Windsurfing

Rice wrote:
I think my strategy is to just become a flat water "specialist."

LOL I felt exactly the same way after a few sessions on voodoo chop at a lake just north of Augusta. Glad to hear you had such a great time in Corpus Rice. Nice photo shot including your solar panels--you have four--are they 80 watt panels? Can you get by without the generator?

Spent most of April in SC repairing the rig and adding features like Fantastic fan vent covers and window awnings. So as a reward, instead of immediately heading west, we decided to take a couple weeks in Hatteras first. A buddy from Key West was there and reported favorable conditions--good wind and warm water. Naturally, all that changed when we showed up :R

First, about the camping:
We decided to stay on Hatteras this time and chose the Federal Park at Frisco. I'm glad we did, it was a great campground with lots of space and very quiet. The cost is $20/day--we payed $10/day with our America/Beautiful Pass. The campground is situated on the ocean-side of Frisco and is gigantic with several loops that extend inland nestled within the dunes. We stayed along the furthest inland loop which is also elevated within the dunes quite a bit, so the views were fantastic--all the way to the sea. No hook-ups, but there are bathrooms and shower-houses (cold water only, and wow is it cold!) situated throughout the park. Water is available--spigots in front of each bath-house, but the nearest dump station is 9 miles up the road by the Hatteras Lighthouse. There are several sites that could easily accommodate bigger rigs--ours is 31' long and at our site we could easily fit both rig and truck on asphalt (see pic below). The park is very dog friendly and our hounds had a ball. Unlike Ocracoke, there were virtually no mosquitoes--never used repellent and never got bit--however, did find a tick a couple of times after walking the fur-balls. Our dogs/cat get Frontline every month, so they are protected. I'm sure the place gets very busy during high season, but our two weeks were quiet and pleasant. Highly recommend.

Next, the Windsurfing:
Out of two weeks we were there, I sailed only 5 days. There just seemed to be alot of cloud cover smothering the wind. However, it was great to see my buddy from Key West, and I got to make a whole bunch of new friends at Canadian Hole. I must say, sailing with so many people was intimidating at first--it reminded me of surfing the south shores of Oahu. But as I got to know the regulars, and discovered how nice everyone was, nervousness soon gave way to camaraderie. I decided to demo a smaller board--my only board right now is 133 liters. Though all the shops in Hatteras are friendly, I can't say enough good things about Andy at Wind. He is a such a low-key and affable person. He let me keep a 105 Tabou Rocket for almost 3 days--the wind just kept on not showing up, but only charged me for a day. Every time I showed up to return the board after getting skunked by no wind, he would say no worries--keep it and go sail it.
On the down side of Canadian Hole--the setup and launch conditions are a little crowded, and the sand is atrocious--first my mast got stuck together--so started using tape around the seam, then the mast base got stuck... Also, like Rice, I managed to find every deep spot out there. But when the wind was there, conditions were great--flat warm water. Again, highly recommend.

We very much enjoyed our stay and plan to return for at least a month in the fall.