It was @Timmay’s idea, but he went to Flag Ponds instead. Bad decision, Tim!
East winds have always presented a conundrum. They are often stronger on the east coast, but many of our regular launches out East aren’t suited for the E winds unless there is a significant amount of N or S in the wind. Anyone who’s tried riding Georgia Ave without enough North in the wind knows what I’m talking about. The gusts there can be frustrating. The best flat water spots, like AZT and comfy point don’t work at all. Timmy must have been looking around on google maps, and spotted this gem:
This is Slaughter Beach, a little bit North of Lewes and Prime Hook. Why’s that a gem you ask? Well if you look at that little hook at the north end of the beach, and zoom in…
You’ll see a little Island with a black line running NW to SE, just above the island. That black line is a long jetty, and between the jetty and that island, we expected to find some areas of flat water that would accommodate almost any winds between NNE and E.
Sunday Morning, Kramer, Nate, Soph and I decided to brave the driving rain and drive E. We didn’t rush or wake up early, so we all pulled into a little public parking light by a fire and rescue station around 1:00. The beach was public. Far out and a bit to the North, we could just make out the jetty through the rain. The water in front of us was actually pretty flat already (we were kinda curious how that could be the case with gusts near 30 mph, but the chop was lower than OBX chop) Kramar and I decided to drive North and look for more public beach access closer to our jetty and island. It turns out that every little street running from the main drag out toward the beach dead-ends with parking and public access to the beach. Amazing! Why hasn’t this town done what some many others have, and taken steps to limit access? I think we found the reason, but more on that later. As we drove through town, we saw no one outside, and few cars. Most of the houses had dark windows, and look like rentals. The place felt deserted. We all ended up parked at the last street, Evan’s Dr, and started walking our gear out to the beach through driving rain.
The Beach is wide, and full of dead horseshoe crabs. When we got to the water it was really flat, much flatter than AZT bayside chop. That’s weird, because the jetty was more visible here, but still pretty far upwind. I walked into the water and… ewww. The bottom isn’t sand, but this very slick and very black mud. It feels nasty on bare feet. But it was also shallow. Basically knee deep, and from what I could tell, it was knee deep everywhere.
We rigged excitededly, myself on an 8, Kramer a 9, and Nate/Soph on an 8 (though Nate takes out a 7 later) and went out one after another, leaving a single person on the beach to rotate on and off the water for kite landings and the like. I took off toward the far North end of the bay, and upon reaching the little point at the top, I noticed black crap all over the beach. It smelled bad. The wind-churned water was very brown, almost the color of tea, but muddier- maybe a dark tea with cream in it? The spray coming off our boards was really really brown, it looked sort of neat, but also gross. I transitioned onto my strong tack, and could not believe how flat the water was- not exactly like planet of the apes, but flat enough. The rare chop was spaced out with large flat areas between- if I wasn’t lit on an 8 I would have been in unhooked heaven. It’s flat everywhere and forever. Speed runs were super fun, big carvy transitions were easy, take-offs were powerful. We all went huge, and enjoyed turning an ugly Sunday into one of the best sessions of the year.
Basically everyone kited the way you’d expect in mid-20’s gusting to perhaps 30 on a few occasions. We boosted. Sometimes we did loops. I unhooked once, but had taken myself off suicide at the start of the session, so I decided to just have a megaloop session instead, and it was a good one, definitely the best this year. The wind was a touch on the gusty side, but better than almost any other E wind session I’ve ever had. There are no pics of the riding, it was too rainy, but I don’t think the rain bothered any of us. We were loving life riding in a new flat water spot in high winds the rain could only add to the excitement. None of us stayed long. We all took about two longish sessions each, and then packed up, letting the rain wash away all the filth from the dirty water we’d been playing in.
So I think I know why this town doesn’t limit parking to the beach- no one would really want to go there when Lewes/Rehoboth is down the road. I can’t imagine taking kids to swim in the knee deep bay with the black mud bottom. A group of kids playing MarcoPolo would require a powerwasher to clean up. It would be a terrible place to have a beach day with the family, but it’s pretty fucking awesome for those of us kiters who aren’t afraid to get muddy, and possibly sick later in the week. If the wind was blowing with a little more N in it, and Georgia Ave was in play, I’d still drive up to Slaughter beach and ride there, though it probably isn’t for everyone. Some people like ramps and clean water. I’m not exaggerating when I say the flat water is world class.
We did look at the posted signs, and not a one said we couldn’t kite there. If the weather had been nice, it’s hard to say how many people would be out on the beach, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it stays fairly uncrowded, especially since prettier beaches are just down the road. With all that said, let’s be smart about how we kite the place. There isn’t a designated spot for us, but it seems clear to me that further North toward all the gross black stuff will be the least crowded. The beach is really long, so avoid launching near people, and walk up there if the beach is in use. Otherwise, just use common sense. The riding area is enormous, so staying away from people shouldn’t be a problem, especially since few people will want to wade around in the mud anyways (a google image search suggests that this beach stays uncrowded, with the exception of millions of horny horseshoe crabs). I don’t think this area sees kiters often if at all, so let’s avoid scaring the people who live there, and like I said, this should be really really easy- just don’t be kooky.