December 1, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:30 am	4' to 5', sets 6' to Overhead
Mid tide	Slight offshore breeze
High overcast	Good session

It was my first day back in the water since our weeklong trip to Barcelona. I was anxious for some waves. I caught the tail end of one of the best swells of the year. Stormsurf predicted “a fading Dateline swell, 8.1 feet at 14 to 15 seconds with 11 to 12 foot faces.” The San Francisco buoy reported a 2-knot southeast breeze and a 9.2-foot west swell every 15 seconds. The Groin was a strong four to five feet with powerful fast breaking lines coming in. But everyone was telling me that I should have been here yesterday, twice as big with seventy guys out. I met Pete, who owns the Livewater Surf Shop in Stinson, at the overlook above the Groin. Yesterday, he had connected with some long beautiful rights on the Seadrift side of the Channel. Russ raved about the long good rights that he caught on the inside of the Patch yesterday. The Groin was too crowded so he went to the Patch and had a great time. He was heading back out to the same spot when I saw him this morning. Marty reported that he drove out to Fort Cronkhite just to look. The waves were breaking way, way out there over a hidden reef generating lines of white water from one end of the beach to the other. The waves were too big to ride. No one dared to go out.

Yesterday was an ideal day at Mavericks. On December 3rd, the Chronicle published a front-page photo of a classic thirty-foot Mavericks tunnel with some brave soul powering down the face. The Bruce Jenkins article raved about the perfect conditions, pristine weather and 20 foot swells that jumped to 40 feet over the Mavericks reef. All the well-known Mavericks riders were there. Mark Healey and Dave Wassell flew in from Hawaii and Greg Long (winner of last year’s Mavericks contest) flew up from Southern California to join the local Maverick stars: Jeff Clark, Flea Virostko, Kenny Collins, Matt Ambrose and Grant Washburn. In the afternoon the wind dropped, the tide went out and conditions became perfect. Marty emailed me two photos taken by a friend and former colleague from a boat in the Mavericks channel. Mary forwarded to me a YouTube video of incredible big drops down thirty-foot walls. It would have been the perfect day to call the Mavericks Men Who Ride Mountains contest. Per Bruce Jenkins, the contest directors were still searching for sponsors and thus were unable to hold it. To the Mavericks crew the contest was secondary, perfect conditions and beautiful waves were all that mattered to them.

This morning was beautiful, high overcast with a slight offshore breeze caused gray skies and water and a tabletop smooth surface. I had to go out. I paddled out to the peak north of the Groin wall. Creighton and another long boarder who I have seen several times at Bolinas were at the peak at the Groin. They were positioned far outside waiting for the big sets. The water had that storm surf feel, swirling currents pushing me around with a small wind swells bobbing up and down. The set waves would draw the water out and the bobbing would stop. The first wave I caught was head-high and fast. I managed to power through one section, stall for an instant and drive through another section. Good ride. A later wave was overhead but slow. I expected a big drop, but no, the water merely slid from the top, I slid under it, and the wave died on the inside. The other waves I caught were like the first one, critical and fast.

After an hour and a half I called it quits. Reflecting on my session, I caught five to six head-high fast, long rides. With luck I had connected with one of the best swells of the year. Isn’t retirement great?