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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Outter Banks NC Surf Kayaking
Posted By: Jack Sanderon
Date: Monday, 24 April 2000, at 3:30 p.m.
I spent the school vacation week with my wife and kids on the outer banks of North Carolina for the last 5 days. I would recommend it to anyone as a great spot for kayaking. Below is my experience tacking big ocean surf for the first time in a sit on top.
For those of you who do not know the area, the outer banks is a strip of land that runs parallel to the coast of North Carolina for 75 miles. The width of the land varies from 100 yds to a mile wide and sits anywhere from 1 to 4 miles from the mainland. The house we rented was north of Kitty Hawk ( site of the Wright brothers first flight) in the town of Sanderling. The house sat on the ocean side of the Banks but had access points to the sound right across the road.
We flew into Richmond to take in Williamsburg for the weekend so I couldn’t bring the Guillemot. I ended up renting a sit on top sea kayak for $70 for the week. The sit on top offered the flexibility to explore the relative calm of the sound with its bird sanctuaries or to ride the waves on the ocean side. The water in the northern sound was shallow and warm enough to swim in. The ocean was definitely cold and required a wet suit.
A Suspect Start
I rented the kayak late Monday on a sunny calm day but didn’t get a chance to go out. Tuesday I awoke to rain and high (30mph) winds. From the warmth of the living room I could see the ocean had been whipped up to 12’ waves and a nasty rip current. Not a good day to try surf kayaking for the first time. By 3:00 in the afternoon the wind died down some and the rain stopped so I tried launching in the sound. On a good day the northern sound is only 6ft deep until you get into the main channel. Today the wind and storm had sucked all the water out and it was 6-12in. deep. To make matters worse I had to drag the kayak over 100 yds of sand and mud flats to get out to the water, sinking up to mid calf with each step. After looking for deeper water for 45 min and having my paddle hit bottom on every stroke I abandoned the trip and dragged every thing back to shore.
Wed the storm got even worse with 15’ wave crashing and very high winds. We would be inside all day today playing scrabble and reading.
Better Weather
Thursday we awoke to warm and generally clear weather. I paddled for three hours in the sound (who’s water had returned as the north east wind stopped) exploring dozens of channels and saw numerous birds. The most spectacular were the pelicans who’s large wing span let them hover gracefully until they are ready to dive for fish. I also noticed that there were a number of duck blinds / bird observation shacks. I found one particularly well appointed one with a rocking chair and a field & stream plus detective novel library. I can’t imagine shooting birds in the sanctuary so I chose to believe that this was for photography but the F&S magazines indicated otherwise.
Hitting The Surf
In the late afternoon I got my courage up to try the ocean. I donned my wetsuit, PDF, helmet and attempted to launch. The ocean side of the banks consists of 3 sets of breakers each increasingly larger as you go further from shore. The outer waves appeared to 5-8ft high. My first discovery was that in breaking through the surf, timing is every thing. There is a “no mans land” where if you get caught the wave will crash over you and you have no chance of staying up right. If you hit the wave after it breaks you get enveloped in a churning mass of boiling water that tries to push you back. Paddling into the wave before it breaks is more controlled but if you miss judge the timing or don’t have the strength to paddle over the top you can get flipped backwards as the wave breaks (more about this scenario latter).
My second learning was that you shouldn’t attempt paddling through large surf after paddling for 3 hours. I was able to power through the first two sets of breaker but couldn’t get past the third. Try as I might, I couldn’t generate enough power to get past the “no mans land”. As each wave broke it was pushing me back and almost knocking me off the kayak. As it turns out what looked like 5-8ft waves from shore turned out to be 8-10ft waves when you got out there. One large wave finally knocked me from the boat and got me a little unnerved. Because I hung on until I was mostly through the wave, when I came up I was only 10 feet from the kayak. I decided to call it quits and quickly mounted the boat and made a hasty retreat. Surprisingly coming in was easy and not so out of control. I surfed two waves in and got out without event.
“I Will Return”
Friday was my last day and I was psyched to try the surf again. The swell from the storm hadn’t died down much but the waves were coming in more predictable sets. After a good nights sleep I was rested and ready to tackle the surf. Again I launched and got through the first two sets of breakers. I was trying to judge the third and largest set when I realized that I was right in the so called no mans land. What appeared to be a 10ft+ wave was swelling up and if I didn’t move would break right over me. I could either do a 180 and surf with it or try to paddle over it before it broke. I chose to charge forward and paddled for all I was worth. I was able to paddle up the face of the wave but as I got to the top it was too steep and I started surfing backwards down the wave. What happened next was a little confused. I felt myself flip over backwards. At the same time I thrust my paddle up only to feel it snap in two as the wave crashed down on me. I don’t know if it was the force of the wave on paddle blades or the boat hitting the shaft but I found myself on the bottom holding onto two pieces and waiting for the wave to pass over me. I was able to surface and found the boat 20’ away and started swimming towards it. I got trashed by two more waves but was able to throw my self over the boat and rest for a while.
“I Will Return” Part II
All of this unnerved my wife and the spectators because I was hidden behind the swells but I finally emerged unhurt though humbled by the force of the wave that broke an aluminum shaft like a toothpick. I borrowed a cheap fiberglass paddle and after 30min rest made one more attempt to get out past the breakers. By studying the waves I found that they came in sets of seven with the last one the biggest. Once more I got out to the third set and waited for the big #7 to break. Right after it broke I paddled like crazy to get past three more waves until I was out past where they were breaking.
The Big Reward
My persistence paid off. A huge flock of pelicans were diving 30’ from me, obviously going after a school of fish and coming my way. Suddenly there was a school of 20 dolphins breaking all around me chasing the school of fish that the pelicans were going after. For ten minutes I was treated to a close up dolphin display that surpassed any paid show I had ever seen. I stayed out for 30 min and then started my return. Again surfing with the waves was much easier than I expected. I had to use my paddle as a rudder to keep from broaching but I was able surf in on three waves in a matter of minutes. I paddled some in the sound in the afternoon with my wife and nephew under much more hospitable conditions but had to return the rental by 5:00.
In the end I sure had fun in the surf. I can’t decide if I was incredibly lucky not to have been injured or just getting up the learning curve. The experience of paddling in a school of dolphins is something I will never forget.
Regards,
Jack
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