TYBEE ISLAND TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MAY 2017 33 There are unique factors to Barrier Island surfing like extreme tides and shape shifting sands. Many people ask about the surf on Tybee Island, but don’t know where to begin in finding it. When I first started checking out the forecast, I was flabbergasted by all the elements involved in the creation of these illusive waves. I still refer to experts that are far more cultivated from years of fluctuating with the sand and surf spots up and down the beach. Curious new-comers, you need not worry no mo’, for this is a guide to finding waves on Tybee Island. Once familiar with reading into the Tybee surf forecast, you are in the game to find some great rides. Time to dial into how, when and where to discover the best waves on Tybee, including some tricky traits to each spot, in other words, beginner booby-traps that can be easily avoided... The two most popular surf spots on Tybee are known, island wide, as the north end and the south end. Our Poles. The North End spot, sometimes called Mini Malibu, because of its Malibu reminiscent break of long peeling rights, is located on the north end of the island, north of the first jetties (a wall of stacked rocks) over by North Beach Grille. North. This end will form a wave a couple hours after the incoming tide. A good south or southwest wind that wraps itself around those rock jetties with adequate strength will pump up the wave potential, surfs up with a 3 plus foot swell reading from the Fort Pulaski buoy, all easy numbers to access online. So we enter the Goldilocks zone of surfing. That’s the location, tide time, wind direction and swell height. A recipe for waves, check it out! North end is such a fun surf spot, easy going and gratifying, long rides, an Awesome wave for long boarding. Every once in a while N end will pop off and crafty short boarders get to draw their spazztastic lines up and down the waves, an unforgettable time to fire up anyone’s surf-skillet. Only a few snags to look out for in these northern Tybee waters; some long lines, hooked and baited, zinging overhead, with great potential to become invisible clothesline, as well as a patch of shady rebar lodged in the sand from some old jetties. I usually check out of the wave when I get close to that second jetty, not interested in finding the hidden metal under the water. There is no denying that the sunset sessions rock the most on the north end and the vibe is usually as calm as a gliding pelican. South end is a different story, located on the south end … in between the south of the pier and 18th street. Checking two to three hours before high tide and hoping for any wind direction besides northeast. The most ideal winds for the south end are offshore west winds or southwest. It is a greater task to decipher some of these waves, but the challenge will pay off, and ridable they will become. Sets roll in a little spotty and unpredictable, but upbeat, quick and fun to ride. No time to spare, it is a fast pop-up and shooting ride, even with a foot of swell. South end is more crowded with swimmers and more hectic. The current can really pick up down there and when pushing north the pier will loom up on you fast. We call it pier pressure—ba-dum-chchah. This end is all about getting covered, another Awesome ride for all types of boarders. North or south, whatever your pleasure, the best time to pick up surfing is in the warm summertime season. Yeah, there are more people and yeah, there are more jellies and maybe you have limited time with the ocean, but Tybee provides such fun breaks for any beginner and advancer and it ends up becoming a summer romance that never ends; also a perfect warm up for hurricane season just around the corner in the fall. If you can surf Tybee, you can surf anywhere. Keep your eye on the forecast; I’ll see you in the water. The Tybee Island Zombie story starts with a 1958 incident that will forever scar this small beach community with lore and tales of the Tybee Island Zombie. On February 5th 1958, during a practice exercise with the United States Air Force, an F-86 fighter plane collided in midair with a B-47 bomber that was carrying a 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 hydrogen bomb. To prevent a detonation in the event of a crash, and to save the aircrew, the bomb was jettisoned. Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost in the waters of Wassaw Sound off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia. There is no mistake that the bomb was loaded with radioactive material. This fact has not been disputed by anyone, not scientists, not journalists, not even our government or its military. The true question is … what happened to the iron case that was holding all that radioactive material after absorbing the impact of the fall and being submerged in saltwater? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that iron and saltwater don’t mix. Just ask anyone who owns anything made from iron or steel that lives near the coast. Where am I going with this? Well … the radioactive material that WAS in that bomb started leaking a few years after it was deposited near Tybee Island and Wassaw Sound. In the waning months of the summer of 1965 a fisherman was bitten by a small shark that was caught in his nets off the shores of Tybee. This shark wasn’t the typical shark one would encounter in these waters. In fact, this shark wasn’t the typical shark one would encounter in ANY waters. It was obviously mutated, clearly affected by some foreign or invasive element. This story doesn’t end with the discovery of this hideous fish or its victim … it begins with it!!! By Joy Davis By Paul Cales
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