EMERALD ISLE, N.C.—It was a week of waves that surfers of North Carolina said they prayed for.
From Aug. 18 to 21, the surfers on Emerald Isle were faced with waves doubling and tripling the size of their usual swell that arrived in groups called “sets.” Each wave followed the other by a matter of seconds, and each set followed by a matter of minutes—often providing the only window for surfers to paddle from the shore.
This event was not exclusive. Surfers across the North American Atlantic Coast from Palm Beach, Fla., to Nova Scotia, Canada, were treated to set after set of unusually tall waves and strong surf….