February 18, 2013

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:00 am	2’, sets to 3’
Mid outgoing tide	NW cross breeze to stiff wind
Cloudy, overcast and cold	Fun rehab session

 “Mark how was it?” Mark the archaeologist was changing out of his wetsuit as I was heading to the beach to take some photos.

“It was good, lots of fun size curls at the Patch. But you better get out there before the low tides kills the waves. That’s what happened yesterday. There was a window of great waves then they disappeared as the tide dropped.” Mark enthusiastically talked about his good sessions yesterday and today. “So don’t spend a lot of time taking pictures. Just get out there,” he called to me as I headed for the ramp.

Mark was right. The morning crew was at the Patch going for these clean long lines of small waves. Out there were: Mary, Marty, David who rides the Becker board, Hank, Russ the stand-up guy and Bill on his water ski. The waves at the Channel were closing out, thus only a couple of surfers were out there. The tide was low enough for me to walk in front of the two seawalls to take photos standing on the beach in front the Patch. The waves were infrequent, but when they came Mary, Marty, Hank and David managed to connect on long rides. In the above photo, that’s David in the shore break at the end of one of his better rides. Watching them compelled me to suit up and go.

“Mary, why did you get out so early?” Mary was back at her car as I headed for the beach with board in hand. She usually stays out for two to three hours and exits around 10 or 11 am.

“High tide was about 5:30 this morning, so I got here early to catch the high tide.” Dawn patrol! It was still dark at that time. That’s surf dedication for you.

Hank, Marty and David were at the inside peak just south of the rocks of the Patch reef going for the rights. The rock pile was beginning to appear. Another peak formed way outside, beyond the Patch reef and two surfers were there. I paddled out to join Hank, Marty and David. After my first wave, Hank and Marty went in, leaving the peak to David and I.

My surf rehab progressed today. I caught five waves in one hour, stood up on three of them, took one on my knees and came in lying down on my last wave. I was encouraged, my arms felt strong and I easily stroked into my first wave. The wave jumped up, creating a gentle incline making it easy to pop-up. I was up and cruised down a well-formed right shoulder for several yards, pulling out before dropping over the edge of the shore break. For a brief moment I felt like my old self.

After thirty minutes, my thin wetsuit, the cloud covered sky and a cold stiff wind put the freeze on David and I. I pushed on for another thirty minutes until my arms were losing strength and my fingers were turning numb. I headed in. After numerous times dealing with the cold, I knew to keep as much rubber on as long as possible and then to change into dry clothes as fast as possible. Today I managed to unlock the car with my gloves on. I pulled off my gloves and immediately started taking off my booties. The cold wind blowing over wet hands causes them to stiffen up. And once numb, I lose strength in my fingers and have trouble gripping anything, including the tops of my booties to stretch them over my heels. I was proud of myself today; I managed to pull off my booties and wetsuit before I lost the grip in my hands, which did occur while lacing up my shoes. But on the drive back over the mountain, with my thick hoody sweatshirt on and the heat on high, I felt great; nothing like cold water, fun waves and friends to invigorate the body and your spirits.