East Coast Wavesailing...Hatteras Style

Keith McCulloch takes my kit out for a spin.....literally!



Bill Bell back loop on the outer bar

The conveyor belt

My favorite shot of the trip. Andy Mckinney floating above the soup

Olaf Podehl




Long harness lines








Ahhhhh the OBX lifestyle....

Gold Medals, Deep Creek Lake, and The Lump

First of all, a HUGE congratulations to the Sonics! My daughters volley ball team won the gold medal at the east coast championships held at Penn State. They are one of the top ranked 12 yr old teams in the country! Amazing!!

On Saturday, Janis and I went up into western Maryland Garret County near Deep Creek Lake for a memorial service. Our late friend Pat Mullaly wanted his ashes spread in a place that he loved to come to. I think he was on to something..

We are so frequently headed to the coast, that its a real eye opener when we go west. I used to love spending time in the mountains. Indeed lived in Stowe, Vermont during my ski-bum period back in the '80s.


Yah, I love my wife

Elevation here is about 2000 feet.



Maryland is such a diverse state

Along the way we stopped at Fort Frederick. Pretty cool place

Cumberland, Maryland



The best barbeque we ever had!


This is their driveway, which had to have been 3 miles long

And this is their house, and the view spans three states: Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvannia

We gathered to celebrate Pat's life


Bart took us off road to see what they call "Flying Rock"







Its called flying rock cuz if you slip, you're gonna be flying.......





Had to have been 200 feet straight down

We miss you Pat.

Memorial Day At Tower Road

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Thank you to all who serve, past and present.

Everyone was at Tower Road Sunday to enjoy wind that was up and down, but fun (although the venue cames with LOTS of strings attached)



I don't have an on the ground report from Assateague, but I checked iwindsurf throughout the day, and the wind was in the 19-22 range all day.......

Andy blasting with his 7.5

Bob Rammsey

Andy again


Nice gybe!


Andy's tips last summer got me over the hump on my Heli-tacks

The trick for me was to to keep the sail more vertical thru the beginning of the move

At this point, I don't have any trouble laying it down this far if i have enough wind in the sail.

I'm sailing away from better than 75% now



Its fun to backwind the sail

Andy Pierce


The Dewey Crew

A few jumps where had too



Time to pack it up

The Canadian Hole

First, one more pic from Saturday's Wave Jam Free Form Sesh at Ramp 27. This pic was sent to me by Lane Dupont. Thanks Lane!


Now back to the Canadian Hole and my final sesh of the trip. Janis and I spent the morning there, she catching some rays, and me a fun 3 hours of freestyle action. Note, these pics by my wife Janis Markopoulos






We love Hatteras.....

and we'll be back soon

Hatteras Delivers The Goods!!

All photography by my awesome wife Janis Markopoulos

Wow, just an amazing trip to the OBX this past weekend. Here are some of the shots I know ya'll wanna see.(note, the really really good photos are being held in secret for potential magazine publication. These are the red headed step child rejects)


The loop off was scheduled for Saturday at Old Life Guard Beach. Janis and I drove out onto the beach around 12pm for a reconnaissance mission. I called Bill with the report: wall to wall fisherman put the kybosh on lifeguard as a viable venue for the event. So we trucked out onto Ego Beach, and ultimately Ramp 27. When I pulled out onto the beach, we found several trucks stuck in the sand, so I promptly let the air out of my tires for the first time. And we cruised on down to about a half mile north of Ego. Massive shore break, but what seemed to be to be nice breaking wave on the outer bar
Launching at Ego

Headin out north of Ego


The scene at ramp 27


catchin some air



Andy on the outer bar



Juicy








Bill taking off


Andy headin up



Note-i had what was probably the biggest denial ever saturday. A huge overhead barrel walled up just off the beach. I shove my stuff up the face and away as i dove into the barreling lip. It was epic, and i'm shocked my stuff wasn't destroyed. Unfortunately, Janis missed that shot in an "oh sh$t" my husband is gonna die moment!
This is just after eating crow


I can kook with the best of em


Yah







I had a pretty magical moment out there on the water.
Back home, ken and I never have more than just the two of us out at Assateague, and the conditions are rarely as good as Hatteras. So I’m out there blasting back in to the beach, looking at the swell in front of me wall up, spray coming off the tops, the beautiful blue warm water with great texture from the wind. The sailor in front of me becomes less and less visible as the wave jacks up on the sandbar. First I can see the sailor, then if he’s a good sailor the hatteras crew, the sail completely disappears as he bottoms turns in front of that wave, only to reappears as his cut back sends even more spray off the top then the side off wind is blowing. Yup, it was absolutely fabulous.


I still need to learn how catch the better waves

Front row seat! Andy has this sequence up on his blog



To share these conditions with so many great sailors, well, it became spiritual for me. And I seriously need more of the same. I absolutely love sailing with those guys, some of the absolute best sailors on the east coast that’s for sure.
My last wave of the day was a fun one!














Barbeque time!

Slide show on the beach!

Check back for more shots later...Looking forward.....

Living Large On Hatteras

***UPDATE***
fun sesh this morninh at the hole this morning, now we're driving back to Delaware, Here a few pics, more later.

Amazing day of sailing that began at Ego Beach and MASSIVE shorebreak, One huge denial.





Then a change of venue found us at Ramp 27. Sideoff, with the outer bar breaking. Most everyone on 5.3s. Waves had size, many well over head.big faces on the outside, with the inside reform often sucking barrels with a pitching lip.
It was Olaf, Andy, Bill, Keith, and Andreas, and myself having the whole place to ourselves.




We sailed till almost 7pm.but the we stayed on the beach under the stars till almost 10pm grilling dogs and burgers, along with a slide show on the back of my truck of all the excellent pics.Let me tell you the apres sailing was just as good as the action on the water! Watching a lside show with the ocean crashing 20 feet away really set the mood. The only thing missing was a bonfire!

Janis took over 700 pics, but I've been sworn to hold them in secret for possible magazine publication.I'll do my best to put a few up tomorrow.

Big wind in store tomorrow.supposed to clock around to the north. I believe Gale warnings have been posted.
Live2sail

Camping in Hatteras

Ken, thanks so much for recomending Sands In Time Camp Ground. We love it here. I think we'll probably never stay at a hotel again!


After we set up our camp site, we hit the hole for a quick 5.8 sesh before the clinic


Andy Mckinney of Sailworld takes us thru the nuance of the forward loop.


The loop off is tomorrow, and everyone is pretty excited about the forecast. AND, there is a swell out there, so it could be pretty magical. Fingers are crossed!

The Secret Spot

Shot of the day

Janis and I enjoyed a beautiful sunny an windy mothers day at the Secret Spot, which was firing! She nestled herself into an nice little niche in the dunes, and scored herself a great 6 hours in the sun from 11 to 5. I scored myself a lit day on my 5.0 and 91 ltr. I launched just after hi tide, and got to experience the full range of conditions this magical spot has to offer. The wind was a tad off shore however, and that translated into quite a few walks back up in the beach into a 25 knot headwind. But I hit plenty of floaty port jumps, my jumpin’ side!




Great photograph

I like this one

Cape May Ferry

Tacking on the outside











The Sandbar was breaking nicely today




Well, I went into this weekend needing to get some significant time on the water to shake the rust off. Mission accomplished. I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for the Hatteras Loop Off this weekend. Janis and I are heading down early Friday morning. Heres to hoping Hatteras serves up another solid weekend of sailing. Looking forward……

Amityville Horror at Assateague

Ken Kellar and I enjoyed some fun wavesailing today in Assateague. Side off decoupling wind made it a ton of work just to get into position to ride a wave. But fun rides where had by both of us, although there where no loops, not even any jumps. Heck, the only time we where in the straps was when on a wave. Well thats not entirely true, we got onto a plane a few times..




A big thank you to my wife Janis Markopoulos for braving the brutal conditions (read below) on the beach today and to take these great shots.

Ken got all the good shots today… Here is a nice sequence.





We launched at low tide so there was minimal shorebreak


Side off conditions, and it was tricky getting out.



Ken was dialed. He caught the best rides.


Last weekend in Hatteras really gave him a tune up.

Ken sizes up a nice one!



I hadn’t been in straps since Easter, so I was fairly green today, and it showed.








Ken's 4wheel drive gave out today, so I gave him a tow back to the paved lot....





Then we tossed his stuff in the back of my truck and we went off in search of a nice sandbar..

and found one!


Oh, you've noticed the dubious title this post?! The side off conditions blew lots off flys and Mosquitoes onto the beach. It was brutal. Reppellant didn't even faze these guys
Reminded us of the Amytville Horror!

I'm telling you there were a couple hundred flys on the leeward side of my truck,


Some of the bigger sets had some size, but they where soft and crumbly, and not much kick to em.

But even when you went down in the impact zone, it was relatively dues free


I never uphauled so much in the ocean as I did today…there just wasn’t enough wind to waterstart. Here is one of the better shots of Ken uphauling up the face a wave!

There just was zero wind on the inside, and if you went down, you either uphauled, or washed back into the beach. A good workout thats for sure!




I know Hatteras was firing today. Hey, you guys are spoiled. But this is one sailor who is praying the spoils last for at least one more weekend!


Heck, I'm sure Tower Road was at least 5.0 today. But hey. a day of slogging WITH waves beats baffing at the baby pool any day..



It would have been better if the forecast came to fruition today, and we could have floated some big jumps, but it wasn't to be. Still, by 6pm when we unrigged, it was mission accomplished, and I’m glad my first day back in the ocean in 4 weeks was today, rather than next weekend during the Jammer Loop Off next weekend! I'm headed to Hatteras in 5 days!!

Bring it on!

Finally, A Solid Forecast!!

I haven't been in the ocean in almost 4 weeks, and that has been all the more difficult because Hatteras has been soooo windy. I can hardly wait for tomorrow to come. Ken and I will be wavesailing Assataegue. The sesh will also serve as a final tune up for the Hatteras Wave Festival Loopopff which is scheduled to be held next weekend.

Anyone interested to join us tomorrow can get in touch with me via my email at the top of this web page. My phone has internet access so reach out and we'll hook you up!

Looking forward.......

Ken Kellar Scores Epic Hatteras

Yeah, so Ken Kellar scored big time over the weekend. It was quite the wind-event on the OBX, probably the best weekend of the year so far. While the Delmarva was socked in with a cold, grey, dreary, no wind pattern, 300 miles to the south, they enjoyed sunny, warm, windy, looplicious conditions. When I spoke to Ken Sunday morning, he said it was a lot like Maui in terms of the consistency and the strength. He was blown away! I was disgusted, but happy for him. We’ve all been on the flip side of the “I scored big time” or the “I missed it” song and dance. It was my turn to deal with the short side of the stick……….At any rate, Ken deserves it, and I’m happy for him… arghhh……




So on top of the epic conditions, nuking at the Hole, down winders from Ego Beach to Ramp 34, dawn patrol at The Point, he also made tremendous progress with his forwards.
Here is a sesh-by-sesh recount of his epic trip

Arrived on the island Friday morning- after house building business in Manteo and Buxton I went to the hole and warmed up sailing 5.0 for a bit.

Candian Hole




Saw Keith McCulloch. He talked of sailors in the ocean at Ramp 34. We crossed the street (Ego) and sailed down wind to Ramp 34. My first Hatteras down winder! At 34 waves were pretty nice for jumping but not so much for riding. I got some fun high jumps.

Saturday - After meeting the builder sailed the hole 4.4 and tried one lame loop (did my classic out of the straps slam). I took a break and visited Andy who gave me a loop lesson in the shop. I was in such a rut of doing the wrong thing I tried to forget everything and we even changed the name. It wasn't a loop, now I was going to try a "spin" Back at the hole on a 3.8 I tried several "spins" with good results. Finally, I was rotating with the board still attached! The attempts were all with the board and resulted in good back splats. I rewarded myself with a couple hours of getting some really nice laydowns and duck jibes. Two moves that I normally can't do very well but really started nailing some sweet full planing jibes.(both duck and laydown). Later I went to life guard beach where Keith had had a fun small wave session but the wind had died. On my 117 L Aero I had a couple really nice wave rides before the sun set. Interesting contrast to within about an hour be raging on a 3.8 in the sound and then schlogging on a 5.8 in the ocean! Both experiences were awesome!

Sunday - I met Andy and Stuart for a dawn session at life guard. I was on my 117 and 5.8 and never planed. The other two were on much smaller gear. The 3 to 4 foot wave rides were really nice. Many three turn waves for me. We saw a big sea turtle hanging out there for a while. Later as I was trying to leave the island, Andy encouraged me to return to the hole for some more loop practice. There I saw Keith who gave me a quick loop lesson which was very different from Andy's but complimentary. He sat on the beach and watched my attempts. Powered up 4.4, I tried about 15 loops. All were rotations with the board and I landed two with my gear in the waterstart position. So huge loop progress this weekend. I have lost a lot of fear and I really really really want it now! My thoughts of dread are replaced with anticipation!

Learning to loop. No one said it was gonna be easy!


“It got better after I called Sunday morning after the dawn patrol.

Stuart Proctor at The Point



As I was "leaving" the island I stopped by Sailworld to say bye and maybe buy something. Andy encouraged me to dial in my loops some more at the hole. It was really windy. So I went there and found Keith in street clothes. He was watching Martin and Anne sail. He was hanging out saving himself for an afternoon wave session. I talked about looping and he suggested I rig up and he'd give me a ten minute loop lesson. Standing on the beach with a rig in hand, he showed me the quick initiation of the loop (kind of like a quick bow-and-arrow move). I tried it on land and then he said "go for it. I'll sit here and watch you". I warned him that I might just sail back and forth for 20 minutes with no attempts. He said he understood. So with my 4.4 and 83 liter board I launched. To my surprise I went for it on my first run out. Back smacker crash but the board came with me. Hurray! I started trying them on every run out and about 1 out of three runs in. After 40 minutes or so I had attempted about 15 loops, a year's worth of attempts! I tossed so many loops that the padding inside my helmet was getting twisted on my head all kinds of ways! Two of those I landed with the gear in a water start position. I fell off in all cases but definitely got the rotational feeling and the board came with me in all cases. So a major breakthrough in my march to becoming an accomplished looper!”

“You know another magic aspect of my weekend is that the weather at Hatteras was beautiful and as soon as I hit Kitty Hawk it started raining and then after a brief dry spell to the NC/VA border it was rain all the way home making Hatteras seem even more magical”.

BTW the sunset photographer is William Seibert



So I told Ken that is sounds like he had passed me in my quest for the Holy Grail-becoming the Boss of Toss (btw-I love that moniker-all credit to Dana Miller for coining the phrase).

Ken’s response:

“I'd say I caught up to you. I have lost a lot of fear and now I really, really want it! I can taste it! I can imagine it! I get excited thinking about it when I used to feel dread. We're gonna get it! Delaware Bay maybe? Assateaque? Noreaster at Sandy Point? Hatteras? I'm ready to try all those venues. You will benefit because I'm gonna be throwing a lot more attempts now when we are out together”.


Definitely good news for both of us. I need someone to push me when I’m out sailing. I can’t let Ken become the Boss of Toss on my home patch. No sir :) hahaha. Sounds like Ken is ready for the loopoff in two weeks!



In all seriousness, glad to see Ken make the major breakthrough with his forwards, and scoring the epic conditions, without me.



Arghhhhh!

Hatteras is Firing!

It was rocking today in Hattteras.

Here is the iwindsurf graph for Avon.



4.0 conditions..... all day.

EPIC conditions.

I'm certain the ocean sailing was absolutely fabulous.

I'm certain it was looplicious

I wasn't in Hatteras.

Here is the iwindsurf graph for the beach I was at in Deleware.

Pathetic. I had business to attend to today that prevented me from a weekend trip to sail with the Hatteras crew.

I've usually say any day of sailing is a great day of sailing...

....but today was tough.


oh, and its gonna be windy again tomorrow. Be sure to check Lost In Hatteras for the full report on what I'm certatin will be the best weeked of sailing so far this year.