November 14, 2008 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
9:20 am to 10:50 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
High extreme tide, 6.9 ft	Slight offshore breeze
Bright sunshine	Frustrating session

The tide was too high, that was the theme of this morning’s session. It was too high.

Prospects for waves looked good: eight foot swells at twelve seconds from the west (272 degrees). West swells go directly into Bolinas. The NOAA buoy report had considerable wind, 17.5 kts out of the NW, which is offshore at Bolinas.

When walking to the ramp this morning I asked a longboarder, who just exited the water, “How was it?”

“Good, but now the tide is little too high,” he replied.

Last week’s storm had washed out a large amount of sand from in front of the ramp, which meant there was nothing to impede the water of an advancing tide. Wednesday was a full moon, thus we were into extreme tides with high tide (6.9 ft) at 11:00 am. Low tide was -1.7 feet at 6:00 pm. Extreme tides produce strong flood and ebb currents.

At 8:00 am, the waves were surging up the ramp and prevented me from getting to the seawall. From the overlook the Groin had six people out and the Patch had three. I knew with the up-coming tide pushing up against the cliff the Patch would go flat. Mary and Cathy confirmed that a few minutes later when they ended their session. Marty, who was still nursing a knee injury, was there checking out the waves. Lou the boogie boarder was suiting up. I l suggested that he go for the outside peak at the Channel, it looked best there from the overlook.

I had to enter the water at the base of the ramp. A peak of three to four foot waves were crashing five feet from the end of the ramp and pushing water half way up it. I waited for a lull, launched myself into the bumpy white water, paddled like mad, ducked under one wave and made it safely beyond the peak. “The tide is still coming up for another two hours,” I thought to myself. “I’ll have to paddle between these crashing waves and up the ramp to get out.”

Walt, a professional photographer, sat just beyond the breakers with a small waterproof digital camera strapped to his wrist. While bobbing up and down like a cork, he tried to capture pictures of the four-foot waves crashing into the protective wall of the house on the south side of the ramp. The breakers sent water, foam and stray high into the air up to the living room windows of the house.

I paddled to the first peak north of the Groin. It was not an easy paddle due to the backwash coming off the protective wall. The wall follows the contour of the cliff and slants back from the water. Like a pool ball hitting a side cushion, the waves crashed into the wall and backwash bounced off at a forty-five degree angle, sending repetitive bumps of water out to the Groin peak. The turbulence was strong. Beside the backwash, a small north wind swell continuously came across the surface, powerful ground swells pushed in from the west, and a five-knot flood tide flowed toward the mouth of the lagoon.

I didn’t realize the current was pushing me in and over. I thought I was north of the Groin wall. On my first wave, I dropped into a powerful four-foot wave, cruised down well-formed curl, looked up and saw the Groin pole right in front of me. I dove into the water and surfaced next to the end of the wall. That was close. I decided then I would move north of the wall and stay there.

Jim, who is a novice but improving quickly, rode the white water of a wave a couple of feet on the inside of the wall. Several minutes later, after a long struggle to get back out, Jim announced, “My board hit the damn pole.” Fortunately no damage was done.

Lou, Professor Steve and I sat outside paddling around looking for the best take-off point. In the distance I could see the waves crashing in front of the ramp and against the protective wall, sending tons of water surging up the ramp. I asked them for their strategies on getting in. Steve had a good one. Paddle beyond the ramp to the sandy beach north of the seawall, exit the water there, climb up the boulders that form the foundation of the seawall, and then walk along the top of the seawall to the ramp. A few minutes later, Steve decided to go in. Lou and I watched him execute his strategy. It took considerable time, but he did it without any problems.

After a good ride I was in waist deep water a few feet north of the Groin wall. A woman surfer came in laying down riding the soup. She picked up her board, glanced at me and said, “It’s too hairy for me.” She got out and along with her companion they walked carrying their boards towards the ramp. When I paddled back out I looked to see how they were handling the waves crashing into the wall. They attempted, without success, to walk in front of the wall to the ramp. About half way a large wave boomed against the wall, sent water up to the windows of the house, the backwash knocked these two women down and swept them out to the surf. A few minutes later I glanced over at them, one was frantically paddling out over an approaching set wave. I didn’t see the other one. She must have successfully made it in. The next time I looked, the second one was not there. I assumed she also made it in.

Lou announced that one more and he was going in. “Me too,” I replied. We paddled around and paddled around some more waiting for that final good one. By now the tide was all the way in and caused the waves to go flat. The swells would build and build and kept coming in until the shore before breaking. Lou and I moved closer and closer to shore. I finally caught one, a closeout; I straightened out and rode the white water to the sand. Lou followed on a similar wave. I paddled back out beyond the breakers, turned north for the long paddle to the north end of the seawall. Steve’s strategy worked well. I went north pass the ramp to the sandy beach, aimed between two sets of old wood pilings (something left over from an old pier). Paddling between waves, I easily coasted into shore. Lou was close behind me. I stood between the two roles of pilings to give Lou a target to shoot for. He caught a three-foot wave and rode it right up to me. Crossing the top of the seawall to the ramp was a piece of cake.

Surfers seldom admit they had a lousy session. The waves were disappointing but it was a beautiful warm and sunny day and the exercise was great. For two sessions in a row (Wednesday and today) I paddled from the ramp to the Groin, surfed for an hour and a half and paddled back. My arms were feeling the affects of extended paddling. It was that good exhausted feeling.