We figured we could try riding up wind into the POA and get our feet wet before doing the downinder later in the week. After debating where to go and whether we should do the Planet of the Apes Downwinder(POA) we eventually settled on Salvo Day Use again. We checked the weather Sunday morning and it was still looking good for a huge afternoon. Matt and I had our mind set on riding through this area for sure sometime during our visit to OBX. Evidently, the name “Planet of the Apes” is a derivative of the earlier name “Planet of the Snakes” due to the snakes that have been seen within the marshes along this route. Downwinders through the Planet of the Apes is much talked about due to the flat sheltered water and unique experience of riding through pathways in the marsh. This is a grassy section of water that runs up along highway 12 between Avon and Salvo and roughly ends at Salvo Day Use. If you look up kiteboarding in the Outer Banks you are bound to find something about the “Planet of the Apes”. This map of Hatteras from REAL was REAL handy throughout the week We decided to start out at Salvo Day Use area again and determine later if we’d go somewhere else or do a downwinder. We got a great map from REALwhich showed all the local kite spots. Saturday night we started plotting where to go on Sunday, which was shaping up to be the biggest southwest wind day of the week. We rode until sunset, grinning, knowing that the forecast for the week was calling for more wind and that there would be lots of possibilities for scoping riding spots on the island. At Salvo and on most of the Pamlico Sound coastline the water is waist deep for hundreds of feet offshore. There were lots of kiteboarders, most I’d ever seen, but it never felt crowded. The water was in the mid to high 70s with a similar air temp. I had a shorty suit on but didn’t need it. It was big kite weather so I put up my 17M TS and Matt put up the 12M Flite. The launch at Salvo is very small and when we pulled up kites lined the entire beach. Amenities include a bathhouse with showers and pit toilets(surprisingly clean and odorless). There is a big grassy field and large parking lot. Salvo Day Use Area is a chill park midway through the Outer Banks on the Pamlico Sound side. Scoping out Salvo Day use area, Salvo, NC before the wind showed up I caught up on some ZZZ’s on the beach while listening to the shore break and then we headed south to Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo. We hoped to ride as much as possible on Saturday but at the current time there was only a light breeze. After breakfast we stopped at the public beach to check out the ocean. The cook at the bar was friendly and offered some suggestions of local beers to try while in North Carolina. We arrived and grabbed a bite to eat at Art’s place, a cool little dive bar right across from the Ocean that serves breakfast fast, hot, and cheap. We avoided Washington DC traffic and were able to make it to the Outer Banks by early morning. We left on Friday after work and took turns driving through the night. I’ve got a couple of little kids who love to swim so we found a great house with a pool on the Oceanside and invited family to join us for the trip. We rented a house in Salvo, NC for the week after. Unfortunately, I had a conflict with the week of the OR event and couldn’t make it down until the tail end of the event. Ocean Rodeo has been putting on a week-long event in the Outer Banks for many years now where you can demo gear, barbecue, and hang out with other riders from all over North America. Matt reached out to me about going down to the Outer Banks for an Ocean Rodeo trip back in February. Playing around in the shorebreak while waiting for wind.
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