Research Pays Off

In a previous posting, I mused about stumbling upon good waves despite scanning swell and weather reports. 

While that provides a special feeling all its own;  I find something equally gratifying about checking the swell, wind and tide models, using local knowledge to theorize where it’ll be breaking best, going to find it – and then –  scoring it just as you predicted.

With the resource of online oceanic and atmospheric weather prediction models, any surfer can become a backyard meteorologist. But whether or not one can apply that information to finding a surf break is an entirely different animal. You need to have put your eyes on a variety of spots covering the area you have covered many, many times to know which spot has the most potential.

So with the swell maps lit up and the wind looking like it would cooperate, Josh of S&A and I decided that the northern Outer Banks would provide the kind of wave we wanted last Sunday: clean, shoulder- to head-high and reeling. 

And on our first spot check, that’s just how we found it. We scored for about 2 ½ hours, but like so many days in the volatile weather environment of the Outer Banks, the wind clocked towards the north and picked up to about 35 mph from around 10. Just as this happened, the swell increased by about double with some straight-up caves pounding the extreme outside bars.

While the inside continued providing spitting barrels, the wind was holding us off the wave face and pushing us out into the deep between the outer bar and middle. You either had to be so far inside that a clear-out set would drill you, or you were blown into the deep.

We decided to shoot back to Sandbridge to check it, since Virginia Beach is always less windy. With the big swell holding less than 40 miles away, it wasn’t a stretch to think some fun waves could be pushing through.

Again, we scored; this time with S&A’s Cody at our secret bar working about chest- to shoulder-high and A-framing: super fun for sure.

The weather also provided some of the most eerie and beautiful vistas I have ever seen in the water on both Saturday and Sunday. With Saturday’s slack winds, warm air temperature and cold water temperature, a thick bank of fog blanketed the beach around the North End while a clean, head-high swell hit.

At some points, the fog would lighten enough for bright, ambient sunshine to light up the fog around us –  this time it was me, Josh, Drew CSB and Ronnie CSB – but thicker fog interjected often, turning the sky as dark as a heavy overcast day. It felt like we were surfing in a cloud; and I guess we were, technically.

The Sunday evening (daylight savings time rules!) session was equally dramatic, with dark rain clouds overhead and to the north, but clear skies to the west as the sun set. Golden light bathed the ocean, which was a deep shade of dark green against the gray backdrop of the rain clouds. It rained lightly for a time, adding to the surreal nature of the session (the fun waves added even more awe to the scene). Gannets were bombing the water offshore, picking off meals from a school of bait fish.

Both days were the kind of day when you thank God you’re a surfer and can connect with nature in ways most people never will.

• John CSB