Way On Down South - Surf & Adventure Co

Photos by Brian Kelley. Words by John Streit.

“Well, now you step inside but you don’t see too many faces. Coming in and out of the rain to hear the jazz go down. Competition in other places. Oh, but the horns, they’re blowing that sound. Way on down south. Way on down south”

Buxton town.

Answering the call. “Sultans of Swing” plays as early morning raindrops keep their own beat against the windshield. The surroundings have the look of wintertime on the Outer Banks, but the feel is a different story entirely. Rainy, cloudy, foggy, moody. 80-degree air, 65-degree water — in late December. With the knowledge that the burning cold of winter and thicker wetsuits could be a cold snap away, these days have been priceless. The surf cooperating have made them even more valuable.

It’s indeterminable how often this scene has played out this fall and early winter. Pull up to the spot and it’s on. Run back to the car, change into a 3/2 — no gloves, no boots. Hours of trading warm, offshore-groomed waves with just a few others took Friday, Dec. 18 to another level.

“After the travel and the first few spot checks, we started to question whether or not we were going to score the way we had hoped,” said photographer Brian Kelley, whose fortunes turned when the day’s spot was finally found. “It didn’t matter which way you looked, it was firing in all directions.

“Man, that day was one for the ages.”