Kitty Hawk Water Sports- Nags Head, NC

Friday, the 23rd of October was a nice looking day. I was just about to start painting my house (an ongoing project) when I got a phone call. It was my friend, Steve The Dream Thomas, with a live surf report. He was at the Lillian St. beach access (aka, the Laundry Mats) and he informed me there was a nice little swell that only a couple of stand-up paddleboarders and longboarders were taking advantage of.

I was in quite the dilemma. Paint the house or go surfing? Duh, I’m going surfing.

Air temp was about 70, water temp in the low 60s. There was a very gentle, slow rolling swell with a knee high wave you could ride for quite a long ways. On top of that there was no wind and the waters were very calm.

I actually needed a day like this to build up my confidence. The waves were easy to catch and I got good practice staying on the board as I finished out and turned around. In addition, I was able to paddle along with a pod of dolphin that weren’t too far away. Always a thrill.

The swell eventually quit around high tide so headed back home to see if I could get any work done. That didn’t last long because I soon had to pick up my son from elementary school which leads me to my second beach getaway.

I decided to take him, a friend, and my 4 year-old to the beach to play. Just in case I was given the opportunity I brought my fishing rod.

The kids went immediately to building a sand fort at the base of a washed up tree. If there’s one thing I can rely on with my kids at the beach is that they’ll find some old flotsam and start creating something. That distraction is just what I needed to start fishing and it went relatively smooth for 3 hours, which might be a record for us. I even caught a speckled trout, but not a keeper.

Once again it was a good day to be alive on the Outer Banks.

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?