Sweet dancing Christ, it’s cold

I drove down to Kill Devil Hills on Saturday to pick up my North Carolina quiver (meaning, the one board I ordered from TK Shapes, a 6′3″ fish hybrid). Ted Kearns, the shaper, turned out to be a great guy, and as it happens, he’s moving in the opposite direction, to the Big Island. Guess that’s the end of my plan to support the Outer Banks surfing economy.

I didn’t own a wetsuit before this weekend, so Ted sent me to The Pit, where Steve The Owner sold me a wetsuit with a zip-on, zip-off hood, as well as a pair of booties. Steve’s a great guy too - if you’re ever in need of gear or clothing in KDH, pay him a visit.

As luck would have it, there was nothing in the water on Saturday, with the only prospect of ripples in Rodanthe, which was too much of a drive on top of what was already a six hour roundtrip journey. But I wasn’t going to drive all that way and not get in the water, especially with a new board in the car. So I wiggled a bar of wax over the deck and got ready to paddle out on Lake Atlantic. Small problem: after I put on the wetsuit, I went to put on the booties and discovered that I had one less right foot than I needed. I only tried on the right one in the store, and didn’t realize that there wasn’t a left in the box. *sigh*

So I paddled out bootie-less. And hood-less. I will stop here to say that the O’Neill Mutant wetsuit absolutely rules beyond belief, at least in comparison to the wetsuits I’ve worn in the past. I was only out there for 30-45 minutes, but my feet went almost completely numb, every turtle roll was such a shock to my head that I was ready to change religions if it would help, and my hands were inarticulate and rubbery, but my torso was fine and my underwear was still dry in spots when I got out. Kudos, O’Neill, you have won a life-long customer.

Anyway, for all my moaning, it wasn’t that bad. I’ll be heading down again, and I’m really excited to actually ride the board, having seen this weekend that it paddles as well or better than the 6′9″ Johnston I left in Honolulu.

[Photos here tomorrow]