July 18, 2012 Wednesday

Pacifica	Linda Mar
8:45 am to 11:00 am	2’ to 3’, sets to 4’
Mid upcoming tide	No wind, zero, nada!
Overcast to patchy sunshine	Fun session

I called Kevin last night about surfing in the morning at Linda Mar. The last two days at Bolinas had been terrible – south winds, fog, drizzle and ugly chop. Forecast was more of the same, but south winds are offshore at the north facing Linda Mar. He was for it. We would meet there at 8 am so that Kevin could get a few waves before going to work.

Ocean Beach was glassy with no wind and good small peaks all along the two-mile stretch of the Great Highway and with surfers at every one of them, definitely a good sign.

I arrived at Linda Mar at 8:15 am, saw Kevin’s car but not him; he was already in the water. I looked for him, but knowing him, I guessed that he was one of the two surfers at the very north end of the beach. I suited up and started walking north. I was right. He waved to me while I was still fifty yards away. Then he caught a wave and that confirmed it was him – goofy-foot, shortboard and constantly pumping the wave. In fact he got a great ride. He dropped down a head-high face, swung left, climbed back up to the mid-point of the swell, pumped his board a couple of times and cruised down a fast curl. He cutback to let the wave build up near shore, turned left again and cruised through another section and pulled out as the wave collapsed on shore. I paddled out to join him, but he caught another wave before I could say hello. Then suddenly a good peak was in front of me. I turned and stroked into it. I dropped down a well-formed left section, cutback as the shore break formed and then turned into another fast curl, pulling out as the wave crashed onshore.

“Dad, Tori is here. She’s paddling out now.” Tori was a friend of Kevin’s that wanted to get back into surfing. Kevin had wisely volunteered to help her out. She paddled out on Kevin’s 8-foot Becker board. I had met her before and happily greeted her.

The waves were good – 3’ to 4’ feet, super glassy lefts that broke hard and then turned into soft shoulders. They were perfect waves for me – small curls, great shape, clean and super smooth. Kevin and I both caught one more wave and then it went flat. It just died. Nothing came through for thirty minutes. Kevin and Tori had to take off. Since the north end had died, I joined them walking down the beach back to the pump house (the main bathrooms). I figured I would go out where it was breaking and of course where the crowd was. Kevin pointed out a right peak that was breaking into a deep channel. I noticed the lefts on the other side and decided to give that a try.

What a good move. I scored on several good waves. They would build up, crest, come over hard, and peel to the left, slow down in some deep water and then reform into a steep shore break that would collapse on the berm of sand that sloped into the water. The bottom caused ALL, and I do mean ALL, the waves to break to the left. It took me a while to convince myself that was true. Thus the best waves were the walls that looked like they would closeout, but they didn’t. Instead they jumped up and continuously broke left. I connected on at least four of them within a few minutes. One did break in front of me, but I drove through the white water as the wave reformed, cruised out onto the shore break curl and kicked out as it collapsed on the sand.

When I paddled out to this peak only two others were out there. Both were friendly guys who shared the waves. After a few minutes, one headed north to the next peak and the other went in. For thirty minutes I had this fun, glassy peak to myself. Eventually four others drifted over to my peak. In surfing, you can’t score a bunch of good waves without someone else noticing. After two hours and fifteen minutes in the water my arms gave out. When I exited the water, ten surfers were on my peak.

Earlier when I was at the north end, to my surprise, my old Visa work companion Ben paddled out. This was purely by chance. The main crowd – and there is always a crowd at Linda Mar – was in front of the pump house. Ben came north to beat the crowd. I was glad to see my old friend. Ben is an interesting story. I met him in Visa’s employee gym about ten years ago. He asked me if I had gone to Middlebury College in Vermont. I was wearing a Middlebury cap that my daughter, who did graduate from Middlebury, had given me. Ben had grown up in Vermont and was very familiar with the college and town of Middlebury. We also worked in the same department and worked on a few projects together. Ben was an athletic guy who was at least fifteen years younger than me. A couple of years later he took up surfing and loved it. Every time I went to the gym I would get an earful of his latest surfing adventures. After retiring, I lost contact with him. Once in a while I would run into him here at Linda Mar. Last week I received a message from him via Linkedin – “Are you still surfing? I am and loving it.” I enjoyed reconnecting with him. He left Visa a few years ago, has done some consulting (mainly for Visa) and was about to begin a new position with JP Morgan. He was envious of me being able surf any time I wanted. He has to keep working for at lease ten more years before he can retire and surf every day.

On the way home the view was spectacular. The drizzle of the last two days had cleaned up the air. Coming down Skyline Blvd in Daly City I saw the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt Tam, the Farallon Islands and the Point Reyes peninsula. What a great scene for ending a good morning.