Fisherman Island, VA (CBBT)

Damn Dos, I can't un-see that

 

Seen it big goin across the bridge tunnel and i always heard it was sharky too got that from a guy who fishes there but i thought it was only accessible by boat no public use

 

that's not a banana hammock, that's a plantain pocket

 

Hurricane Isabel, nice long period swell, coming in consistently. 6 to 8 ft.

 

Seagulls

 

Ill give everyone a quick note on my fishermans island surf experience. I lived in Va beach at the time in Sept 2012. Hurricane Leslie was sending out a decent groundswell 3 to 5 feet . Forecasted wind was North so I drove across the CBBT and went down to the bay beach at America House hotel. I paddled my SUP all the way to the high rise bridge where you see the waves breaking, and caught waist high lefts for about an hour. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. An occasional chest high wave would roll in and there was some decent long rides. It took me 45 minutes each way from America House Hotel. If I recall it was the 2nd full week of September. The wind has to be North for it to work. I would do it again if everything came together: Southeast swell with a North wind.

 

I have been eying this spot for almost a decade. Apparently First Landing has been known to throw a "Kirra-esque" drainer in the right swell. After working on First Landing Beach for three summers I can definitively say that whatever First Landing can dish out, it is always safe to say the ocean front is twice as large and generally that means its better surfing even if the wind is onshore. Fisherman's Island has the same bathymetry problem any beach in the bay has. The bay's mouth is so shallow they had to dredge a pathway to Norfolk and one to the Potomac for boats to get through. I've noticed shorter period swell gets farther into the bay, but consequently it rarely bends enough (or forms into swell lines) to make anything interesting. Longer period swells are fickle because for all the strength they bring, the majority of the energy is lost due to friction in the shallow water. A clearer demonstration of this catch 22 is the 3-8 ft difference in surf we see between VB and Buxton on the same day. Continental shelf is not what slows waves, it is how much shelf the waves have to travel that slows waves.

 

Yes, looks like 2-3 ft from the tunnel/bridge photo, hundreds of yards away, but it was much larger. Need the right wind/swell directions. And I suspect the wrong tide movement could affect it.

 

Thank you. I think one foot blown out.

 

Expanding on that logic the ship in the distance is a 2-3 ft bathtub toy

 

You would be better off on hitting some of the va barriers. Tricky boat ride tho...

 

I agree...Fishermans, being in a bay mouth is more sheltered from swell and subject to tidal influence. It just happens to be visible from a major highway. Most do involve tricky boat access, but not all of them. This one holds fun waves and involves no more than a 10 minute flat water kayak paddle across a narrow back bay. You could paddle it on a longboard without issues. on a thigh - waist day with shell reef setup that favor lefts on a northeast swell.