The alarm rings at 6:15. It is a cold rainy winter day on the Outer Banks to most, but not if you’re a winter surfer, for to you it is just another day of good surf.

The sun's not up yet but the amateur meteorologist in you senses that the wind has gone offshore. You have 15 minutes before the household awakens to decide the fate of your day. While coffee's brewing you go on line to check the surf. The human reports won't come until about 8 so you check wind, tide, swell direction and other conditions from various web sites that show everything from live images to buoy readings 30 miles out to sea.

By 6:25 a.m. you've had your coffee and have devised a plan that will get the kids to school and your work done, and – most important – will get you in the Atlantic Ocean for two hours’ worth of overhead glassy surf.

Winter surfing embodies the essence of the Outer Banks off season. No longer a bustling summer resort, the area reclaims its small-town atmosphere. In the water is a core community of devoted locals who all know each other and enjoy a camaraderie that – because of work schedules – is hard to have in the summer.

To live here in the winter you have to enjoy cold, windy, raw, deserted beaches – and the winter surfer welcomes these conditions. If the idea of joining six of your closest friends in 45-degree water on a 47-degree day sounds appealing, we bid you a warm welcome.