Kitty Hawk Water Sports- Nags Head, NC

We’ve experienced some nice days recently on the Outer Banks and it’s actually been killing me to choose what to do. Should I catch up on paperwork? Nah. Should I go surfing with the pulled muscle in my back? Maybe. Should I go for a bike ride and take it easy on the back muscle? Maybe. Should I plan to go striper fishing on Friday at Mann’s Harbor Bridge because the fishing report says they’re slayin’ ‘em there? Good chance.

It’s been a long time since I’ve caught a striped bass and with my kids having Friday off from school it might be a good time to take them out there and give it a try. Besides, for every person on the boat we can keep 2 fish. But the kids have other redeeming qualities as well, just give me some more time to think of them.

I rode by Lillian St. access in Kitty Hawk on Tuesday and it was fairly packed due to the good swell. Lots of funboards catching some long rollers.

We had a big blow come through on Saturday and Sunday. When the wind stopped the ocean settled down and left behind a nice swell. It was pretty sloppy on Monday and peaked out nicely on Tuesday. By Wednesday it appeared to be mostly gone.

In other news, I was checking out http://www.kahunacreations.com/ to look at some of their products. I sell their Big Sticks, which is a tool to use your skateboard like a land paddleboard. When I went to their Facebook page I noticed they had pictures of Matthew McConaughey using one with his skateboard. Pretty cool.

Every now and then it’s good to be the stay at home dad. Yesterday was shaping up to be a good day. Weather was warming up, ocean temp was still decent (65), and there was still a small swell. Trying to stay active (read: keeping the winter fat at bay) and not having anything too pressing to do while my 4 year-old was at preschool I decided to go for a quick paddleboard. I drove down route 12 in Kitty Hawk looking for a gentle, outside break. I finally settled on an access at the Sea Kove motel. After paddling around for 15′ I finally caught a wave and for the first time was able to stay on the board, turn it around, and head back out without falling off.

I scored one more wave before I had to hop in the car and go get the preschooler. The funniest part is changing out of the wetsuit at the beach access next to Black Pelican and going to school smelling like the ocean.

Saturday was one of those days you brag to all of your suburbanite friends. After a week of crappy weather it was forcasted to be a beautiful day and there was a big swell on the ocean. Since the kids were sleeping in I decided to sneak to the beach with my stand-up paddleboard. When I got to the Black Pelican at MP 4.5 in Kitty Hawk the parking lot was full with surfer’s cars. After finding a place to park I scouted out the break and I was pretty initimidated. The surf was at least head high and the shore break was really tough.

I stood there trying to psyche myself up because I’d never been in surf that big, much less w/ my paddleboard. Finally, because there were so many other surfers out there, I decided to give it a try. If anything, I could chalk it up for experience.

I stayed away from the good break because it was loaded w/ surfers and I didn’t want my board to cut someone in half. I figured I could catch a few waves away from the crowd and work on my skills.

I thought I’d time my entry in to the surf during a lull. I was wrong. For about 5 minutes it felt like I was stuck in the rinse cycle for half an hour. I shamefully came back ashore to reassess. Not wanting to walk away in defeat I studied the surf some more, saw my opening, and scrammbled through the surf again.

Success.

Now if I could only catch a wave. I spent a little time getting my sea legs and studying the outside swells (and there were some BIG swells) and I looked down and up the face of some HUGE swells but I just couldn’t get the timing. After an hour I came back in without a wave.

All in all, I call it a draw. The ocean didn’t kill me and I didn’t catch a wave. But as I stated earlier it was a good experience and I got some exercise.

But it doesn’t stop there! After heading home I grabbed the wife and two boys and went to the Nags Head business and we all hopped on a Hobie Getaway for a little sail. After a few tacks we were on a lay line heading straight for Pirate’s Cove, a gated community on Roanoke Island. I then realized we were heading straight for a dolphin tour boat. I knew the family would enjoy this so “full speed ahead”.

The dolphin were near the boat just as I’d expected. We slowed down and tacked back and forth and they were all around us. There must have been at least 10 dolphin and probably more.

Great time.

After that we tacked up wind and parked on a desolate beach where the boys could beachcomb and the parents could relax.

How was your weekend?