Video from Hatteras trip in May

Weather forecasts on the Outer Banks really don't mean much. Well they are pretty accurate with sunrise and sunset. Today it was supposed to be windy early and then it would fade. This morning the wind was out of the South so I went to the Canadian Hole. I was the only one there at 8am. It was drizzling and there were some small whitecaps on the water. I rigged a 7.0 and some heavy rain came in and then the wind faded. A few more windsurfers showed up and eventually two guys went out on the water. They were catching some gusts so I went out and joined them. The gusts started to fill in and eventually I was overpowered so I went in and rigged a 6.0. By this time 6 of us were on the water and we were buzzing back and forth. Eventually it started to fade so I went back out on my 7.0 and there was about a dozen windsurfers and a dozen kite boarders by this time. I quit after 2 hours and went back to Frisco Woods for lunch. Around 3pm the wind came in out of the west so I rigged the 6.0 and went out but it dropped. So I rigged a 7.0 and went back out. It was pretty cool because you could cruise the coastline. Great way to end our last day on Hatteras.

Sunday the wind was light so we took a trip down to Okracoke. Monday the wind was out of the SE so it was mostly off shore at Frisco Woods. In the morning I drove over to the Hatteras lighthouse and checked out the wave sailing. In the afternoon I rigged an 8.5 and went out for an hour and a half. The water was super flat and their was six of us buzzing around in the sound.

Saturdays track. I measured the longest tracks at 1.8 miles on google earth.

Saturday the wind was supposed to fade early so I rigged a 7.0 and was on the water at 7am. I had the whole sound to myself. I was out for an hour and a half and the wind seemed to be backing down. Some kite boarders were rigging when I came in. The wind did stay up all day and I went out for another hour and a half at 1:30. There was 4 other windsurfers on the water and it turned out to be a good day of sailing.

Today the wind was out of the SW like it was on Wednesday. I rigged a 7.0 on my 118L and was out for an hour and a half. The wind was building slowly and I dropped down to a 6.0 on my 92L synchro and was out another hour. It was bright and sunny and the water wasn't very cold so I was wearing a shorty wetsuit. Their are some weeds in the water so my fin does get fowled occasionaly but other than that it has been some nice sailing. I didn't get out yesterday. The wind was out of the north and it was heavily overcast. There was a 2 hour period where I could have sailed a 7.0.

We finally arrived at Frisco Woods campground yesterday. It took 10 hours and two ferries to get here from Wilmington NC. I was able to get out on the water and sail past sunset on a 5.2 which was pretty sweet.

Hatteras

This morning the forecast was 26 mph early morning and late afternoon, so I decided to go early. I rig a 5.0 on my 88L board, winds out of the west and its a toasty 42 degrees. I was nicely powered and the water isn't that choppy so jibing wasn't that difficult. But, within 20 minutes my fingers are hurting so bad I have to go in and get gloves. Fortunately its sunny out and I'm able to get warmed up on the leeward side of some bushes. I head back out but after an hour I was done.

Hatteras

This morning while drinking coffee I'm watching the white caps and thinking I should get out on the water but the tempertaure is in the mid 40's. So at 9:30 I head out and end up down at the Salvo day use area. I put on my 3/2 wet suit and feel cold and I haven't gotten in the water yet. Unfortunately the wind had been decreasing since 8:00 and I end up chasing gusts to get up on plane. After an hour it felt to much like work so I headed in. There were 2 windsurfers out and some kite boarders. I went out at 4:00 and put some fleece on under the wetsuit and feel much better. I rig a 6.0 on the 118L and had way to much speed so I switched to the 88L and had a pretty good time. The wind blew out of the west all day so you could sail up and down the coast which was nice and it was partly sunny.

Hatteras

Today the forecast showed SW at 40 from 11:00 - 2:00, so I headed out at 9:00 to see if I could catch some "lighter wind". As I was backing down the drive a storm cell was coming through with small hail. Did I mention I was in Hatteras? I ended up rigging a 5.0 on my 88L board and went out for an hour. I was well powered and should have probably rigged a 4.5. When I finished the wind was blowing 32 with gusts in the 40's. It was overcast and there was 7 kite boarders out. I went back out at 4:00 and rigged a 6.0 on my 88L board and sailed for an hour. The sun was starting to come out and the only other people on the water was some kite boarders.