Outer Banks Magic

My old friend Jasper and I got a wild hair so we headed to Avon last Friday. We left before the butt crack of dawn and rolled into Avon just before lunch with the SW already turning on. He's heard me going on and on about windsurfing the past few years but has never tried it. Well he got to jump in with both feet since the wind was 15-20 mph by the time we rigged. We covered the basic uphauling/tacking and set out. The little chop made for a tough go of it but he put his time in. Couldn't quite totally finish the tacks but Jasper was starting to get his sea legs. I rigged the 6.5 on the 106L when the wind continued to build a little more- probably thermals kicking in. I was killing my jibes and almost did a few on the plane! Hopefully by fall I'll have the planning jibes down. Don & Debbie Wrenn from Kvegas came out so we sailed until a t-storm killed the wind towards evening. Don is polishing up some tricks for the next tropical storm. After a shower we dined on pizza with Don, Debbie, Anne and Donny Bowers at the Gingerbread House in Frisco.

Saturday the SW backed down to 5-10. Right in the zone for beginners. With the experience from Friday Jasper jumped on the board and proceeded to execute his first tack right off the bat. Excellent form and snapping the board through the eye of the wind like a champ! He got so comfortable sailing out and back I figured why not try a beach start. Dang if he didn't pick that right up too! The sound is such a great place to learn. Even flat water SUP was easy to this guy.

Sunday the wind switched NE and started light. We carried the super light & mega HiFly beginner board across HWY12 for some SUP on Ego beach. You may have seen Andy's or Drew's blog about how clear and blue the beach is. We are talking snorkeling in the Caribbean clear! The NE picked up enough that there was a weird chop 90 degrees to the swell so SUP turned into SDP(sit down). That's OK because it was still lots of fun.

After Ego we rigged for windsurfing at the hole. The wind was a little puffy close to the island but Jasper was able to further dial in those tacks and execute with more speed. I rigged a 7.5 on the 106L and pointed NW past the sand bar. I was using my 32cm wave fin so the balance was a little off- you certainly need a larger weed fin if you want to really get comfortable in those conditions. Here is a video recap of the fun! Another awesome trip. Can't wait for the next one.