Hatteras, April 22-29,2006

Seven of us headed down to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for some awesome spring windsurfing! Bert, Dorian, Mic, Emily, Allison, Steve and myself (Greg) made the trek in 2 minivans and stayed at an awesome soundfront house called the West Wind. The overnight drive down there was an adventure in itself, with my windshield wipers dying while driving in the rain. Picture me squinting through a soaked winshield, one hand on the wheel and one hand out the window trying to wipe the front with a towel, and Steve beside me SITTING in the open passenger side window frame, wiping the front windshield on his side. All this on an Interstate highway at 3:00 a.m. with huge transports terrorizing us with blinding spray as they zip by at 130 km/h. Crazy! Allison was not a happy camper in the backseat!! There was good wind in Saturday's forecast though...had to press on!!

If you've never heard of Hatteras Island, its part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, about 30 miles out on the Atlantic (see map below). Most people windsurf on Pamlico Sound, which is the very shallow body of water between the island and the mainland. There is a beautiful beach on the other side of the island...only about half a km from the sound side. Most windsurfers rent houses and windsurf in the town of Avon, although there are many other places to get decent sailing in the area.The shallow water makes it great fun for all levels of windsurfing, from beginner to freestyle pro. And the wind.....I've been to Hatteras about 10 times over the last 15 or so years, and I must say, I've never had so much wind and such a great time! Two of the days dished out just enough wind to get planing (about 15 knots), and on the rest of the days it blew between 25 and 30 knots. Wow! Hatteras Rocks!

Steve wasn't so lucky, and managed to tweak a kneecap when his foot struck the shallow floor of Pamlico sound, all in an effort to prevent his rental board from getting trashed by his rental mast, as the wind was picking up Tuesday evening. So he trashed his own knee instead. Nice one, Steve. So besides spending the rest of the week drinking, he also became house photographer, taking many of the nice action shots below. Allison worked hard on her beach-starts and water-starts, and got some really nice planing runs in. Mic and Emily enjoyed speed runs with my GPS sensor, and I gotta say Bert, look out....your kids may just kick yo butt soon!

RMC Windsurfing Club has definitely got to plan a Hatteras trip for next spring again! See you on the water!

-Greg