Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

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Barrett
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Joined: 12/23/2003 - 23:07
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Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Good thing we rigged & sailed as soon as we arrived yesterday afternoon. Conditions were perfect. I was on a 4.2 m sail & 84 liter board. Had a nice dinner out watching the expected Hurricane track turning east & then south. Woke up at 5 AM with roaring noise & house shaking.

The power is now out, house is shaking & sheets of spray racing across the Sound in front at 70 mph. Yet Cell service is still on! After torrential rain, the wind jumped to 75 mph gusting to 90 mph. Our house is high & dry, but there is localized flooding around us. Big surprise H. Matthew hit the OBX! Was forecast to turn south, so no evacuation declared.

Barrett

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Randy
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Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Here is a picture from Barrett's house. Looks like pretty good wind for windsurfing. Surprised no one is out golfing. Those guys are crazy - they go out in any weather.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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webguy
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Looks like if conditions are too rough in the sound, you can just windsurf on the golf course.

For those who've never had the privilege and joy of staying with Barrett, a tee box is located just in front of the house (the very right of Randy's pic). When the breeze really picks up, a popular recreational activity is watching golfers sacrificing golf balls to the wind gods - gold level if it's a strong NE. One poor guy just kept reaching into his pocket after the finish of his swing with no hesitation for the next ball. If golf had been invented in ancient Greece, Sisyphus would have been hitting off that tee instead of pushing a stone uphill.

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Barrett
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Joined: 12/23/2003 - 23:07
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

The power came back on in time to watch the debates. Sailed the storm today at 40 G 50 mph with Joe & Alain. Joe on 3.4m & I on 3.7m didn’t last long, but Alain on 4.2m amazingly stayed out 3PM till dark.

In reference to William's comments about the golf tee in front of the Nags Head house, there have been no golfers in sight until this afternoon. The one golfer waded through knee deep water carrying only two clubs, so we were amazed when he climbed to the top of the tee thinking he was about to attempt driving off a shot into storm winds. It turns out he used the clubs as walking sticks to avoid being being blown over.

The photo shows why the power was out with most of the utility lines & poles facing the water being blown down. The local utility did a great job restoring power. The main lines are supported by concrete, storm-hardened poles.

Jeanette's pier, a mile from the house, recorded max. sustained winds of 76 mph with gusts of about 95 mph. Being right on the water, I was amazed to look out the living room windows at plumes of spray blowing off the waves at the speed of interstate traffic.

Barrett

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Barrett
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Joined: 12/23/2003 - 23:07
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Here's a photo taken during Hurricane Matthew of Alain jumping. He grew up sailing the intense Mistral winds along the coast of France and convinced me to go out with him on my 3.7 meter sail. The wind dropped to 40 mph gusting over 50 when Peggy took our photo sailing together.

Barrett

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webguy
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Looks like some growlers out there in the distance. Any good photos of further out in the channel?

Any word on water quality? Like Floyd, Matthew is flushing a bunch of stuff but apparently nothing from hog farm retention pools.

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Barrett
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Joined: 12/23/2003 - 23:07
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Re: Live Report - Hurricane Matthew hits OBX

Joe, Alain & I sailed the big wind. I took the two photos from our front deck of Joe on a 3.4m sail out in Roanoke Sound. The distant photo gives you an idea of the size of the waves from the "hole" Joe is in. The shallow water depth (7 - 8ft ?) limited the height of the waves.

The water in the Sound looked clean to me. There was some floating vegetation & sticks, but nothing big. Lumber & trash did wash up on the ocean side. I noticed sailing the day after the Hurricane that the water in the Sound was almost fresh and very high. There's still a huge volume or run-off from area rivers.

Barrett

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