny part about this was that Spurgeon family NEVER sees 6AM under any circumstances. Having said that he did call around 6:30AM and started his "sell." Usually I am the one trying to get him out from in front of the TV and into the water but today it was him trying to get my ass out of bed and on to a board. So we agree to meet at East Beach at like 7:30.
I load the truck and begin the grim trek down Hampton Blvd, stopping at the newish 7-11 to get some "coffee" and a "sausage and egg" sandwich. A knucklehead woman was blocking me in as I was trying to back out of the parking spot but eventually I made my way out of the parking lot. As this was occurring, Raav was arriving at East Beach and was discovering that there was no wind. He called and I headed back to my apartment, he was headed home. I called him from in front of IWindsurf to tell him that it was blowing at Buckroe and that we should go. To my happy astonishment he made the turn onto the interstate and drove to Buckroe. When I eventually met him there, the wind had died, but he had rigged his 5.8/100. So we bullshitted for an hour, looking up IWindsurf on his phone every 4 minutes and reassuring eachother that it would eventually blow. George Lam showed up and Billy M shortly thereafter. The two of them threatened to go to Factory but relented after Raav and I promised not to sail naked.
After a while it picked up. I was on 6.2/102, Raav on the 5.8/100, Lam on 6.8/117, Billy M was riding a 5.6 Hucker and his new Seatrend which, in a stroke of pure genius, he was able to procure from Hatteras Island Sail shop using hardball negotiating tactics and the Jedi Mind trick. Knight was getting his teeth cleaned.
The wind was ENE at 20 gusting to 25ish. Nice. Very nice jumps. Some beautiful ducks by Raav, some nice wave riding on the inside by everyone. Wind strengthened, my jumps got bigger and more frequent, Billy got faster, George got overpowered, and Raav's board got smaller. We sailed like this for about an hour, jibing close, off the lipping and generally impressing all the chicks who had been lining up on the Buckroe pier as soon as word got out that Raav and I were on the Peninsula.
After the wind let up we were all commiserating on the beach when Knight showed up. We knew it was him because his teeth gleemed through the windshield of his van as he pulled into the parking lot. Mr. Contos had a wrestling match with the high rise bridge on 64 and looked pretty beat up when he showed. He unloaded an Ultra Cat, and wondered if he should rig his 9.0. All in all a really fun session.

We all jetted around lunch, each with different thoughts on his mind, and in a different car.

4/20/08 Willoughby

2008-04-20T21:24:00.002-04:00

6.2/102. Billy, Contos. Afternoon to eve session, gusty but fun. Sailed on their boards a little, the new supercross boards are very fast and EASY to really get moving. Much better than older gear. Small jumps, nice jibes, tighties and ducks. Dinner at Fellinis w/ LJM.

4/7/08 East Beach

2008-04-07T18:17:00.002-04:00

Afternoon/After work session. Nice. A whole different ball game. Wound up 6.2/FSW 102 with more east so not directly onshore. Made for pretty good conditions. Cold, boots and cap. Can't wait for the warm. Not too many ramps setting up but some good backside wave riding, some chest high waves. Raav, Contos, Billy.

4/6/08 East Beach

2008-04-06T19:07:00.002-04:00

Raav, Billy, Britt, Contos and some others. Marginal 6.0 for the AM. Frustrating morning session. Wind picked up nicely around 2pm but by then I was very tired from sailing underpowered. Sailed for 30 minutes of wound 6.2/FSW102 and then packed it in. 1st week of every other starts tomorrow. We will see how it goes.

3/22/08 Rodanthe

2008-03-22T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sailed at Bob Rowlands' house with Knight, Contos, Perkins, and others. 6.2/102. Flat. WSW 20. Some nice jibes, small jumps, warmish 3/2 no boots.

2/23-3/1/08 Ecuador

2008-03-09T16:43:00.003-04:00

Surf trip with Francis, Pat, Dan, Jeremy. Waves, Waves, Waves. Trip started trecherous for me with an icy midnight drive out to JFK. Got there early enough to wait for 6 hours at the airport. After a couple of beers I dozed on my board bag and played the Ace Combat X on the PSP (a recurring theme all week.) Flight to Panama was mostly spent dozing, I watched half of knocked up. Met Francis and Dan in Panama for out flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador.Our trip started off on the right foot when all of our luggage and boards made it to GYE. After Pat and Jeremy (who had both been there for a week) met us at the airport and loaded up the rental van we promptly ran into our first snag. The van caught on fire. We ended up on the side of the road in GYE drinking beer and waiting for an exchange from Hertz, which ended up with us having 2 vehicles instead of one. Some Dihatsu SUV and a Hyundai sedan.The first night Pat had us booked into some eco-lodge where all we did was crash, get up the next morning and leave, back to where Pat and Jeremy had been staying and had reserved us a "room." A cabina in a town called Las Tunas, on a desolate old promenade in front of a beach break with great head high waves.The next few days consisted of surfing in the AM, Jeremy documenting every move we made, lunch at some hole in the wall, chicken and rice or pizza, reading (The Time Travelers Wife) or PSP, and then surfing in the evening. The swell was increasing through the week with double overhead sets. We found a point break in a town called Las Entradas which could handle the swell size better than Las Tunas and where I caught the biggest waves of my life. One in particular had a face 4-6ft over my head.Bad news the next day, a clean up set broke my Jed Noll Beauty in half, never to be ridden again. Luckily Francis had an extra board that Pat had brought him from the dude in Norfolk, which I rode and then switched off with Dan. I loved Dan's 8' Rusty large short board. Might have to have a 2 board quiver now.The rest of the week was more of the same with extra beer drinking, custom board shorts, jewelry shopping, and more surfing. Nights were spent sweating under the mosquito netting with my first shower of the week being taken in the rain on the last night. I had caked on sun tan lotion on my face and head and my hair was matted down with whatever.The trip home was long but uneventful. Next surf trip will have more frills, some more creature comforts. But I say that every trip.

2/10/08 Factory Point

2008-02-10T17:50:00.000-05:00

WSW to W 35-45. Air temp high 50's, water temp low 50's. 4/3 w/ booties and cap, no gloves. Raav, Billy, Bob, Contos, Knight, Britt, Kashy. Knight was 1st on the water Raav and I were close behind. 4.5/RW. WOUND, overpowered in the gusts, but didn't want the 3.7. Great session for the first 2 1/2 hours. High tide and great port ramps out by the island, small waves and small but ridable swells on the outside. RW with the 4.5 and the 8.25 Wardog wave fin is $. So controllable yet loose, big jumps, a couple that were close to mast high. Jibing was fast and mostly easy with the right gear, the thin rails of the RW cut through the hectic chop on the inside jibe areas, the outside transitions were mostly on the faces of swells. Went to Billy's for a few apre windsurfing beers. Nice.
Sold my 370 to John Quinn. Will get a 400 Sumo to replace it. The 4.5 Ezzy was decent on the 430 Sumo today. Really didn't have the option to go smaller. Looking fwd to warmer sailing although I know it is months away.

2/1/08 Rodanthe

2008-02-02T08:56:00.000-05:00

First session of the year. First 2008 Hatteras trip for Raav and I. Loaded up the Tacoma. 6 boards etc. Rowlands' house. Me, Raav, Billy, Bob R. Wind SSW 30-35, water temp high 40's/low50's. Air temp low to mid 60's. Sailed JPRW 74 with Ezzy 4.5 w/ booties and 3/2 full. Great combination, the board is so responsive, it demands quicker reaction time and needs to be fully powered before it does anything. Not very good ramps. No surprise. We would have been in the ocean, boilers looked great but the water was too friggin cold. Good location for S wind. The 370 mast on the 4.5 is too soft for me. I need to sell it and get a 400. Last 1/2 hour of the session the wind really came up and the 74 shone. I doubt it will ever be too big for anything. Will be excited when I get a chance to use it in warmer weather, and in some waves.

12/16/07 Rodanthe

2007-12-16T20:39:00.000-05:00

SW to W 35-45. Air 65-70F, Water 60's. 3/2 no booties. Sailed JP 74RW for the 1st time. First went out with 3.7 and was overpowered. Tightened the sail and went back out, never felt really right, then wind died. Rigged 4.5 and whole different ball game. Felt great in all aspects, much better session. RW sails great but demands faster responses as it turns so fast. It goes rail to rail with ease and feels great in the air, handles chop great. Probably could take a 5.4 in a pinch.

11/7/07-11/11/07 Windsurfing Weekend

2007-11-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

Left NJ Wednesday AM and met Ted in Salisbury around 4PM. Arrived in Norfolk in time to get Dan at airport and went Tortilla West for dinner, Raav meeting us later that PM. Ted and I hitch up his Suburban and hit the road around 8AM. Windy as we cross the sound cold. 55F max. No wind in Waves but surprise solid 6.0/102 in Avon. NW so no wind really at Ego beach so session was at the hole. Me, Ted, Carl, Dan, Raav. 3/2 full no booties but should have had them. It was COLD. Shortish flat water sesh then to ASH to pick up the repaired Icon and I bought 2 shirts and a neoprene hat which worked great. Chad at OAR lent me booties, big TV and mattress. Dinner at the house with frozen pizzas and The Windsurfing Movie, Detroit Rock City and Dazed and Confused.

AM session Friday. At Barton's. Colder than day before but booties and hood help me. 6.0/102. Flat water, still no real wind on ocean. Dinner at some restaurant and 300 that eve.

Sat forecast does not disappoint. NNW 5.0/Acid Ego beach. Big, big jumps and decent wave riding which got better as the day went on. Locals showed up and about a dozen sailors at the max. It got windier as the day went on 4.5 on the sound and on the outside at the ocean. Stayed on the 5.4/Acid combo because still lightish on the inside. Really tiring but water was in the upper 60's. Much warmer than the sound. Sailed until the sun started going down. We went drinking at the bar from the night before and stayed there for several enjoyable hours with many locals showing up including Olaf and the dude from Sailworld, also the guys who rented all that gear from Windsurfing Hatteras who were in from Boston. Overall a great weekend. Carl's house was perfect and the group was geling.

Back to Norfolk Sunday AM.

10/28/07 East Beach

2007-10-28T17:16:00.001-04:00

Finally some real wind and some Acid action. N & NNW wind 25-30mph. Acid, 5.4. Large swells great sailing. Keith, Carl, Uvee, Tom Britt, Wayne, Alexander, a few others. Generally sailed upwind of the jetties and got as far back up the beach as possible to ride through the soup. BIG airs, nice wave rides and a back loop attempt, which will be landed soon. 35+ gust slammed me into my 5.4 Icon which ripped. Plan to send it to ASH and pick it back up for Windsurfing weekend. Oh yeah, short sleeve full, but was a little warm. Cuts on feet bothering me a little.

10/27/07 Corolla

2007-10-28T17:07:00.000-04:00

A.M. drive to Corolla with Francis and Adam, stopping for SEC's at Hardees along the way. Took longboard and big windsurfing gear. Forecast was for south wind and SE swell 5'. Checked it at the Duck pier and the waves looked epic. NO wind and peeling and lined up. Got to Corolla more of the same. Met Pat and we surfed at Buck Island with some other guys for a little over 2 hours. Bareback, I had a slow start but got some great rides after an hour or so. Went to Tomato Patch for lunch, I had a cheesteak sub. Thought about not going back out but went out anyway this time Section C. Long sleeve shorty. Even better waves and more rides. Saw Face there. Drove back to ORF and picked up LJM to grab dinner with the family at Tortilla West. Red Sox game on, restaurant too cold. Great, great day.

10/22/07 Virginia Beach 48th st.

2007-10-23T20:55:00.000-04:00

Bab passed away yesterday AM. Wound up on 7.2 and 102. Really fun, thought about grandparents while sailing (a first). SE wind. Nice to be on the ocean. Had a hard time staying upwind. Sailed for 90 minutes or so. Wind died.

10/20-10/21/07 Willoughby/Buckroe

2007-10-21T22:23:00.000-04:00

Cut foot, 6.2/102 short sesh, flat, boring, lots o formula sailors, next day skunked at Broe.

10/5/07-10/9/07 San Diego

2007-10-11T23:06:00.000-04:00

Solid chest high waves in PB and Delmar. Great waves. Surfed with Plastic and Dan in Delmar on Saturday. Sunday same people at PB in waist high. Monday and Tuesday surfed alone at PB in waist high waves, AM only.

10/11/07 Seashore State Park

2007-10-11T22:59:00.000-04:00

NW To W wind.15-30. Very gusty. Sailed 102 and 6.2. Me and Raav. Small but fun waves on the inside but we sailed out past the pound nets and into the mouth of the bay. Water was extremely jumbled. Tide ripping out, wind gusty, very bouncy uncomfortable ride. Fun though because of the skunk session at East Beach this AM. Some kiters out. Hope to sail in the AM. NOAA and IWindsurf disagree.

9/29/07 Avon

2007-09-30T16:47:00.000-04:00

LJM and Hooper accompanying me. Ate dinner w/ McKendree's Friday PM and stayed in Corolla that night. Next day arrived at the Hole around noon. Looked at Ego and decided to rig 6.2 and JP 102. By the time I got out it had increased to solid 5.0 so I decided to tighten the sail and stay with same gear. Got some of the biggest air I have ever had. Big jump after big jump after big jump. Real nice wave riding as well. Waist to chest. Sailed for almost 2 hours and then went to the sound and sailed with Karl for a while. He did a sweet fwd right in front of me. Went and had lunch, rigged down to 5.4 and went back out on the sound. Boring so went back to the ocean. Watched the Hatteras locals sail for about 1/2 hour before I went out. Sailed 102 and 5.4 but should have been on Acid. Too lazy to get it off the truck. Combination worked out well and had a great session with some of the dudes still out. Wave riding got a little tougher because swell started to angle away from the beach making it harder to wave ride. Nice session overall, finally got some real wind.

9/14/07 Buckroe

2007-09-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

7.3 Disco/FSW102. Winds E to ESE 14-18. The disco and the 102 continue to be a light wind machine. Glenn, and old dude and George Lamb. Sailed about 2 hrs. some nice swells, nothing to rave about.

9/11/07 Atlantic Charter Offices, VA Beach

2007-09-11T17:51:00.000-04:00

Mr. Sumo arrived today.

9/9/07 Aydlett

2007-09-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

Raav, Billy, Bob R., Contos, Wayne, an asian dude. Picked up Raav at a Walmart the size of Ghent outside of Elizabeth City. Tropical Storm Gabrielle; full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Well actually signifying ESE 5.4, 6.2, 102 and Acid. Various combinations. Wound up 6.2 on the outside practically to Whalehead Club. Nice 4-6' air came down and Powerex 430 snapped...POW! Raav witnessed entire thing and sailed in and he and Billy came to rescue in Billy's boat. No damage to sail or boom. Not too much action after that. A little 4.5 but only 1 run. Apparantly Raav and Bob had yet another conversation about the dreaded sandbar in Frisco. Raav peed in a water bottle on the ride home, met a dude from Hood River while buying beer. He declined when we offered a beer and handed us a business card made of hemp. Dinner at Zio's with The McGowster.

Buckroe 9/8/07

2007-09-09T09:37:00.000-04:00

102 FSW/7.3 Disco. Slightly better than yesterday with larger more consistent swells and slightly stronger wind. Lots of guys out. Contos, Rowland, Jouchim, Britt, Glenn, Kashy and some other dude, Knight, Chad, Lisa. Duck jibes really working even some decent air in the gusts. Heading down to Aydlett this AM hoping to get on the RW74. We shall see.

9/7/07 Buckroe Pier

2007-09-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

FSW 102 and Disco 7.3. Winds almost straight onshore, with just a hint of south, ESE. Knight, Joachime, and Pete Wells of all people. One of the best 7.0 sessions I have had with the Disco. Sail and board felt great, Nexus harness definetely comfortable. MFC freewave fin seems slightly small when beating but shines on the swells, which there were many and some waist high. Had power most of the session but I really had to concentrate to sail fast. Knight was on a Techno and a 6.2 and was planing most of the time and was about the same speed as I was. 6.2 would never have gotten me moving on the 102. Sailed from 3:30ish to 6ish. Tom Britt showed at 5:30 and the wind died shortly thereafter. Tons of dolphins right with us, actually concerned about accidentally hitting one. Got to order a new door for my boomhead. Iwindsurf forecast was exactly correct with the wind switching and coming up in the early afternoon. Could happen again today but they are forecasting same scenario with less strength.