BWA Trips

Cape Hatteras

Each spring the Barrie Windsurfing Association organizes a club expedition to Avon, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Normally, we go for two weeks in late April / early May.

This is an outstanding opportunity for all levels of sailor to quickly improve their skills in the most user-friendly environment in all of windsurfing.

We normally rent 3 houses for each week . Each house sleeping 7 - 9 adults situated right on the waters of Pamlico Sound. Gear storage is provided in a lock-up enclosure under the house which is raised on stilts. We offer one or two week stays.

These houses are modern, fully equipped architect-designed residences resembling something you might see in Better Homes and Gardens.

The sound is a shallow body of water between the barrier islands and the mainland and except for the odd hole, is knee to shoulder depth everywhere within several miles of shore.

This makes learning to water start, jibe, etc. a much easier proposition than at home as it is a simple matter to get your gear organized after a fall when you can stand on the bottom virtually anywhere.

An additional bonus is the steadiness of the winds - turbine smooth compared with Minet’s, which is notoriously gusty.

Like anywhere else in the world, you can get skunked here, but shared accommodation brings the cost (typically $300 to $350 Can.) down to a level where the pain is minimized (not like the $1500+ hit a Caribbean skunk will inflict).

Above all, this is an opportunity to learn and consolidate new windsurfing skills in a congenial atmosphere with like-minded fun-seekers.

For those travelling to Cape Hatteras, getting through Washington can be a problem. Here's a web site that gives weekday real-time traffic reports for the highways around Washington plus road work and road closure information. Invaluable!

Here is another route to Hatteras forewarded to me by Hans. It's a simplified route which avoids any contact with Washington DC, and is scenic at the same time. It's a variation of the route learned by Geoff after many years of travelling down there.

When in Hatteras, or when planning a trip, check out Fox Watersports - great gear and a wealth of local information.

For more information, contact Susan or Frank Carlisle