July 29, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 11:10 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Mid outgoing tide (3.8 ft to 2.5 ft)	Slight cross breeze
Overcast, high fog, drizzle	Fun session

“Hey Nick, I see that business is good,” I said to Nick the surf instructor, ex-owner of the 2-Mile Surf Shop and native to Bolinas as I was driving away after a fun two hour session.

“That’s right,” he replied. “With the surf camp during the week and group sessions on the weekends I’m pretty much going seven days a week.” I saw Nick with a group of twelve little kids, all with soft-top boards, out in the white water at the Groin.

“Well summer is your time to do it,” I said.

“Hey I saw you get a great ride,” he continued. “Long and fast, all across the sandbar.”

“There were some fun waves out there this morning,” I replied.

I connected with at least ten great waves. All inside curls from just north of the Groin wall to the shore break halfway between the Groin and the Ramp.

Expectations for waves this morning were not great. The big south swell had passed and predictions on the Internet were for declining wind swells. I was considering heading for Linda Mar. North swells go right in there. The NOAA buoy report changed my mind: 2 ft north swell at 9 seconds combined with a 2 ft south swell at 14 seconds and no wind. Wave heights of 2’ to 3’ were the same at Bolinas and Linda Mar. The south was at 220 degrees, which is directly into Bolinas. My decision was easy; go for my favorite break.

Mary, Kathy the biology teacher and Yoshi were out at the Groin when I arrived. They were going for these well shaped left waves straight out from the Groin pole. The same conditions I connected with last Friday and Monday were still in affect. The sandbar that stretch out twenty yards and curved to the north forced the bigger waves to break continuous left for 50 to 60 yards. All three of them stated to me that the waves fun. Knee-high curls; just my type of waves. For Mary this was her first day back after recovering from a minor surgery. She was glad to be back in the water and had a good session. That’s Yoshi on a good one in the above photo.

I applied the same strategy I had used Monday, which was to find the edge of the sandbar, sit inside, wait for the set swells that stretched across the beach, and go for the inside curls. It worked. I tested the depth of the water to locate the edge of the sandbar. Standing in chest high water I waited for the sets. When a set approached, I would paddle out to meet the waves, let the first two pass, position for the bigger third wave, stroke into it, turn left, climb to mid-swell, step to the middle of the board and trim through the first section. I would back-off an instant to let the wave build into the shore break, lean into the curl, step to a foot from the nose and stand there until the wave collapse around me a few feet from dry sand. I repeated this maneuver at least ten times in the two hours I was out there. Conditions were ideal for me: warm water, no wind, no crowd, short lulls, short paddles to get out and fast, long, left breaking knee-high curls.

After two hours, I ran out of gas. It was a great morning.

July 27, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
10:00 am to 11:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	South onshore wind
Overcast, high fog	Fun session

“What am I doing here?” I kept saying to myself. I was sitting alone, outside just north of the Groin wall. Claude and his friend were at the Channel. The others around me had gone in. Bobbing up and down like a cork, I was facing San Pedro Point, though I couldn’t see it due to the fog on the horizon, and the south wind was blasting me in the face. Chop surrounded me, the swell was uneven and bumpy and white caps were forming out to sea.

“I’m here because this is the last day of the south swell,” again talking to myself. The big south swell, which was labeled Storm #4S by Stormsurf (meaning the fourth major south swell of the season), began last Thursday, peaked on Friday, continued through Saturday and Sunday and now the last remnants of it were here Monday. Starting tomorrow the south swell would be gone, replaced by two to three foot wind swells from the north. My only chance for waves this week was today.

Then my luck changed. I thought about trying the inside waves like I caught last Friday. The finger of sand that stretched out from the end of the Groin wall was still forcing the formation of decent left curls. The water was very shallow in front of the wall and gradually became deeper as you moved north. The change in depth caused the bigger waves to peel continuously north for several yards. There was also a strong current to the north. To fight the current I got off my board and stood in waist high water, thus preventing it from moving me around. At one point I dropped into overhead water. I paddled a few yards south, got off my board and was in chest high water, a little further south I was in waist deep water. If I could locate the edge of the sandbar I would be in position for the big waves that continuously broke along the changing depth of the sandbar. This strategy worked. I would locate the edge of the sandbar, stand next to my board in chest deep water and wait for the sets. Once I saw a big one approaching I would paddle out to it, quickly turn around, take off late, swing left, jump to the middle of the board, climb high in the curl, zoom down a continuously unfolding left curl and end by driving the nose into the white water of the shore break. I repeated this maneuver seven times in an hour. All of them were fast, long rides.

Then the surf camp beginners entered the water. Twenty young people on soft-top boards spread across the edge of my sandbar. All the other experienced surfers were out at the Channel. I was the only old guy mixed in with the soft-tops. I kept applying my strategy. The beginners did know how to recognize approaching set waves, thus I would paddle out to meet them and be all alone on the take off. I would turn into a four-foot wall and see three beginners frozen like deer in the headlights as I would begin to pick up speed high in the curls. Luckily I didn’t hit any of them, but I did come close. I knew it was not a good idea to be weaving in and out around the surf campers, but the inside waves were so good I could not resist going for them. On one good one I weaved my way all the way to the shore and decided to call it a day.

Back at the cars I chatted with Claude and his friend. They were out at the Channel and had connected on some decent right waves. Claude mentioned that it was bumpy, he never saw a smooth wave, but every twenty minutes a big set would come through. He caught four head high, fast, long rights that made this morning’s session a good one.

For all three of us, what started out has a slow morning turned into a fun session.

July 25, 2009 Saturday

Jaimal Yogis – Saltwater Buddha

Last night forty people crowded into the back room of Book Passage in Corte Madera to hear Jaimal Yogis read from his new book, Saltwater Buddha - A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea. Jaimal, who is average height, lean and athletic looking, immediately created a positive rapport with the audience. He exhibited a quiet confidence. The same confidence that I had seen and felt coming form Gerry Lopez when he spoke at Book Passage a year ago and from Laird Hamilton at his book signing last November. With a soft voice he expressed how humble he felt to have so many giving up their Friday evening to hear him speak.

He asked how many were surfers. Ten people, including myself, raised their hands. He then asked how many meditated. Twenty raised their hands. Of course some surfers also meditate, like my friend Mary who was there. Thus most of the audience was more familiar with Buddha than surfing and were here to hear how surfing connects to Zen.

Jaimal began by conducting a five-minute meditation to set the mood for the evening. He led us through a concentration on water: imagine a drop of water that spreads to a pond to a lake to a sea with ripples across the surface to the building of a wave that finally breaks on a beach.

He read the Prologue. This book is in praise of water, a homily about water. It’s a series of short stories about his encounters with the sea and his practice of Zen. The ocean is in constant flux and when you spend a lot of time on the water you become like a message in a bottle, you know where you want to go but you’re at the mercy of the winds, currents and waves. In merging Buddhism and surfing, the wave becomes an excellent metaphor. Waves are pulses of energy through the medium of water. The water doesn’t move, but the pulses of energy (waves) move endless distances. The energy of one creates the energy of another wave. The sea is constant. People are like ripples on the surface the sea. They are numerous and constantly moving, but they have little impact on the depths of the sea.

The book came about by accident. While working in Manhattan, NY, Jaimal became depressed and forced himself to meditate ten minutes a day. From this he wrote a piece on the water metaphor of Buddhism and surfing. The article created quite a buzz on the Internet. Soon Wisdom Books called wanting to see the manuscript of his book. What book? He hadn’t started writing it yet. Wisdom Books, publisher of Saltwater Buddha, is a non-profit company dedicated to works on Buddhism. Their interest led him to compose the story of his journey learning to surf, discovering Buddhism and the relation between the two. At a young age he left his home in Sacramento, took all his money and some of his mother’s, bought a one-way ticket to Maui where he learned to surf and practice meditation. Thus began a series of incidents, insights, and adventures that he presents as short stories in his book.

From his Water-Walking chapter, Jaimal read an excerpt about venturing out to the third bay at Honolua Bay with his Australian surf mentor Roth. The surf was huge and terrifying. He was calling on several of his Buddhist sayings to give him courage to face these waves. Paddling around the second bay to the third bay, the waves transformed from small turquoise into blue open-water surges that exploded against the rocks. Jaimal was repeating a Chinese chant for outside intervention as a big set approached. Roth went for the second wave and missed it. But he was now in position for the third wave of the set, he caught it and disappeared. Jaimal repeated his chant three times, a good six seconds, when Roth reappeared flying ten feet above the collapsing wave.

“This one is yours,” Roth shouted. It was Jaimal’s turn with the next set. He stroked into a big wave, popped up, turned right and picked up speed. Walking on water? No he was running, gliding, flying down the wave, pulling out before crashing into the rocks. A few weeks later Jaimal was back this time without his mentor Roth. In the water was an older, weather beaten surfer who mumbled something about dragons. They traded waves.

“You have to ask permission to surf here,” the old guy said referring to the dragons and the Hawaiian gods. “Some people don’t. They get washed up on the rocks.” Jaimal asked permission.

Jaimal’s stories and Buddhist sayings held my interest and that of the audience. The enthusiasm of the crowd at the end of his presentation encouraged me to read the book. I’m looking forward to it.

July 24, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	North cross wind
Overcast, high fog, misting	Good session

The Over-hyped Swell

“Don’t you just love the Internet,” I sarcastically shouted to Russ and Mark as I pulled up into the parking area on Brighton Avenue in Bolinas.

I had just circled the parking area, tennis court and park looking for a place to park. I luckily found a spot down from the tennis court towards town. Russ and Mark parked there also and were suiting up. Yesterday only three of us were out at the Groin at 10:00 am. Today twenty-five surfers were spread across the Channel and the Groin and another twenty-five were out at the Patch. Every surfer in the North Bay had been watching the approaching swell on the Internet for a week, had arranged work and school schedules to free up Friday and descended on Bolinas this morning.

For eight days Stormsurf had predicted a four-foot eighteen-second south swell to hit late Thursday and peak on Friday morning. All the other sites were saying the same thing. The NOAA weather radio issued an “alert” about big south swells combining with north wind swells. Roberta Gonzales, a local TV weather person, reported on the approaching big south swell. Lots of hype and anticipation about the biggest swell of the summer, but delivery was non-existent. A wave of disappointment washed over me when I peeked at the Groin from the Seawall. Two to three foot small fast peeling walls, not much bigger than yesterday. After standing there through a long lull a sizeable set of waves came through. The swell was definitely bigger and more powerful, but the other elements were not cooperating. A north cross wind put a textured chop on the surface, the minus low tide at 8:00 am had the potentially good waves sucking out in six inches of water and the ebb flow out of the lagoon impacted the peak at the Channel. The rocks at the Patch were fully exposed. Waves were cresting thirty yards beyond the outside rock but they barely broke. Only the sets waves had the force needed to power one into the inside break.

I entered the water by walking out on the finger of sand that stretch out from the end of the Groin wall, just like I had done yesterday. Ten surfers were at this peak and I didn’t know any of them. The waves were powerful and breaking in shallow water thus the atmosphere was tense. There was little banter among the surfers; only stern looks as they focused on the waves they were paddling for. I had to pay attention to others, which impacted my selection of waves. I did manage to connect on a couple of brief, fast curls. I kept searching of the good take off point. I moved over to the Channel and tried a couple there without much success. I moved back to the Groin with the same results. I moved north of the Groin and found the same situation: crowded, fast breaking small walls.

After an hour and a half I was tired and started working my way to the Ramp. The tide had come up and conditions had changed. On the inside a solid four foot wall approached, I stroked into it, swung left and looked down a beautiful line up. I leaned into the wave, climbed to the top of the curl, stepped to the middle of the board to gain speed, and cruised down a fast long section to end up plowing the nose into the white water of the shore break. What a great ride. The edge of the sandbar was causing the bigger waves to set up for fast, long rides. I knew my spot now. I managed to connect with four more of these waves before exhausting all my energy.

A young longboarder had picked up on the same thing and was out there with me. I had seen him before and I knew he was good. He rode a new Dewey Weber 9’ 6” longboard with no leash. He was in great condition, paddled easily with speed and power. He was always at the peak of the set waves and caught everything he paddled for and walked the nose on every wave.

“You know I met Dewey Weber once,” I said to him between sets.

“You did?” he replied. “I wish I could have met him.”

“A good friend that I played high-school football with was Dewey’s brother-in-law,” I continued. “I went over to house one day and there was Dewey Weber sitting in his living room.”

“I know his son,” my young friend said. “I heard he was a small guy.”

“He was about my height,” I said. “Very solid, athletic guy. Dewey was a champion wrestler in high school.”

A set approached, we started paddling out, and my young friend went for the second, bigger wave of the set. I quickly turned and stroked into the first wave and cruised down another well-shaped left wave. I finished in time to witness my young friend screaming down a four-foot face. He worked his way to the very top of the wave, stepped to the nose, curled five toes over the very tip of the board, hung at the very top, spray flying off the tip as he dropped down the face, backed off enough to remain just under the lip of the curl and sped down this wall of water all the way to the shore. Dewey would have been proud of him.

In memoriam: Dewey is no longer with us. My friend Neil Kilgore did not survive Viet Nam. Dewey’s wife and Neil’s sister and her three children are still with us. Dewey’s son Shea runs Dewey Weber Surfboards.

July 23, 2009 Thursday

Bolinas	Groin
8:25 am to 10:40 am	1' to 2', sets to 3'
Low upcoming tide (-1.3 ft at 7:00 am)	North cross breeze
High fog - the June gloom continues	Fun session

I was starving for some good waves. Last week there was nothing. I came down Wednesday and didn’t bother going out. Monday I went out into one to two foot weak powerless waves. Stormsurf was predicting a big south swell would hit this afternoon late, peak tomorrow and continue through the weekend. Prediction was a four-foot swell at 18 seconds, that’s big. I got up early and out the door anticipating that the first of the swell would be appearing this morning.

The south swell was barely showing. The one surfer in the water at 7:50 when I arrived was Kathy the biology teacher who was out at the Patch, twenty yards past the outside rock. With camera in hand I watched her catch a couple of long slow rides, not my cup of tea. The Groin had some beautiful small fast peeling lefts, maybe too fast. The ebb flow was still coming out of the lagoon and was knocking down the waves at the Channel. Seadrift side had some good rights coming through. With the tide coming up, I figured the waves at the Groin would get better, thus I decided to try that first.

The tide was still low as I entered the water. I walked out on a finger of sand that went out twenty yards from the end of the Groin wall. The good left curls broke at the end of this sandbar, perfectly formed waves sucking out in six inches of water. I lined up with the lighthouse shape structure at the top of the cliff just north of the Groin wall where a slight edge had formed. At this point the waves paused an instant between the first section and the inside lineup. By getting into the waves early at this point, I just enough time to jump up and position in the wave to make the inside section. This strategy worked and I caught ten good fast knee-high curls in an hour. As the tide came up the waves got bigger and more makeable. The better waves were long, fast and ended in shallow water. I was sent flying on one when I drove the skeg into the sand causing the board to abruptly to stop. On the rest I had to fall spread-eagle to avoid slamming into the bottom.

After an hour Josh the fisherman came out. Just three of us were out there. Josh, who is my age, has a unique style; he rides a 9-foot longboard on his knees and is very good at it. He takes off late, paddles at an angle, jumps up to his knees slightly behind mid-point in the board, turns with his hands on the rails and shifting his weight and varies speed by leaning or backing-off on his arms to move his weight forward or back. After seeing him connect with a fast inside wave I commented that his knee style was perfect for these fast peeling-curls. He loses no time or momentum trying to stand up. He has been surfing for years but has never surfed standing up. I thought it was because he had injured knees or hips. No, he started out on a boogie board, graduated to a kneeboard using fins and just didn’t learn to stand up. He didn’t like the fins and the small board was difficult to paddle. Thus he moved up to a longboard, kept riding on his knees and perfected his technique. From inside I watched him take off late on a three-foot wall, he swung left, leaned forward to gain speed, the wave began to break, he stuck his head in the white water, hung on to fight his way back into the swell and then leaned into a fast inside curl. In the old days, we called that maneuver a ‘head-dip’.

During the long lulls between sets, we chatted about surfing, fishing and the filling up of the lagoon. He told me about his trip last March to the Witches Rock Surf Camp in Costa Rica. The surf was great: warm water and sand beaches. No worries about rocks, coral or sea urchins. He went to Boca Baranca, second longest left point break in the world with mile long rides. This year his fishing is doing great. He has never seen so much life in the water. Whether close to shore or twenty miles out, the sea is teeming with fish, sea lions, dolphins, whales and pelicans. He claimed that a few big corporations would soon have a monopoly on all commercial fishing. The Bush Administration had set up a cap and trade system for controlling the amount of fish extracted from the sea. The allocations are based on previous years’ catches, thus the big firms that were causing all the damage with their dragnets received the largest allocations. Fisherman may sell their allocations on the open market, and the big firms with plenty of money are buying up all the allocations. Despite this he is optimistic that he will be ok since he is such a small operation. He is the last commercial fisherman in Bodega Bay. I asked him about the filling up of the lagoon. He thinks that it is getting deeper. He should know since he drives a boat out to sea two to three times a week. His theory is due to climate change the sea is rising putting more water into the lagoon, and the hills around the lagoon are healing; meaning trees and grasses are returning and less silt is flowing into the lagoon.

The tide kept rising, the wind was picking up and the summer surf camp hordes had arrived. Josh and I decided to head in. We commented as surfers often do, “those were some good waves,” and were looking forward to the arrival of tomorrow’s south swell.

July 9, 2009 Thursday

Bolinas	Channel
8:40 am to 10:20 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide (-0.5 ft at 7:30 am)	North cross wind
Sunny, blue skies, fog on the horizon	Fun session

I almost didn’t go out this morning. Internet data was “iffy” at best: 2 ft north swell at nine seconds combined with a 1.5 ft south swell and a minus low tide. When I arrived at Bolinas no surf vehicles were parked on Brighton Ave. Where was everyone? I starting thinking that I have other things to do, I could go for a run on the beach, join Kate for lunch, etc. I didn’t even bother to take my camera to check out the waves. Three guys were out at the Channel, the wind was offshore, the sky was blue and the sun was warm. A set of good right peeling three-foot waves came through. Same great shape we had Tuesday, that did it I was going. I hustled back to the car, got my camera, returned to the overlook, took a couple of quick photos, went back to the car, suited up, waxed up my board and entered the water at the Groin. Like Tuesday, I paddled to the sand island on the other side of the current coming out of the lagoon and walked my board out to the break.

The waves were smaller but the good shape was still there. After two fair right waves it was clear that today’s strategy was to wait of the larger set waves. The small waves didn’t have any punch. I sat way outside and waited patiently through the long lulls until the three to four-footers would appear. Long lulls followed by a set of six to ten good waves. Be patient son. With only three of us out there, crowd was not a problem. After an hour, the tide came up and the lefts began to break. I got one good left, waited a couple of minutes and connected on another one. Thus I moved over to the left side of the peak to catch the next good one. A sizable set approached, I let the first one go (never take the first wave of a set), the second one looked good but I saw a larger wave behind it. I went for that one, a perfectly formed four-foot left. With two stokes I was into it, dropped to the bottom, leaned into the wave, climbed to mid-swell and saw a beautiful curl forming in front of me. I stepped to the middle of the board, locked the inside rail under the lip of the wave, stepped closer to the nose and stood there frozen for what seemed a long time and just cruised across the top of a fast breaking curl. I cut back, turned into another section and again just stood there. It was a great ride.

During one of those long lulls, sitting way outside, I met Dan. I remembered him from Tuesday. He was a big athletic guy, in his forties, rode a 10-foot Jeff Devine longboard and was a good surfer. Earlier when paddling out I got a good view of him coming down a beautiful blue-green four-foot wall of water. He was relaxed and confident as he maneuvered around the white water sliding down from the top of the wave, climbed back to mid-swell and cruised for fifty yards. Dan lives in Mill Valley but this week the family had rented a house at Seadrift. For fun he plays in a band, “The Close Enoughs”. For the last few Fourths his band has played at Stinson Beach. Dan’s vacation was performing on the Fourth and renting a house on the beach for the week. He was having a great time. His nine year old was loving jumping in the water with his boogie board. Dan learned to surf in North Carolina, surfed Cape Hatteras and several other beaches I never heard of.

“Dan, I know North Carolina,” I said. “My son graduated from Duke.”

“Oh no,” he replied. “I can’t talk to you. I’m a Tar Heel.”

Dan went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He talked about surfing in Nantucket. When growing up his family would vacation on Nantucket Island, where due to how far the east the island was situated, nothing obstructed the south swells, resulting in some great waves. He also talked about surfing once a month in the winter in Massachusetts. They had to leave cars running, crunch across the snow to the water, catch a couple of waves and run back to their cars where the heaters were on high. Dan and I had a great time telling stories and sharing these fun waves at the Channel.

July 7, 2009 Tuesday

Bolinas	Channel
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', occasional 5'
Mid incoming tide (minus tide at 6:30 am)	North cross breeze
High fog, overcast	Fun session

I didn’t have high expectations this morning but the Internet did report a three-foot fifteen-second south swell at 220 degrees, which comes right into Bolinas. Russ was suiting when I arrived. He was heading to the Patch to join Kathy the biology teacher and Hans who were already out there. I was thinking about the good rights I had on Monday June 29th.

An older surfer (about my age), who I had seen before here and who I knew was good, was suited up and waxing his board. He had a classic 9’ 6” longboard in perfect condition, clear-green color, doubled glassed on the rails and one macho-size curved skeg fiber-glassed into the bottom. Similar to the one I have on my 1967 10’ 6” Deese board that now decorates the front of my garage. I asked him about his board. He said it was a Dave Sweet board that Dave had made for him two years ago. I remembered the name but couldn’t place it. He claimed that Dave Sweet was the inventor of the foam board and was a big time shaper in the sixties. He also stated that he was on Dave Sweet’s surf team in 1965. I knew the guy was good, but that cemented it for me.

Later on I did look up Dave Sweet in the Encyclopedia of Surfing. There he was: owner and shaper of Dave Sweet Surfboards from 1956 until he closed his business in 1974. He was located in the Malibu area and built boards for several of the big time movie stars including Clark Gable, Cliff Robertson and Peter Lawford. From 1953 to ’56 he poured his heart, soul and all his money into perfecting polyurethane foam blanks. Sixty miles south Hobie Alter and Gordon Clark were going through a similar trial and error process, but Dave Sweet beat them to market by two years.

I walked down to the Groin wall with the camera in my hand. Three surfers were out there. The older one comfortably paddling on his knees was our Dave Sweet team member. I stood there with the camera on and focused and waited, and waited. Nothing came through. I turned the camera off and waited. Suddenly I had my doubts about going out; I do have a lot of things to do at home. After ten minutes a set came through: six four-footers that peeled off beautifully to the right. My Dave Sweet friend connected with one at the peak, cruised down a solid face, walked to the nose and hummed through a fast section. That did it; I was going to go for those good rights.

Entering the water I met Professor Steve who was just finishing his morning workout. He mentioned that he had connected on a couple of good rights. Low tide had turned at 6:30 am and the flood tide was just beginning to flow into the lagoon. I paddled across the current to the island of sand in front of the peak. The channel was fairly deep right up to the edge of the island. I walked across the coarse sand and shallow water to get out to the peak. My Dave Sweet friend asked me what took me so long. Photos and chatting with friends I replied. I mentioned that I thought a got a good shot of him (that’s him in the above photo). “Surf photos!” he exclaimed. He was impressed.

Between the long lulls a set of ground swells that stretched across the Channel would suddenly appear. The sandbar caused them to break at one consistent point and to peel down the mound of sand of the bar. I was prepared for the rights but here came a four-foot left swell. I went for it, quickly jumped up, cut left, looked down a steep wall of water, climbed high in the wave, locked my inside rail under the lip, trimmed down a fast paper-thin curl, stalled for an instant to let the wave build up again and cruised down another section. What a great ride. A few minutes later I did it again. I knew the rights were longer, but if the lefts were good why switch?

Another set came in, my Dave Sweet friend was in position for a five-footer and stroked into it as I paddled over it. I thought he would never make it. I was wrong. Looking back I saw him swing right, climb high in the wave, lean into it, crouch down and watched only his head accelerate just in front of the white water of the breaking wave, and on and on he went.

I was sitting way outside when the next set approached. Never take the first wave of a set I reminded myself. So I let the first one go by. The second wave was bigger, but I could see a bigger one behind it. I let the second wave pass. I paddled further out and a five-foot wall approached. It looked like it would close out but I decided to go for it. With two strokes I was into it. I looked down a head high line of water that was feathering at the top and it held up. I turned right, planted my rail mid-swell and gained speed. Two surfers were paddling out. One was directly in my path; I straightened out just enough to get by him. I missed his tail-block by six inches. I wanted to make this wave, but the slight turn caused me to drop to the bottom of the wave and lose momentum. I tried to cut right again to get back into the swell. The white water started peeling top to bottom and I could not get by it. I stood leaning on my inside rail trying to clear the white water. I didn’t make it. The wave collapsed, my board shot out from under me, my feet flew up and I landed tail-first into the white turbulence. It was a thrilling ride while it lasted.

For an hour and a half, I shared great waves my Dave Sweet friend and three others. We were a mellow crowd and had a great time.

July 1, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
8:30 am to 10:45 am	Consistent 3' to 4', sets head high
High outgoing tide	South onshore breeze
Overcast, high fog, June gloom	Fun session

At 8:00 am I was taking photos of the three to four-foot waves at the Groin when I spotted Yoshi coming down the beach suited up and board in hand.

“Yoshi, Kate and I had a great meal at your place the other night,” I said. Yoshi and his wife own Umi’s Sushi on Fourth Street in San Rafael. We ate there for the first time Monday night before seeing the movie Food, Inc at the Rafael. The movie was an expose of the industrialization of America’s food. Yoshi’s restaurant is the opposite: fresh ingredients, small quantities, expertly prepared. He commented that food production is changing in Japan and that he presents the traditional Japanese dishes prepared in the time-honored manner.

“How’s business?” I asked.

“Business is like the surf,” he replied. “Some days it’s up, others it’s down. Monday was busy and yesterday was quiet. You never know.” We shook hands and he entered the water for a short session before heading back to prepare the day’s specials. That’s Yoshi in the above photo.

Hank with his big yellow board showed up. Hank is the Western Regional Director of Reitz-Carleton Hotels. I hadn’t seen him in weeks.

“Hank has the hotel business improved?” I ask.

“No. It’s still the same. It sucks,” he replies. “Rates are really down.”

“What about the low-end?” I continue. “Motel 6 must be doing well.” In retail and restaurants the low-end establishments, Wal Mart, McDonald’s etc, are growing in sales.

“I don’t think they are doing any better,” he replied. “There just aren’t customers. So they are down also.” Reitz-Carleton manages the hotels, but the properties are privately owned. Hank stated that several owners are suffering and some are selling because the need the money. Now is not the time to sell a major property, so most are holding out. Despite the recession Hank did take his yearly vacation to the Reitz-Carlton on Maui and had a great time.

Four of us sat at the peak at the Groin: Hank, Claude, Rene and myself. We were on the left side of the sandbar. Monday the rights were firing. Today, the rights were gone and the lefts were pumping. The Internet had reported a four-foot ten-second north swell combined with a three-foot fourteen-second south swell. Sizable ground swells stretched across the Channel with the sandbar forcing them to break continuously to the left. They were fast, bumpy, tricky to catch, difficult to make, and often reformed on the inside into decent fast breaking curls. The ground swells pushed a smaller swell in front of them. One had to catch the top swell, gain some momentum and drop over the edge of the front swell. Once over the edge of the front swell, I would lean into the curl, trim under the white water sliding down from the top, watch the wave reform and step to the middle of the board when the good inside curls would jump up. They were long fun rides.

Claude mentioned that the “Malibu Rights” were breaking. Often at high tide a small Malibu like right curl forms near the Groin Pole. Claude is an excellent surfer, big guy, ten-foot board and powerful arms. He powered into flat swells, stood up, swung left before the waves jumped up. I caught a side view of him gliding into well-formed four-foot wall, driving left for a long ways before the wave broke in front of him. I paddled over the wave and looked back to see him continue on and on. He was working the wave while it reformed. Near the Groin wall he swung right. I could only see his back and head, but all of sudden he accelerated to the right as he worked his way into a Malibu right. He ended up way on the inside of the Groin wall in about one foot of water five feet from shore.

Russ came out and joined us. He worked his way further north and on the inside. While paddling out he mentioned that he had connected on some good inside ones, with smooth water that allow him to get into the shoulder of the swell. Russ has a hip that troubles him thus his technique is to jump to his knees, work to the shoulder of the wave and then stand up. With these fast breaking waves jumping to his knees was difficult to do. But the inside waves often provided the time to do it. I decided to join him and caught my best ride of the morning. A big set approached, I let the first two go by and continued paddling out because I saw a bigger one outside. I was in position to stroke into a five-footer. I heard of the roar of the wave as it broke down the line. I paddled into the shoulder, swung left, saw a huge green-grey wall of water before me, climbed high in wave, crouched down, slid under the white water breaking in front of me, climbed back into the swell, shot through a second section, eased up a bit to work into a third section, continued humming across a steep face right into the shore break where I dove into the wave to avoid being pounded into the sand. What a great wave.

After that Russ and I agreed one more and call it quits, but it never happened. The ebb tide flowing out of the lagoon was knocking down the waves, and the current swept us north. We had to paddle against the current to stay in the impact zone, and the sets never came. For half an hour, we tried for and missed several smaller ones. After missing one, I was ten yards from shore and decided to just paddle in.

Again, it was just another Marin morning: beautiful scenery, fun waves and good company.