63 WBM waves there. The swell was coming out of the northeast and it was kind of like the point break.” Fort Fisher was a remote spot, and not many people traveled that far south. Even the group of surfing pioneers only ventured there on their bravest days. After surfing the tamer beach breaks in Carolina Beach, they would work their way south to a spot called Stubs — so named for the presence of pier pilings — and eventually to The Cove. In 1960, the Fort Fisher State Historic Site museum was built and Fort Fisher became a historic attraction. Boulders were placed around the edges of The Cove to prevent further erosion. In the mid-1960s, there was a dirt road that led to the beach. During the same period of time, Robert E. Harrill, also known as the Fort Fisher Hermit, lived in a derelict bunker at the former Confederate outpost. Harrill escaped a troubled childhood and unfortunate life circum-stances by leaving the mountains of North Carolina to pursue a Thoreau-inspired life at the beach. Instead, his lifestyle became the subject of public curiosity rather than one of solitude. The historic site and the hermit brought the area more attention than ever before. Waves of surfers began to notice the long, tubular, uniquely left-breaking point reef. News of The Cove spread among the counterculture. Fast forward to 1967. Native son and legendary surfer Will Allison charges down the line of a seven-foot, left-breaking wave that’s break- ing fast. He drags his left hand in the face of the wave to slow down just enough to crouch into the tube sneaking up behind him. All he sees is green. PHOTOGRAPH AND MAP COURTESY OF SLAPDASH PUBLISHING, WWW.CAROLINABEACH.NET Beach erosion at Fort Fisher in 1982. FOR LOCALS: 7-DAY FREE TRIAL DAY & WEEK PASSES FOR VISITORS MENTION THIS AD FOR 20% OFF A PHUZA JUICE SMOOTHIE AT OUR FITNESS BAR Lumina Commons 910.509.3044 | crestfitness.com Crest_ninth.indd 1 4/29/2014 5:08:34 PM
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