This
spring I'll be one of a multitude of surfers from all over the East
Coast to make the time-honored pilgrimage to Hatteras, which has been a
spring break surf-trip destination for surfers from New Jersey since
long before I first discovered Hatteras more than 25 years ago.
Easter week brings quite an array of license plates to the parking lot
at the old site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton, and the
beach motels nearby are jam-packed with surfers from up and down the
entire coast -- all hungry for the waves that seem to always come.
I remember my first trip to Hatteras like it was yesterday. I drove 400
miles -- all night. My college friends and I arrived at the lighthouse
at sunrise. That moment in April, 1982, changed me forever. I knew I
was meant to be at the foot of this beautiful beacon.
We paddled right out, and I was in heaven. The waves were perfect waves
and so easy to ride. The water was really warm, and we were looking up
at the lighthouse in awe.
After a while the wind switched, so we went to Frisco and surfed there.
I learned that first day that this ocean off Hatteras can play tricks
on you. I just kept going farther and farther out to yet another
sandbar to find those mellow waves I thought I saw from the beach. They
were actually very big and way too fast.
After a handful of waves, I was humbled and came in, but later that day
I had some really fun perfect little tube rides in front of our
lodgings at the Hatteras Cabanas. Additionally, surfing warm water in a
bathing suit in April sure beats freezing in a wetsuit in New Jersey.
Night fell, so we had to eat. We were unaware of how it gets late
really early on Hatteras. We found Sonny's restaurant in Hatteras
village, but the door was locked and they were cleaning up inside.
There wasn't much else around back then, so we were distraught, hungry,
and tired from the adventure of the past 24 hours. The people in
Sonny's saw us, came out, and told us they were closed. But I
guess Sonny Quidley saw the looks of us, and he invited us in.
Well, as I recall, I never saw so much food in my life! They really
took care of us, and I'll never forget my first encounter with Hatteras
hospitality.
Like every visit since that first time, I never wanted to leave.
With a first day like that, why wouldn't I continue to travel all that
way every year since, or sometimes two or three visits a year?
The love affair has only grown over the years, as I discovered the
local kindness and all the other wonderful things in The Cape, Trent,
and Hatteras.
Of course, over time many things have changed.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was foolishly moved from that surf spot.
The Hatteras Cabanas were totally destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003
(but later replaced). Sonny Quidley and his wife have passed away, and
his son and daughter run the restaurant. And many other Hatteras people
and places I knew and loved are gone.
The one thing that has remained is the surf.
The waves are still found here, as is the local surf culture.
Natural Art Surf Shop has been at the center of it all since 1977.
Scott Busbey came from Florida, set up shop with his wife Carol, and
they never left. Their surf shop is all about
Hatteras surfing. A surf shop is a second home to surfers, especially
traveling surfers, and Natural Art serves as the home center for the
annual East Coast Championships, which, of course, take place at that
old lighthouse beach surf spot.
Scott shapes In The Eye surfboards, and they are as good or better than
any found in Hawaii, Australia, or California. Scott and Carol are
caring community people, involved in a fantastic art/surf/education
program at the school with local artist/surfer/photographer Daniel
Pullen, the school Art Department, and surfer/school principal Ray
Gray. As a teacher myself, I wish my school was like that!
Sonny's son, “Sonny Boy” Quidley, runs Sonny's restaurant
these days with his sister Lee Ann, and I remain loyal to this fine
local restaurant. I always see Sonny checking the waves up by the
motels, and last summer I had the pleasure of surfing with him there.
He's a really nice guy and an excellent surfer.
My favorite photo of Hatteras has always been one from the cover of a
now very old Island Breeze. It is a surfer on a perfect wave doing a
beautiful cutback. The lighthouse looms awesome in the background, and
the surfer has just the biggest smile on his face. The surfer is Sonny
Boy Quidley, and he's riding an In The Eye Surfboard.
Now I am counting the days until my return, and Scott informed me he
just shaped my new custom board. I figure I'll see Sonny checking the
surf at the motels, and I can't wait to have Lee Ann's biscuits!
This year I'm sure some young kid surfer will be making his first visit
to Hatteras, as it is a must for every East Coast surfer. I wonder if
he, too, will make it an annual visit like I did so long ago. Perhaps
he'll be like Scott and so many others who never left the natural art
of surfing, in the eye at Cape Hatteras.
(Michael Letso lives in Chadwick Beach, N.J., when he is not surfing on Hatteras.)
