July 25, 2008 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
9:30 am to 11:00 am	Wave size
Mid – dropping tide	Slight onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	So – so session

After several weeks, the old crowd was back together again: 

• Marty had just returned from a five-week trip to Spain and Portugal. 

• Mary had recently returned from three weeks in Bali. 

• Doug had just traveled to Oregon where he built a deck for his niece. 

• Ray the Petaluma fireman, had returned from seven days of fighting California’s numerous fires.
• Matt had recently returned from visiting his mother in Pennsylvania. 

And everyone had a tale to tell:

Ray was backup to the other Petaluma fire crews, but he was out there for seven days straight. The Petaluma crews stay with their truck. Due to the number of fires, the truck stayed in the field and they rotated crews. Their fire engine and Ray were moved to four different fires. He would have stayed out longer but their truck broke down and they had to bring it in for repairs. This piece of equipment was on the job for 27 straight days. 

Doug and I talked baseball in the water. “You really saw a great game. I listened to the last three innings while I was working,” he greeted me as he completed his paddle from Seadrift to the Groin. Doug is a big Giants fan. He goes to spring training in Arizona every year. I had mentioned to him Wednesday that I was going to Thursday’s game. The Giants are struggling this year so every victory is a big one. Yesterday they defeated the Washington Nationals one to nothing. Matt Cain pitched a complete game shutout. He only gave up five hits and walked no one. The Nationals pitcher, Tim Redding, also pitched a complete game, but he gave up a clutch hit in the bottom of the eight to lose it. Doug mentioned that this was the first time in a long, long time that both starting pitchers had pitched complete games. Doug was going to tonight’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

On his trip to Pennsylvania, due to some scheduling problem Matt was up-graded to first class. What a pleasure, lots of legroom, white tablecloths and good wine served in wine glasses made of real glass. He also commented on the heat and humidity. By the time you finished your morning shower you were already sweating. 

After our session I asked Mary if she had seen any surf in Bali. She and her husband own a small place there but it is not located near the prime surf spots. One day they drove to the other side of the island, a four-hour trip, to the surf locations. Mary was hoping to rent a board and catch a few. They went to a noted longboard break, which had spectacular surf, a beautiful left point break. She watched a skilled surfer take off on a set wave and gasped, he was a mere speck on a double-overhead swell. This was not what she was hoping for. Also the only board available to rent was an eight-footer that had been run over by a car and patched up. She wisely decided to enjoy watching the others instead of venturing out in this challenging surf. Good call. 

Marty had lots of tales of seeing beautiful historic palaces and eating great meals in Spain and Portugal. He had seen some good surf and beautiful beaches on the Peniche Peninsula, which is northwest of Lisbon. He didn’t have the opportunity to surf there but he assured me that I would love it. He handed me a brochure of the Peniche Surf Camp and Surf Guide. It had some great photos of beautiful waves with skilled riders locked in tubes. Per their propaganda, “The Peninsula of Peniche will always offer you a beach where the wind will be offshore, creating perfect waves. In 15km of coastline you will find more than 20 surf spots for all levels of surfers, from beginners to advanced.” That’s it I’m going. 

The surf was small but fun; knee high curls, my kind of waves, two to three foot fast breaking lefts. Note in the photo above, “Mr. Throwback”, wood board, no leash and no wetsuit. Needless to say, he was an excellent surfer but he only lasted about 30 minutes. 

It was a beautiful day, the water was warm, and all of us were glad to be in the water together again.