I needed a Hatteras fix, a window of opportunity opened, and an Andy Alert* promised afternoons of sweet thermals in warm waters. I hemmed and hawed for a few hours, then threw a sleeping bag in the van and headed out of New York at 6AM Monday morning.
Nine hours later I was speaking to Andy face to face, who explained the intricacies of an offshore Bermuda High vis a vis the wind, before I drove down to Canadian Hole to wait for it to blow. But the wind did not come, and after receiving some email with bad news I was just about miserable in paradise. Then came a new Andy message to drive 15 miles north, and I did.
Eighteen warm and wonderful knots had me zipping around the Pamlico Sound behind Barton’s shop, sharing the water with about a dozen other windsurfers and kiters. I optimistically put on a shorty (turned out I only needed a bathing suit, so warm was the water) and spent a few hours in my own private jibe and carving freestyle festival, as the sun and sky put on a signature electric gold Hatteras sunset. At one point I unhooked and leaned way back, with my eyes perhaps six inches above the water flying past my cheek.
It felt so good.
*Lost in Hatteras’ Andy has launched the Hatteras Wind Alert for those lucky few who can drop everything and run to the Outer Banks on a moments notice (or masochists who want to know when they’re going to miss it.)
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