March 30, 2010 Tuesday

Surfer Magazine

“I just got out of the dentist office and I washed my hands,” Jack the Dave Sweet team rider greeted me at Sam’s in Tiburon for lunch. “Thus I won’t soil the magazine.”

I slid my prize possession, an original copy of the first Surfer Magazine, over to him.

“Ooooooh man!! I haven’t seen this in fifty years.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Jack stared at the famous cover picture, a classic black and white grainy photo of Jose Angel coming backside down a huge Sunset Beach wave. Jack and I are the same age. We were both 14 years old in January 1960 when John Severson published the first surfer magazine ever printed. We both put down the seventy-five cents needed to purchase copies and spent hours going over every one of the magazine’s 36 pages.

Last Fourth of July, my brothers and I had to empty our mother’s house of forty years in Palos Verdes of all of her possessions. Due to age, we had helped her move to an assisted living facility in San Diego and put the house up for sale. We had one weekend to move everything. In the garage was a trunk provided to me when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1968 – 69. I knew it was filled with books and Peace Corps literature. Every time I saw that trunk I reminded myself that I would some day have to go through it and sort out all the stuff in it. For forty years I never opened it, it just sat there. So that weekend I had to open it. When I did open it and to my surprise, my mother had filled it with memorabilia from my youth. Under a stack of high school annuals and newspaper clippings of old football and baseball games was my copy of the first Surfer magazine.

Imagine my delight at finding a treasure I thought I had lost years ago. The magazine was still in good condition, a couple of loose pages and one coffee stain but other than that it was in mint condition. Everything froze while I leafed through all those famous photos of the heroes of my youth: Mickey Munoz in the forward – squatting – left arm “Quasimoto,” Kemp Aaberg trimming mid-swell in a perfect Rincon wall, Fred van Dyke dropping left down a Waimea monster, 300 pound Chubbie Mitchell locked in the curl at Queens, and 15 year old Linda Benson screaming backside down a head-high shore break at Makaha. I had spent hours going over and over every page of this of magazine.

High school art teacher and surfer, John Severson had made two surf movies (Surf in 1956 and Surf Safari in 1958) and to promote his third movie Surf Fever, he put together The Surfer, a photo journal filled with images from his latest movie. He printed 5000 copies and hocked them at surf shops and at showings of his movies. The magazine was an enormous success. This was the beginning of the longest running sports magazine ever. His next venture was a quarterly Surfer, then to a bimonthly to monthly. Surfer became the “Bible of the Surfing Industry”, far out-pacing all of the competition. Severson sold the magazine in 1971 and moved to Maui with wife and kids to pursue his life long loves of art and surfing.

The first Surfer was 36 pages in length, black and white, had twelve advertisements and cost $0.75. The 50th Year anniversary issue had 170 pages, incredible in the water, color photos, endless ads and cost $6.99. This issue had a graphic of Surfer magazine development over the years: number of pages, number sold and the price. For you economists out there, $0.75 in 1960 is worth $5.80 in today’s dollars. So in relative terms the price has remained about the same, but the quality has greatly improved. This issue had quotes from all the past editors, including John Severson. What advice was he given when he started out, “Don’t start a magazine you will lose your shirt.”

“Nose riding,” Jack exclaimed looking at the classic shot of Joey Cabell at Trestles. “I love nose riding. And look at the boards: no leashes and no rocker. Boards are faster when they are straight. I like my boards straight for speed.” I was talking to an accomplished surfer who has been doing it for over 50 years.

“Denny Buell!” Jack loudly exclaimed looking at the photo of Denny at the bottom of a double overhead closeout at the Huntington Pier that was about to unload on him. “I knew Denny. I went to high school with him and Robert August. Denny was fearless.”

“Jack, what is the most memorable photo for you?” I asked.

“The one with the guy in the fur coat,” he said. On page 30, Duke Brown stands there with wet hair wearing a knee length ratty, torn-up fur coat. “When we saw that, we all went out and got old fur coats, trench coats, any old ratty thing to wear at the beach.”

“My favorite is Renolds Yater at Rincon,” I said. In this shot Yater is just completing a bottom turn into a shoulder-high perfectly formed Rincon wave. “I love it because I can easily imagine myself on such a wave. I can’t imagine dropping into a Sunset or Waimea monster. But a clean Rincon curl is my style.”

“Malibu Lizard?” Jack was puzzled. “I remember that as one of the shapes offered by Bear Surfboards.” We’re looking at the short story “Malibu Lizards” on page 14.

“I’m sure they took the name from this short story,” I answered. “Besides the Bear label originated in the movie, Big Wednesday.”

“Jack, you surfed for Dave Sweet and there are two Sweet ads in here,” I commented. “One for Dave Sweet and one for Robertson and Sweet.”

“No there’s only one, Dave Sweet,” he answered. “The other is Cliff Robertson, the actor, who loved to surf, and Dave Sweet’s brother. Dave parted ways with them and went out on his own. They wanted to mass-produce boards and Dave wanted to go the custom board route. Robertson and Sweet went broke in a couple of years.”

With a couple of cool ones over a good Sam’s lunch, Jack and I spent an enjoyable two hours reminiscing about the old days, the surf, the times, the movies, the magazines, the technical changes and most of all the stories. This classic black and white booklet brought it all back for us.

The last page sums it up for all of us: “In this crowded world the surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, and be alone with the surf and his thoughts,” John Severson.

What fun it was to share my treasure with a friend who was also there. A treasure that was in that trunk all those years and I didn’t know it. “Thanks mom!”

March 26, 2010 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
8:50 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 2' to 3'
High outgoing tide (4 ft at 8:40 am)	Offshore breeze to no wind
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

It was a beautiful spring morning: sunshine, blue sky with high white clouds. The wind had died and the surface glassed off at the Patch. Sitting there between sets, I looked down a line of eleven surfers patiently waiting for the next rideable wave. For a normal workday the number of people in the water surprised me. It must have been the recent change in the weather; surfers anxious to get back into the water after a month of storms, wind and rain.

At the far end sat Mary. She is a dedicated surfer who comes here to Bolinas multiple times a week regardless of conditions.

Next to her was David, who rides the Becker board. David had recently retired and taken up surfing. The surf passion has grabbed him and as if this was a job he now commutes an hour and a half to Bolinas three to four times a week.

Mark the archaeologist sat next to David. Mark conducts archaeology studies at construction sites for a major engineering firm as part of their Environmental Impact Reports. His current assignment has him writing a report at home thus allowing him to surf in the mornings.

Next came Matt. He was between work contracts and had re-discovered the fun of surfing after a five-week break due to bad weather and mountain biking.

Hans sat there waiting to take “one more wave” before heading off to work. He got in an early morning before work surf session.

Martha patiently watched the horizon for approaching waves. For the last two weeks she has come out to the beach nearly everyday.

Kathy the high school biology teacher had not surfed in thirteen days. Her school called a special day off because the basketball team was playing for the state championship today and Kathy took advantage of this for a much needed surf session.

Marty waited on the left side of the peak. He had retired four years ago, took up surfing, became hooked on the sport and now religiously comes here three to four times a week.

Frank the stand up guy slowly paddled back and forth. He had recently taken up stand-up surfing and was still considered a beginner. The surfing passion has bitten him and he now was in the water nearly every morning. As I paddled out, he proudly announced he had caught three waves and that for him it was already a good session.

Robert the Larkspur carpenter waited next to me. He usually sits way outside for the big sets, but today all the waves broke in the same area. He had recently finished a large job in the Napa Valley and was working on his own house and getting in a lot of surf time.

Doug the young botanist patiently sat in the line-up. A month ago he moved here from Maryland to take a position at the Audubon Canyon Ranch. He regularly surfed the east coast and was pleasantly surprised to discover Bolinas with its long gentle waves and the friendly crowd of regulars.

Away from the line-up on the inside sat an athletic woman who I have seen here several times before. Paddling out I observed her skillfully connecting on two good right curls on the inside peak.

Way over on the north side of the Patch reef three girls, beginners were having a great time rooting for each other.

Movement on the horizon interrupted my enjoyment of this beautiful scene. A set of waves approached and the line of surfers stirred with anticipation. Mary took off on the right side of the first wave, Marty stroked into the left side of it. Robert and Mark connected on the second one, and David and I caught the third wave of the set. There was nothing spectacular about the waves this morning just typical, well-formed, gentle, long-riding Patch waves. For two hours, all of us traded waves, soaked up the warm change in the weather and enjoyed each other’s company. We all agreed it was another great Marin morning.

March 24, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
9:20 am to 10:45 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Mid outgoing tide	Onshore breeze to no wind
Sunny with high clouds	Great session

Today turned out to be an ideal surf day for me. I had no expectations. I was going to the beach no matter what to collect water samples for Surfrider’s water testing program. The Internet buoy report looked good: 6.8 ft NW swell at 16 seconds and a 2.3 ft south swell at 16 seconds underneath with a slight NW wind. From the Panoramic Highway, the view was clear; the ocean surface was textured but no white caps. Water was draining out of Bolinas Lagoon. Two white Vee’s appeared, one on the Seadrift side of the Channel and the other at the Patch. After the good session I had there on Monday and with the tide going out, I knew the Patch would be the call.

Cars of the Bolinas regulars with boards gone were on Brighton Ave when I pulled up, a good sign. Mary, Frank the stand-up guy, David who rides the Becker board and Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays were already in the water.

“After that brief look, you decided to go out,” I said to Martha who rides the Dewey Weber board as she came up the ramp after checking out the surf.

“Yes,” she replied. “It looks good out in front of the Green house.” She is referring to the house above the north seawall, the one with all the graffiti.

David and two others were at that peak. The tide was already low and getting lower. I stood on the sand with camera in hand to check out the waves. Scott was out at the Groin but I didn’t pay any attention to him because I knew the Patch was the call. Frank, Walt who also rides a stand-up board and two others were at the furthest peak at the Patch. That’s Walt in the above photo catching the white water of a set wave. The swell looked strong and consistent at both locations, but I didn’t see anyone get a good ride. Finally David caught a long right wave on the inside section of the Patch. “That’s it, I’m going,” I said to myself. Again thinking about the good session I had at the Patch on Monday and how the waves improved as the tide went out, I decided to head out there to join Frank and the others.

Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic pulled up as I was suiting up. He said Dillon looked good, no wind and glassy conditions, but his wife had a yoga class in Bolinas so he came here. I told him the Patch was the call.

As I entered the water, Martha was at the peak in front of the green house, and David had moved out to the furthest peak at the Patch. Paddling out I looked and looked for the outside rock and finally found it. It was still submerged. Water boiled around it and a mound of seaweed would appear as the set waves drew out the water. From experienced I knew that the waves would peak around this rock and break in both directions. It became my marker.

Like I did last Monday, I positioned myself north and further out from the outside rock. A big wave approached, a wall of water that stretched clear across the impact zone with a definite left shape was cresting with white watering feathering at the top. I paddled toward the peak, glided into the wave and sharply swung to the left dropping down a head-high face of a perfectly forming wall. I drove under white water sliding down the face, climbed back into the swell, locked the rail mid-swell under the breaking lip, stepped to the middle of the board and cruised along a fast section. I cut back into the breaking part of the wave, swung left again and cruised through another section. I repeated the cutback and swinging left two more times before the wave finally petered out in the shallow water of the reef. What a great ride. I looked around and noted that I had crossed the entire Patch reef, starting from the south end near the outside rock to the north end around the small point that forms the north edge of the reef.

After a long, long paddle back, again I looked and looked for the outside rock but didn’t see it. Inside and further south David waited for an approaching wave. The rock appeared as David stroked into a set wave. David and Jeff were also using the rock as their marker. Only three of us were out there. David and Jeff sat on the south side of the rock to catch the rights while I stayed by myself on the north side of it to concentrate on the lefts. For one hour I had the lefts all to myself and in that time, I connected on five more big lefts like the previous one. I watched Jeff and David glide into one good long right after another.

Paddling back after my fifth long left wave, I paused, looked around and marveled at the conditions. It was a sunny Marin morning with high fog covering the top of the green Bolinas Ridge. Beautiful scenery, consistent left peaks, only two others out and they are good friends going for the rights leaving the lefts for me. It doesn’t get any better than this.

March 22, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:50 am	3', sets 4', occasional 5'
Low dropping tide (0.1 ft at 11:00 am)	Stiff offshore wind (NW)
Sunny and cold due to the wind	Fun session

A perfect left wave approached as I sat at the Patch at low tide 100 yards beyond the outside rock. The waves improved as the tide dropped, the offshore wind held up the curls and the lefts became steeper and faster as the water depth decreased over the rocks of the Patch reef. I paddled towards the peak, spray was coming off the top of the wave as I glided into it, I jumped up, swung quickly left dropping down a steep curl, white water broke in front of me, I drove under it and climbed back into the swell. A hollow line formed in front of me, I locked the rail mid-swell in the pocket formed by the curl and the peeling lip of the wave, I crouched down in the middle of the board and froze there for a good five seconds flying down the line just in front of the white water curling over the tail block. The wave eased up, I cutback into the breaking part of the wave, swung left again, stepped to the middle of the board and stood there for another three seconds cruising down a smaller but fast inside curl. I saw patches of seaweed and water boiling around rocks as the wave ended in two feet of water. What a great ride. Doug the psychologist gave me the thumbs up when I paddle back out.

Expectations for surf were fair this morning. The Internet sites predicted a 6 ft NW swell at 11 seconds with a 1.8 ft south swell at 20 seconds underneath with stiff NW winds. The weather forecast for the week was shifting to spring conditions with early morning clouds, sunshine, NW winds and no rain. In my first glimpse of the ocean coming down the Panoramic Highway I saw blue skies, clouds on the horizon, white caps out to sea, glassy conditions in Bolinas Bay and lines of swell marching directly towards the Patch. With the tide going out I knew the Patch would be the call. With camera in hand the low tide allowed me to walk along the beach to the Patch. David was at the peak in front of the graffiti wall going for small closeouts. Creighton and Marty were at a clean peak on the inside edge of the Patch. I saw Creighton stroke into three small but decent waves. Marty connected on a long left that put him close to the exposed rocks of the Patch reef. Despite the cold offshore breeze, the waves looked like fun. I had to go out.

“I’m coming out here to connect with you and you are leaving,” I said to Marty. He was leaving as I was entering the water.

“I was ten minutes late to my last two 11:00 am meetings,” he replied. “Thus I’m leaving earlier to make sure I’m on time.” Marty has a consulting gig at his old school to help develop the science department curriculum and thus has an 11:00 meeting every Monday. “I wish I could stay. It’s sweet out there.” And off he went.

I figured with the tide going out, the lefts would get good over the shallow reef and I was right. After catching a few I zeroed in on the peak out and north of the outside rock, which became my marker for the morning. The waves picked up and I managed to connect on five four-foot long fast lefts. By now David had given upon that other break and paddled out to join Frank the stand-up guy, Doug the psychologist and I. From the side, I watched David take off on a good left peak, spray arching off the top, sunlight dancing on the textured surface of the wave as he dropped down it. I paddled over it and looked back. With his back to the wave, David cruised down a waist high wall just ahead of the breaking lip of the wave with spray arching back all long the length of the curl. While paddling out I watch a young surfer on a hybrid board (a thick short board) crouched down locked in a beautiful curl right in front of me. He cruised for a long ways before the wave finally broke all over him.

After an hour and 45 minutes my arms were giving out and I’m five hundred yards off shore.

“David, I’m out of gas and look at that long paddle in,” I said.

“Just catch one all the way in,” he replied. Easier said than done. A set wave approached, I went for it, turned left and another surfer was coming down the wave right, I swung around, cruised right until the wave broke in front of me. The wave had power; I straightened out and decided this was the one to take me to the shore. It got me most of the way there and I rode soup the rest of the way.

While I was drying off, David came by dripping wet and board in hand.

“I was out there for one hour and fifty minutes,” I commented to him. “And you were already out there when I arrived and you stayed out there after I left. You must have been in the water for three hours.”

“I would like to stay out there longer,” he replied. “But my arms can’t hold up any longer.”

Now that’s what we call “The Surf Passion.”

March 19, 2010 Friday

Seadrift	Ten houses in from the Channel
9:30 am to 11:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 5'
Low upcoming tide (0.2 ft at 9:00 am)	Offshore (east) breeze to no wind
Bright sunshine - a beautiful day	OK session

Barry the management team builder, Mark the archaeologist and I stood on the seawall at Bolinas for twenty minutes trying to decide whether to go out or not. The swell had dropped and the waves were tiny. The buoys reported 5 ft NW swell at 11 seconds with a 2 ft south swell underneath. We watched three beginners at the peak straight out from the ramp going after six inch to two-foot ripples. Six surfers were out at the Patch waiting near the exposed outside rock for the three-foot set waves that looked promising when they peaked but were slow and quickly died after breaking. We moved to the overlook above the Groin for a better look. One surfer was out at the Channel scratching for the occasional left wave. We were disappointed because weather conditions were perfect. The waves were clean, the surface was glassy and an offshore breeze held up the curls and sent a fine spray arching off the tops of the waves as they broke. All that we lacked was swell. Surfers are optimists and we imagined that the waves would improve with the incoming tide. Occasionally a decent right wave peeled just north of the Groin pole or a rideable left would break in the Channel. The ebb flow out of the lagoon was slowing down and would soon stop.

We thought we saw some decent waves on other side of the Channel in front of the houses at Seadrift. I commented that when coming down the Panoramic Highway this morning I saw swell lines coming into the Bolinas Bay and they were directed at Seadrift. Barry finally decided that he would explore for peaks at Seadrift and he took off to suit up. Mark and I hesitated and continued watching the small waves at the Channel and the Groin. We finally convinced ourselves that conditions would improve with the tide, either the rights at the Groin or the lefts in the Channel would get good and we left to suit up.

When I got to the water’s edge with board in hand, Barry had paddled across the Channel and was walking along the beach at Seadrift. Mark was out at the Groin trying for the small right waves. When I entered the water, Mark had already given up on the Groin and was working his way over to the lefts at the Channel. I joined him. The waves were small, infrequent and walled. Together we watched Barry who was a quarter mile south of us catch a sizeable long left. That did it. We decided to head for Seadrift. Mark had ridden a wave in as far as he could and waved to me to do the same.

We walked down the beach at Seadrift and decided to try a peak straight out from the tenth house. By now Barry had drifted further south in search of the elusive peak. The beautiful perfectly smooth blue-green waves here were twice the size of the ripples coming through at the Groin. We kept imagining that we saw a peak, a shoulder or something that would provide a good fast ride. We were mistaken, it didn’t happen. Mark and I caught several 500 nanosecond rides, promising waves that instantly morphed into crunching walls. We didn’t give up and kept trying. I caught one brief fast left that convinced me that there would be others. But they never came. Barry drifted back to join us and all three of us continued our quest to connect on a decent wave. But it never happed.

Barry had more success than Mark and I. He had the ability to get into the wave early while the swell was still flat, to jump up quickly, turn, set the rail under the lip of the wave and gain some speed before the wave would collapse. I tried to do likewise without success. By the time I stood up, the ride was over. How does Barry do it? I observed him wave after wave and zeroed in on his technique. First Barry is in good physical shape with strong arms for paddling. He would sit outside of Mark and I and watch for the set waves. As a swell approached, he would start paddling well ahead of the wave, gaining board speed, and as the wave would lift him up, Barry would inched his body forward closer to the nose and switch into high gear. With his head leaning over the nose of his longboard and all his weight forward, Barry would burst into rapid swimmer strokes, and I mean rapid, like five strokes a second and would glide into the wave, quickly jump up and turn all in one motion. Despite all his skills, the walled waves limited his rides to brief drops down the faces into crashing white water.

The waves were frustrating but the day was beautiful: bright sunshine, blue sky with high puffy clouds, no wind, smooth as glass surface and lines of blue-green waves. The exhilaration of warm sunny conditions after weeks for rain kept us going for two hours. It was a joy just being in the water and part of this magnificent scenery.

March 17, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the north seawall
8:00 am to 10:00 am	3' to 4', sets shoulder high
Low upcoming tide	Offshore breeze
High overcast	Per Marty, a 4-Star session

Marty’s B-day

On Saint Patrick’s Day, I went through my normal pattern of taking photos before my surf session. But I didn’t have time to write up my session nor take notes on conditions, and if I don’t write something down on the day that I surf, it is forever lost. Thus I had no plans to write up this day. However, after uploading the photos, my plans changed. I had three great shots of Marty in the curl at the peak in front of the north seawall. I had to write this one up because it was also his 71st birthday. The above photo was the best one, but the other two were close seconds.

A couple of weeks later I asked Marty about his session on his birthday. Being a scientist, Marty had precise notes. He pulled his Tidelog out of the car and flipped to the March 17th entry. A red ink rectangle outlined 8 am to 10 am, the time of his session. He noted that it was an upcoming tide and the words “shoulder high” were neatly printed in the upper corner to denote wave height along with four asterisks as a rating of the quality of the session (four stars is top-notch). The surface was glassy, the wind was slightly offshore and a new 10 ft NW swell at 16 seconds had arrived early that morning. The surf gods had delivered the ideal conditions as a birthday present and he had taken advantage of them.

So what are the rest of you going to be doing on your 71st birthday? Six years from now when I turn 71, I hope to be screaming down some clean shoulder high curls like Marty here.

Marty, you are an inspiration to the rest of us. Keep on doing what you are doing.

March 15, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Straight out from the north seawall
9:00 am to 10:30 am	2' to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Offshore (east) breeze
Bright sunshine with a cold stiff breeze	OK session

Dawn patrol … well sort of. The alarm went off at 5:30 am and it was pitch black outside. With the time change we set our clocks ahead one hour, thus 5:30 am was Saturday’s 4:30 am. Per my Tidelog, dawn was at 6:24 and sunrise at 7:21 am. At that moment I was just leaving Mill Valley on my journey to Bolinas. The earlier hour made a difference: the light was low in the sky, the hills were black silhouettes against the morning light, the cold offshore breeze shot through my sweatshirt and shadows danced between the swells.

“Loren, where’s the spot?” asked Matt with board in hand as I was taking pictures from the beach.

“Your choice is short and sweet,” I said gesturing at the peak straight out from the north seawall, the one with all the graffiti on it. “Or long and mellow at the Patch.”

Matt chose the Patch and went to join Mary, Russ, Hans and Frank the stand-up guy. I suited up and went for the short and sweet walls where Doug, David who rides the Becker board, Mark the archaeologist, and Marty were located. Clean wind swells would come together and the wind would push up against them to form fast peeling walls. With the right selection we could connect on good, fast breaking curls. Above is Doug on a short one. Just as I paddled out, David caught a good one. I got a great side view of him coming down a right peak with the spray coming off the top right behind him as he shot by me. Mark dropped into a fast left, with his back to the wave, I watched him hum just ahead of the lip of the breaking wave. On my second wave, I turned left into a steep face that was quickly forming in front of me. I leaned into it, climbed up high in the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, and shot through a fast section into an inside shore break that collapsed throwing me off in shallow water. That was my best ride of the morning.

Outside between sets, Mark told me about the nice peaks that he rode here yesterday. We both figured with the tide filling in the waves would get better. It never happened. As the water got deeper, the wind swells combined, traveled further towards the beach and formed thick 100-foot long walls that broke all at once across the impact zone. They were deceptive because the peaks would make us think that there was some chance of connecting on a good one, no way. We glided down peak after peak only to drop into free-falling, suck-out walls. With luck we could ride out the white water, however more likely, we were bounced off our boards as soon the walls exploded. Being optimists, for 45 minutes Mark, David and I paddled around and tried time after time to catch a good one with no success. Each one of us managed to catch a couple that had a brief second or two of shoulder before the bottom dropped out from under us. All three of us gave it up within a couple of minutes of each other and exited the water.

Of course we would never admit it was a waste of time. The scenery was beautiful with bright sun that was warming us up as the morning progressed, spectacular small waves sent spray arching off the top of the curls and a low mist hovered over the water at the Groin and the Channel. Last week’s rains had passed, and we were looking forward to several high-pressure warm sunny days that all the weather guys were predicting.

March 10, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the north seawall
9:40 am to 11:00 am	3', sets to 4'
Mid outgoing tide	Offshore wind to no wind
Sunny and breezy with high clouds	Fun session

Wind, wind and more wind. When I awoke this morning in Mill Valley the tall redwoods across the canyon were swaying. Yesterday was sunny in the morning; clouds and a cold wind arrived in the afternoon and it rained hard during the night. The weather guys were predicting a break in the rain for today and Thursday before the next storm would move in on Friday afternoon. The strong winds had all the redwood trees dancing as I drove over the mountain. From the top of the Panoramic Highway I broke out of the clouds into bright blue sky, a clear view of Point Reyes and the Farallon Islands and white caps far out to sea. But in the Bolinas cove the water was smooth.

The buoy report had mixed details this morning: 9 ft NW swell at 13 seconds, 21 knot NNW winds gusting to 27 knots and a wind chill factor of 41 degrees. I stopped at Stinson Beach to collect a water sample for the Surfrider water-testing program. John the owner of the Parkside Café and Scott chairman of Surfrider Marin County were checking out the surf. Big uneven, rough walls of water crashed across the entire beach and slowly rolled towards the holes along the shore. A strong cross wind whipped across the faces of the waves. It didn’t look inviting and no one was out.

When I jumped out of the car at Bolinas, there was no wind. From the seawall with camera at the ready I watched clean, glassy 3’ to 4’ winds swells that peeled in both directions. An offshore breeze held up the curls and sent an arch of spray off the tops when they broke. I saw Ray the Petaluma fireman turned into a nice right wave; he crouched down in the middle of his board and cruised along a smooth face for a long ways. Marty connected on a good steep, fast left curl. And Doug took off on every wall he could catch. That’s him in the photo above on a fast but short left wave. With no wind, a glassy surface, warm sunshine and clean fun waves, I had to go out.

Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic was suiting up when I got back to my car. He reported that gale force winds were blowing at Dillon Beach, so he decided to take a chance on Bolinas. By the time I suited up my friends had exited the water. Ray came up as I was pulling up my wetsuit. Doug showed up as I picked up my board to walk to the ramp.

“Doug, you’re getting out so soon,” I said. “I’m just starting and you are exiting. What gives?"

“Hey, you’re late!” he replied. “I’ve been out a long time.” It was now past 9:30 am.

“When did you go out?”

“7:00!” he exclaimed, a two and a half hour session.

I passed Marty at the top of the Ramp. Only three people were out when I entered the water: Jeff, an athletic woman who was a good surfer and a thirty-something male who was a beginner. While strapping on my leash I watched Jeff connect with a good left. He dropped down a steep head-high face, banked left, stepped to the middle of the board and with his back to the wave shot through a fast section. He worked the wave all the way to the shore break when it finally closed out on him. It was a great ride.

“I want one of those,” I said to myself. It looked to me that Jeff had figured out the best take-off point. I padded out to join him. What a good move, for an hour Jeff, the athletic woman and I traded wave after wave, all good clean fast curls. Our female companion kept commenting how great it was. She was from Santa Cruz and claimed she was having more fun here. Here we were in warm sunshine, glassy fun waves and only three people on the peak. That would never happen at Santa Cruz.

March 4, 2010 Thursday

Bolinas	Mid-way between the Ramp and the Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Low upcoming tide	Cross breeze to no wind to cross wind
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

Today was a break in the weather; one sunny beautiful day between rain storms. From reading weather predictions, I guessed that today would be my only chance for waves for several days. Tomorrow a big front would arrive that would last through Sunday. Surf indicators looked OK: 10 ft north swell at 12 seconds, low upcoming tide and wind out of the north at 15 knots. From the top of the Panoramic Highway I saw white caps far out to sea, but Bolinas was calm due to being in the wind shadow of the Bolinas Ridge.

Thinking the same as me, several of the regulars were there: Doug, Jim the jazz guitarist, Marty, David who rides the Becker board, Matt, Robert the Larkspur now Terra Linda carpenter (he moved), Creighton and later in the morning Captain Kip.

I ran into Creighton as I was heading to go out. Talk about dawn patrol. I was beginning my session and his was over. He told me he entered the water at 6:20 am (sunrise was 6:37 am) and was the only one out. Four others joined him as the sun rose over the ridge.

It was a cold Marin in the forties morning. Robert talked about frost on the houses in Terra Linda, Matt mentioned ice on the roofs in Santa Rose, and Marty kept an eye out for black ice on Sir Frances Drake through Samuel P Taylor Park. Fortunately the sun broke through the clouds and quickly warmed things up.

The crowd was at a new peak this morning mid-way between the Ramp and the Patch in front of the north seawall, the one with all the graffiti on it. The water was rough and the waves consisted of wind swells on top of small ground swells. The wind swells were close together and frequent, making it difficult to distinguish between the wind swell – ground swell combinations and plain wind swells. The combined swell waves could turn into decent rides, but the plain wind swell waves resulted in brief suck-out walls. The above photo is David on one of the better combination swell waves of the morning. The peak moved with the incoming tide; first it drifted to the north, then to the south and after another hour back to the north. The wind also shifted. The morning started with a stiff north cross-breeze, then it died creating a brief period of glassy conditions and finally shifted back to a strong north wind when we exited the water.

We surfers would never admit that we wasted our time, but this morning was close to it. All of us claimed we had good sessions. We got wet, got in some good exercise, enjoyed another beautiful Marin morning and connected with others who also enjoy the waves and the natural beauty of the California coast.

March 1, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Straight out from the Ramp
8:50 am to 10:00 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	Onshore breeze (south wind)
Cold and gray, threatening rain	Fun session

In a brief one-hour session this morning I connected on five great rides, two lefts and three rights. Surf predictions were mediocre: 6 ft NW swell at 12 seconds. The tide conditions were favorable: mid with a fast upcoming tide cresting at 6.2 ft at 11:30 am. When I arrived several of the regulars were already in the water: Mary, Marty, Doug, Jim, Russ, Frank, on his stand-up board, and Creighton. Mark was suiting up to join the pack in front of the north end of the seawall. Above is Creighton on a good inside curl. I was surprised to see Mary and Frank at the peak south of the ramp. Mary prefers the Patch and two surfers were out there. She told me that she had paddled out there and it was awful, thus she moved south to the breaks at the ramp. The waves were bumpy, not clean and walled. A cold NW cross breeze put a texture onto the surface. According to weather reports, today was the day to go: rain was coming this afternoon that would last until Wednesday and on Friday another big storm would arrive. By the time I had suited up the wind had turned onshore and the crowd had moved to right in front of the ramp.

The 6 ft plus high tides of the last few days had deposited numerous small boards, logs and piles of kelp onto the ramp, which I gingerly stepped over. In a couple of hours water would be rushing up the ramp again. I paddled out to join Mary and Matt who were left of the pack going for the rights. Annette had paddled all the way from Stinson on her stand-up board. She said here there were rideable waves, implying that Stinson was closing out. Earlier I had seen Mary catch two long rights. The take-offs were flat and slow, Mary had to go straight for a second or two to let the waves build, then dropped over the edge down steep inside curls.

The swells were walled and stretched across the entire impact zone, but the bottom gave them shape. The north side of the ramp broke to the left and the south side broke to the right. As the tide filled in the shape improved. Between sets Marty and I chatted about how the peaks had shifted. The Groin and Channel were flat and the peak had moved here. My guess was the storms had washed the sand out leaving the Channel and Groin too deep for the waves to break. Last year at this time, the peak was here, straight out from the ramp.

The waves were wind swells on top of ground swells. The wind swells would peak, break and slide over the edge of a breaking ground swell. I learned quickly after having missed a couple of waves, that I had to select waves with a well-formed, steep ground swell. The wind swell alone was not enough to propel one over the edge. Paddling out I watched Marty come down a good four-foot right wall for a long ride. Sitting outside a wave approached that had a powerful and quickly building ground swell. I stroked into it, turned left and crouched down to build speed, white water was sliding down the face in front of me, I drove underneath it, climbed back into the swell, locked the rail mid-face as the wave jumped up and my speed picked up. I stalled briefly to maneuver into the shore break, leaned into the curl and drove the nose of my board into the breaking white water, which sent me flying. Two fishermen standing on the seawall with poles set grinned and gave me the thumbs up. It was a good ride.

I moved over to the other side of the peak to join Matt and Annette. The rights were improving as the tide came in. Paddling out I saw Matt get the wave of the day. He dropped into a head-high curl, crouched down just behind the mid-point of his board, picked up a great deal of speed and shot through a fast curl with the lip of the wave just behind his right ear. He cut back to let the wave build and he did it again on the inside curl. Matt stated that this wave made his day. Paddling out again I saw Annette on a couple of big ones. On a stand-up board she can get into the waves early. She would paddled hard and just as the swell would begin to move her, she would step to the middle of the board, push her weight forward and with two more quick strokes with her paddle would glide into the wave and immediately shift her weight back as she dropped down the face. She would cruise along the wave for a long distance and wisely pull out over the top before dropping into the steep shore break.

After an hour the cold was setting in, my hands and toes were going numb and the surge was beginning to push up the ramp. I caught my third good right wave and worked it as far as I could. I pulled out in six inches of water and five feet from dry sand. “That’s it, time to call it a day,” I said to myself as I waded in waist deep water to get to the ramp.

Surfers are always optimistic and never admit to having wasted their time in the water. All of us, Mary, Marty, Russ, Mark, Matt, Frank, Jim and I had caught some decent rides and claimed we had a good session despite the onshore breeze, bumpy waves, cold water and threatening dark clouds overhead.