September 28, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
10:00 am to 11:30 am	4' to 5', sets overhead
Mid upcoming tide	Onshore breeze to no wind
Sunny and hot - heat wave	Fun, yet frustrating session

With a Maverick's size swell during a heat wave, I had high expectations for waves this morning. The NOAA weather radio reported 14 ft NW swells at 15 seconds - that's big enough to cause Maverick's to break. The radio also forecasted 85-degree high for San Rafael, the closest location they list to Marin's beaches. Now I was excited - hot, sunny, no wind and a big swell. Bolinas should be good and it will be crowded. With big swells, Ocean Beach and Salmon Creek close out, thus the regulars at those beaches come to Bolinas. All the parking spots around the tennis court were taken, and I had to park half way to the Post Office.

Fifteen surfers were out at the Channel and Groin going for big, overhead hard breaking lefts. Waves crushed riders once they dropped down the faces. The Patch also had fifteen surfers, including Bolinas regulars Mary, Jack the Dave Sweet team rider, Marty and Hank. Unlike the Channel, surfers at the Patch were spread across several peaks, but the waves were slow with no push behind them and with the tide coming up the Patch waves would become slower. Thus I decided to head to the Groin.

Heading back to the car after taking pictures, I ran into Ray the Petaluma fireman after his early morning session.

"Ray how was it?"

"Too many idiots and not enough waves," Ray had a frustrating session. "What's this 'on your left, on your right?' What are they doing on my wave?"

While suiting up, Frank the stand-up guy drove by, stopped and rolled down the window."

"Frank, what's the report?"

He shook his head, "When we first arrived it looked great and we got all excited. But the waves were bumpy and infrequent. But I think it is getting better." Frank also had a frustrating session.

Rob, Mr. Throwback, and his good friend Greg were suiting up across the street. I hadn't seen Rob in a long time.

"Rob, Stinson Beach must be closed out for you guys to come here."

"You've got that right. How are the waves?"

"The Channel waves are great, but so is the crowd." We walked down the beach together and while I strapped on my leash I told them my strategy to go for the fast inside waves at the Groin.

"I like that idea, keep it quiet," Rob commented as we entered the water. "Boy the water is warm."

"It's colder than Monday. I think the big waves are stirring up the bottom." What was I doing? Here I was talking to Mr. Throwback, a time warp from the sixties. Rob and I have similar backgrounds. We both grew up in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Rob learned to surf at Hermosa Beach in the early sixties and here in 2011 he has not changed. There he was bald headed with no wetsuit, no booties, no leash, riding a sun-yellowed beat to shit longboard with one big glassed on fin. The only protection against the cold was his faded Aloha trunks. He calmly jumped to his knees and paddled out to the line-up. I saw him several times at the furthest peak stroking into overhead waves.

Over twenty surfers were in the water when I paddled out and I didn't recognize any of them except Jacek the tattoo artist. He was on a medium size board with a pointed nose and pintail and no leash. He paddled over to say hi. Work called thus he was working his way in. He was having a great time. A good size wave came through and he was on it. I watched him closely. He waited to the last moment before paddling for the wave. A little wind swell jumped up on top of a ground swell. He stroked hard two to three times and coasted down the wind swell, gained momentum and then dropped over the edge of the ground swell. "That's how it's done," I said to myself. Catch the top portion of the wave - a technique I executed several times this morning.

I struck to my plan to go for the inside line-up at the Groin and thus avoid the crowd. I had minimal success. On my first wave I dropped down a head-high face, cut left, climbed back into the swell. The wave stood up and I thought I was in for a fast curl ride. But I was headed straight for the Groin pole. With a six-foot high tide the Groin wall was submerged and the Groin pole stood erect in the impact zone. I dove off to avoid hitting the pole and the surge carried me a long way in. When I surfaced I was ten yards on the north side of the pole looking straight at it. My board was floating on the surface on the south side of the wall. Thinking I was above sand, I put my feet down and 'klunk' they hit concrete. I was standing on the Groin wall.

Thus started my love affair with the Groin pole. Every wave I caught guided me directly to the pole. I took off on a big wall, dropped down an overhead face, leaned sharply into the wave and kept a razor's edge ahead of the hard breaking curl. Locked in the wave, I looked up and I was heading right for the Groin pole. "I'm going to hit it." I quickly cut back into the breaking part of the wave, dove off and ended up five yards inside the pole and a few feet from the wall. I tried to compensate by paddling north of the pole to catch waves. But the strong waves and the incoming current pushed me toward the lagoon. By the time I caught a wave I was south of the pole and cutting left again right towards the Groin wall. This happed at least five times.

After my session, I stopped at Stinson Beach to check the waves there. Standing outside the Parkside Café, I ran into John the owner who also is an excellent surfer. He looked like he had just exited the water - messed up hair, dried salt on his face and a wet surfboard in the back of his pick-up truck.

"John, did you surf this morning?"

"Yes, I was at the Channel in Bolinas."

"I was there at the Groin and I don't remember seeing you there."

"No, I was there. Didn't you hear me? I was the one hollering for joy on the Seadrift side. We caught wave after wave at the Channel and took them all the way to the third house at Seadrift." Needless to say, John had a great session.