For such a laid back place, things get awful heavy on the Outer Banks.
November 3, 2009, 10:26 AM
By: Jon Coen
Mezz/ESM
When you get south of town, it's basically one road so you can't get lost — unless you want to.
The Outer Banks has to be one of the best places on the East Coast to be a photographer. So what if they just got cable internet a few years ago and you have to hunker down for a hurricane lashing?
It's a tough place to live, especially for a single guy. After September, there are vitually no ladies around. And if you're able to drag one back to your man cave, she's then two hours from the closest Target.
I've been lucky enough to know and work with photographer Mickey '2M' McCarthy for several years.
"What attracted me as a surfer and photographer to the Outer Banks some 29 years ago, was the power and consistency of the surf — the natural beauty,the no man's land of Pea Island
, the wildlife and the sunsets. It's one of the unique places on the East coast that you can actually see the sun set over the water!
I'm also kind of a weather geek,so you really get to see it all on this stretch of glorified sandbar."
Matt Lusk
Barrels are as much a part Outer Banks life as fishing and hush puppies.
McCarthy has told me tales of some super sessions down at the infamous Hatteras Lighthouse. He claims in the 70s and 80s, it was the best break on the East Coast.
"This was when all three jetties were solid and were very shallow, especially the third.Greg Loehr, Wes Laine, Pete Dooley, Scott Busby, Ray Gray, Russell Blackwood, and Kevin McCabe were all solid fixtures during many historic swells that hit the Lighthouse," he explains, "S-Turns was virtually unknown at the time."
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Contributors
Jon Coen
Jon is from New Jersey and continues to reside there with his wife and dog—which means occasional empty barrels and the occasional session in the snow.The state isn't as dirty as people might think, but he'll let them keep believing that.
Jake Howard
Jake lives, writes, and surfs in San Clemente, California. He spent his formative gremlin years surfing points north of San Francisco, and for the last 10 years has been contently surviving behind the Orange Curtain.
Kimball Taylor
Author of Return by Water, as well as books on Jeffreys Bay and Pipeline, Kimball drives a red hot Camero, and back in the '70s, he used to party with your Dad.
Daniel Ikaika Ito
Daniel surfs like a hippie, but dresses like a homie. The Native Hawaiian originally hails from Hilo, but now resides in Honolulu. He enjoys twin-fins, new sneakers and being ESPN's "Cuz On The Scene" in the 50th State.
Jason Kenworthy
About as majestic as a turkey vulture, when he's not shlepping his lens around the world or looking for road kill, Jason can be found at home in Dana Point tending to his growing brood.
