From Associated Press...
'The brunt of the storm skirted Savannah, but its outer bands brought blustery winds and ominous gray clouds to the Georgia coast. They also spawned 5 foot waves, drawing an adventurous few to the ordinarily tame Georgia beaches.
"The waves are getting dramatically bigger," said Chuck Conn, a burly 49-year-old preparing to hit the waves at Tybee as his wide smile broadened.
Signs posted around the beach warned of rip tides, and lifeguards were out in force monitoring the handful of surfers. But even town elders understood the call of the ocean.
"Hopefully, the only impact we'll get from this is high surf and wind current," said Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman, an avid surfer who chuckled when asked if he would hit the waves. "We're trying to encourage people to stay out of the water, so that wouldn't be a good example."
Hanna was expected to make landfall on the South Carolina coast around 2 a.m. Saturday before marching quickly up the Atlantic seaboard and pushing into New England by early Sunday. Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to areas just south of New York City.
On Folly Beach, just southwest of Charleston, S.C., the tops of 8-foot waves were already being roiled into spray by Hanna's advance winds Friday afternoon as about three dozen surfers tried their luck.
"This is the best time for us down here," said Matt Hamrick, a Charleston lawyer who has been surfing for 25 of his 38 years. He planned to hit the beach again at sunrise Saturday, hoping to ride curling waves pushed up by Hanna's winds after it comes ashore.
Meanwhile, at Atlantic Beach, N.C., Danny Keylor, 23, said he surfed four hours Friday morning.
"It's real steep, about 6 or 7 feet. It's real powerful, really strong rip currents," said the landscaper from Morehead City. "We've had some pretty good days this week, but this is the best session I've been in so far."
"It's really good now," he said about noon. "It was choppy this morning."
Caithness said he was leaving the beach "only because I have to be at work."