Sunday AM: Backside of Island!

Out front northend. Lots of drift.



Knee high w/offshores behind the northend.

Saturday PM Session

Sean T.


B-Doggy Dog Pound

B-D again

B-D again again

Saturday, 7:30AM-11:30AM. Chest/Head high sets fading to waist/chest later.

Foggy & Chunky 8AM


Rights were good.

Same photo, don't know how to delete.

Brian (not me) going over the back.

Z dropping in.

Z, same wave on the inside.

Brian

Brian

Friday Evening Session, Northend

The waves have been good the last two evenings. I missed Thursday's night session and brought the wrong board tonight. Great SUP waves. I rode my 10' C4 the last 30 minutes before dark because I decided to repair dings to the 9'3" two hours before going to the beach. The 10' punches through the breakwater great but is less stable and maneuverable. I more or less sat on my surfboard the first hour and watch the only stand up guy (no name needed) catch all the waves!

Inlet vs. Beach Break (The Pilings, Northend)

Pilings @ Northend Today
Dredging righthander. 1 ft. deep!

Inlet #17

Inlet again.

The Inlet (#15-#18 )
The Pros...

The inlet, when good, gives you a ride that lasts for 100s of yards. It doesn't need to be very big. A thigh to waist high wave can reform to the left, then to right and back to left. Another benefit of this is that it doesn't shut down at low tide. The wave runs across the edge of the sandbars where the numerous channels cross. Great SUP wave.

Cons...

The wave and conditions are fickle. Some days when the swell, tide and wind line up perfectly nothing happens. The wave will be mushy or have lots of cross chop on the sandbars. Some of our best sessions of been on the smallest days. Not a great prone surfing wave. Can you say "shark bait"!

The Pilings @ Northend

Pros...

This wave can support one of the best righthanders on any of the area beaches. The wave will let you in next to the pilings and line up for 50 or more yards on a good day. The best waves are after a beach renourishment project. The wave is made into a hollow right point break for months after the sand is dropped. South swells sweep accross and light up the rights. A great SUP wave at high tide with a little swell. Oh yeah, it's the best beer drinking spot on pleasure island!

Cons...

Really shallow at low tide. Almost impossible to find a corner unless it's big. This is also one of the most crowded summer spots on the island. Surfers have also been known to drink to many beers to go back out! Think how crowded really could be?

Masonboro Today. 12:30 - 2PM

Beautiful day behind the islands.

Waves were in the waist high plus range on the sets. The NE wind put some chop on it but overall a good surfing day. The crowd was starting to show. The tide was pushing in and the swell was starting to fill in some.

Some Fun Ground Swell Today

GoPro water shot. Someone might be in the whitewater?


B-Dog on a nice one.



8AM Set wave.



I started on the surfboard this morning due to the low tide and swithched to the standup after an hour or so. Long waits with light winds. The size was there but the shape was lacking. Waist to Chest high sets. After the wind came up and everyone got out and left, I watch several solid head sets break from shore.









NE windswell/E ground swell combo for the weekend! I wonder where I'll go?

East Ground Swell Today

The waves were pretty good during my lunchtime session. Waist to Chest with decent shape because of the high tide. It fun to have some push to the waves. A light East wind combined with the east swell direction made for some bouncy conditions. I was in a hurry because of the last minute decision to go so I didn't bring the camera. B-Dog and I caught lots of great rides and it would have been cool to get some water shots with the beautiful blue sky.

Tomorrow looks good as of now. 4 foot @ 10 second ground swell with light offshore winds and a low tide early rising throughout the AM. To good to be true? Off work till 2pm! Photos guaranteed.

Small Surf Today, Gettin' Ready for New Swell.

I am looking forward to a new swell that will start tomorrow. We should have waist to chest high surf through the beginning of next week. Mostly East/Northeast ground/windswell combo. Conditions look great for Thursday and another weekend surf at Masonboro. Time to examine our work schedules!

Weekend Review. Time to SUP.

B-Dog. Sunday @ Northend.



Butch. Sunday @ Northend.

Butch. Sunday @ Northend

Butch. Saturday @ Masonboro.

B-Dog. Saturday @ Masonboro.

Saturday. We loaded up the boat with 6 people, 5 surfboards and 4 paddle boards. The waves lost a lot size over night, but the conditions were good. Thigh to waist high with good form and a small crowd. Time to SUP. Butch, Brad, Todd and I paddled and caught lots of waves.

Sunday. I missed the call and thought the wind was going to be offshore. Wrong. We surfed at the north end and the waves were choppy. There still was some swell in the thigh high plus range. Masonboro would have been a repeat of Saturday's conditions.

One of the great things about surfing is the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes the conditions are better and sometimes worse than expected.

Time to surf! Masoboro Island Today 7:45 - 11:30p

I think I saw Gerry Lopez?

Brad and I scored a dawn patrol session this morning at Masonboro. Mostly chest high waves with some bigger sets. The wind was NE when we first arrive and swung more N the last hour. The waves went from good to better and working on great when we left. We surfed from mid to high tide. I wore the Gpro on my wrist but couldn't get any pictures from the inside because of the whitewater. This was my longest prone surfing session with the camera. You forget how low in the water you are surfing compared to SUP. You can get pictures from any directions while standing. There was a little to much wind for SUP.

PS. Crowd was minimal this morning. Saturday will be interesting.

Anniversary Photo Special

Dwight paddling in and Brad on the shoulder thinking " I could go and he would never would know that I'm there ". But he pulls backs because there's another wave behind it that's better, of course! LOL We're at the pilings on the north end. Another day with no regular(prone) surfers around. That's the beauty of SUP, more days that qualify as surfable.


Butch (my father in law) out front on a paddle. We were making the turn down the waterway from Bradley Creek Marina.



Butch again paddling by his dream boat at the Bluewater Restaurant.

Butch coming down Bradley Creek.

These photos are about a year old from when we firsted started SUP. The great thing about SUP is that you are not limited by only surfing. When the waves are flat or it's windy you can always find a place to enjoy a paddle.

Modified SUP Board Rack

This is my simple and affordable home made truck rack system that is easily removed and causes absolutely no impact to the truck. The frame is designed with 2x4s, screws, small roof nails and exterior carpet.



The frame is held to the truck with bolts that were aligned and drilled through the rack. We inserted these round eye hooks made for tie downs that have a toggle bolt that fits into the corner of a truck bed. A wing nut and washer secure the two together.




A simple carpeted 2x4 for the rear. We drilled eye hooks into the top sides of the racks for board bungee tie downs. I would suggest placing them on the interior side instead. When they are facing up you run the risk of dropping your board down on them.

Remove the rack by unscrewing wingnuts. Cost under $50. I rarely remove mine. Only minimal warping at the rear rack.

Photo Extras!!!

I stand up to paddle and lay down to drink.





When you get older, dragging your a#! out of water and back to the truck may be the hardest thing you do after a surf. This is my father in law Butch "Bo" who I owe all the thanks for coming up with this SUP idea. I never would have tried it if he wouldn't have been so eager to try.