April 20, 2012 Friday

Bolinas	Channel
10:00 am to 11:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 5'
High tide (4.5 ft at 11:30 am)	West onshore breeze
On-the-deck fog to bright sunshine	Fun session

Weather was the story today. It had shifted two days ago. High pressure moved in bringing warmer than normal temperatures and it was going to be with us through the weekend. It was 64 degrees in our house at 5:30 am and for the first time in months we did not turn on the heater. The weather prediction called for sunshine with 70 degrees at the coast and 80 degrees inland and tomorrow would even be warmer. I was so excited that I put on walking shorts and packed sandals in my bag. Warm sunshine, warmer water, high tide at noon and calm winds - looked like perfect beach conditions to me. I had visions of staying out for three hours. Surf predictions on the Internet were fair - 6 ft N swell at 9 seconds and no mention of an underlying south swell. So what, with good weather I'm going.

Besides I had to go. I was meeting with Scott, chairman of Surfrider Foundation Marin County, to pick up handout materials. We had purchased a table for this Saturday's Earth Day Marin Festival at the Civic Center Lagoon. I was taking the first shift and thus had to gather up Surfrider literature from Scott. This festival was a big deal - all and I mean ALL the green environmental groups in Marin were going to be there.

Coming down the Panoramic Highway, the ocean was covered by a blanket of on-the-deck fog - starting at Highway 1 in Stinson Beach and out to sea several hundred yards.

"You're not going to get any photos this morning, Loren," Russ the stand-up guy greeted me. "Too much fog."

Russ and Frank had just changed after their session. They reported it was ok and that yesterday was better. Jaime the starving artist cartoonist came up the ramp. He too said it was ok and mentioned that he had to take off because his wife was heading off on a business trip. She works for Union Bank and they had just purchased another bank and Jaime's wife was on the transition team. Union Bank is headquartered in Santa Barbara and Jaime was planning to make some surf trips there.

"I'll be surfing C Street!" He smiled - referring to C Street in Ventura, which is part of Surfers' Point.

"What about Rincon?" I responded.

"Yeah, me and two hundred other guys." Naturally, the best point break on the California Coast is always crowded.

I walked down to the Groin to take some pictures. The fog was beginning to lift. Sixteen surfers were at the main peak at the Channel, including Jacek the tattoo artist, David who rides the Becker board and Hank. DB the Safeway checker and Hans had just paddled over from the Patch. The fog had brought in a west onshore wind that put an ugly chop on the water. Wind waves had set in with peaks all over the place that flopped over with little force, but Jacek, Hank and David all connected on decent waves while I was standing there. With this good weather I had to go out.

For me the surf was ok - nothing to really write about. My first wave was my best ride. I took off on a head-high wall that was breaking as I stroked into it. I stayed high in the curl, cruised a long ways across the top of the face. I could see Jacek ten yards in front of me also locked into the same wall of water. We both straightened out when the wave finally closed out. I caught several more waves and on most of them I connected as they were breaking. I would jump to my knees for the initial drop, then lean into the white water to work back into the swell. The waves would reform on the inside; once back into the swell I would jump to my feet and maneuver through the curls near the shore. Due to the warm weather I never got cold - exhaustion was what brought me in.

"DB, how long were you in the water?" Back at cars, DB was toweling off after her session.

"What time is it?"

"A quarter to twelve."

"Four hours. I was out for four hours."

"DB, those are David like hours."

"Yeah, he told me to get out of the water, but I didn't want to come in."

Fortunately today was her day off. After changing, slowly walking into town to buy a coffee, then hanging out at the 2-Mile Surf Shop where I purchased some board shorts from Drew, I returned to the parking area and there DB was still at her car - stiff as a board. She had a kink in her neck from holding up her head for four hours.

To finish off this great morning, I stopped at the Lunch Box in Stinson Beach for soup (chicken Pozole) and a small salad. I sat at a picnic table in the park, wrote up this morning's adventure, ate my soup and salad, basked in the warm sunshine and just enjoyed this summer like day.