July 7, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets head high
High tide (3.6 ft at 8:30 am)	Stiff onshore (south) wind
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 57 degrees
Overcast – June gloom	Exercise session

Check out the photo above – a flag on the cliff above the Patch blowing straight out.

All the elements had come together but one – Wind.

• Swell: 3' to 4' ft south at 16 seconds,
• Tide: moderate high tide (3.6 ft at 8:30 am),
• Weather: high cloud cover resulting in reasonable air temperature,
• Crowd: low, four at the Channel and 10 spread across the Patch,
• Wind: out of control south onshore blast.

Stormsurf labeled this south swell 2S, which arrived on the 4th of July, meaning the second major south swell on the season. South swells come right into south facing Bolinas. The tide was high enough to cover all the rocks of the Patch reef and put plenty of water into the waves. The weather in the rest of the Bay Area, including Mill Valley, was in a heat wave. Bolinas was a desirable exception at a mild 65 degrees. Only a few bodies were in the water, but the wind screwed it all up.

Doug, Ray the retired Petaluma fireman and Jack the Dave Sweet rider claimed that earlier the surf was great before the wind arrived. Jack was in the water at first light at 5:30 am. The wind had suddenly picked up and that did it. Given the decent size swells rolling in and the ugly chop, the Patch had that "Victory at Sea" look.

Why did I go out? I don't know. The wind spun me around carrying my board down the ramp. Exercise! That was why I went out. I didn't catch any waves worth talking about but I did burn up a ton of calories. Others out there were: David who used to ride the Becker board, Hank, Martha and Jim on their new Dewey Weber boards, and Bill from Berkeley.