The first half of our day, December 19, was spent at Pearl Harbor and Punch Bowl. Merri Beth, Zander, Coco, my mom, and I were heading to Chinatown to have lunch with a few friends that I met through Code for America and CityCamp Honolulu.
We found some parking in Downtown Honolulu and walked about two blocks to the restaurant that my friends selected. Continue reading
We were ready for a long weekend on the Outer Banks, but first, Merri Beth and I had few errands to run in Raleigh. Sunsets and long walks on the beach were on hold for a few short hours.
We’d missed back to school shopping earlier in the month, which for us, includes a new pair of running shoes.We went to Fleet Feet on Wade Avenue to get fitted and score some new running kicks. After that, a quick lunch at Whole Foods (to-go) and we were off to get the kids from school. Continue reading
All my research was complete and the call was made for the morning: Emerald Isle was the spot, fingers crossed. Hurricane Cristobal was sitting off the coast, pumping in swell. I used a combination of MagicSeaWeed and SwellInfo to help me pinpoint a surf location—be sure to check out my post Surfing the open data wave that highlights how open data is used by surf forecasting tools. As a surfer stuck inland, if I’m getting in the car to drive two plus hours, I want to maximize my time. Continue reading
A beautiful Saturday on the Outer Banks. It’s July 6, day eight for our week on the OBX. Happy Birthday to my sister, Katie, who turns the big three-oh! We had plans to beach it all day again, but we got something a little unexpected. Continue reading
Happy Fourth of July from the Outer Banks! This is my favorite holiday and we were celebrating Independence Day Outer Banks style: All day on the beach, with family, sun, sand, surf, and American beer! Continue reading
It’s the time of year when I keep one eye on the tropics for potential surf-generating storms. I’ll glance at the Atlantic Ocean swell models a few times a week and see if it’s time wax up the surfboard for a coastal get-away. This week was no different, except there are two reasons to further investigate: Tropical Storm Isaac and Tropical Depression Joyce.
Wave height forecast from TS Isaac via MagicSeaWeed.com
Towards the end of last week, I was seeing some favorable conditions in the forecast. At first, it looked like Joyce was going to deliver this coming Tuesday, but more recent swell models have changed. However, on Friday, the forecast was looking good for the weekend. It looked like long-period swell would be arriving in North Carolina starting on Saturday. I was zeroing in on Topsail Island. Continue reading
It was HOT today. No question about it. We enjoyed a full day at the beach yesterday, but not today. Being on the Outer Banks helped us forget about the heat for a while. We slept in today, and enjoyed every minute of it.
After some breakfast, Zander and I biked over to check the surf and the beach conditions at First Street. By 9:00 am, it was already steamy. There was some small surf, but nothing worth getting the board out for. We had big plans to hang out at the pool for the day. Continue reading
During hurricane season, my attention turns to the Atlantic Ocean. I keep an eye on swell-producing storms and use a variety of forecasting tools to get to the right spot for the best surf. But I never really thought about the data behind the tools I use.
There are many different stats brought together by today’s forecasting technology: Continue reading
Surf from Hurricane Katia
I decided to work remote from the Outer Banks during Labor Day week. I got lucky with a plethora of surf. I was hoping for it, but didn’t expect the surf to be this good. On Friday, September 9th, Katia delivered. In the morning, it was head to 3-foot overhead. (6-9 foot surf.) By the afternoon, the swell had dwindled, but it was still 6-8 foot surf.
MB, Zander, and I headed to the Outer Banks on Sunday (9/4), after the NC State season opener against Liberty. The football game was a blast and the Wolfpack won. We arrived at the beach around 2pm. All of our friends were hanging out on the beach and there were a few waves out there. I surfed for about an hour. Continue reading