February 28, 2009 Saturday

Stinson Beach	Calle del Sierra
9:00 am to noon	1' to 2', outside sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Strong offshore wind
High clouds and cold	Successful Surfrider Foundation event

Rusty Demo Board Day and Surfrider Foundation Beach Clean Up

“This has to be the greatest gig in the world,” I said to Chris, one of the Rusty crew. “How did you get it?”

“I don’t know,” he responded. “They finally decided to let me out of the factory. I grew up near here in Bodega Bay, so I volunteered for this assignment.”

Can you imagine being paid to drive a van full of 40 brand new boards up to a beach, spread them on the sand, let local kids pick any one of them to ride and then shoot the breeze for the rest of the day about surfing?

The Live Water Surf Shop and Rusty Surfboards teamed up with Surfrider Foundation Marin County and the Parkside Café to pull together a great day at the beach for all comers. Rusty Surfboards arrived with their quiver of 40 boards for kids to demo. Surfrider Foundation Marin promoted and ran a beach clean up. The Parkside Café offered 50% discounts on lunches at their café and snack bar for all participants, and the Live Water Surf Shop premiered a local surf movie in the evening.

Scott and I were in charge of the beach clean up. When we arrived at 9:00 am the scheduled start time, nobody was there. I was worried that despite all our efforts to promote the event the recent rains and cold temperature would discourage people from coming. It wasn’t a beach day. It had rained yesterday, but today was clear with a strong, cold offshore wind blowing. The Rusty team arrived and began putting their boards out on the beach and setting up their tent. Pete, owner of the Live Water Surf Shop, set up his tent and Scott and I put up our tent with the Surfrider banner and our table of literature. John, the owner of the Parkside Café, was there distributing coupons, and Clint the professional sports photographer arrived to get shots of the surf action. Slowly people arrived and soon the place was jumping with activity.

The surf wasn’t happening. The waves would break on the outside, die in a deep water hole offshore and then reform into a vicious shore break. But the local kids had a ball challenging the shore break. Oliver, John’s son, jumped out there and ripped up the inside curls. Two teenage girls, both novice surfers, took long boards out and got pounded by the shore break. Pete and John, who are experienced Stinson Beach surfers, showed everyone how it is done. Pete managed to get barreled in a three-foot wall of water. Several other locals joined in and had a great time.

The Stinson Beach residents turned out in force. Scott, a 30 year resident and member of the village council, chatted local happenings with everyone. Parking and dog poo are the burning issues of Stinson Beach homeowners. Everyone gladly grabbed one of our bags to pick up trash. Residents take beach cleanliness serious. By noon, twenty full bags of trash were piled at our tent to haul off to the dumpsters in the Park. Stinson Beach had to be the cleanest in Northern California.

The Rusty crew was pleased with the turnout and wants to do it again in a few months. Pete and John were happy that everyone had a good time. Scott and I took advantage of John’s discount and enjoyed a great late breakfast at the Parkside Café. We felt that this was one of Surfrider Marin’s better events and are anxious to do it again.

Check out my photos of the day at:

http://gallery.me.com/lorenlmoore1#100039

February 27, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:30 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Stiff offshore breeze
Bright, sunny, clear and cold	Good session

“So what do you advise?” I asked Nate as he was exiting the water. He and Kaylee were just ending their morning session before heading over the hill to open up the Proof Lab Surf Shop in Tam Junction. I was suited up and eager to paddle out after watching the good rides they were getting. Last Wednesday I followed them out to the peak in front of the ramp and had a good session. Nate was standing in ankle deep water in front of the house on the north side.

“Straight out from here there’s a good left,” he responded pointing at the peak. “You can get good ones from here to the end of the wall.” I was thinking the same thing.

Off they went and I entered the water. Two other guys, who I didn’t know, were out. They caught a couple more and left. There I was with the break all to myself. The sun was out, the air was crisp, the wind was offshore, the surface was smooth and clean left 2’ to 3’ peeling lines were coming in. Knee high curls, my type of wave. The swell had finally cleaned up from after three weeks of south wind swells. The waves were smaller than Wednesday but they had better shape. I paddled straight out from the ramp and positioned myself on the south edge of it. On my first wave I dropped into a three foot wave, climbed to the top, locked my inside rail under the lip of the curl, watched the water spray back off the top and froze in position until the wave finally collapsed within ten feet of the rocks of the seawall. What a great ride, I thought to myself, but I must be careful not to get to close to the rocks. I was pushing it. That was the first of several similar waves. I was becoming more accustomed to my new board. It is thicker in the nose than my old board thus I can get closer to the nose when paddling for waves allowing me to catch them sooner. That additional second makes all the difference in the world. It allows me to position myself at the top of the wave instead of dropping to the bottom and losing momentum.

After an hour a couple others came out but the consistency of the waves provided plenty for all of us. A half hour more and I was exhausted and cold. My hands and toes were becoming numb. I ended a good ride near the rocks, decided to give it up for the day and went in. Again I had that glow of satisfaction from healthy exercise and the enjoyment of another beautiful Marin morning.

February 25, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:15 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', setshead high
Mid incoming tide	Slight offshore breeze
High overcast	Good session

The wind had finally turned and the swell had picked up. After continuous south winds for the two and a half weeks, the wind was from the north, which is offshore at Bolinas, and the ocean was finally settling down from of month of wind swells.

The peak straight out from the ramp had returned. Last year from January through March this peak appeared with consistent clean left curls and good rights. With the spring and the return of the sand the peak disappeared. Today it was back. Strong 3’ to 4’ waves lined across the beach from the house south of the ramp to the north end of the seawall on the other side of the ramp.

Nate, one of the owners of the Proof Lab surf shop, and Kaylee were out there connecting on one good wave after another. The above photo is Nate executing one of several bottom turns I witnessed this morning. “I want some of those,” I said to myself after watching them. As I entered the water they were leaving. Nate and Kaylee live in Bolinas and often get in a few waves in before heading over the hill to open up the shop. I chatted with them briefly and as usual asked Nate how’s business.

“We’re keeping the lights on,” he said as he rushed up the ramp to his car. In today’s tough economic times I took that as a positive response.

The waves were bigger and more powerful than they looked from shore and were difficult to catch. After a couple of frustrating attempts, I moved inside to take off late. Waiting until the waves were cresting, I would move close to the nose, paddle hard, push myself over the edge and then drop down steep faces and cut left into some fast line-ups. Several waves closed out on me, but for the few I made the ride was thrilling to say the least, fast and long. In one hour I caught plenty of good waves, exhausted myself paddling out through the strong waves and went in after a good left curl put me next to the base of the ramp.

After changing into my street clothes, I had that glowing feeling of healthy exercise and the satisfaction of having tamed some challenging waves. It was a good day.

February 20, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:15 am to 10:40 am	3' to 4', sets overhead
High outgoing tide	Slight onshore breeze
High clouds and sunshine	So - so session

Recession, drought, global warming and surfing

“So how is the hotel business?” I asked Hank as we were bobbing up and down in rough water at the Patch.

“Terrible,” he responded. “It’s really dropped off.”

“Tell me again, which hotel chain do you work for?”

“Ritz-Carlton.”

“I take it the businessmen trade has decline.”

“We’re also in the high-end leisure business and that has dried up,” he said. “The TARP program has not helped either. The President and Congress have told executives no more luxury hotels.” Hank is referring to the criticism the President has directed at CEOs of banks receiving government bailout money about excessive salaries, use of private jets, bonuses and conferences at resort hotels. From now on it’s Motel 6 all the way.

“So has your CEO taken a cut in salary?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I can tell you that the rest of us are not getting salary increases or bonuses.”

“What is your position there?” I asked.

“I’m in charge of all the hotels in the western region from Denver to California,” he responded.

Wow, that’s an important position. He must be under considerable pressure to cut costs and increase revenue. Hank is an excellent surfer and I have known him for years. A few years ago he was temporarily transferred to the east coast; his family stayed here while he commuted across country. He was only able to surf during trips home. He’s back on the west coast and I see him often out at the Patch. His job does offer one excellent benefit and that’s Maui. Ritz-Carlton has a hotel on Maui in the Kapalua area near Honuloa Bay. Hank vacations and surfs there once a year. He told me that rental boards are terrible and this year he had ordered a custom board from a local shaper that it will be ready for his next trip in April.

I was glad to see him out here when I paddled out. After one week of rains and constant south winds the surface was rough and the currents strong. The swell spiked today, 8 ft at 14 seconds north swell combined with a 6 ft south wind swell. The north swell passes by Bolinas but the south comes right in, especially at the Patch. Wednesday I came here and didn’t bother to go out due to small waves and strong onshore winds. Today Stinson had big waves when I drove down the Panoramic Highway. Bolinas should be good I thought. There were four guys straight out from the ramp going for sizeable inconsistent wind swells that would jack up and break top to bottom. Two others were out at the Channel riding large right breaking close outs. Two groups were out at the Patch, one way, way out at the furthest peaks and another on the inside south edge of the reef going for the rights. Both groups were having problems catching the waves due to the inconsistency and the turbulence. None of these breaks looked good to me, but another storm was coming in tomorrow so I had to take advantage of the break in the weather. I decided to head out to the inside peak of the Patch.

“Looks like Salmon Creek to me,” said Doug, who lives in Petaluma and often surfs there. We were standing on the seawall checking out the waves. Salmon Creek is like Ocean Beach in San Francisco: big beach break, strong winds and currents and difficult paddles out. I watched Doug and Jim struggle to get out and then witnessed Doug coming down an overhead wall, getting an excellent ride. I met Kathy, the biology teacher, coming up the ramp after her session at the Patch. She was out at the far peak and connected on two “fabulous” rides. Everything else was so-so. Barry, who was dressing after his session, went out front of the ramp, said it was ok, nothing more, but he got into the water thus it was fun. Mary, who had just exited the water, said with little enthusiasm that it was all right. Earlier at high tide it was better and now it was bumpy.

The inside waves were strong, close together and constant. Paddling out won’t be easy. I waded out as far as I could, pushing my board over incoming white water. When it was chest deep, I jumped on my board and paddled hard. The incoming four-foot walls were relentless. I pushed through and ducked under one after another. After three I had an ice cream headache, which got worst with each additional wave. Finally with the help of a brief lull I punched through the shore break and into the calmer water of the Patch reef break. Half way to the peak I recognized Hank. Great I’ll head over there. Being an experienced surfer, Hank would have figured out today’s assortment of swells, peaks and currents to know the best take-off spot. Claude was further out. I got a side view of him coming down a good overhead wave. He mentioned that the waves were bigger at high tide making it more difficult to paddle out. He was glad that the outgoing tide had diminished the size of the waves. A set approached, I watched Hank position for a sizeable wave, stroke into it and coast into a long right ride. A few minutes later, Martha joined us. She too is an experienced surfer and managed to catch several good rides.

My first wave was my best ride. After watching Hank connect, I moved closer to the shallow point in the reef, waited until a sizeable peak was beginning to break, paddled hard and pushed myself over the edge of the wave. I coasted down a slow head high peak, went under white water sliding down from the top into flat water, cut back into the breaking part of the wave, pushed into the next building section and went down another sizeable section. Good wave. I traveled a long ways on that one. But that was it. All my following rides died after the initial drops. As the tide went out, the swells broke up into smaller less powerful ones, the wind picked up and the surface became choppy. After an hour I was ready to go in, but the shore break had become bigger and more powerful. How do I get in through that? A set approached, I positioned in front of a steep peak, stroked into it, turned left, dropped down a fast section and with speed pushed into an inside section that placed me close to shore. A wave broke behind me; I lay on my board, caught the white water and rode it to the shore. I made it in and that was easy.

After changing and chatting with the others, I walked into town to buy a coffee for the trip home. I ran into David, the owner of the Coast Café.

“David, I saw the picture of the Coast Café in the IJ last week,” I greeted him. Due to the drought, the Bolinas water district has mandated water rationing, 150 gallons per person per day. The photo showed a waitress serving a bottle of beer without a glass. The restaurant was conserving water by not offering glasses for bottled beverages and thus not having to wash them.

“Every little bit helps,” he replied.

“How’s the crabbing going this year?” I asked. David supplements his income by working on a friend’s crab boat during crab season.

“Terrible,” he replied. That was the second time today I heard this expression. “It’s worst than last year. We used to put out 200 pots and catch four to five crabs per pot. This year we’re lucky to get one. You do the math. At $5 per pound, it’s not worth it.”

He went on to explain that all of the crab in the stores was coming from Oregon. The Dungeness crab have moved north and there aren’t any left in the San Francisco Bay Area. David is convinced that it is due to global warming. The water is getting warmer and the crabs have migrated to cooler waters. But another phenomenon is occurring. The shrimp are moving in. In previous years, they would capture one or two shrimp in their crab pots, but this year the pots contain one crab and a half-pound of shrimp. David and his friend have experimented in catching shrimp with great success. Shrimp season starts in May and they plan to be ready. They are outfitting the boat with tanks and water pumps to keep the shrimp alive until they reach the docks in San Francisco. Live shrimp brings a good price.

“Will you serve them in your restaurant?” I asked.

“Yes, we’re working on recipes right now,” he said. “They’re delicious raw. They have a slight crunch to them, but we won’t serve them raw. We will lightly sauté them or stir-fry them. They will be good.”

Reflecting on the morning on the way home, we have a historical parallel here. During the Depression of the thirties, economic meltdown coincided with the Dust Bowl, a major drought in Oklahoma and Texas. Today we have collapse of the financial system, global warming and drought in California.

The recession is getting worst, California is in its third year of drought, they’re rationing water in Bolinas, the Dungeness crab are migrating to Oregon and the shrimp are moving in.

Thank goodness for surfing to get one’s mind off today’s woes.

February 9, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Groin and Channel
8:50 am to 10:00 am	3' to 4'
High upcoming tide	Cold offshore wind
Sunny and cold	Frustrating session

After our session, Marty and I were sitting on a stone bench in front of Smiley’s Saloon in downtown Bolinas that was sheltered from the cold NW winds and heated by the sun, enjoying a coffee, sharing a day old quiche, a bargain from the coffee stand next to the Coast Café, and discussing the issues of the day. The door of the weather weary camper parked next to us swung open and out stepped the resurrection of Janis Joplin with straggly dreadlocks, bleary-eyes, baggy tied-dyed shirt and shorts. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a packet of Zigzag papers, a small bag of tobacco and rolled a cigarette. Man, I hadn’t seen this since the sixties. Like the bald tires of her vehicle this woman had seen some mileage. With enthusiasm she began telling us of the concert/happening that she was promoting. We would love it she ensured us; she stepped back into the camper and emerged with brightly colored promotional postcards for us, one is pictured above. Two days and nights of rock music, food, camping and God knows what else. The show was:

Layton Ville Area 101 – Festival of Love, Valentine’s Day 2009.

Staring several up and coming bands, such as: Free Peoples, Stiff Dead Cat (porch stomping BBQ music), Peace Warrior and Pots & Pans (the juggling band). Her favorites were taking the stage at midnight both Friday and Saturday. For us sixty-year olds, beginning performances at midnight is not appealing. Local eateries would be there practically giving away food. She praised the guy who was backing the event, a person interested in people, not profit. Twenty times she touted that he wasn’t doing this for the money. The “happening” was his motivation. An absolute bargain; bring the children, only $15 for one night and $25 for both nights. You won’t want to miss this one she insisted. She moved with us for several yards as Marty and I tried to politely walk away from her aggressive sales pitch before giving up on us. We wished her good luck and moved on. Can you imagine two days and nights of mind-mushing hedonism? Woodstock lives on, forty-eight hours of ingesting mind altering chemicals, numbing consciousness and bobbing one’s head up and down to endless thumping of electric guitars, sounded boring to me.

Marty and I had selected this sunny spot to get out of the cold. Too much cold wind, current and the high tide was the theme of this morning’s session. As I entered the water, Professor Steve was exiting. He warned me about the strong current pushing into the lagoon. I paddled out to join Marty and Dexter. Marty commented on the exercise he was getting battling the current. Sitting there a few minutes I drifted from north of the Groin pole to mid-channel. A strong in-coming tide was pushing us over and into the mouth of the lagoon. According to the Tidelog, a 6.8 ft high tide would peak at 10:30 am. We had a good hour to go, the flood tide was fierce and the waves were barely breaking due to the deep water. This morning’s buoy report had the swell at 6 ft every 14 seconds. The set waves looked promising, they would peak in the Channel, break and quickly die in the deep water. I caught one good left, dropped down a shoulder high face, straightened out and concentrated on merely staying in the swell until the momentum disappeared inside the Groin pole. The paddled back out was challenging due to the incoming current. A couple more of these and we gave up fighting the elements and went in after an hour.

Back at our cars while changing in the cold, Barry pulled up in his white van. I had not seen him in months. He was recovering from a cracked rib that he injured falling off a ladder doing a house project. He gave us all the gory details of how he was very lucky that the injury was not worst. He missed the water and after a couple of weeks went out surfing and immediately injured it again causing him to miss several more weeks of surfing. Today he was going out for the first time in two months. He was anxious to get back into the water and was going out regardless of conditions. He still felt a pain in the ribs whenever he stretched his arm above his head, and thus he will feel it when paddling. He stated there was a positive side to his injury. The tenderness of his rib cage has become a “stress-o-meter” for him. Whenever he tenses up, the injured rib begins to pulsate. When stress hits the rib lets him know about it. The other day while driving, traffic was getting to him, he began to tense up and his rib began to throb. He quickly slipped into a meditative state, relaxed his body, his stress subsided and the pain in the rib disappeared. Due to his sensitive rib, he was doing a much better job at controlling his stress. Marty and I were glad to see him back in action and wished him the best.

February 3, 2009 Tuesday

Ventura	Surfers' Point
7:15 am to 8:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
High outgoing tide	Stiff offshore breeze to no wind
Sunny and warm, heat wave	Fun session

Dawn Patrol

My brother and sister in-law are morning people. I spent the night at their place in Ventura. Larry was up and out of the house by 5:30 am. Joan, who owns her own law firm, had another busy day planned and was gone by 6:10 am. I left at 6:15 am, stopped at Starbucks for coffee and was at Surfers’ Point by 6:40 am. The sky was light but the sun was not up yet.

Classic two to three foot waves were peeling out front. I took pictures of an old surfer who had the place wired. He was always positioned at the peak when a set rolled in. This morning the sets moved around and so did he. Surfers’ Point is a right point break, but lefts often appear on the north edge of the peaks. This guy walked the nose in both directions, true hanging five, toes right on the tip of his board. In the above photo he performed a classic head-dip. I was impressed and stoked; I wanted some of those.

My wetsuit and rash guard were cold and wet. The offshore wind was picking up. Wet gear and wind equals evaporation, which equals cold. My fingers were turning numb before I got into the water. I entered the surf at 7:15 am, the earliest I have been in the water in months.

I spotted the old guy who had the placed wired. I figured I would stay near him since he knew when the sets were coming. I said hello to him, he grunted at me and paddled on, so much for this plan.

Even though I had surfed here before and knew the trick was to sit inside and take off late, I had trouble catching waves. I caught a right wave that closed out in front of me. I caught another that was a well-formed peak. I dropped down a nice face, turned right and the wave died. Then I connected with a good left. I saw the wave approaching from a long ways out there. I paddled towards the peak and so did two other guys. I went left and they went right. I turned into a steep line-up, stepped to the middle of the board and cruised through a beautiful section.

For the next half hour I didn’t catch much. Lots of paddling around looking for that elusive peak, sitting through long lulls and paddling for and missing several waves. Finally I connected. After missing one good-looking wave, I turned around and to my good fortune was a four-foot glassy wall cresting in front of me. I stroked into it, dropped down a steep face, positioned myself in the middle of the swell and sailed down this wave a long ways before it broke in front of me near the shore.

This put me at the peak to the south, near the small point that I surfed the last time I was here. The one guy that was there paddled north, and I had the peak to myself. For the next half hour, I connected with four small well-formed right waves, smooth rides, not fast. The trick was cutting through the kelp. Seaweed was alive and well. Hitting kelp was like slamming on the brakes, the board stops for an instance until the skeg cuts through it. Rocks, kelp and crowds were the challenges of Surfers’ Point.

At 8:40 am I was spent. I paddled north to where my car was parked and waited with two others for a set. I drifted in to ensure of catching one. The tide was going out causing the size of the waves to drop. The wind had stopped and the surface glassed off. A left wave approached, I dropped into it, locked my rail under the lip of the curl and shot through a section into shallow water with foam boiling around the rocks, a good ending to a fun session.

By 9:15 am I was at Corrales, which serves the best burritos in Ventura, for a breakfast burrito of chorizo, eggs, onions and tomatoes. At Corrales the customer selects the ingredients. I made a quick stop at Starbucks to fill my travel mug, filled the car with gas and was on the road by 10:15 am for the long drive home to Mill Valley.

I wrote this at McDonald’s in Paso Robles, which is owned by my good friend Greg and his son Dana. I stayed on diet by having a Caesar salad with grilled chicken and an ice tea. One can purchase healthy food at a McDonald’s. Not a bad start to the day. I love scenery especially the California coast. So at Salinas, I turned onto Highway 186 to connect with Highway 1 at Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world, and traveled through Santa Cruz and along the beautiful sunset lit coast to High Moon Bay to arrive at home at 6:00 pm.

February 2, 2009 Monday

Manhattan Beach	El Porto - 42nd Ave
10:00 am to 11:30 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Low outgoing tide	Slight offshore breeze
Sunny and warm, Santana condition	Fun session

El Porto presented perfect, old man long board waves, knee high curls, my kind of waves. Gentle, well-formed peaks where the inside curls held up. On my first wave I coasted into a three foot wall that I thought would close out. I swung left, climbed high in the curl, saw it was breaking, leaned into the curl, shot through a breaking section into clear swell, stalled for a second to let the wave build and sailed through another section right up to the shore break. I had traveled a long ways for a beach break. Right then I knew I was in for a good session. Next wave, same thing, a long in the curl left, then I caught a similar wave going right. I knew this morning there might be some small fun waves.

Kevin, Allison and I had driven to Palos Verdes for my family’s annual Superbowl party. My brothers and I meet at my mother’s house to watch the game. The highlight is the football pool. We randomly draw ten numbers, 0 through 9, and throw in ten dollars for each number. The units digit of the sum of both team’s score determines the winner. So the fun is rooting for teams to score to hit your number. Which team wins is insignificant, and the higher scoring the game the more opportunity for each number to come up. We have to hang in there to the end no matter how one-sided the score because a fluke touchdown changes the winner of the pool. My dad started this tradition years ago, and we have kept it going after he passed away in 1997. This year the Superbowl was a great game, close, with Pittsburgh defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27 to 23 in the last minute of the game. Kevin, who had the number zero, won the pool.

Years ago my brother Carl and I started running in the Redondo Beach Superbowl Sunday 10K Race, which is held at 8:00 am every Superbowl Sunday. Thus our tradition is to run the race in the morning and watch the game with the family in the afternoon. Carl has since stopped running it due to bad knees but Kevin and Allison have joined in. Kevin has run it for the past three years and Allison for the last two.

We drove down with the hope of getting in some waves. Friday afternoon we loaded up my car, strapped two surfboards on top and headed off. When we reached Carpenteria at 10:00 pm we pulled into Motel 6 to spend the night. Carpenteria is south of Santa Barbara and just north of Rincon.

Surf forecasts for this weekend were not good when we left, no swells of any significance. Saturday morning we drove to Rincon Point. Only two cars were in the parking lot when we arrived. That means it was flat. Rincon is the best point break on the California Coast. If anything were breaking there would be thirty people in the water, especially on a Saturday. We walked down to the beach, one guy was in the water, two others were chatting on the shore and perfect six-inch curls were peeling over the jagged rocks. We then traveled south to Surfers’ Point in Ventura, which was also flat. Four surfers were out in front of the parking lot going for barely rideable one-foot ripples. At the north point, ten people were fighting over flat two-foot waves. At that point Kevin and I concluded that surfing this trip just wasn’t going to happen.

Sunday morning Kevin, Allison, 5000 others and I participated in the 10K race. I was out of shape and Kevin was nursing a cold thus we planned to walk the race. One half mile into it we began to “shuffle”, which we kept up until mile four. Kevin and Allison continued on and I dropped back. Shuffling along the Esplanade, which runs along the top of the small bluff above the beach, I watched several long boarders catching well-formed two to three footers. “If it’s like this tomorrow morning, I’m going surfing,” I said to myself.

Kevin and Allison flew back to San Francisco late Sunday night and I started driving home Monday morning. Just as I had thought, the small, fun, glassy peaks were at El Porto, the north end of Manhattan Beach. It was sunny and warm with a slight offshore breeze, heat wave Santana conditions.

“Sploosh,” a pelican dove for a fish fifteen feet from me as I sat outside waiting for the next set. “What a beautiful day,” I thought. I looked around. It was clear, the offshore breeze had stopped and the surface was tabletop smooth. I watched the pelican pick at his feathers, beat his wings on the water and then lift off. Beneath me a large school of small fish passed under me. The water was crystal clear; I could see the contours the sand formed on the bottom. Every five minutes a good three-foot set would come through, and I would connect with another knee-high curl. For thirty minutes I had a good left peak all to myself. I drifted south to the next peak, which looked better and had five guys there. The crowd was mellow and there were plenty of waves. I caught wave after wave. At the end, I connected on a series of four good right peelers. After an hour and a half I had to go in, not because I was exhausted. No, the time on the parking meter was about to expire. In Manhattan Beach, a quarter buys only ten minutes of beach parking.

Afterwards I went to the Kettle, one of my favorite restaurants, for a late breakfast and then stopped at Becker’s Surf Shop in Hermosa Beach to purchase tee shirts and a hat.

I’m writing this sitting on a bench at Leo Carrillo State Park. For you old-timers, this is Secas, the beach where they filmed the movie Gidget. There is no surf, nada, completely flat. On the big rock where the surf usually breaks sits twenty birds: cormorants, which occupy the top, and pelicans, which stick to the leeward side, just another picturesque scene of the California coast.