August 31, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Channel
8:50 am to 10:15 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Offshore breeze
Overcast - high fog on the ridge	Exercise session

Hot chicken broth with udon noodles was the perfect remedy for overcoming this morning’s cold water at the Channel in Bolinas. Mary, Hans and I had lunch at Umi Sushi Restaurant in San Rafael. Umi is owned and operated by our Bolinas surf buddy Yoshi and his wife Atsuka. We had talked about coming here for weeks and today we finally did it. Umi presents sushi with a surfing flare with brightly colored paintings of waves and the ocean on the walls. In the above photo, a graphic artist friend painted the mural behind Yoshi. The Japanese lettering is “Umi,” which means ocean.

Yoshi explained that the noodles were hand made by his wife this morning from his grandmother’s recipe. Yoshi’s mother taught Atsuka how to make them and they were good. Mary ordered the chef’s special rolls: four different rolls, all light and delicious, spicy tuna, barbecued eel and California rolls. Hans had the udon noodles with kakiage tempura (shrimp). It always fun to have the cook come over and talk about the dishes. We all felt it was the right amount of food, we didn’t feel stuffed and it was delicious.

Yoshi had to show us his latest surf magazine in Japanese. It had the look and feel of the mags that we are use to, but all the writing was in Japanese characters. He pointed at photos of the top spots in Japan and talked about the upcoming surf contest in October at Trestles for Japanese surfers. Yoshi learned to surf in San Diego when he was a teenage exchange student. With luck his second host family lived in San Diego near the beach and they introduced him to surfing, a love he is still pursuing today. Later, Yoshi spent ten years in Santa Cruz working as a sushi chef and surfing Streamer’s Lane on a short board. Eighteen months ago, he and Atsuka moved to San Rafael, opened their own place, Umi, and Yoshi switched to longboard. Nowadays he hits Bolinas in the mornings for a short surf session then heads back to prepare the day’s specials.

The surf this morning was nearly non-existent: small peaks at the Channel that had no push. The weather had changed. Friday we had a heat wave, today we were back to the normal August gloom: high drippy fog, cold north breeze and a small wind swell. And the water was cold. Last night there was considerable wind that must have stirred up the cold water from the bottom. The water temperature had dropped five degrees from Friday. My hands burned when I first dipped them in the water. The offshore breeze smoothed off the surface and held up the peaks, making them look very inviting. But they had no punch. I would take off, drop down a nice peak and then the wave would just go limp and die. Slowly I worked my way north of the Groin wall to the shore break where Mary was in hope of finding some waves with thrust. But it never happened. After an hour and a half it was time to go to lunch.

The waves were so-so, the lunch was fabulous, all enjoyed with good friends, it was another great morning in Marin.

August 28, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	Consistent 3', sets to 5'
High dropping tide (4.1 ft to 3.3 ft)	Slight offshore breeze
Sunny and warm - heat wave	Fun session

Ray the Petaluma fireman was right. On Wednesday he told me things were going to heat up and the northeast winds were coming. Today was a heat wave. Fall weather has arrived. This past month up until last Monday has been overcast, dreary and misting with onshore south winds creating lousy surf conditions. Today all of that had changed: sunshine, clear skies, heat, warm water, slight offshore breeze, a decent swell and great waves. It was a mixed northwest swell, 4 ft at 12 seconds and a south swell, 3 ft at 14 seconds.

“You know last night at 11 o’clock it was 61 degrees,” said David a Bolinas local who lives in a house above the Patch. “This morning at sunrise it was 56.” For Bolinas, that was warm.

In the ten minutes that I stood taking photos on the beach at the Groin wall I saw four fast in the tube rides. Jack the Dave Sweet team rider from the sixties was high in the curl, locked under the lip of a wave for twenty yards. Josh the Bolinas fisherman came screaming down a fast curl in his unique on his knees style leaning into it as far as possible before it exploded around him. In the above photo this skilled surfer ducks under the lip with his back to the wave and one hand on the rail. A few minutes later, Doug executed a similar maneuver going a long ways down a steep curl before the wave collapsed on him. After seeing these great rides I knew I was in for a good session.

Warm weather and good waves on a Friday resulted in a crowd. Twelve surfers were packed together at the far peak in the Channel when I paddled out. The crowd was an issued. It impacted wave selection. Hard-breaking, quality waves attracted highly skilled surfers, which also impacted wave selection. I moved around, trying for the second and third wave of the sets, keeping an eye on who was taking off and waited for my turn. I managed to catch a couple fast ones that closed out in front of me. Then it happened. A third wave of a set was the biggest one, I was in position, and the others had gone for the two previous ones. I took off late, turned left and looked down a perfect unfolding continuous wall of water. I leaned into it, climbed high in the wave, tucked under the lip of the curl and stood there while the wave went on and on until it finally closed out ten feet from the Groin pole. What a great ride.

Barry the music producer from Stinson Beach was out there. “Mr. Throwback” only wore swim trunks and a leash: no wetsuit, no gloves, no rash guard and no booties. Paddling out I watched him take off at the apex of the peak of a set wave. I went over the wave and turned to watch the back of the wall of water with Barry’s head streaking in front of the breaking part of the wave with spray arching high above the curl. He cut back, paused a second and then turned back into the curl shooting down another fast section. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time. We have the common experience of both growing up in the South Bay of Los Angels, Barry in Hermosa Beach, myself in Palos Verdes. While in high school, he moved to 22nd Street, the center of the surfing scene in Hermosa, the hangout for Dewey Weber and David Nuuhiwa. I know the place well; its landmarks, the Little Green Store and the Bottle Inn Italian Restaurant, are still there after forty years.

After an hour and a half I was tiring and decided to work my way in. For the last thirty minutes I rode the shore break. No one else was there. The surf camps were over for the summer. The set waves would line up along the entire inside, but the shape of bottom and the angle of the south swell caused them to peel continuously to the left. I stood in chest deep water until a set approached. I would jump on my board, turn and as the waves were breaking I would stroke into them, turn left, cruise under the white water into the swell, walk to the front of the board and drive the nose into the white water as the wave broke on shore. I did that ten times before giving up for the day.

The only bummer of this session was I broke a side fin when due to tired arms I dropped the tail of my board as I was wrapping the leash around the fins. I heard a sharp “crack” as it hit the sand and knew that was not good. The fall snapped the fin in two. After such a fun session this annoyance didn’t bother me. I’ll get a new one and be ready go to on Monday, this good swell might still be running then.

August 26, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
8:40 am to 11:00 am	3', sets head high
Low tide - 2.7 ft	No wind - glassy
Overcast - high fog	Fun session

“Ken, what gives you the opportunity to surf on a Wednesday morning?” I asked during a lull between sets way outside at the Patch. Ken was a tall well-built surfer in his late thirties or early forties.

“I’m a personal trainer,” he said.

“So you have control of your time and schedule in surf times.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m also responsible for all of the health equipment at the JCC facility in San Francisco. It’s the largest gym on the west coast.”

“So you’re into physical fitness,” I continued. “You look like you have some form of physical exercise everyday.”

“Yes,” he replied. “Either surfing or working out.”

I explained my retirement story to him: surfing three to four times a week, cleaning up my eating, working out, losing twenty-five pounds, improving my overall health and eliminating stress.

“Stress! If I’m not doing this, surfing,” he exclaimed pointing to his board. “I’m not myself.” I knew what he meant. Surfing is the best stress reliever I know of.

We all relieved a lot of stress this morning. The buoy report looked good: four-foot swell at 14 seconds and 1.5-knot northeast wind. The swell was a combination of five-foot north at 12 seconds and a 2.4 south swell at 17 seconds. Strong south swell and no wind, I’m going.

At 8:15 am from the seawall at the base on the ramp in Bolinas, the Patch was the call. Two surfers were way out there at the Channel, but the ebb flow from the lagoon was knocking down the waves and produced a small chop on the surface, also the tide would continue going out for another two hours. The Patch was clean and glassy. Six surfers were out there: Mary, Martha, Ray, Hans and two others. From Terrace Road I took a few pictures. Mary was catching all the waves. She would get one long ride, paddle out on her knees, the next set would approach and she would turn around and connect on another long ride. As I entered the water, Hans was paddling in. He caught a three-foot inside wall, rode it on his belly and trimmed through a glassy curl. While paddling out, I watched Martha complete a good ride on the inside peak. I headed out to join Mary and Ray, but to my luck a sizeable wall approached, I turned, stroked into it and cruised down a smooth four-foot left wave. “Wow, what a good start,” I said to myself.

Outside I chatted with Ray, the Petaluma fireman. I asked him about his schedule. The schedule determines when Ray can surf. With the coming of fire season, for fire fighters vacations are over and everyone is on alert.

“I’m not back on until Friday,” he said. “But they say it’s going to heat up the next couple of days. In fact they’re predicting northeast winds this weekend, everybody’s favorite.”

Northeast winds are the hot, dry Santana winds that suck all the moisture out of the plants and trees and fan the flames in the dry hills. But for a surfer, northeast winds create ideal surf conditions: warm weather and an offshore breeze to hold up the waves. And this weekend, Stormsurf predicted the arrival of the season’s first north swell.

Only Ray and Mary were sitting at the outside peak when I arrived. After a few minutes Ray had to head in. Ken joined Mary and I. For a half an hour we had the break to ourselves. The waves had size but were gentle and long. They would break, roll for a few yards and then reform and break again. The initial take off was fast and smooth, but one had to cutback into the breaking white water to stay in the wave while it reformed. I would wait for the set waves, drop left down the initial peak, turn back into the breaking white water, turn left again, pause while the inside section formed and then cruise across the grass that grew on the rocks of the reef. These were long rides that ended in shallow water, and I would turn around and make the long paddle back out to the far peak.

After a half hour Mary paddled in after completing another long ride. Now Ken and I had the break to ourselves. A big set approached and I connected with my best wave of the day. A five-foot wall crested outside, I paddled out to meet it, white water began to slide down from the top of the peak, I turned and caught the white water, jumped up, turned left, rode under the foam into the steepest part of the breaking wave, leaned forward to gain speed, backed off to let the wave build, leaned into it again, stepped to the middle of the board, climbed to the top, dropped down to the bottom, climbed back to the top, back to the bottom, coasted until the wave formed up again way inside where I pushed the nose into the breaking water and grasses of the shallow water above the reef. It was a long, long ride and a long paddle to get back out.

Slowly others joined us. After two hours that was enough stress relief for me. I decided to work my way in by catching a few inside waves. I never caught one, though I padded for several of them. I paddled all the way in and my arms burned with fatigue. It was a great morning: glassy smooth surface, warm water, no wind, gentle power glide waves and a small friendly crowd to enjoy them with.

August 20, 2009 Thursday

La Jolla	Windansea
7:30 am to 8:00 am	3', sets head high
Mid upcoming tide	Onshore cross breeze
High overcast	Just took pictures

Yesterday afternoon Kate and I checked into the La Jolla Travelodge on La Jolla Blvd at the south end of town. Our room was two blocks from the water and I was anxious to check out the beach scene. We walked down to the end of the road and to my surprise ten surfers were vying for a beautiful peak that peeled in both directions. I recognized the place immediately, Windansea, one of the best breaks in California. Kate and I had flown to San Diego to attend a dinner for my mother’s 90th birthday. Fly down, attend the dinner, spend one night and fly back. A quick trip, thus I had no plans for surfing. We’re at the Travelodge because it’s close to the dinner and it’s reasonable. I had no idea that it was so close to Windansea. This morning I sat on the wall above the break to have my morning coffee and muffin and to take a few photos. Six surfers were on it. The locals would consider it flat, but the sets were head high, with well-formed peaks that broke in both directions allowing surfers to drive right up to the shore. I took 63 photos but only kept the twelve best ones. The above photo gives a good perspective on the shape and quality of the peak.

The swell was small and all the other spots were barely breaking. But here at Windansea, the three-foot wind swell jumped up to six feet. Per Matt Warshaw in his Encyclopedia of Surfing, an offshore canyon funnels the swell onto a flat rock reef that amplifies the waves into a consistent well-shaped peak that is rideable year round from two to twelve feet and offshore kelp beds keep the chop down. Windansea is one of the most dependable breaks on the coast. It breaks left and right over flat sandstone shelves that are often covered with sand. North swells create better rights, south swells produce long lefts and medium and low tides are preferred. Today, set waves consistently peaked at the same spot about sixty yards offshore. The waves peeled both left and right without sectioning right up to the sandstone shelves on the beach.

Localism is the main negative of Windansea. A single world-class consistent peak located in a densely populated affluent neighborhood where the locals are fiercely protective of their break. The localism reputation started in the sixties with the Windansea Surf Club, a group of highly accomplished and hard partying surfers, and the locals have never let up since then.

I surfed here once when I was fourteen, fifty years ago. I was on the one and only “Surf Safari” that the Palos Verdes YMCA ever organized, a weeklong camping/surf trip down the Southern California coast. Fifteen teenage boys with sleeping bags, clothes, food and camp stove stuffed into a cattle truck with their surfboards sticking out between the slats of the rear gate. We were an instant “crowd” wherever we went. One afternoon we pulled up to Windansea and disgorged out into the water, fifteen beginners paddling out to a single peak of overhead waves. The locals didn’t welcome us. I remember successfully going down the first overhead wave of my life and to me it was a great day. From then on I had a love for Windansea and have always wanted to return but the opportunity never arose.

August 14, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
8:50 am to 9:50 am	1' to 2' sets to 2.5'
High dropping tide	Stiff offshore (north) wind
Sunny and breezy	Exercise session

The pelicans were having a field day this morning about one hundred yards out from the ramp at Bolinas. Amongst the diving pelicans we saw at least three dolphins cruising up and down in the water. The dolphins were back.

“There are your Stinson Beach sharks,” I said to Cathy between sets at the Groin.

The National Park Service had closed Stinson for five days due to a shark sighting. The article in the paper stated that bathers (probably tourists from Oklahoma) reported to the lifeguards seeing a shark. The article also pointed out that the lifeguards had not sighted any sharks. But to be safe, the head of the Lifeguard Service closed Stinson Beach for five days. I bet the bathers saw dolphins. They often return to our territory with the fish and south swells.

Today was an exercise session. I had no expectations for waves but this morning was a disappointment. The NOAA San Francisco buoy reported six-foot NW wind swell at eight seconds combined with a one-foot south swell at 14 seconds. The report also noted 17-knot north wind with gusts to 21 knots and a drop in water temperature to 55 degrees, down from 59 on Monday. That’s a lot of wind. I was surprised by the wind and its direction. The Bay Area was moving into another hot spell with a drop in humidity and an offshore wind flow. Big fires were already raging in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in the Tracey area. Per the weather guy on the radio, tomorrow did not look good for the firefighters: 100-degree heat, 10% humidity and Santana winds. But this morning I was greeted by white caps far out at sea and a blast of cold wind at Bolinas.

From the overlook I saw six surfers out at the Channel. A four-foot wave came through and one guy got a decent ride. “OK, I’m going,” I said to myself. Mary, Marty, Doug, Professor Steve and Cathy were out there. As I watched with my camera in hand, everyone had difficulty catching the waves. They would peak and start to feather at the top but would not break. “OK, only the set waves are rideable,” I thought.

“It’s freezing out there,” said Mary, dripping wet and board in hand as she unlocked her car. “If you have any gloves, put them on.” She didn’t and her hands were numb. Last night’s big wind must have stirred up the water, bringing the cold water to the surface.

“Where did everybody go?” I said to myself when I walked down the ramp to the beach. The six surfers had dwindled to one, who was only a few feet from shore.

“It died,” stated Doug when I greeted him on the beach.

“The peak shifted,” said Marty when I passed him on the beach. “It must be the tide.”

Cathy was considering going in when I entered the water, but a set came through with a couple of promising waves so we decided to try for those. Just as I had observed, only the set waves were rideable. I caught the white water of a couple of waves and rode under the foam to get back into the swell. My first wave was my best ride: long, slow, power glide type wave. The tide had turned and the outgoing ebb flow was pulling us out to sea. In a few minutes we were beyond the impact zone and didn’t know it. We sat there thinking we were in a long lull between sets. We finally had to paddle in fifty yards to the Groin wall before we caught another wave. After forty-five minutes, I move to the inside peak where I was Monday, lining up with the house that is falling down the cliff. I stood in waist deep water to prevent the current from moving me around while I waited for the next set. Nothing spectacular came. I caught a couple of one-footers and belly-boarded them. After I hour I decided to call it quits and started paddling to the ramp for exercise. When I reached the end of the retaining wall of the house at the base of the ramp, a good set came through. I paddled through the white water of the first two waves and managed to catch the third one. It was a small slow curl but it carried me to within five feet of dry sand, providing me with a good point to exit the water.

Back at the cars I asked Martha if she got any rides out there. “I had a good time,” she replied. Spoken like a true surfer. Anytime you get into the water and get some exercise it’s a good session.

August 10, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:15 am to 10:45 am	1' to 2' sets to 3'
Low upcoming tide	No wind
Sunny and warm - heat wave	OK session

Heat wave conditions were the only reason for going out this morning: clear blue skies, bright sunshine, warm, no wind and warm water, 58 degrees. The waves were a weak one to two feet with an occasional three-footer. Shape was good and the surface was smooth. NOAA buoy report had 6-foot NW wind swell at 8 seconds combined with a two-foot south swell at 12 seconds.

The summer conditions put a lot of people in the water for a Monday morning. Mary, Kathy the biology teacher and Hans were way outside at the Patch where it was barely breaking. Marty, Matt and six others were out at the Channel going for small fast peeling left waves. Jimmy the Stinson carpenter and another surfer were on the far side of the Channel going for the rights. After I entered the water, Joe the Bolinas local with the wood laminated longboard and a couple of others joined us. Twelve surfers in all were spread across the Channel to the Groin to the inside break.

Crowd was an issue this morning. It impacted wave selection. The weak waves and their infrequency narrowed the take-off zone and caused the twelve surfers to bunch together. To deal with the crowd, my strategy was to go for right-of-way, which in surfing is to position at the apex of the peak and be the first one to catch the wave. Surf etiquette states that the one deepest in the peak has the right-of-way. Most surfers respect these rules. I paddled out to the furthest point at the Channel and along with four others waited for the sets. My other strategy was to catch the second or third wave of the set. After a long lull, four surfers will try for the first wave of a set. I would let that one go and be in position for the second or third wave which are usually larger. Not today. The first wave of every set was the largest one and three people would be on it. I did manage to catch some of the second smaller waves, but they had little force or shape.

After an hour, Marty and I moved to the inside break north of the Groin wall. Same place I was at last Wednesday, again lining up with the house that is falling down the cliff. My luck improved, but not by much. Both Marty and I managed to connect on a couple of decent waves. But the crowd was still a problem. When a set wave approached, I would look at the eyes of the surfers around me to see how many and who would be going for the wave. I respected the surf rules and passed on waves when someone deeper in the peak was paddling for the wave. After thirty minutes of maneuvering around others and seeing that the surf camp was about to dump another twenty individuals into the water, we decided to call it a day.

From a surf perspective I had an ok-session, but given the sunshine, the glassy conditions and the beauty of the ocean, it was another spectacular Marin morning.

August 6, 2009 Thursday

Half Moon Bay	Kelly Ave.
9:30 am to 10:30 am	3', sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Slight west breeze to no wind
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

“Dad, we’re surfing south of here,” said my son Kevin at 8:30 am this morning as we crossed the intersection of Fassler Ave. and Highway 1 in Pacifica. “That was the commit point. We’re not turning around and going through all that traffic to go back to Ocean Beach. I did that once and learned the hard way.” Kevin was referring to the northbound commute traffic that backs up behind the light at this intersection.

We had agreed to meet this morning at Sloat Ave for an early morning session. With a small south swell running we considered going to Ocean Beach, a beach that receives swells from all directions and is usually bigger than all the other breaks in the area. Not today. No one was out this morning: no locals, no beginners, no one. We could see the lines of the three-foot south swell across the impact zone, but they did not break until five feet from shore. Both of us had seen surfers out at Kelly Cove, the north end of Ocean Beach, rideable waves, but not exciting and the wind was beginning to pick up.

We decided to head south. Kevin felt our best bet was Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay, which is his favorite spot, but we would check out all the breaks along the way. Linda Mar was flat; only one two-foot peak at the very north end was breaking. We stopped and looked at Montara. Again, small waves that were breaking close to shore. One guy was out who didn’t catch a thing in the five minutes we were there. We were tempted to go out here, but decided to push on. The wind was dropping the further south that we went. The best-shaped waves we saw were at the Jetty, the beach south of the breakwater of the harbor, but they were small, one to two feet. At Kelly Ave. the waves were bigger and breaking close to shore. Set waves were definitely rideable. No body was out. I’m always skeptical when none of the locals are at a break. We decided to go out here because: we didn’t want to waste any more time looking for waves, the facilities were good, clean bathrooms and showers that worked, there was no wind and the waves were clean.

Kelly Ave. has a steep beach that slopes into deep water causing the waves, no matter what size, to slam into the shore. It breaks best at low tide. Often at high tide the waves just mush up to the beach. The waves break like those at Ocean Beach, big powerful peaks, that deliver short thrilling rides as one powers towards the steep beach at great speed. Kevin and I took off together on our first wave. I quickly dropped down to the bottom of the wave, and Kevin managed to get some curl before the wave dumped both of us into a foot of water. We moved around searching for the best take-off point and settled on lining up just south of the caretaker’s house. There appeared to be an edge here where the waves held up a second allowing us to get up and position ourselves in the wave. At the end of our hour both of us managed to catch a couple of nice fast curls, staying ahead of four-foot exploding walls. At 10:30 am we called it quits. Besides, Kevin had to go to work.

“So, what are they going to do if they have to close this park?” I asked Kevin. Kelly Avenue’s official name is Half Moon Bay State Beach. The budget compromise agreed upon by the Governor and the legislature last week cut the funding for state parks. The Park Service claims they will have to close 100 parks and they have yet to decide which ones. Revenue generation and usage would be their primary criteria. Kelly Ave has a campground that is full all summer and most of the fall. On warm days the beach is packed. We concluded that this park should survive the cuts. The only way the State can save money is to cut jobs. Thus they would close parks to eliminate salaries. But closing the park would not stop the surfers from riding the waves or stop the fishermen; they will still fish. We guessed they would close the smaller state beaches along this stretch of the coast, such as: Montara, Dunes Beach, San Gregorio, Pomponio, Pescadero and Bean Hollow. These beaches consist of a parking lot, bathrooms or port-a-potties. So closing them would be a minor inconvenience to the Public but would not prevent people from using the beach. So how many jobs would be eliminated by closing these smaller beaches? Three? Four? It can’t be many. We hope the state doesn’t close any of the parks, especially the numerous state beaches.

Driving home Kevin and I convinced ourselves that we had picked the best surf spot on this morning. Regardless, it was a beautiful morning; just check out the above photo.

August 5, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	North cross wind
Sunny with high clouds	Great fun session

Bolinas at Its Best

“I got barreled out there,” said Josh the Bolinas fisherman. He had just finished his morning session and was standing there dripping wet with his board in his hand. I stood next to him with my camera in my hand. “I didn’t make it out, but I saw the tunnel.” He was referring to the experience where the lip of the wave pitches out, covers the surfer behind a sheet of water and forms a tunnel of water with an oval opening at the end. The logo of Surfrider Foundation depicts this oval. The ultimate in surfing is to be covered up by the tube and to come flying out of the tunnel. Conditions have to be just right to create barrels and this morning north of the Groin wall they were: three-foot south swell at 16 seconds from 220 degrees, mid-upcoming tide, offshore breeze to hold up the curls and a sandbar that forces the waves to continuously break to the left.

Joe the Bolinas local with the wood laminated longboard entered the water a few minutes before me. Joe who is my age is an excellent surfer and knows the Bolinas well. I always pay attention to what he is doing. I went out to the inside break north of the Groin wall and lined up as I did on Monday with the house that is falling down the cliff. Joe was ten yards north of me. A sizable wall approached, I went for it and so did Joe. The wave closed out in front of me but as the white water engulfed me I caught a glimpse of Joe mid-swell crouched down in the middle of his board screaming down a fast breaking left wave with the curl peeling over his left shoulder. It was a great ride. Following his lead I moved further north. Joe had located the edge where the waves pause an instant to allow one the time to lock the board in position just under the lip of the wave. From this spot I caught one fast clean left wave after another.

Martha paddled out on her 9’ 6’ new Dewey Weber board. I wrote about Martha’s son Woody in my July 24th posting. Woody was the young surfer who is very good and who is sponsored by Dewey Weber Surfboards. I asked Martha how she liked her board.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s the best board I have ever owned.” She mentioned that Weber is located in San Clemente, that only one shop in Northern California carries their boards and that she went to San Clemente to purchase this one.

“So how does a family that lives in Northern California get their son to be sponsored by shop in San Clemente?” I asked.

“Woody entered a contest sponsored by Dewey Weber,” she replied. “After the contest Shea Weber (Dewey’s son and owner of Weber Surfboards) invited Woody to join their team.” She didn’t mention it, but I bet Woody won the contest. Martha worked her way south to the peak at the Channel. From a distance I saw her expertly glide down at least five shoulder high walls. Yes she had a good session.

Yoshi paddled out to join me. We were both going for the inside fast left peeling curls that drove right up to the shore. I waited for the sets waves, but not Yoshi. Between sets he moved further inside to catch the smaller waves. When the set waves approached he would be right there next to me. He caught a lot more waves than I did. He has a unique style. Yoshi learned to surf in Japan, and I know from reading Surfer Magazine that the surf in Japan is small, similar to the Atlantic Coast in the US. He is comfortable and good at riding curls close to shore. He also lived a few years in Santa Cruz where he rode a shortboard, thus he has a shortboard style when riding his 9’ 0’ Haut board at Bolinas. He would take off late just as the wave was breaking, jump up to a deep squat, buttocks to the heels squat, on the back quarter of the board with his back to the wave, he would hold onto the outside rail and trim through the first section. When he broke out in front of the curl he would stand, step to the middle of the board, squat back down to go through the next section and drive right up to the shore. Three times as I was paddling out, I caught a perfect view of him trimming down the curl in a deep squat with the lip of the wave pounding on his right shoulder. Each time he drove the board right up to the sand and would step off in six inches of water.

For an hour Yoshi and I traded waves at the inside peak. Later, Oliver joined us. The three of us had a ball just connecting with one perfect little curl after another. When the surf camp hordes entered the water we decided to call it a morning.

August 3, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:50 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight cross breeze (due north)
High overcast to sunshine	Great fun session

“I was going in,” said a young longboarder who just had paddled out to join me. “But when I saw your last wave I had to go for one more. I’ll only take one of yours.”

“No problem,” I said. “There are plenty of waves.”

He had been out at the peak in the Channel, had surfed one all the way in, wrapped the leash around his board and was walking on the beach when I connected with another great, fast left curl on the inside peak north of the Groin wall. I took off late, turned left, positioned high in the curl, walked to the nose, stood there screaming down a perfectly formed waist-high curl and drove the nose of the board into the white water of the shore break.

We sat through a ten-minute lull before a couple of waves approached. My companion went for the first one, a small two-foot wall. I watched him glide down the face. I turned out to sea and to my surprise a beautiful four-foot swell was approaching. I quickly paddled out and to the north to meet it. I turned, stroked into it as it was feathering ten feet down the line, jumped up, climbed high in the wave, stepped to the middle of the board, locked the inside rail under the lip of the wave, shot down a fast section, shifted my weight back and forth to climb up and down the curl and stepped to the nose to drive it into collapsing shore break. Another great ride. I was five feet from dry sand, had been out for nearly two hours, was exhausted and decided to end my session on a good one.

“Did you get your one?” I said to my young companion back at the cars.

“I got a couple,” he said. “And were they great.” He mentioned that he was out at the Channel and caught several good ones, but they were nothing compared to the shape and speed of his last two rides at the inside peak.

I had this peak all by myself for an hour before he showed up. Six to eight others were at the Channel but none of them ventured down where I was. The conditions came together to produce perfect, fast peeling lefts: a three foot seventeen second south swell, mid upcoming tide, a sandbar that causes the waves to continuously break to the left, an offshore breeze to hold up the curls and 57 degree warm water. I applied the same strategy I used in my good session last Wednesday. I lined up with the house that is falling off the cliff, and searched for the edge of the sandbar by standing in the water. I stood in chest-deep water and waited for the sets. When they approached I jumped on my board, paddled out and north, let the first one go by and positioned for the larger second or third wave. The strategy worked and I connected with several fast inside curls.

When I arrived this morning, I saw Mary was getting out at the Patch. I walked down the beach to greet her. The Patch was slow and she was moving down to Channel where four others were connecting with some good fun left waves. With camera in hand, I watched her connect with two long left curls. That’s Mary on a good one in the above photo. After I had suited up and was at the base of the ramp, Mary was on another long left curl.

I entered the water to head out where Mary and Kathy the biology teacher were. I observed Yoshi on a good inside curl, crouched down with his back to the wave trimming through a clean left section. I caught a couple on the outside, but when paddling out I saw another set of beautiful left curls on the inside, right where Yoshi was. I decided to join him. That is when I started lining up with the house that is falling off the cliff. Yoshi and I started trading waves. At one point I didn’t see him out there. I thought maybe he had gone in. Then I saw him carrying his board up the steps at the cliff end of the Groin wall. He walked down the beach and paddled back out to where I was.

“The rights are good,” he said.

Malibu rights. He caught a Malibu right. Often when the tide is high and swell is strong, a good right peak forms at the end of the Groin wall and the waves peel continuously to the right on the inside of the wall. Five minutes later I saw him again walking his board up the steps. Yoshi would catch a clean peak, swing left until the wave broke, then swing right, the wave would reform but this time breaking right. Yoshi would pick up speed, drive past the end of the Groin wall and work into a long right curl that would take him south way inside towards the mouth of the lagoon. He would end up in shallow water near the shore and walk back to the north side of the wall and paddle back out to our peak. I saw him do this four times. On the fourth time, he kept walking down the beach to the Ramp to call it a day.

Now I had this peak to myself for the next hour. It was a great morning.