August 26, 2008 Tuesday

Pacifica	Linda Mar
9:10 am to 10:00 am	Consistent 4', sets overhead
High tide	Stiff onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	Frustrating session

“Forty minutes, that’s not much time,” I stated to Kevin. We had just paddled out to the furthest peak south at Linda Mar in Pacific where the waves were smallest. He wanted to head for the next peak north to get into bigger waves.

“Lets pick a time to meet back at the car. When should we connect to get you to work?” I asked.

“Ten o’clock,” he stated.

“It’s 9:20. That’s forty minutes, that’s not much time,” I stated as Kevin headed north to the next peak.

I had to break the mold of just surfing gentle waves in Bolinas, so I ventured with my son to Linda Mar in Pacifica. Swell predictions for the week were small NW wind swells: two feet at Bolinas and four to six feet at Pacifica. The NW swells would go directly into the north facing Linda Mar cove. Linda Mar breaks better at high tide. Stormsurf had predicted that a weak high-low pressure gradient, which produces NW winds, would have an eddy effect resulting in light southwest winds along the coast. A southwest wind would be offshore at Linda Mar. Conditions looked best for Pacifica: four to six foot northwest swells, high tide in the morning and an offshore wind. Yesterday I called Kevin about surfing there in the morning before work. He was for it.

The eddy effect didn’t occur, the wind blew from the northwest and the surface was croppy. The waves were bigger than predicted and were stacked on top of one another due to the rough wind swell. From the amount of white water lining across the cove, I was apprehensive about the paddle out, which is why I went to the very south end. In forty minutes I only caught two waves. It was a frustrating session to say the least. I caught my first wave right away. A big wall came through, I didn’t think about it; I turned and stroked hard to get into. The take-off was flat; I pushed myself into it and then dropped over the edge into a head high wall of water. I rode this one a long ways, right up to the inner shore break. When I paddled back out to the lineup my confidence was high. I thought I had this place figured out. But for the next thirty minutes I paddled for wave after wave and caught nothing. The waves were deceptive. These large walls of water would come in looking like they were going to break fifty yards outside. But they didn’t; the swells just continued in without getting steeper. Others around me were catching them. I tried all my techniques. I positioned myself at the apex of the peak were the waves broke first. I studied the white water and sat in areas surrounded white water from a recent wave. I moved inside where the short boarders hung out. None of this worked. I paddled for waves I thought for sure were going to break on my back. But no, they flattened out and I was unable to push myself into them. Finally it was 10:00 am, time to go in, I had to catch one. I moved way inside. I was inside of every one else except the little kids of the surf camp. I caught one that did break on me, but even then I had to stroke like mad to get into the wave. Once up, I got a good ride on a four-foot curl and straightened out to coast up to the sand.

Of course like all surf sessions it was worth the effort. I felt that if I surfed here for three days straight I would have the place wired, just like all the locals.