February 13, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:15 am to 10:30 am	Consistent 3’ & 4’, sets head high
Low tide (0.5 ft)	North (offshore) 15 mph
High clouds, some sun and cold wind	Great fast breaking left curls

“Oh no, wind, not a good sign” I said to myself at the crest of the ridge. The tops of the tallest redwood trees were swaying as I drove by the Pantoll ranger station. Coming down the ocean side of Mt Tamalpais I could see white caps far out to sea. But with my first look of the Stinson-Bolinas bay the outlook changed. I saw the surface was smooth and stray was coming off the tops of the waves at Stinson. We have strong offshore winds.

From the seawall at the base of the ramp at Bolinas I watched these amazing picturesque curls. The strong offshore winds were sending arches of fine spray off the tops of the curls. We had steady west swells coming in long lines, a bottom shaped for fast left curls and strong offshore winds to hold up the waves. Look at the beautifully formed wave in the above photo. All of the waves this morning were of this caliber, one after another. The only negatives were the freezing temperatures of the wind and water. 

Mary was off by herself at the Patch while six others including Marty, Doug and Professor Steve were out front of the ramp. I joined them. I connected with several high quality left curls like the one in the above photo. All of us were getting excellent fast waves. Twice I took off late, pushed under the white water sliding down the first section into open swell, let the waves reform and then became locked into fasting breaking curls on the inside near the shore. The good waves just kept coming and coming. 

Despite the beautiful picturesque waves, the cold drove me out of the water after a little more than an hour. But all of us agreed that this was one of the best sessions in recent months. It was just another wonderful day in paradise.