February 10, 2012 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:00 am	4' to 6', sets overhead
Mid upcoming tide	Onshore south breeze
Overcast with constant light rain	Short but thrilling session

In my one-hour session, I only caught four waves - all were thrilling rides - maybe a little too thrilling.

The big swell that came in Wednesday (14 ft at 17 seconds) was still pumping. On Wednesday, it was bumpy and all over the place. Yesterday it settled down a bit and was clean. Today a new small low-pressure front came in bringing clouds, light rain and a south onshore breeze, but the swell was still strong - 10 ft at 17 seconds.

Marty, David who rides the Becker board and Mark the archaeologist were suiting up as I pulled up. I walked with them with my camera in hand to the Groin. Six surfers were bobbing up and down in rough seas on the north edge of a huge peak. The waves were a combination of two or three swells that were pushed together to form one exploding torrent of white water. The shape of the bottom forced all waves to peel to the left. The tops of the waves were flat. Surfers had to glide down the flat portion to drop over steep edges into powerful fast breaking walls of water. Most waves closed out, but for those who made the initial section were in for a thrilling ride. In the above photo, this lucky guy pulled it out, made the first section and locked into a fast curl.

When I entered the water, the pack sat straight out and north of the Groin pole. I stroked outside and watched Mark come down a good one. He took off late on a sizeable wall, crouched down with his back to the wave, cut left, stood erect, cruised down an overhead face and straightened out as the wave collapsed in front of him.

Given the size and power of the waves, I kept a close eye on other surfers in the water. Wave selection was challenging; deciding on what waves to go for and choosing those that no one else went for. I paddled around and tried for several waves for thirty minutes before catching one. I worked over closer to the peak when a medium size wall came through that no one was going for it. I turned around, dug hard and was into it. I went straight for a moment, pushing my weight forward and dropped over the edge down an overhead steep face. I positioned mid-swell and shot through the first section. I eased up a bit to let the wave build up again, but I waited too long before cutting left again. The wave jumped up and folded over. I was caught at the bottom trying to stay in front of the fast breaking curl. I didn't make it; the wave closed out in front of me and I dove into a mountain of white water.

Jim caught a good one. He often goes out in a kayak, but today he was on a long board. Jim was transitioning to surfing and this morning was a challenge for him - as it was for all of us. After forty-five minutes of paddling around, he decided to just go for it. A set wave came through and Jim was in position. As I paddled over it, I watched him skillfully drop down a perfect left peak. I turned around to watch, Jim disappeared, I didn't see him for several seconds and thought he had eaten it. No, Jim popped out screaming ahead of the breaking curl. On and on he sailed. The wave had size; in the shore break all I could see was his head peeking above the back of the wave.

"Jim, great ride," I commented when he finally paddled back to the line-up.

"I could have gone right up onto the sand. It just kept going and going. That wave made my session."

Out there was a stand-up surfer who really knew what he was doing. He stood way outside at the apex of the Channel peak (remember we were sitting inside on the north edge). He started paddling further out and north - obviously he saw a big set coming. I looked out and a huge wall of water that filled the horizon was coming. I stroked out as fast as I could, looked left as this guy took off, cut left and crouched down with his paddle tucked under his arm. The wave feathered over his head as he casually screamed mid-swell down this seven to eight foot face. I had to scratch over the wave and lost sight of him. He didn't make it back out the line-up for a good ten minutes. I figured that he rode that wave all the way to the beach.

Marty mentioned that he was going to take one more. A coffee in front of the potbelly gas heater at the Coast Café sounded inviting. I agreed. I caught one more thrilling ride - dropping down another overhead face, straightening out as it closed out, dropped back prone on the board and rode the white water all the way to the beach. At the Coast Café Marty, Mark and I enjoyed coffees, muffins and the heater as we discussed the waves and bitched about PG&E's $75 charge to opt out of Smart Meters, the latest hot-button issue in Marin.

What a great way to end the morning - sitting around the classic old fashion heater with a hot coffee, a muffin and friends.