While it may not be a new watersport, we’ve seen a rise in people loving stand-up paddleboarding in recent years. Perhaps you too have seen these SUPs along the Outer Banks, and you’re intrigued. And why not? SUPs combine the best of both the surfing and kayaking worlds, creating a fun and relaxing way to explore the coast. At Kitty Hawk Watersports, we recommend that all visitors to the greater Nags Head or Kitty Hawk, NC, areas give it a try.
At Kitty Hawk Watersports, we’ve noticed that everyone has their own vacation speed. Some people like everything to just shut down while on vacation. They’re in the Outer Banks to slow things down and breathe deeply. However, others are in North Carolina to check out all the action. They want their vacation calendars filled with activities. The good news is that at Kitty Hawk Watersports, we have a rental to meet your speed.
The paddle board—otherwise known as a stand up paddle board, or SUP—is a relatively new phenomenon in the watersport world. Despite being new to the scene, many of our Kitty Hawk Watersports customers are already catching the paddle-board excitement! We think you will too.
Are you headed to the Outer Banks for your next getaway? We’re psyched that you’re headed in our direction and want to give you a few suggestions on how to spend your leisure time. At Kitty Hawk Watersports, we love lounging on the beach as much as the next person. However, we believe that time in the Outer Banks is best spent out on the water. Here are just a few ways you can do just that.
I’m a little ashamed I haven’t taken advantage of the swell that TS Leslie started. That’s the price of being a dad. Driving the kids to and from school cuts in to my productivity time, thus, leaving no free time to go surf. Usually, the ocean is still warm enough in October after we’ve closed the shop and my free time increases. -John
As we take care of our customers we’re slowly getting ready for the season. May weather has been pretty cooperative and hopefully that will hold through Memorial Weekend. Yesterday was great! 85 degrees, sun, good breeze. Just got some Michael Dolsey SUPs and can’t wait to try them out. He’s got a pretty cool set-up. He has a warehouse in Norfolk, he travels oversees in the winter to make sure his boards are being manufactured just right, then he spends about 1/2 the year in Costa Rica trying out the boards that he makes. That’s my kind of R and D. His boards are very affordable and I don’t have to pay to get them shipped across country. In fact, the sales rep, Ainslee, was nice enough to drive them down herself and drop them off. Thanks!
While some of you were still digging out of the snow, the Outer Banks was watching the tide come in on the sound side (hoy toyd on the sound soyd). Look at my youtube link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vz_s0ASbA8. If you look carefully you’ll notice the parking lot at Miller’s Waterfront Restaurant is entirely under water. Down here we don’t get a lot of snow days but we will call off school if we get flooding or winds so high it’s a danger to cross a bridge while driving a school bus. And if you miss school altogether you get to make it up on a Saturday. So it’s pay now or pay later.
On Thursday my mechanic, Chris, calls and says he’s going striper fishing with his girlfriend. Since he’s borrowing my boat I decide to invite myself. I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense. The family’s still on Christmas vacation, I haven’t done anything exciting, it’s cold out (the striper’s like it chilly), and just a few days prior I heard a report that the in-shore fishermen were maxing out”. How could this not be a raving success? We launched around 11:00 which isn’t prime fishing time but it was very foggy by the Virginia Dare Bridge on the Croatan Sound. We felt our way to the bridge and started trolling. After about an hour we saw one other boat that was fishing who said they hadn’t had any luck. Another hour later we decided the Fish Gods were not smiling upon us but mocking us and we headed home. I … Continued
It’s official, we are now adding kiteboarding to our business in the spring of 2010. We are proud to add Chris Cifers as a partner. Chris has been a professional kiteboarder for years and is extremely active in promoting the sport. Kiteboarding adds new excitement to our already strong lineup of activities. Our shallow waters in the Roanoke Sound and the great southwest breezes make a great combination for learning. Chris’s main emphasis will be teaching beginner lessons but he will also be able to teach advanced lessons as well as leading fascinating tours.
Friday the 30th gave the kids a day off from school so with a nice forecast I decided to take the boys fishing on the skiff. I’d heard the stripers were going off at the Mann’s Harbor Bridge so we set out to see if this was true. Before we left I stopped by the tackle shop to see if I needed anything and I asked about the stretch lure which I hadn’t used before. Sure enough they had one and they were happy to take my money. The “stretch” should be called the “snag”. That thing would steer towards the bridge everytime while we were trolling. But just as we were turning around after our first pass we got a strike. The striper was a definitely a keeper and he was nice and fat. The boys were stoked. We messed around for a while and the few boats that … Continued