Mini tide race
I went out this morning with the intention of heading out into
Masonborro Inlet to find some waves. As I rounded the south end of
Wrightsville Beach, the wind really picked up. The wind was out of
the north and the tide was going out. This resulted in quite a bit of
rough water. I played around a while in the chop, practicing turning,
surfing, and just getting more comfortable in rough conditions. While
I was out, the wind really picked up and I watched the inlet turn into
something that was intense.
Location of the standing wave and the eddies
When the tide is going out, the current in the inlet runs around 2
knots. There seems to always be a small standing wave right at the
south tip of the island. As the wind really picked up, I noticed a
fairly large wave moving very slowly up the inlet. I paddled up and
over the crest and surfed down the front of the wave. I let the
current carry me back up into the wave a few times and then decided to
head back out in the inlet. It was then that I noted the whirlpool.
It was around 12 feet across and about 18 inches deep. I watched it
move around as the standing wave slowly moved further up the inlet. I
then headed back out into the inlet. Coming back in, just as I
approached the backside of the standing wave , I unexpectedly hit a
strong cross current that shot me sideways across the inlet. I
paddled through it and decided to call it a day.