Natural Art Surf Shop — Buxton, N.C.
In Cape Hatteras, where the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current meet in the infamous “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” surfing, both then and now, has been an integral part of the culture.
Scott and Carol Busbey, moving up to the town of Buxton from Florida in 1977, looked for a place to utilize their skills making surfboards and other accessories. They also wanted to be close to the ocean, to continue their passion for surfing.
Buxton, North Carolina in 1977 didn’t offer much in the way of real estate for a small business. So, they made the most of an old Whataburger and opened Natural Art Surf Shop.
Back then, according to Scott Busbey, surfers “didn’t care where they stayed as long as they were dry and could get up the next morning and head to the beach.”
“You would pile a bunch of friends in the car and go to Hatteras for the week or weekend and it didn’t matter what the surf was like,” Busbey recalls, “it was an adventure.”
With a dozen surfboards, a case of wax, hand-made shirts and shorts made by Carol, and a dozen leashes, Natural Art Surf Shop opened in Buxton, one mile from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse before its move in 1999. And 43 years later, they have continued as what the Busbey’s call “a surf shop still run by surfers.”
Today, Natural Art Surf Shop and In the Eye Surfboards provide surfboards, repairs, and other accessories to locals and travelers alike.
