September 28, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
8:00 am to 9:40 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
High tide (4.7 ft at 9:05 am)	Offshore breeze to NW cross wind
High overcast - fog covering the ridge tops	Fun session

Fluffy the Shark

“I saw my first great white shark last week,” Hank said while we were suiting up.

“Where?” I asked

“San Onofre,” he answered.

Hank and his wife Gail had just returned from a four-day trip to Laguna Niguel, which is a few miles north of San Onofre where they surfed every day. Hank had just exited the water and was toweling off at the car when he saw a fin darting through the water twenty-five feet from shore. To him it looked like a shark. This beast then attacked and chomped into several fish. It broke them up and circled around to consume the parts. The seagulls quickly arrived and dove to pick up the scraps. By now Hank knew it was shark, he felt moved to run down the beach screaming “shark,” but that wasn’t his style. However, another woman, who was also observing the whole event, did run down the beach yelling “shark” and the water cleared.

Thirty minutes later Hank and Gail stopped at the Killer Dana Surf Shop, one of their favorite establishments, chatted with the owner and related the tale of the shark.

“Oh you met Fluffy,” said the shop owner. “It’s a young great white shark who has been hanging around here for about a year. The paddle boarders and stand-up guys often report seeing it.”

“How long was it?” I asked Hank.

“About seven feet,” he said. “It’s just a young one, but often young ones are dangerous because they are more aggressive.”

The crew at San Onofre has a strange sense of humor. Can you imagine giving a small killing machine a cute name like Fluffy? So the next time you are surfing at San O keep an eye open for Fluffy.

From the seawall at the base of the Ramp in Bolinas, Matt and I watched six surfers sitting out at the Groin like buoys. Marty, Mary, Kathy the biology teacher and Jack the Dave Sweet team rider were out there. Every once in a while, a rideable set would come through and then it would go calm again. What a disappointment. I had high hopes that the north swell that came in Saturday would still be running this morning. According to Stormsurf, a swell generated by typhoon Choi-Wan off the coast of Japan arrived late Friday, peaked Saturday and Sunday (6 ft at 17 seconds), was fading today (5.6 ft at 14 seconds) and would be gone by tomorrow. Despite the small waves, Matt and I decided to go out.

To our surprise the waves were better than they looked and they seemed to be picking up. With the offshore breeze, the surface was smooth and the shape was good. All of us grouped at the one peak straight out from the Groin pole and waited for the sets. Waist-high peelers broke in both directions with the lefts faster and longer than the rights. That’s Marty in the above photo taking off on a good left. Jack sat way outside waiting for the bigger waves. He has an excellent sense for the waves. If he started paddling out, I would paddle out also. If paddled north, I would paddle north. He would take off on the first wave of the set and I would go for the second one. Today the first wave was the biggest wave of the set and Jack was always on it. I would look back and see him crouched down on an inside curl just ahead of the breaking part of the wave. I had some success following his lead. On my second wave, I started down a waist high wall that broke in front of me. I plowed through the white water, climbed back into the swell, stepped to the middle of the board and cruised through a fast section.

The frequency of the sets picked up and all of us managed to connect on some good curls. I watched Matt work a sizeable one all the way to the shore. I got a good side view of Marty coming down a well-formed curl. Hank sat outside with Jack and I and connected on a couple of four-foot walls.

Last week Mary, Cathy from the Russian River area and couple other women had camped at New Brighton in Santa Cruz and surfed 38th Avenue for four days. Per Mary the surf was good, the crowd reasonable but it was cold due to fog and wind. She stated that it was great to be back home: at our break, Bolinas, with beautiful fun waves, a small crowd and good friends. There’s nothing better.