Bay Day

A hidden Chesapeake gem peels off 15 miles away from the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: Streit.

Words and photos by John Streit.

The last time Shaun Devine and I surfed the Chesapeake Bay, it was in the midst of Hurricane Sandy and all of the foul weather that accompanied her. During a storm of this magnitude, the concept of rideable waves breaking inside our continent’s largest estuary isn’t as far fetched as it may seem.

But after we discovered the brackish-water, storm surf oasis for ourselves, we soon learned that it breaks more often than one might think; and that there are many folks that have been surfing on the other side of Hampton Roads for years. One of them is our good friend Brian Bassett: a talented surfer from Virginia Beach with a knack for finding barrels — ocean or no ocean.

So while the rest of the Mid-Atlantic surfing population either challenged victory-at-sea conditions in the Atlantic or stayed dry entirely as our latest pulse of low pressure passed off our coast, Shaun and I hooked up with Brian for a memorable session at one of our favorite Chesapeake Bay hideaways.

It’s not just local wind chop that breaks in the Chesapeake. This wave had exited the ocean long before Brian Bassett tucked in to its barrel. Photo: Streit.