October 26, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:15 am to 11:00 am	2' sets to 3'
High outgoing tide (4.3 ft)	Slight NW cross breeze to no wind
Sunny, high clouds and fog on the horizon	Fun session

The last remnants of Storm #1 were still running today: 5 ft at 11 seconds. The weather was about to change, low pressure was moving in, pushing out the high pressure and the transition would produce two days of high NW winds, which means rough seas, chop and white caps. So today was the day to go out this week.

Eight surfers were out at the Groin at 8:30 am: Marty, Hans, Matt, Doug, Russ and three others. They were catching small, weak lefts at the only peak that was breaking. That’s Marty in the above photo on a good one. The Patch was flat this morning. Hans exited the water as I was suiting up. The crowd discouraged him. He went out early with Doug and Marty but within 30 minutes a dozen more people arrived and they all crammed together at the one and only peak.

The high tide was still pushing up the ramp this morning. I entered the water there and paddled out to the peak at the Groin. The waves were small but had decent shape. After my first wave I realized they lacked punch so I moved to the apex of the peak, which was half way between the Channel and the Groin, and waited for the set waves. Now I was in my element: sunshine, warm water, no wind, smooth surface and a peak of consistent well-shaped knee-high curls. On my second wave I turned into the peak, the wave broke in front of me; I coasted under the white water, climbed back into the swell and worked the wave for several yards. I did the same thing on several waves. The feel and glide of these nice peaks reminded me of small days at the reef at Cardiff by the Sea, where one glides down gentle swells for a long, long ways.

After an hour only four beginners and myself were out there. One of them was David who is about my age and rides a Becker longboard. I have seen him in the water a lot lately. Last week I asked him how he liked his Becker board. Phil Becker is the top board builder in the South Bay of Los Angeles. His home base is Hermosa Beach. David mentioned that he was just beginning and that he knew he knew nothing about boards. Friends in Hermosa Beach directed to this board and he bought it. I have owned two Becker boards, and my son Kevin has a beautiful eight-foot Mike Gee model Becker board. I didn’t tell David that I am a walking billboard for Becker Surfboards with my Becker baseball cap and three Becker tee shirts. I reassured him that he had an excellent board. While paddling out I saw David crouched down in the middle of his Becker board perfectly locked into a left three-foot curl. He cruised all the way to the shore. Yes, he was getting the hang of it.

I met Doug out there this morning. He is about my age, is just taking up surfing, lives in Berkeley, and is a psychologist with an office in Sausalito. He is in control of his time, has decided to only work four days a week and takes Mondays off to go surfing. He was having a great time on this beautiful morning.

As I was exiting the water I saw the back of some guy’s head as he crouched down and hummed across a six-inch shore break. It was Yoshi. Only Yoshi can ride the smallest waves in the world. Back at the cars he introduced me to his friend from Japan who was just ending a week’s stay in San Francisco. He was flying home tomorrow. I brought up the topic of baseball, knowing that it is a popular sport in Japan. They were Yankees fans because of Hideki Matsui, the Yankees’ designated hitter. They also root for the Seattle Mariners and their star hitter, Ichiro Suzuki. These two have become all-stars in the major leagues. Ichiro led the American League in batting average (.352) and number of hits (255). Hideki Matsui was named Most Valuable Player of this year’s World Series. In the six World Series games he batted .615 (8 hits for 13 at bats), had three home runs and 8 RBIs.

Again it was another eventful and beautiful fall morning in Marin.