|
Bolinas
|
Patch
|
|
9:45
am to 11:20 am
|
3'
to 4', sets to 5'
|
|
Low
upcoming tide
|
Stiff
offshore wind to no wind
|
|
Clear,
bright and sunny
|
Fun
session
|
Email response to my long time friend Jay the
architect in Manhattan Beach -
Jay -
Thanks for the long and
newsy email. Sorry about not responding sooner.
Today I got my first decent
waves of the season. I caught the tail end of this past weekend's big swell,
one where Maverick's was breaking. Though the swell has dropped, it was still 8
ft at 14 seconds from the west. I headed to my local spot, Bolinas, and went
out at the Patch (formerly called the Clam Patch, but the clams are long gone,
so now it's merely The Patch). It's a rock reef spread over a wide area that
can set up several peaks depending on conditions. The waves are similar to
Bluff Cove; they break way out there, have flat take offs and provide long
smooth rides. Today the outside peak was connecting with the inside shore break
that runs along the beach.
While checking out the
waves, I watched my good surf buddy David, who used to ride a Becker board,
take off on the outside, cruise to the right across the first section, cut back
to let the wave build up, swung left through the second section, then cut-back
right to drop into a perfectly formed right curl on the inside. He must have
traveled a quarter mile. That did it, I was stoked and had to go out.
As the tide came in and the
wind dropped, the inside peak improved in size, speed and shape. One could
connect on a wave over the rocks of the Patch reef, work it to the inside
section and cut across a nice curl over the sand. I managed to catch several of
them in an hour and a half, and after that the crowd grew, the wind picked up
and my arms gave out. While driving home I had that "Surfer's Glow"
from vigorous exercise, warm sunshine and classic waves.
You were fortunate to
connect on those big west swells. I missed both of them.
On Friday January 24th, when
they held the Mavericks contest, Kate and I flew to Kona on the big island of
Hawaii, our first time there. The waves were huge. For four days, the
authorities posted high surf warnings all along the Kona Coast (the NW side of
the island). On Thursday (our fifth day there) the swell dropped to my size – 4
to 5 ft. I rented a SurfTech Soft Top, which are popular with the locals, and
went out at Kahalu'u Park – a gentle Cove/San Onofre type break – that broke
over a reef 500 yards from shore. I had a ball: 3' to 5' waves, long shoulders,
crystal clear 80 degree water and no wetsuit, just board shorts and a rash
guard.
When the next big swell (Feb
27 - Mar 3) arrived, Kate and I were on the road to San Diego to visit my
mother and my brother. This was not a surf trip. My 94-year old mother is
declining and I wanted to make sure that I saw her one more time before the
end. But I did see plenty of good surf along the way. On the way down, Rincon
was overhead and only twenty guys out. On the way back we made a pit stop at El
Capitan state park. In all my years of going to UCSB and driving to and from
Palos Verdes, I had never seen El Cap break. On that day, 8 to 10 foot fast
peeling rights were wrapping around the point and crashing over some gnarly
rocks. Twenty short boarders were on it and in the 15 minutes I was there I saw
some spectacular rides. As I watched two guys literally crawl over the boulders
to get to the water, I thought that maybe in my youth I could have done that,
but definitely not now in my late sixties.
That night we stayed in
Pismo Beach and in the morning I saw some beautiful peaks with three to four
surfers on each one along the cliffs north of the pier just before 101 turns
inland.
So I missed the big swells
and good waves until today.
Meanwhile, everybody is
doing well. In retirement Kate is busier than ever and I keep reminding myself
that you and I have to connect someday at C Street in Ventura.
Cheers,
Lorenzo
