A little slice of heaven. Sandbridge. Photo: Stohrer. Words by John Streit. Photos by Steven Stohrer, Allen Harcourt, Riley Shelton, Thomas Bruce & Chelsea Resch. Each year in the United States, we take a work day off to remember our fallen military men and women and the sacrifices made by active duty and retired veterans. Monday, May 26 was no different; but unlike last year’s wave-starved holiday, Memorial Day spawned a surprise swell that sent fun surf to the beaches of Sandbridge and the Outer Banks. Unfortunately for the competitors of the Steel Pier Classic, First Street and points north didn’t see the same form as points south. Regardless, the contest and Surf Art Expo provided our city with an awesome beach day and just enough waves for the competition to conclude. It’s been refreshing to see the water change from shades of ice-cold brown to the warmth of green and blue hues. Hopefully tradewind swells like Monday’s will frequent visitors to our shores, which would make for a summer to remember as well. Dawn broke clear and clean with surprise lines for surfers from Sandbridge to Hatteras. Photo: Stohrer. S&A’s youngest team rider Julian Smith has had a very productive debut week: collecting quality shots like this, competing in the Steel Pier Classic and just ripping overall. Photo: Stohrer. Big bro Alex Smith warms up for a summer of surf instruction by dialing in his soft-top game. #gnaraloonation. Photo: Stohrer. It takes a lot to slow down a Gnaraloo soft-top. Alex Smith with tight style on this little peeler. Photo: Stohrer. Meanwhile, down in Hatteras, S&A’s Billy McKechnie trims up a windswept nugget. Photo: Resch. Barbados’ Josh Burke was a long way from Soup Bowls in meager conditions at First Street for the Steel Pier Classic. It was hard to believe that just a couple miles south in Sandbridge was so much better. Photo: Harcourt. Sandbridge-bred good vibes emanated from the Party Missile Handplanes tent at the Surf Art Expo! When S&A team rider Forrest Roberts checked in with his second-place trophy for men’s shortboard, it was another excuse to party! His finish followed back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. Congrats Cow! Photo: Streit. This shot sums up the conditions of Monday at First Street. VB pro Michael Dunphy makes something out of next-to-nothing. Photo: Harcourt. Down in Nags Head, Riley Shelton of Local As It Gets captures the OBX’s Ralph Cleaver on a fun peeler. Be sure to visit LAIG’s Facebook page to keep up with the Beach Lifestyle as lived on the Outer Banks! Stoked to see Cleaver ripping on an Ed Tupper design, glassed at Gale Fore Glassing, the place that’s built many of S&A’s boards over the years! Photo: Shelton. Here’s Mr. Shelton walking the walk with a nice hack. Photo: Bruce. Back in SB, Young Jules gets back to work. Photo: Stohrer. Julian Smith off the bottom. Photo: Stohrer. One of my favorite surf stories coming out of VB is the meteoric rise of Kelly Sobol in skimboarding. An S&A alum, Kelly is a humble dude with a massive attack on the skim. You’ll be sure to see him boosting and getting barreled at a shorey near you this summer. Photo: Harcourt. Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.
