June 30, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
8:30 am to 10:30	Consistent 2’ to 3’
Mid upcoming tide	Offshore breeze
High overcast	Fun session

“The linguini and shrimp was to die for. It was fabulous. Loren, I tell you that was the best meal I have ever had!” 

I was trying to concentrate on these great three-foot waves at the Groin and Doug was going on about the wonderful dinner he and his girlfriend had last night at the Coast Café in Bolinas. 

The south swell really had kicked-in today. Yesterday the Groin was three-foot, bumpy, walled and crowded. The Patch was better. Today the south swell was in. It was slightly smaller, clean, glassy, peeling left and not crowded. This morning’s buoy report had the swell at 2.6 feet at 17 seconds from the south (SSW at 209 degrees). The Patch looked good, but not near as good as the consistent fast left curls like the one above. 

I positioned myself at the north end of the Groin peak, straight out from the white lighthouse shaped structure posed at the top of the cliff. It is north of the Groin wall and south of the brown wood house that is slowly sliding down the cliff due to erosion. Four others were further south in front of the Groin and were having difficulty making the waves. At the north edge of the peak, where I positioned myself, the waves were makeable and I was the only one there. After a couple of close outs, I connected with a long, clean, fast curl. I had found the spot and caught one good ride after another. After a half hour, another surfer paddled out to where I was. He greeted me with, “I came out here because you are having the most fun.” I took that as a compliment. 

After an hour, Doug came out. He stated that he was coming out now instead of 7:00 am his usual time because he and his girl friend were spending a couple of days at the Sandpiper motel in Stinson Beach. He raved about the great dinner they had last night at the Coast Café. I told him here below the white lighthouse structure was the spot. We began trading waves, one good wave after another for an hour. 

After our session, Doug introduced me to his girl friend Terry, who is a psychologist and currently working as a high school counselor. We walked into town for coffee and chatted about the local restaurants of Bolinas and Stinson Beach. I presented to them the idea of a new blog, “Surfer Eateries,” a website that highlights those places that surfers go to after morning surf sessions, high-value, down-home places with good food that are near popular surf spots. The blog would include a picture of the restaurant, give the address, list the surf spot it is near, mention the owner or manager, describe the atmosphere, list main menu items and their prices, and give a rating on the quality of the food. People could add their comments on their experiences there and suggest other establishments to add to the site. Doug and Terry loved the idea and nominated the Coast Café as the first surfer eatery to put on the site. We then went off listing a ton of other places to include. A couple of days later, Doug told me that Terry like the idea so much that she is already drafting the entry for the Coast Café.  So with luck, we may soon have a new website of surfer reviews of good local high-value eateries. Wouldn’t that be a good idea?