July 7, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:20 am to 11:20 am	Consistent 3’ with sets to 4’
Low upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Hazy sunshine, warm air and warm water	Good session

“It’s better than it looks. Believe me, it’s better than it looks,” stated Doug when he and a friend just returned to Doug’s truck after a two hour session. “Go on out, have fun.” 

Doug was right. It was better than it looked. The Internet predicted some decent conditions. This morning’s buoy report had an 8.2-foot swell at 12 seconds with a 1.1-foot south swell underneath and warm water, 55 degrees. Stormstorm’s graphic depicted four to six foot swells going into Bolinas. Predictions for the rest of the week were not good. The north swell is going to decline leaving just a one to two foot south swell for the rest of the week. Today and tomorrow were my best chance of waves this week. 

When I first viewed the waves conditions were not good. The swell was there but it wasn’t clean, merely bumpy lines across the entrance of the Channel. Doug, Professor Steve and a couple of other guys were out at a peak north of the Groin wall. The current was pouring out of the lagoon even though low tide wasn’t for another hour. The waves were doubling up into fast breaking left walls. I watched Steve veer left on the top half of a wave only to drop into a small sucking out collapsing wall in six inches of water. It didn’t look inviting. 

I went up to the overlook to check out the Patch and the Seadrift side of the Channel. The Patch was barely breaking with weak mushy waves that would die out after a few yards. On the other side of the current coming out of the lagoon I saw a couple of tempting right waves. I saw someone knee paddling from the Seadrift side heading for the peak at the Groin. It was Jimmy, the Stinson carpenter. I could tell it was him, he had that comfortable, experienced knee paddle stroke, his long blond hair flowing over his ears, paddling an sun weathered yellow board with a black patch on the nose. I hadn’t seen Jimmy at Bolinas since the good peaks of last September. Jimmy is a good surfer and I always pay attention to what he is doing. He just answered my question about surfing at Seadrift. If Jimmy is coming over to the Groin then he has decided that nothing is happening on that side of the Channel. I’ll follow his lead and join him at the Groin. 

There were only three of us out there, Jim, one other guy and me. Jim and I traded waves, the other guy didn’t, which I found a little annoying. Jim sits way out there and at the deepest point of the peak. In wave after wave, he paddled with great speed, cruised into flat swells, cut left with his back to the wave, crouched down in the middle of the board, locked himself into the curl, traveled a long ways and either let the wave break all over him or straighten out at the last instant. I tried to imitate what he was doing. On my second wave I connected on a good fast curl, worked through two sections until the wave sucked out in shallow water near the shore. That did it. I kept following Jimmy’s lead. 

After an hour Jimmy and the other guy left and I had the break all to myself. The waves were doubling up. Two small swells would merge together to form one fast left breaking wall. The trick was to catch the top portion and then push over the edge of the front portion and drop into the steep fast peeling wall. Before dropping into the wall you have to be up, turned, and positioned high in the curl. One had to stay at the top of the wave. If you drop to the bottom the ride is over, the board looses momentum and the white water from the collapsing wall overwhelms you. My strategy was wave selection. The north wind swells approached from different points. By selecting waves that were definite lefts, those that peaked in the Channel, I could get up fast, turn and step to the middle of the board before dropping into the wall and manage to stay at the top of wave. With luck I made the first section, shifted my weight slightly and leaned into the next section. The walls were steep and fast. I risked having the inside rail being sucked up the face of the wave and the board curling back into my ribs. When positioned in the middle of the board, never fall on the beach side. Fortunately this didn’t happen. If I moved to the middle of the board, I kept moving forward, never backwards. When the wave started to break in front of me, I walked to the nose, drove it under water and dove off the front of the board avoiding being hit by own board. Keeping these points in mind and being selective, I caught several fast, good, long curls. 

After a while, a five others came out, but since the waves were consistent the crowd was never a problem. The waves got better as the tide began to fill in. The walls became more forgiving. I caught wave after wave until I was completely exhausted. After two hours I had to call it quits.

After getting coffee I dropped into the 2-Mile Surf Shop to chat with John, one of the owners. John makes surf boards, Mystic is his label. John is a professional graphics artist who worked for Cliff Bars for a few years. He is building a board for my son and I asked about its progress. “Being glassed, should be ready tomorrow,” he said as he was working on the blank of a long board. I asked him whom this was for. He had some exciting news. He is making four longboards for a trade show, the Outdoors trade show in Salt Lake City. This is the BIG ONE; everything outdoors is there. A food company in Mill Valley had invited John to help them out. John is building their booth displays and graphics and they will let him display some of his boards. He will be flying to Salt Lake in early August  and his boards will be going by truck. Should be fun. 

It was another beautiful morning in West Marin. I stopped at the Gospel Flats Farm Stand to buy lettuce, beets, zucchinis and flowers and I tooted my horn and waved to John the Greeter of the Panoramic Highway.