Flying over last Friday, the tip of Cape Canaveral was on fire.  Not only is there a point break but there is a long sand bar shooting out to the east.  Is it accessible or forbidden to only Nasa employees?

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Edited: 10/21/2014 at 05:01 AM by Av8Surf

People were hitting it with boats for awhile, but were walking back to the takeoff point along the shore...I don't think the Base cared for that too much.

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I was right.

that's AF property, no access from shore

the truth is out there

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Surfing is not allowed right on the beach. I have heard of people that have used boats to surf the outter shoals. When I worked the Titan Launch Program we use to drive out to the point and check the surf and within 10 to 15 minutes we would get visited by the CCAFS police. Not hassled, just checked out. I have asked the cops about surfing and I also looked into getting approval from the higher ups. Never happened. They use to let folks bring their family to the beach and fish but no entering the water beyond thigh depth. In the early 70's my brother and his buds use to paddle a canoe from Jetty Park, across the canaverl inlet and surf the north side when we get big surf with that heavy north wind. Sharky and a lot of cool flotsam. When they arrived back to Jetty Park there were normaly a group of guys in suits checking out what they were pulling out of the canoe but never really hassled them.

the sharks there have laser guidance systems ...use caution.

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Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I don't see why you can't drive a boat to sand bar and surf it without going on the beach. If they opened this to surfers it would be a boost in the local economy for sure.

Also i did see Airforce one at Patrick last weekend.

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Edited: 10/21/2014 at 05:24 AM by Av8Surf

no you didn't

and the President was not surfing that left

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We used to surf out in the bight when the swell was right. We would anchor up the boat a few hundred yards out and paddle in. We never really got hasseled too much. The CCAFS security would roll up on the beach and hang out for a bit. Only once did the security boat that patrolled the Trident basin come out to talk to us.When it was doing its thing it was one of the best beach breaks I've ever surfed in FL. It usually took a pretty big south swell to make it work out there. It could be overhead in south CB and it would be chest to head high+ up in the Cape. North swells never seemed to wrap around the Cape like you would think. All because of the shoals. They would kill all the wave energy before it made it around the tip of the Cape.It was also one of the sharkiest spots I've ever been too. Might not have the numbers that NSB has but the sharks were always very sizable. One the scariest experiences I ever had with sharks happened out there. One day we did our thing and surfed some super fun head high surf for about an hour and then the tide changed and out of nowhere there were thousands upon thousands of 14" mullet. They were so thick they were hitting us in the face as we were paddling. Needless to say sharks showed up in large numbers and they were feeding so aggressively that they were coming outta the water eating mullet all around us. That was sketchy enough. The worst part of the whole ordeal was that we had to paddle out 200 yards to get back to the boat and there were sharks going ballistic between us and the boat. Luckily all 4 of us made it back to the boat unscathed. It was also very unnerving to know that you were miles from help. I guess if you got bit you could always walk up on the beach and wait for security to show up and risk going to jail and having your boat confiscated. Never really wanted to be in that position.Last I heard a few years there were guys hitting it pretty regularly and the CCAFS commander pulled the plug on surfing out there even if you don't touch the beach because it was taking up too much of security's time going out there all the time. All good things come to an end.

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Ive heard horror stories of people not returning after going out there.. A diver buddy of mine supposedly said there is a ton of "accidental" boat wrecks out there right off the shoal. 

The "white whale" of Brevard surf culture.  I know Walker and he wouldn't fib so his story is legit!  I worked out there for 12 years and used to go eat lunch at Camera Rd. A all the time, especially if there was a strong swell.  I always hoped to see lefts peeling off the point like somewhere in northern Peru but it never happened, not while I was there anyway.

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where ya workin at in that bus?

Like Dan, I worked there for many years and occasionally would drive over to Camera A road if a big Nor'easter was coming thru. Also like Dan I never saw it break like you would think. Did see some 2-3 footers breaking real fast, real close to shore maybe twice. Didn't look makeable, especially with all the busted up concrete and rebar from an old facility in the water. I think the offshore shoals knock the swell down from that direction as you an see it breaking out there. I think all that is covered up with sand now and haven't looked during a swell for years.

I have been up on Pad A (shuttle pad) a bunch of times when a swell was running and witnessed some nice looking beach break from up there, north of the point.

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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith

 

Great freakin story. Sounds like a film script. I knew this place would have guys that surfed it. We shall call it Florida's Final Surfing Frontier. 

Why do good things have to end?

Also why does Airforce have all the prime land? 

You know Airforce one was here for the swell. I would. The Pilots probably said we need to have maintenance done on the 747 in ... ah Florida. Ala Apocalypse Now. 

 

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Edited: 10/21/2014 at 11:53 AM by Av8Surf

Jumpseat. You could see 60 miles easy. 

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We use to paddle over to the N side back in the day when we could still surf inside Canaveral Jetties... but we were always chased back to the S side.

I surfed the outer SE shoal (about 7 miles out) once in '67, than again in '68.
Clean Bahamas-like aqua water, but very spooky. In '67 our boat was swamped by a rogue set while we were surfing the shoal.

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... positioning and selection

"Also why does Airforce have all the prime land?" 

"In October, 1946 the Joint Research and Development Board under the Joint Chiefs of Staff

established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground to analyze possible locations

for a new missile range to be shared by the various branches of the military.

Three potential sites emerged.

One was based on the coast of northern Washington, with a range along the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

A second was based at El Centro, California, with a range along the coast of Baja, Mexico.

A third was based at the Banana River Naval Air Station, with launches from Cape Canaveral and a range over the Atlantic Ocean."

and the rest is history?

http://www.spaceline.org/capehistory/2a.html

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The shoals can really go off when a south swell hits a north wind and current.  The sand bar depth and swell angle have to be just right though.  In the 30 years I've worked there I've seen it work only a handful of times.  There is no doubt the shoals can produce the longest rides in Florida, but you're also talking about the fishiest water I know of.  Toothy fishes.  And big too.

Currently work at CCAFS, and yes, there are days when the waves get really good, but as stated above, depends heavily on right tide and swell direction. You can surf there by boat, but don't step foot on the beach, even if you lose your board. And there are def. tons of toothy critters. I have some pics from 1 of the defunct launch towers of the shoals, and some beachbreak pics, if I can track them down I'll post 'em.

I've been up there. I ran all over that beach, until the guys in suits showed up and then we had to go. Your best bet is a jetski, if you want to surf the shoals. It's kind of spooky and the wave seems to be a mile out. I think it either needs a sizeable long period East or South Swell and no wind to break like a point. If you ever followed the great white that was tagged you'd know that she likes to hang out there too. It's totally worth it though. You won't know until you go.