Not for the faint of heart (or faith)!
If the Outer Banks of North Carolina were a style of facial hair, they’d be that really thin sideburn/chin strap found on most Eminem-worshipping, diamond-earring-toting, Malibu’s-Most-Wanted-style white people.
And that’s not just a cartographical analysis. There are actually a lot of meth and heroin addicts on the Banks. That’s what happens when you live on a strip of sand small enough to throw a rock one way and hit the ocean, then throw a rock the other way and hit the sound. It’s called isthmus fever. Boredom leads to experimentation, experimentation leads to more enthusiastic experimentation which leads to crazy thin sideburns then dead.
The only way to escape the cycle is to embrace your imprisoning waters, and also maybe find God. Christianity is like… real big ’round those parts.
But back to the water.
The only normal people residing on that archipelago are the surfers and fisherman, and even those guys teeter toward lunacy. One fella who’s managed to remain relatively sane is Brett Barley — father, avid fisherman, and the Banks’ only legitimate pro surfer. Maybe it’s just an East-side pride thing, but I’m convinced he’s damn good, too.
And really, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; the Outer Banks boast the most consistently quality surf on the United States’ eastern seaboard. Just take the edit below, filmed by Banks’ native (I think?) Jeffrey O’Neill, as evidence.
The clip follows N.C.’s seasonal swings and showcases the best that the Banks have to offer — both in terms of waves and surfing ability. Barley steals the show, but he’s accompanied by studs like Fisher Heaverly (from southern N.C.), Bal Stack (NY), plus several local legends.
If y’ain’t afraid of cold tubes with a sprinkle of Jesus and meth, the Banks might just be for you!
