April 28, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:40 am to 11:10 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight NW cross breeze to no wind
Bright, warm, sunny - start of a heat wave	Good session

"Martha, Robinson's Reef will be good in 20 to 30 minutes from now." I had just come up the ramp from checking out the waves when Martha pulled up. Robinson's Reef, which is the inside right breaking peak at the Patch, is Martha's favorite spot. The upcoming tide was filling in the exposed rocks and soon the rights would connect with the shore break over the sand.

"Martha, I was right." I called to her an hour and a half later coming up the ramp after my session. She was strapping her board to the roof of her car. "You got some good waves, I saw them."

"Yes I had a great time. The conditions were ideal."

I saw her on good one. I was south and inside of her when a four-footer peaked right in front of her. She stroked into it, swung right, planted her inside rail under the lip of the curl, stepped to the middle of the board and calmly stood there as she glided pass me on a long ride to the shore.

Conditions were exceptional, as I knew they would be - 3.6 ft south swell at 17 seconds, upcoming tide, no wind, glassy, mild mellow crowd and heat-wave weather. Per Stormsurf.com the first major south swell of the season arrived Saturday, peaked on Sunday and would begin to fade today. A huge gale in the southern Pacific blew up consistent 40 ft seas that generated a giant swell aimed at Peru with side bands pointed at California.

When coming out of the forest on the Panoramic Highway, I saw big V's of white water at Seadrift and the Patch. From the bottom of the ramp no one was out at the Channel and the Groin and ten surfers were spread across the entire Patch reef. The waves were breaking way out there – several yards beyond the outside rock. Some good right curls came through on the inside, but the tide was too low and the rocks were still exposed. But I could tell that in a short while the tide would fill in and the waves would improve.

I was excited about getting out there – the sun was out and the day was warming up. I debated about not wearing my gloves. I paddle faster without them, but being old I'm now into comfort in the water. I quickly suited up, locked the car, grabbed my board and realized that I had forgotten my gloves. Well, I wasn't going dig out the key from inside my wetsuit and unlock the car to grab them. "I'll go without them." At first when I dunked my hands in the water, my hands burned. "What a mistake." But in a couple of minutes my hands got accustomed to the water and I was easily cruising out to the line-up. The cold water didn't bother me and as long as this heat wave lasts I will go out without them.

My first ride was a good one. I had just paddled out, said hello to Bill from Berkeley and there it was – a four-foot wall peaking a few feet south of me. My last few times here the bottom had forced all the waves to break continuously to the right. Counting on that, I stroked into it, jumped to my feet, cut right into the peak and it held up. I flew under the curl, swung around left to let the wave build up again, swung back right, hung high in the curl and cruised through the second section. I stalled a moment to drop into the shore break and stepped to the middle of the board and pulled out over the top as the wave broke on shore. What a great ride and what a long paddle back to the line-up. That was the first of several good rides.

Today was stand-up day. Seven SUPs were at the far peak when I entered the water. One guy dominated the waves. I had seen this guy before – a person with lots of long board experience who has taken up stand-up surfing. He was on least one wave of every set. That's him in the above photo. After an hour he paddled in, fifteen minutes later he was back on a different board and back to dominating the waves. The waves were ideal for the SUPs. They would peak way out there and the stand-up guys could catch them. The waves would break, die, reform and break again. The good SUP riders would use their paddles to stay in the waves after the initial break and with luck would work into the reforming peaks to cruise across the inside waves, where Martha, Bill and I caught our waves.

One guy who I didn't know was really good. He wore a baseball cap and rode a long red board. He was north and further out where it was really shallow. Time after time I watched him paddled towards the peak, jump up, cut a huge right turn, calmly walk to the nose and hang there for four to five seconds.

Bill and I shared waves for an hour until he decided to try his luck at Seadrift. We could see a few surfers out there. Bill paddled off. After my session I asked him how it was. "Great! Bigger, faster, less people and exciting, big fast breaking lefts. You had to be selective, most waves were close outs. But the ones you made were really good."

I had to go in because arms gave out. But my good surf session kept me on an energetic high for the rest of the day. 

April 14, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:30 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight NW cross breeze to no wind
Overcast to patchy high clouds	Good session

My third wave was my best ride. I maneuvered through three well-formed sections. I was out at the Patch near the outside rock, which was submerged with water swirling above it. A set wave approached and I was in position. David who used to ride a Becker board and DB the Safeway checker were inside paddling out after good rides. I took off late, jump up to my knees, froze there for a second to insure I was in the wave. I got up to my feet as the wave was walling up in front of me, stepped to the center of the board and cruised through the first section. I swung around left to let the wave build up, cut right again, climbed high in the curl, stepped 3/4 the way up the board and froze. The wave curled over the nose of the board, I shot through the white water and cruised back into the swell. I stalled a moment, dropped into the shore break, cut right, hung high in the curl, stepped to the nose and ploughed into the foam from the wave collapsing on shore in one foot of water. What a great ride. It made my day. In the next hour and a half I connected with several more long, fast peeling right waves.

As soon as I saw the waves this morning I knew I was in for a good session. No body was out at the Channel and seven were out at the Patch and I knew all of them: Mary was north at Lady's Left, DB was between Mary and the pack at the Patch, Kathy the biology teacher, Hank and stand-up guys Frank and Russ were at the far peak. David was way inside going for the good right curls. Only David caught anything in the ten minutes I was there, that's him in the above photo. Conditions were ideal for these beautiful inside right curls – west swell (4 ft at 15 seconds from 297 degrees), clean lines, a bottom that forced all waves to the right, slight NW cross breeze and an upcoming tide that caused the waves to improve.

When I entered the water only David and DB were out there – meaning perfect little right waves and only three people in the water. Later Rob (Mr. Malibu), a friend, and Bill on his wave ski joined us, and conditions improved – the wind stopped, the sun broke out and the shape of the curls got better. After my only left wave and while standing in waist deep water, I turned around to see Rob on a classic blue-green wall. He stepped to the nose, hung there for two seconds, then put his outside foot on the tip of his board and shot through crisp steep curl. For an hour we shared these frequent nice peeling waves. 

When my arms gave out I worked my way in and called it a day. For the rest of the day I had that surfers' glow from vigorous exercise and the satisfaction of beautiful classic curls.

April 7, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:20 am to 10:35 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid dropping tide	Slight NW cross breeze to no wind
Clear, sunny and warm	Fun session

When I reached the top of the ridge at Four Corners, I knew I was going out. There was no wind, trees weren't moving, the sun was out and I could see for miles in all directions. I hadn't surfed in two weeks due to weather and extreme low tides in the mornings, and I needed some exercise, so I was going out no matter what.

The weather had changed. Last week was rain, clouds, cold temperatures and south winds. Today high pressure was moving in bringing sunshine, warm air and light winds. It looked like surfing weather to me.

"I have to hurry home," Russ shouted to me as he drove by. "Rumor has it that Lorenzo has another blog post." That was true. I had posted February 12 last Saturday, putting me merely four weeks behind. "Hey with the tide going out the waves should get better. You'll have a good time," and off he drove. He didn't mention if the waves were any good, no word on size or where he surfed. By his positive expression, I assumed that the waves were good and that he had a fun session at the Patch.

No one was out at the Channel, six surfers were at the Patch and Frank and Walt the photographer had paddled over to the Duxbury Reef on their stand-ups. Hank and the Robinsons (Martha and Jim) were at Robinson's Reef (the inside right breaking peak). Mary was way north of the Patch at Lady's Left (also known as Green-Africa). Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water and DB the Safeway checker frequently join Mary there to avoid the crowd at the Patch. I assured her that I was beyond gender hang-ups and would sometime join her. I considered it this morning, but the waves didn't look that good.

While checking out the waves from the seawall, I watched one surfer gingerly stepping over the Patch reef rocks to retrieve his board. No leash! Why would anyone surf over a rock reef without a leash? He finally reached his board, adroitly paddled back out to the line-up, turned around and stroked into a three-foot wave, quickly jumped up, cut high in the curl, walked the nose and hung five. Then I recognized him – Rob, Mr. Malibu – an excellent surfer who never wears a leash and seldom loses his board.

A decent swell was running this morning, per the buoy report: a 7 ft north swell at 17 seconds (that's pretty good) combined with a 3 ft south swell at 15 seconds. We were seeing the south at the Patch. The north swell was too north to wrap into Bolinas. But the south was setting up some nice long well formed right curls. Hank and Rob were on them. The other four surfers out there paddled around and caught nothing. Rob and Hank were up and going on every wave they tried for. Both connected on some nice long curls in the ten minutes I was there with my camera. That's Rob on the nose in the above photo. I call him Mr. Malibu because all the Pros in days past at Malibu (Dora, Fain, Doyle, etc.) had the skill to hang five on the six inch waves that dominated most of the days at Malibu.

I paddled out to join them and within a few minutes connected on a long right curl. The wave peaked south of me but I went for it anyway. To my surprise the curl held up and continuously broke to the right. I worked it all the way into the shore and pulled out as the wave collapsed on shore in six inches of water.

Water depth was a concern this morning. We were at the dangerous point where the rocks were only a couple of inches under water. The best rides began in the shallow water over the rocks and ended in the shore break over the sand. That strategy worked best on set waves that broke a little further out. I was inside and went for a small wave. I paddled hard but missed it. For a brief moment the wave was taking me, I shifted my weight forward to push over the edge. I peeked over the nose I saw an exposed rock and boiling water under me. I quickly bailed over the side and just missed landing on the rock. After that I move south to deeper water. Later on I worked another good wave into the shore and thinking that I was over the sand I gently pulled out over the top and fell backwards where the point of a rock hit me above my left hip. It hurt but I was ok. I thought that the collision might result in a bruise. One of the signs of age is that I now bruise easily. The remedy would be ice, but here I was in cold water and what could be better. Thus I stayed in the water for another half hour to nurse my wound.

As usual it was another fabulous morning in Marin.