The Outer Banks are known for rapidly changing weather. Despite forecasts of no wind, the area has lived up to it's reputation with wind picking up when a number of days were forecast to be calm.
We're now beginning our second week in Nags Head, and we've sailed 11 out of 14 days. The week we arrived was chilly, requiring a 3-2 long wetsuit with wind mostly from the North. The second week warmed to shorty wetsuit conditions, as sun-driven thermal winds shifted to the South.
We're grateful to spend a full month in such a beautiful place, sharing the experience with windsurfing friends from Atlanta and the Northeast.
The photo is taken from our upper deck looking across Roanoke Sound. The boarders launched from public access points about a 1,000 feet to the left and right of our house. Marcel told me that he counted 50 kiters and 10 windsurfers on the water at one time. This doesn't include boarders launching from Jockeys Ridge State Park, visible a mile and a half to the North. This is the largest number of kiters we've seen here, and apparently resulted from word spreading that we had an ideal launch for SW winds.
Barrett
That's pretty amazing. I don't recall ever seeing more than say 5-10 (at most) windsurfers and kitesurfers out there at the same time. I noticed when I drove to Nags Head last month that there was a lot of construction going on around where Windmill Point is (or was?) Looks like a large area was basically flattened. Perhaps its helping the wind get through? Or maybe they have built a new venue for kiting there?
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
I don't know what's going on with the construction, but apparently there was a story in the paper that raised awareness of the nearby public launch. We also had the strongest thermal wind (sea-breeze), so perhaps word spread this was a good place to launch.
Barrett