Visit from the Royal Navy

5-18-10 Blog

    The Surf and Adventure crew is definitely accustomed to serving Sandbridge visitors and locals that want to get active on the water.
    Most people from out of town that we take on our waterway tours and surf lessons are from Virginia communities or states to our north. But this week, we were paid a visit by some folks from MUCH further north and east of Virginia Beach.
    Coming from the United Kingdom into Naval Station Norfolk were the crews from the HMS Sutherland and the HMS Ark Royal. The guys shipped in from across the pond as part of a joint naval training program between American, British and French forces.
    But instead of knocking around the naval station during their leave, the crews decided to hit us up for three days of surf lessons, kayak and stand-up paddling tours.
    And we were as stoked to have them as they were to get down on the water.
    It takes between a week and two weeks to make the chug across the mighty Atlantic. For our guys, the trip took about a week since the seas behaved for the most part (told you it was flat).
    According to a couple of SUP tour-takers, Dennis and Malcolm, with whom I paddled around the waterway on Saturday, the trip is chock-full of tasks and training exercises. So when the ships docked in Norfolk, the guys and gals were ready to cut loose and have a great time enjoying our area's best natural attractions.
    These folks came in from a place that's more known for cool, misty weather, pints at the pub and football hooligans than surfing, stand-up paddling and kayaking; but they were total naturals. Nearly all of the student surfers were up and riding within minutes of their beach instruction and weren't afraid to paddle around the lineup and go for it on their own. The kayakers explored the various nooks and crannies of Back Bay and its tributaries while the SUP adventurers displayed great balance and style for it being such a different type of cruising to which they were accustomed.
    Check out the photos of the HMS Ark Royal's crew having a blast with us in Sandbridge on Saturday, May 15.
    Cheers!

- John Streit

From Cancer to Capricorn Premire

Reef went all out for their latest video premier, From Cancer to Capricorn.  They picked us up in a stretch hummer and took everyone to the Jewish Mother in style.  The video was sick and the vibe was up as everyone was pumped to be there.  Big thanks to Brad and TJ for making it all happen!  Check out some pics after the jump.  More over at the facebook page.

Buckroe Beach Race

Just receive the following information regarding a stand up paddle race this Saturday 5/15/2010:

MAPA will be hosting the annual Buckroe Beach OC-1/2 & Surfski Race on May
15th at Buckroe Beach in Hampton, VA. Race start is scheduled for 9:30 AM.
If the wind cooperates we will once again make Buckroe a downwind run so be
prepared to shuffle some cars. We run all divisions in one race. Race fee is
$10.

We will have a SUP race in conjunction with the canoe race for folks that
like to standup. The SUP race will be run on a shortened course.

Directions to Buckroe:

Take exit 268 off of Interstate 64 to Mallory St. Take a left onto Mallory
St. at the stop light at the end of the exit ramp. Drive approximately 3
miles on Mallory St. to the intersection of Mallory St and Point Comfort
Ave. Take a right on Point Comfort Ave and drive to the parking lot at the
beach.

There is no pre-registration but it would be helpful if folks sent me an
email if they plan to race. Message from Feda frosso@cox.net

Bill and Anne Gasset paddled this race last year and had this to say:

The course is beautiful and very safe. You parallel the beach all the way up to the finish.

Check out the Map My Ride link below. You can change the map to show the terrain and zoom in/out for a better idea of what the course looks like.

Bring proper safety equipment (PFD, whistle and your phone in a WP bag), check the weather, dress for success and plan on having fun.

This is an easy button smash for getting in shape.

Please look over the info and give either me or Freda Rosso a shout if you are planning to paddle.(Bill's email - bgassett@londonbridgetrading.com Freda is listed above)

Quick reminder from Bill:

Steel Pier Classic anyone?

Rick Romano is pumping up what looks to be a really cool event and you can use this race to gauge your readiness.

http://www.virginialongboardfederation.com/

 

It’s no secret that the surf has been flat – really flat

It’s no secret that the surf has been flat – really flat – even when viewed through the often rose-colored lenses of Virginia Beach standards. More often than not over the past month (cringe), we have been graced by the serene waters of Lake Atlantic.

Picturesque? Yes. Making us all fiend for waves? Definitely.  Outside of a little south windswell wrap at the beginning of last week, we are in the throws of one of the most prolonged flat spells in recent memory. After an active summer 2009, fall and winter; spring has proven to be less than cooperative. In fact, the last time a flat spell had such staying power was December through February of 2009 – months which proved to be the polar opposite this year. March delivered as well.

But April, oh April... Now May is shaping up the same.

The traveling surfer has scored some fun sessions since mid-March around the Mid-Atlantic, with the bulk of the action coming in the form of southwest windswells in the Outer Banks (check out these photos Josh took of me on one of these swells in Hatteras Island. We logged that session and made it back to VB before clocking in at Surf and Adventure. Pretty cool). 

But for about 90 percent of those who couldn’t or didn’t venture south of the Commonwealth, this has been a trying time for sure.

With all of this time to do mental surfing (since we aren’t really in the water), my thoughts led me to question why this weather pattern has reared its ugly head. So, I snuck out of Rob’s view at work and gave meteorologist Lyle Alexander at the National Weather Service in Wakefield a ring to get to the bottom of this.

According to Lyle, the pattern we have found ourselves in is the equal and opposite reaction from the active fall and winter we enjoyed.

“Not since really last spring – outside of a week or two in September – has the Bermuda Ridge been so dominant,” Alexander said. “It’s finally happened, and it’s resulted in some above average temperatures” which made this April the 10^th warmest on record for our area.

He forgot to mention it’s resulted in below average waves.

Here’s why: the clockwise rotation of the Burmuda Ridge – aptly named due to it’s positioning near the small island far off the North Carolina coast – has caused a southerly/southwesterly wind flow across the Eastern Seaboard. For most of us – south-facing beaches excluded – that kind of wind pattern translates into desperate flatness. Alexander said this hostile swell-generating environment is even worse for our locale, as every low pressure system following the jet stream is tracking far more northerly than usual. Low pressure creates swell, and it’s just not going to happen as long as the Bermuda Ridge dominates our weather.

But Lyle wasn’t going to be a total bearer of bad news. Yes, kids; there’s hope.

“These patterns come and go,” Alexander said. “From my experience, when it’s really warm in April and May, that pattern will break down during the summer and things should be cooler and more seasonable.”

This means that the Bermuda Ridge should pull away from the coast, allowing the jet stream to meander south as low pressure dives across the continent. This brings cooler weather, and once those storms exit the coast and enter the open ocean, waves follow suit.

So did Lyle say this was going to be a great surf summer for Virginia Beach? Not exactly, but he did say that these totally flat days will probably come to an end sooner rather than later.

As always, I’ll be keeping an eye on things around the Mid-Atlantic and jump on it when something flares up. It would be nice to get a fun one at the home break, but oh well, sometimes you got to pound the pavement to get your fix.

And like Lyle said, at least the weather has been nice.

John Streit.

May 8th Event - Camie Romano & Melanie Columbus Present "Submerged"

Camie Romano, talented artist and Surf & Adventure Co. crew member, has teamed up with fellow artist Melanie Columbus to present "Submerged", a collection of their most recent works. 

"Submerged" is a mixed media collection, many pieces with an aquatic/ocean theme.  You do not want to miss this chance to check out these talented local artists! 

There will be an open reception Saturday, May 8, from 4:00pm - 6:00pm at Rick Ramano Art Gallery on Birdneck Road.  

*This is an awesome opportunity to get a Mother's Day gift!

Rick Ramano Art Gallery 
593 S. Birdneck Road, Suite 102
Virginia Beach, VA 23451


The gallery will be open by appointment May 8th - 15th.  For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Camie Romano (757) 202 - 7444

Paddle at the "Narrows" 64th Street - First Landing State Park

Saturday morning, 0900 hrs, Bill Gassett and crew set out on a SUP paddle at 64th St.  They were invited to paddle along with the core kayakers and canoe paddlers from MAPA. Bill and his wife Anne are the areas top distance paddling gurus for stand up.  They are always stoked to pass the aloha about the distance stand up paddling sport. 

Here is an email that I received from Bill about the event:

We (4 of us) knocked out between 3.5 and 7 miles of solid SUP training at the 64^th Street State Park.

It was cool, very light wind and the work out was awesome…money in the bank.

MAPA has a core group of paddlers and they are full of aloha.

It’s always good to see you guys. Thank you for the “trophies” Rusty. Staying Alive!

More events like this will set anybody, interested in distance or race SUP’ing, up for success.

So in the spirit of Keep It Simple SUP’ing you are invited to paddle out on the Back Bay in Sandbridge next weekend (weather dependant) in the first ever “Suck Mud and Go Blind” SUP race.

Something like 4 – 7 miles of paddling in the shallow water of the Back Bay around a bunch of duck blinds.

Course to be decided race day in order to exploit wind and swell for the most fun.

We will send out another email mid-week with directions to the house and a semi-solid idea on the course.

No race fee, no registration other than writing your name down so we can keep track of who’s on the water and MANDATORY fun.

We will try to have separate SUP classes based on what people bring to paddle.

Speaking of…our kindred ohana of outrigger and surf-ski paddlers are invited.

Aloha,

Bill Gassett

Some fun sessions amid flatness

I’m as big of fan of summer-like weather as the next guy, but I equally distain the summertime swell pattern that we’ve seemed to settle into after an absolutely pumping winter.

The last consistent push lasting around a week in mid-March being such a recent memory makes this new era of flatness all the more difficult to swallow. April showers (and wind) make waves, usually.

That said, the Surf and Adventure crew, my old surf buddy Todd Elder – who I recently reconnected with – and I managed to log a few really fun sessions even though the predominant sea state has been classic Lake Atlantic.

Since that week in mid-march, Virginia Beach has been treated to just two viable swells, each lasting little more than a day at a time. The Outer Banks received its usual shot of better quality surf from both of those outbursts and managed to use its open-ocean exposure to pick up a couple more than didn’t quite make it up this way.

March 21’s evening session blew in a southeast windswell that turned on First Street in the waist-to-chest range that provided some fun waves despite the onshore conditions. Josh joined me for the morning session the following day, and conditions were better with an offshore wind, but the swell dropped a foot or so in size.  It was nice to squeeze in some fun waves, especially with a bleak swell forecast looming.

Then came a layoff that lasted until the following weekend, when another southeast blow produced a long, but soft, waist-high wave. Nothing special, but again, something to hold us over until Tuesday, March 30, which produced the shot of Forrest you see at the top of this blog.

Sick.
 

My friend Rocky, originally set to roll down to the Banks with me on this day, couldn’t make it due to work, so he connected me with Todd, who I came up surfing with through high school. We lost touch as we both pursued our college educations. As I began a career in writing post-school, he worked feverishly to save money to go on months-long surf trips. Smart guy.

It was great to reconnect with Todd, and the bond of surfing assured that we became instant buds. Turns out we are both equally obsessed, which worked out for the next two sessions we would catch.

So Todd and I charged down to Hatteras for the afternoon’s incoming tide. After stumbling around the maxed-out sandbars of northern Hatteras, we decided to surf in town at a spot we thought looked right (we heard later we should have kept heading south towards Avon, but whatever, we had to get wet).

We were rewarded with overhead, barreling peaks that pitched as far out into the pit as they were tall. Completely intense and we were both getting shacked on these gaping rights. Meanwhile in Sandbridge, the boys were scoring head-high nuggets of their own.

Then it went flat again. Virginia Beach is still in the throws of this spell, which looks to end tomorrow with a northeast blow. The Outer Banks broke the cycle for a few of these days, and Todd and I were on it for super-fun, rampy stomach-high walls in Hatteras for April 3’s morning sesh before hitting our favorite high tide spot in town for a fun-but-soft surf.

While I’m sure the OBX sported a rideable wave in some form through the next week, it took six more days for it to really turn on. Josh, my longtime best friend Ronnie and I charged to Frisco as a southwest windswell looked to get groomed by north winds around midday on Friday.

That it did, and some short-period grinders were keeping me and Josh on our toes while Ronnie filmed from the beach. Unfortunately, the zoom on his camera (we were pretty out there) and the steep, bowly, stacked-up surf made logging quality film too difficult. All the evidence needed for the booming barrels of the day can be seen in the clean break of Josh’s board.

That brings us back up to date. Hopefully the next few weeks will be a touch more active, but as you read, even when things get bad, waves still find a way around if you take the time to go get them.

• John Streit.