March 19, 2012 Monday

Bolinas	Channel
9:45 am to 11:15 am	2' to 3', sets to 4', occasional 5'
High dropping tide	Offshore breeze to onshore wind
High patchy clouds and cold	Cold frustrating session

Last night predictions on the Internet indicated that there could be decent waves in the morning - 7 ft north swell at 11 seconds with a north wind at 5 knots, water temperature at 48 degrees and a 5.5 ft high tide at 10 am. I hadn't surfed since March 9th - 10 days of no waves - due to weather. Last week Marin received seven days of much needed rain, and with the rain came fierce south winds and storm surf (16 ft swells at 10 seconds). The weather guys were predicting a short period of calm (today) and the arrival of a new trough of cold air, chance of rain and more strong south winds through the weekend. Thus today was my only opportunity this week for waves.

Conditions looked good at the Channel when I arrived. Check out the above picture. One decent peak peeled in both directions, though the sets were infrequent. Nine surfers scratched for the few waves that were coming through. Just after I took this picture, three longboarders paddled out from Seadrift bringing the crowd to twelve. Someone mentioned that it was spring break for the local high schools. Bolinas regulars in the above photo are: David who rides the Becker board, Ray the Petaluma fireman, Doug, and stand up guys Frank and Russ. Mary, Francine and DB the Safeway checker were out at the Patch going for some infrequent long slow rollers. With the high tide, the Channel was the call.

Professor Steve drove up, stopped and said hello. Per Steve the swell had really dropped; it was much bigger yesterday. Doug later told me that yesterday it was "thrilling", meaning big. Frank from Tiburon, who I had not seen in months, was changing after his session and confirmed that yesterday was much bigger. Frank works during the week and surfs on weekends as I did five years ago. Since retiring I no longer surf on weekends and thus I rarely see Frank. He took today off to catch some waves and said it was ok and that yesterday was definitely better. All three of them confirmed that it was cold. The water temperature had dropped.

"Francine, I'd heard that it is cold out there." She had pulled up while I was suiting up to say hello.

"Cold, yes. After an hour and a half you freeze. But you have to go out. Have a good time." With that she waved and drove off.

The waves were frustrating. I only caught five waves in 90 minutes. My first and last waves were good long left curl rides. The rest of the time I was floundering around trying to find the right position and dealing with the crowd. Two young guys dominated the break. They were good, knew what they were doing and were always in position when the sets came through. I had to always keep an eye out for where they were and what they were doing. One had a long, no rocker paddling machine board that enable him to wait to the last moment before turning around quickly and with two to three hard strokes to glide into the waves. The other one had a strange, thick (at least four inches) super soft longboard that also paddled fast and allowed him to stroke into flat swells. This combo always caught two waves of every set and most sets only had three waves; meaning there was only one left for the rest of us.

All of this - the cold, the two dominating the waves, and the crowd - didn't faze David. He maneuvered around, inside, outside, towards the Channel and then toward the Groin to position himself for good inside waves. He caught wave after wave. Three times I looked back after he had taken off on a good steep left curl to see him way on the inside going right. He managed to work the waves until they reformed near the Groin pole into decent right curls. "Malibo rights" is what we call them. On a good high tide, a peak forms near the pole and peels right along the contour of the lagoon channel, and today David connected on several of them.

After an hour the wind shifted to the south and was blowing straight into our faces. The current began pouring out of the lagoon cutting a swath of rippling little bumps through the middle of the Channel peak. The waves began to curl over and dump in shallow water, and I was losing feeling in the toes and fingers - time to go in.

Something that occurs to all of us who surf in this cold water, at some point our fingers and toes turn numb. Besides losing feeling, the fingers lose their strength. After much effort pulled my glove off my left hand. My hand was so numb, I could not move my little finger, and I couldn't grip the key to open the car door. I had to wrap both hands around the key and rotate my upper body to the left to turn it. Then because I had no strength in my thumbs, I had to insert both thumbs into the top of my booty and push down with my arms to stretch the booty over my heel. Fortunately, the sun was shinning by now. Several times I paused and stood in the sunshine to warm up my hands. I finally did get out of my wetsuit and booties. Dry clothes and socks certainly felt good after the cold water and the struggle taking off my wetsuit.

I bet all Northern California surfers have at least one good tale about the cold, numb hands and the fight to get out of their wetsuits.

March 9, 2012 Friday

Stinson Beach	Right out front
10:00 am to 11:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	Fun session

This morning Bolinas was F L A T - zero feet with sets to six inches. The NOAA weather radio reported 4 ft north swells at 11 seconds - and that was consistent for all the buoys from Point Arena to south of Monterey. Thinking that Bolinas might be small, I stopped at Stinson first to check the waves. Stinson had some nice two to three-foot gentle, old-man waves. If Bolinas was flat, I would return to Stinson.

Rounding the bend by the post office on Brighton Ave was my first indication - David's truck was parked in its usual place with his Becker boarding sticking out the back, not a good sign. I parked and was greeted by Mark the archaeologist who was suiting up.

"Loren, there's nothing out there."

"So why are you suiting up?"

"Just to paddle around."

DB the Safeway checker and Dexter the Bolinas local just came back from a long walk to the point at low tide. They didn't bother to go out. David walked by suited up and carrying his board; he had changed his mind. Jaime the starving artist cartoonist had been sitting around and he too decided to go out.

I walked down to the Groin wall to take my obligatory photo of the conditions. Eight surfers were sitting in the middle of the Channel. They were way inside, either even with the Groin pole or inside the Groin wall, as you can see in the above photo. The Bolinas regulars were there: Mary, David, Jaime, Mark, Cazardero Cathy, Shu-Shu from Dogtown and stand-up surfers Walt and Russ. Mary, Mark and Shu-Shu caught waves - small slow peaks that quickly died, that settled it, I was going to Stinson.

Why? The waves were three times larger and the tide was coming up, thus shape would get better. Also, the weather guys predicted that starting Sunday we would have four days of light rains and strong south winds. So today was my best opportunity for waves for the next week.

Good call - Stinson was a lot of fun. Consistent, nice knee-high curls, my kind of waves. It took me about forty-five minutes to get into my groove. At first I missed a couple of waves and then I caught one that closed out in front of me. I tried to lean into the wave in an attempt to drive past the white water and back into the swell; I almost made it. My second wave was a good right. I hung high in the curl and the wave continuously peeled to the right up to the shore. Then I connected on a good left. I got into the wave early, positioned myself high in the curl, dropped over the edge and hung on the side of the wave's face. I stepped to the front of the board - within one foot of the nose - and stood there frozen for what seemed forever. Now I was in the groove, using the technique I used with success on Monday, I would wait for the peak of the swell, dig hard and would glide into the wave early and would be up and high in the wave when I dropped over the edge. For thirty minutes I caught one good left curl have another, and then it all stopped or maybe I was just tired.

After thirty minutes, a shortboarder came out to my peak and he was good. He went for the rights and I got all the lefts, thus we didn't impact each other. Only once did we take the same wave. I went right and so did he, but being a skilled surfer he remained far ahead of me. We both got good rides and this wave brought us together. He apologized for taking off in front of me and I said, "good wave." This guy was amazing. He was on a potato chip of a board, so short that when he sat on his board he sank up to his armpits. But he seldom sat; he was in constant motion. Catch a wave, paddle back out, turn around and catch another one. Between sets he would move inside to catch a small wave or two and then quickly paddle back out to be in position when the sets came. I caught my share of waves, but this guy caught three times the number of waves that I did.

Out in the water I spotted a "Sweeper" (a stand-up surfer) far to the north in front of the houses of the Calles. Scott the chairman of Surfrider Marin had told me that John the owner of the Parkside Café and excellent surfer had taken up stand-up surfing and loved it. I thought that maybe that was John, but it didn't look like him. The more I watched him moving around the Sweeper looked more like John's close friend Pete the owner of the Livewater Surf Shop. The Sweeper took off on a set wave and skillfully glided left down a nice wall. He was goofy-foot and so is Pete. Like all stand-up surfers, this guy moved around. He drifted near our peak and then I could confirm that it was Pete. He waved, caught a few waves and drifted back north. He was half way down the beach at Seadrift when I exited the water.

The shortboarder exited the water also, but not to end his session. He dropped his board in the sand and ran down the beach to greet Nate the co-owner of the Proof Lab Surf Shop and his woman and their new baby, Currin, who was born last week. I too gave Nate congrats. He glowed with excitement and proudly announced that this was Currin's first time to the beach.

I wrote this sitting in the sun at a picnic table in the Park with a bowl of clam chowder and a small local green salad that I purchased from the Lunch Box. I briefly chatted with owners Lee and Rachel - great people who made a good healthy lunch. What a great way to end another beautiful morning in Marin.

March 5, 2012 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:45 am to 11:45 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
High dropping tide	Slight onshore breeze
Patchy sun with fog on the horizon	Fun session

A two-hour session, I haven't had a two-hour session in months. The elements came together making it easy to stay out there. Unlike last week, today was warm, the water was still cold (50 degrees) but the air was warm; my hands and feet never felt cold. Fun mellow waves combined with sunshine, a high tide and only four other surfers, of which three were Bolinas regulars. The early morning crowd had exited the water by the time I arrived. Stand-up guys Frank and Russ said it was fun but the waves were inconsistent. Jaime claimed they were waist high, but the tide was too high causing a backwash off the cliff. Mary stated that she had fun.

When I walked down the ramp with my camera in hand and saw my first glimpse of the Patch I knew I was going out. Five surfers including DB the Safeway checker, David who rides the Becker board, and Shu-Shu from Dogtown were bunched together at the only peak. A set of four nice long line clean waves came through. DB stroked into the first one and worked in it into a neat inside curl. That's her in the above photo. Shu-Shu then the same and so did David. The time between sets was long but the quality of the waves made the wait worthwhile.

This morning the NOAA weather radio reported a decent swell - 6 to 7 ft at 14 to 16 seconds. The report gave the stats for all of the buoys from Point Arena to south of Monterey, and all of them reported the same height and frequency; meaning this was a strong and consistent swell that was hitting the entire Northern California coast. Often the buoy stats vary, but not today.

All of the surfers dropped down the clean right waves, but I watched the lefts. No one was riding them and they looked better than the rights. I often go to the north edge of the peak and go left. The water is shallower over there thus the waves are steeper. That was my strategy this morning. Head for the north side and go for the lefts, and my strategy worked - I caught at least eight good clean left waves. On my first wave, I stroked into a three-foot swell, jumped up, turned left, stepped to the middle of the board and stood there while the my board glided on and on. I ended up north of the rocks of the Patch reef where the bottom consists of sand and grass. That was the first of several mellow, old-man waves.

After an hour Jacek came stroking out on his eleven-foot, narrow, no rocker javelin - a real paddling machine. As usual he paddled out to the furthest peak and waited. I followed him out there. A beautiful four-foot line came through. Jacek was in position, but if he didn't take it I would jump in. He hesitated and I watched him closely while slowly getting myself ready to go for it. At the last moment, Jacek turned, waited until he was at the top of the peak, dug hard three times and glided into it. He cruised a long ways down a blue-green wall. That was how to do it - get at the top of the peak, paddle really hard and coast into the waves. I applied that technique with great success. I stroked into two good lefts, both times getting into them early and able to position myself high in the curl and coast down long clean lines. I also connected on a couple of long rights executing the same technique.

At the hour and a half mark, rocks were beginning to poke above the water over the Patch reef. Going left was becoming dicey. Jacek and David had moved south of the rocks. After my last good right wave, I paddled out to join them. The waits between sets became longer. I drifted in towards the middle and caught a couple of well-formed curls, but I was very close to the rocks. I stayed inside and moved to the edge where the rocks end and the sand began. To catch a wave you had to be over the rocks. Only the bigger set waves had enough power to break over the sand. Thus the waits were getting longer. I kept drifting further in, caught one small wave and then gave up and began paddling for shore. I caught a shore break wave, rode it in lying down and called it a day. Two hours total and I was exhausted.

"David, when did you come out today? Seven thirty?" I asked during one of our long waits between sets.

"No, it was more like 8 o'clock." I looked at my watch - 11:30 am - three and a half hours. I got out fifteen minutes later and David came in at noon. Four hours, and all he ate for lunch was his usual cheese and lettuce sandwich, carrot sticks and a piece of fruit on his drive home to Berkeley. David was in great physical shape, and with all that exercise and his bird-like eating habits, there was not a once of fat on his entire body. Thus we have the David who rides the Becker board diet, guaranteed to take off pounds of ugly fat and improve your health -

Surf More and Eat Less.

March 2, 2012 Friday - Part 2

After Session Conversations -

"Doug, I was up your way last week," I commented as he walking up the ramp from his session.

"Fort Bragg?" Doug grew up in Fort Bragg and now lives in Santa Rosa after teaching economics in the local high school for thirty years, and has since retired and now does carpentry work and surfs.

"No, Point Arena. I didn't surf there, but my wife and I stayed in a bed and breakfast within walking distance of the fishing pier."

"Was it breaking?"

"Yes and it was huge and rough. Ten shortboarders were on it."

"You know there's another break about three miles south called Mote Creek that breaks like here. There's only parking for about five cars, but it's protected and breaks over a reef. That's where we used to go."

I found Mote Creek listed in my 1973 copy of the classic and first surf guidebook Surfing California by Bank Wright. Check this out -

Mote Creek - A seldom surfed peak break a few miles south of Point Arena. Shifting peaks off a small reef 1/8 mile below the creek. Takes any swell, 2 - 8 feet. Medium tide. Land is private, but owner doesn't mind visitors. Watch for creek marker along Hwy. Pg 29.

"Loren, I had to tell you that Green-Africa refers to two people."

Mary had just finished her session, was still in her wetsuit with water dripping off of it. "A guy named Green and one named Africa. This is according to Dexter who has lived here most of his life."

Mary was responding to my January 4th entry that I had posted yesterday. Green-Africa is a peak just north of the Patch reef. I had mentioned in the posting that I didn't know why the peak was named Green-Africa. Apparently years ago two guys surfed there a lot and claimed it as their spot, and the locals have always associated this peak with Messrs. Green and Africa.

"Nick, how did you do this crab season?" I ran into Nick, the former owner of the 2-Mile Surf Shop and now Bolinas fisherman, as I was about to leave for the day.

"Great! The quantity was spectacular and the price was good, so I made money."

"So what is next?" I was thinking the crabbing was over even though the season officially ends in June.

"Oh, we're still going for crab. We go out once a week and take in five hundred pounds of crab. We brought in over 2500 pounds for the month of March. It's great. I work one day a week and pay my bills." He smiled and continued on his way to town.

March 2, 2012 Friday - Part 1

Bolinas	Channel
9:40 am to 10:40 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Mid dropping tide	Offshore breeze to West cross breeze
Sunny and clear	Frustrating session

Today was another cold day. The report from the San Francisco buoy at 6 am had a 10 ft swell at 13 seconds and water temperature at 48 degrees. Last Monday a cold front had moved in and rain swept over Marin from Tuesday through Thursday. Today the sun was out, thus I had to go even though the waves looked weak. I went out for an hour and only caught three waves and I froze. The first two were good ones - long, locked in the curl rides. My last wave I rode prone to avoid the surf camp beginners who took off in front of me. Apparently Marin Academy (a local private high school) had fifteen seniors in the water taking a surf lesson. The rest of the time I paddled around fighting the strong current coming out of the lagoon, jockeying for position due to the crowd of twelve surfers bunched together on the north edge of the Channel peak and going for waves and missing them.

With a break in the weather, several of the Bolinas regulars were out there - Mary, Marty, Jim the jazz guitarist, Doug, David who rides the Becker board, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Walt the photographer, Ray the Petaluma fireman, Mark the archaeologist, Steve the Bolinas local, Nick the former owner of the 2-Mile Surf Shop and stand-up guys Russ and Frank.

"Ray how was it out there?" Ray had just exited the water as I was going out.

"Two many idiots and not enough waves." Earlier when I took pictures at the Groin wall, Ray caught three waves in the ten minutes that I stood there. He was inside were the waves were more forgiving. "Stand up out there, the current is really strong," Ray advised me. To avoid being pushed around he stood in waist-high water patiently waiting for rideable waves.

"Ray, what was it you said?" I asked Ray after my one-hour session. Ray was sitting on the seawall at the base of the ramp sunning himself. "Too many idiots and not enough waves? You were right." The crowd of twelve had just swelled to twenty-seven when the Marin Academy surf lesson crew entered the water. That was when I left.