August 29, 2014 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
10:00 am to 11:30 am	Consistent 3' to 4', sets to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	NW cross breeze to no wind
Air temp: 70 degrees	Water temp: 63 degrees
High overcast to patchy sun	Great session

From the furthest peak at the Patch, I connected on a wave that made my whole session. Two set waves had gone by, George the Branson parent had just taken off north of me, and I was by myself when a larger wave was cresting in front of me. I turned and dug hard. The wave began to break; I jumped up, cut hard right, stayed high in the curl and dropped down the face of an overhead wave. What a sensation. I felt I was a kid again on my old balloon tire bike coasting wildly down a steep hill. I looked up at the lip feathering above my head, leaned forward to gain speed, climbed back up to the top of the swell and hummed across a long section. I cut back and now had to maneuver around five surfers frantically paddling out. I coasted around the first one and cut right again to climb back into the swell. Julie was sitting outside with a raised fist for "nice ride". I hummed through a second section, cut back while the wave built up again, turned sharply right into a third fast section which worked into the shore break where I pulled out over the top as the wave crashed onshore. What a ride.

Now my confidence was high and I had no hesitation paddling into late breaking waves. I caught two really long lefts and several more good rights on the inside. After an hour and a half my arms were spent and I had to go in. When I entered the water, seven surfers were at the Groin and ten were at the Patch. When I left, thirty-five bodies were spread across the Patch and twenty were at the Groin. The wind had died, the surface had glassed off and the waves were clean lines of water. The short boarders were challenging the fast crashing lefts at the Groin and the longboarders were having a ball on perfectly formed rights at the Patch.

The big south swell from Hurricane Marie that arrived on Wednesday was still pumping this morning – 5 ft south swell at 13 seconds. Though the surf had been big in Bolinas the last two days, by this morning we were hearing the stories of giant waves in Southern California.

The Marin IJ had a photo of a boogie boarder in complete free-fall on a monstrous wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach – surfer, board, feet and swim fins were all out of the water dropping over the falls of a crushing wall of water. When I see photos like this I wonder what happened to the surfer. Did he survive?

Frank the stand-up guy was down south visiting his daughter and new grandchild. He reported that San Onofre was completely closed out. It was so big that no one even attempted to paddle out.

Malibu was huge, one surfer drowned and no one knew how he died. Set waves were breaking beyond the end of the pier – something that never happens. Normally the waves begin breaking at the point and continue breaking into the cove and peter-out near the highway – several hundred yards from the pier.

YouTube had a photo of an enormous wave breaking into the end of the pier with a speck of a surfer riding it. The caption claimed it was Laird Hamilton. Rumors on the beach boasted that he shot the pier – a tale difficult for me to believe. Jay the architect from Manhattan Beach, an experienced surfer and good friend, related that the pilings of this pier are fairly close together. Pairs of pilings (one on each side) spaced every eight to ten feet form the foundation of the pier. To ride a wave through it, Laird had to be flying at great speed parallel to the beach. But if anyone could do it, Laird Hamilton could. Most likely this is merely another myth swirling around this legendary surfer.

The paper also reported that two to three feet of water had surged over the sand berm of the beach into a hundred homes in Seal Beach. The city was desperately bulldozing the sand to form a new berm to protect the houses from the next high tide. Was this a preview is sea level rise? With raising seas, the ocean is going to reclaim the wetlands and Seal Beach is a town built on fill dirt.

Epic tales from a once in a lifetime epic swell. 

August 27, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
9:45 am to 11:15	Consistent 4' to 6', sets overhead
Low upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	Exciting & frustrating session

"It's been a long time since I have taken off on overhead waves." Mary exclaimed with excitement to Hank, David who used to ride the Becker board and I at lunch at the Parkside Cafe after our morning session. "To look up and see the top of the wave feathering two feet above your head and then to move out onto the big shoulder is exhilarating."

"I saw her take off on that wave and watched her disappear when she dropped down the face," Hank added. "Only to see her reappear way inside a few seconds later." Hank too spoke with similar excitement about connecting on a few big waves.

The biggest waves of year hit this morning – a big south swell from Hurricane Marie. "Five feet at 17 seconds!!" I repeated to myself what I just heard on the NOAA weather radio Tuesday night. I couldn't believe it.

Per Stormsurf.com, Super Hurricane Marie - Marie peaked on Sun at 18Z with winds 140 kts (161 mph) positioned 1075 nmiles from Dana Point on the 161 degree great circle path with seas estimated at 43 ft and about 6 hours after moving into the Dana Point swell window... Assuming a 13 sec period swell arrival expected Wed (8/27). Rough estimates on swell size suggest peak swell to be 7.5 ft @ 15-16 secs late Tuesday (11 ft faces at exposed breaks) holding into Wed AM then fading.

All the elements had come together – a big south swell, rising tide (5.4 ft at 1:45 pm), no wind (flags at the Stinson Beach fire station were hanging limp), and no cloud cover or fog. For the first time in two months the skies were clear at 8 am.

The waves were big and powerful. White water covered the Channel and Groin and the entire impact zone of the Patch. Ten short boarders were challenging the head-high walls at the Groin with little success. They would drop down a steep face, cut left and were buried by a ton of water. The waves were breaking off too fast. For the few who managed to beat the curl, it was a specular tube ride, but few made it. Three stand-up surfers had success at a peak off the base of the ramp. I hadn't seen the waves break there in years. The stand-ups were able to paddle into the swells early, set high in the curls and hold on for a long ways until the waves unloaded on them near shore.

The Patch was big but looked more rideable. I headed out there. About six surfers and a couple of stand-ups were at the furthest peak. I had never seen it break so far out. I swear they were a quarter of a mile off shore. That's Mary fading into a big outside wave in the photo above. I elected to paddle out to the first peak to connect on some sizeable inside right peeling waves. For me it was a frustrating session. The waves were powerful, frequent and breaking all over the place – storm surf. I couldn't locate a consistent take off point and kept moving around hoping to find the spot. I ended up catching white water from big outside waves and riding the churning foam as the waves reformed on the inside. On my first one, the white water hit me like a truck, picked me up and bounced like a bronco. I remained lying down, hanging on until the wave smoothed out and formed into swell again. I jumped up and flew down a steep face until it crashed a few feet from shore. I continued doing the same thing for another hour. On my last wave, I flew down a fast right breaking wall and straightened out as the wave broke. The white water was up to my shoulder and bailed out before being slammed onshore. That was enough excitement for one day.

We rallied at the Parkside in Stinson Beach for lunch to greet David who was recovering from a shoulder operation. He looked in great shape and confirmed to us that a little pain in his tendons would not prevent him from returning to the water. Good luck David, all of us are pulling for your speedy recovery.

Click on the link below to view my photos of this big swell.

Hurricane Marie Swell at Bolinas

August 15, 2014 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
10:45 am to 12:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze to no wind
Air temp: 70 degrees	Water temp: 62 degrees
Overcast to patchy sunshine	Fun session

I was hoping for a repeat of the window of good surf that Jack the Dave Sweet team rider and I scored on last Wednesday. For an hour and a half decent well-formed right peeling lines marched through the Patch and by 12:30 the high tide had pushed in too much water and the waves died. Jack was planning to surf everyday the swell lasted. He was going Thursday and today, and he predicted that 12 noon should be our target to catch another window of good surf.

The NOAA weather radio last night and Stormsurf's website got me excited. A new small New Zealand south swell (1.6 ft at 18 seconds from 220 degrees) had combined with the existing local wind swell (3 ft at 8 seconds) and a west swell from Tropical Storm Julio (2.3 ft at 15 seconds from 290 degrees). Julio was now 450 miles NE of Hawaii.

Jack never showed but he was correct about another good surf window. I arrived this morning at 10 am and the surf looked terrible. Nobody was at the Patch and only three beginners were at the Groin. The morning was gray, the water was textured from a stiff south breeze and the waves were small and infrequent. I took photos of both the Patch and Groin to record conditions and a couple of good rideable waves came through both locations. I oscillated between the two. A surf camp of twelve teenagers with soft-tops marched down the ramp and headed for the Groin. That did it, I decided on the Patch. I was optimistic that the incoming tide would improve conditions. Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water was on the beach throwing a Frisbee to her dog Pepper. She too wavered about where to go. My decision convinced her to head for the Patch also.

Nobody was out at the Patch when I paddled out at 10:45. Two large rocks were still exposed. I used the outside rock as my marker and positioned south of it and a few yards further out. A set came through and I was off on the second wave. I glided into three-foot wave, jumped up quickly and stepped to the middle of the board and hummed across the face of a continuous right peeling curl. Right then I knew I was in for a good session. As I connected on my second wave and just as I was moving to get up, the exposed outside rock was right in my path. I quickly pulled out and barely missed hitting it. I then decided to move a few yards further south. The kelp was thick and a problem. On my third wave, kelp wrapped around my skeg and my board stopped. It was like hitting the air brakes; the board stopped and I kept going. This happened a couple more times this morning.

After two more good waves, I thought this was ideal – warm water, decent waves and me by myself. Susan came out, we chatted a bit and then she headed further out and north to Ladies Left, the first peak north of the Patch reef. Again I was there by myself. A few minutes later Cathy from Cazadero paddled out with two friends. Now there were three of us. After another thirty minutes Rob, Mr. Malibu, joined us, then Julie from Bolinas who works in Mill Valley paddled out and slowly more surfers continued coming out. By the time I left, there were twenty people spread across the Patch reef.

Julie on her new board, which she loves, glided into several long rides. Rob, who like Jack, schedules his day by the tide, was on the inside nose-riding the shore break. On wave after wave he would casually turn into these small curls, walk to the nose, stand there for a second or two, then step back, and quickly straighten out as the waves broke on shore. I asked him about his new board. He had placed the order with Pearson in Santa Cruz and now had to wait six to eight weeks to get it. Meanwhile, he was doing just fine on his ancient, beat to crap, Pearson Arrow with its deck of delaminated glass.

I was having so much fun I kept moving and riding until the waves finally disappeared due to the high tide – two hours in the water. It was a just another wonderful morning in Marin. 

August 13, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
10:45 am to 12:15 am	Consistent 3', sets 4', occasional head high
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 62 degrees
Overcast to patchy sunshine	Good session

In an email yesterday, Jack wrote - "See you tomorrow... 11 am."

That did it, I was going. The surf has been "iffy" for the last couple of months. I went to Bolinas last Monday, it was flat and I didn't bother going out. I was undecided about today, but Jack's note pushed me into it. Jack's an excellent surfer who has been surfing for over fifty years. He knows conditions and he only surfs on upcoming tides. He schedules his week around raising tides. I checked the Tidelog for August 13 – 1.1 ft low tide at 7:51 to a 6.1 ft high tide at 2:39 pm. Thus 11 am was exactly mid-tide. When I arrived at Bolinas at 10 am, no body was in the water and the waves were flat. Hank had just finished his session and said only a few small ones came through at the end. I took a few photos of the empty waves at the Patch and the Channel to capture conditions. Jack was already suiting up when I came up the ramp. He hadn't even bothered to check the waves – he was going out no matter what.

You know what? Jack was right. We hit a window of good waves. They started at 11 am and continuously kept coming until 12:30 when the fast raising tide killed them. For an hour and a half Jack and I and a few others scored on one long right peeling wave after another. We took off at the furthest peak, dropped into well-formed curls and rode them all the way to shore. We would then make the long paddle back to the outside peak and within a couple of minutes would do it again.

Jack was in good form as usual. That's him in the photo above from last Wednesday (Aug 6). Today he scored several similar waves. I followed his lead. He would sit at the furthest peak, just a little on the north side of the Patch reef at the point where the waves first broke. From there I could go either right or left, though most waves broke better to the right. On one left I managed to climb high in the curl, step within a couple feet from the nose and work the board up and down the face. I loved the lefts but after I drove through the middle of fifteen surf school campers, I had to stop.

Dan H. was out there when I arrived at the line-up. While paddling out after a good one, I watched him hum down a perfectly formed right curl to the shore. After a half hour Rob, Mr. Malibu, paddled out with his 8-year old son. Rob walked the nose Mickey Dora style on one two-foot wave after another. Following in father's steps, his son scored on some fast inside shore break curls. Back at the cars after my session I met Martha who went out to the Groin and had a fun session. The window of waves appeared there also and died at about the same time as the Patch. Bill from Berkeley told the same story.

While suiting up, Oliver, who I have not seen in years, stopped by. Oliver used to be the manager of the German Hiking Club on Mt. Tam and lived on the premises with his wife. Three years ago they moved to Petaluma when his wife became pregnant. He introduced me to his curly haired three-year old son who was tagging along behind him. Though he hasn't surf much lately he was out there at the Channel this morning and had a fun time.

At 12:30 Jack came by after his session to let me know that "the window had closed." Too much water from the high tide and the waves had died. Thanks to Jack, our timing was perfect. 

August 8, 2014 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight NW breeze
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 65 degrees
Overcast to patchy sun – fog on the horizon	Fun session

I had high expectation for waves today. Last Wednesday was fun due to a decent south swell that had just arrived. The swell peaked yesterday and was still running today – 5 ft north wind swell combined with a 2.2 south swell at 15 seconds. I got up early, packed the car and was on the road by 7:15. When I arrived at Bolinas all the parking spots at the tennis court on Brighton Ave were taken, except one, a good sign that there were waves.

Several of our crew was out there today. All were starved for waves after the total lack of surf for the whole month of July and with the first sign of some decent waves everybody came.

Martha with her new Dewey Weber board was coming down the ramp after I had checked the waves.

"Which way?" she asked referring to the Channel or the Patch.

"That way," I said pointing to the Patch.

I asked her about her trip to Maui. Today, as we spoke, Hurricane Iselle was hitting the big island of Hawaii and was forecasted to move onto the other islands. Behind Iselle was Hurricane Julio that was predicted to pass by the north side of the islands next week. These storms had formed two pulses of south swells for California. They had formed off the coast of Mexico and then turned NW to march across the Pacific to Hawaii. Fortunately, Martha's trip was in two weeks, so they were going after these storms. That's Martha paddling into a small one at the Patch in the photo above.

Doug was at his car changing after his session when I pulled up. He went to the Seadrift side of the Channel and connected on some excellent rights.

Larry, Russ the stand-up guy's brother, also went to Seadrift. At first the tide was too low and the waves were just dumping over in shallow water. They improved as the tide came up and the water filled in.

Jack the Dave Sweet team rider was walking the nose on two-foot curls on the inside rights at the Patch.

So was Rob, Mr. Malibu. He was hanging five on these perfectly peeling two-foot curls. I watched him milk one all the way into shore, paddle back out and immediately turn around and do it again. His board looked different to me. No he told me, he had patched it and he had ordered a new board  – another Pearson Arrow, the ones he always buys. The new one will have more nose-riding area; can you imagine that? Coming from a guy who is on the nose on every wave.

Mary was exiting the water as I was walking toward the Patch with my board. She was at the middle peak (the one by the outside rock) and had a good session.

DB the Safeway checker and Francine were at Ladies Left, the peak north of the Patch reef. Both of them caught several waves.

Robert the carpenter who now lives in Terra Linda was also out there connecting on his share of long rides. I asked him how work was going. He was doing fine and was about to start a new project. The recession had hit most of the construction guys hard, but not Robert. He was already on a major project in the wine country of Sonoma when the crash hit. This big house job lasted for two years, carrying Robert through the recession.

Julie the Bolinas local who works in the planning department of Mill Valley paddled out on her beautiful new blue and white longboard. Today was her birthday and she was taking the day off. She loved her new board and connected on several good waves.

Robyn from Fairfax joined us at middle peak. I had not seen her in a couple of years. I asked about her family and her kids. Her son was about to enter UCSB, my alma mater. She was curious about her son having a couple of longboards in the dorm. Being a big university with hundreds of surfers, I was sure that this issue had been worked out.

Dan, another Bolinas regular who I had not seen in months, was out at the Patch. I asked him about Dan Jr. who graduated from UC San Diego and who is an excellent surfer. Dan Jr. was in his third year as a lifeguard for the county of San Diego and has a new daughter, Dan's first grandchild.

What a great day – finally some fun waves, beautiful weather and a ton of friends in the water. 

August 6, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
10:30 am to 11:45 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
High dropping tide	No wind to slight onshore breeze
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 62 degrees
Overcast early to patchy sun	Fun session

Happy birthday to Jack the Dave Sweet team rider (age 70) and Russ the stand-up guy (age 68). Again the Bolinas Surf clan gathered to celebrate our brethren.

Check out the attendees in the photo above (from left to right): Larry (Russ' brother), DB the Safeway checker, Ann from Bolinas (Jack's friend), Jack, Russ, Susan without her sunglasses, Mary, Frank the stand-up guy, Don from Bolinas (Ann's husband), and Steve the Bolinas local.

Again congrats and thanks to Susan for putting on a superb spread: home made chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, a big plate of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, one gallon of Starbucks dark roast coffee and a quart of orange juice. Jack's wife provided a tray of sliced fruits – strawberries, cherries, cantaloupe and watermelon.

Again we scheduled the gathering at 9 am – that time period between the dawn patrollers and us of the gentlemen's hours. But today I was the only one on gentlemen's hours. Everyone else was in the water early and came in for our celebration.

"Susan, the cake is great. Is it Betty Crocker?"

"Betty Crocker?!" she responded with some force. "No way. I made that from scratch." Later on Susan explained that she had Googled "the world's best chocolate cake recipe," and up popped the one she used, a dark chocolate cake.

Again, everyone ate well, had a good time and agreed that we should do this more often.

The surf at the Patch was good and conditions were ideal – consistent 2 to 4-foot right peeling lines, no wind to light onshore breeze, smooth surface to slightly textured and only a few people out. Stormsurf.com explained that two storms (a hurricane and a tropical gale) south of Mexico had turned northwest towards Hawaii and were sending two pulses of south swell our way. The first arrived this morning, would peak tomorrow and fade over the weekend. The second would show up early next week. We were looking at a consistent string of 2 to 4-foot lines hitting the Patch for the next seven days. Today's prediction was 2-foot south swell at 15 seconds. Mary, Jack and Larry were on them this morning before our celebration. I watched Mary connect on one at the furthest peak and continuously stayed locked in the curl all the way to the shore. Jack did the same on his last ride. He loved the inside rights. He was on them for three hours yesterday and for three hours this morning.  

"Loren, my board will be shaped today," Jack greeted me as he exited the water.

"You're getting a new board?"

"Yes. John told me he would shape it today?"

"John?"

"John Moore," he responded. John is Mystic Surfboards and the former owner of the 2-Mile Surf Shop. "It will be a Patch board. One especially made for the Patch: 9' 6" in length, 3.25 inches thick, 23 inches wide, 19 inches in the nose and a 7 inch square tail. I need something that will get me into the waves early."

"Thus one with little rocker, a paddling machine?"

"Yes, and you should get a new board also." Jack had finished his painting job in Bolinas, had been paid and was treating himself to a new board. It should be ready by the end of August and he promised to let me try it out.

I had a ball out there today. I brought my bigger board, the 9' 4" Becker, which is longer, wider and lighter than my Haut. I immediately felt the difference in paddling speed and caught a ton of waves in the 90 minutes. Earlier I saw the surf campers heading our way. "Oh no! I just got out here," I said to myself. Fortunately the instructor took them to the north side of the reef – where the little kids had a great time. Steve from Encinitas, another surfer and I were the only ones on the inside right peeling peak for over an hour. We shared wave after wave.

When I left at noon it was sunny and warm. I had that surfing glow from vigorous exercise and the prospects for the next few days looked good. I bought Kate some flowers at the Farm Stand and listened to classic surf music from my iPod as I took in the sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean at the top of the Panoramic Highway. It was a great day.

Click on the link below to view this morning's photos.

Bolinas Aug 6 2014

August 4, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Channel
9:50 am to 11:10 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid outgoing tide	Slight onshore south breeze
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 60 degrees
Fog and drizzle to humid overcast	Exercise/fun session

Finally some rideable waves. July was a horrible month for surf, there wasn't any. The last time I was in the water was July 7th, 28 days ago. My arms and legs really felt it after such a long time of inactivity. Internet forecasts were not optimistic – 3.2 ft North swell at 8 seconds combined with a 1.5 ft south swell at 15 seconds. But the waves at the Channel looked good.

When I arrived at Bolinas, Martha's car was there with her board off the top of her car, meaning she was in the water and that was a good sign. She was at the Patch, the only one there, and no decent waves came through in the few minutes that I watched her. After her session, Martha stated she had fun. She had no expectations and discovered the waves were frequent and better than they looked.

Mary and Frank the stand-up guy were the only ones at the Channel. While standing there, a set of sizeable four footers came through. Then another set came through. That's Mary on one of them in the photo above. The waves were definitely bigger and more frequent at the Channel. Frank and Mary came in after that and now no one was in the water except one stand-up surfer at Seadrift.

"You either have an obligation this afternoon or the waves are lousy for you to be getting out so early." I greeted Mary.

"Hey I have been out since 7 am." It was now 9:00. She explained that she started out at the Patch, but it was terrible, she then paddled to Seadrift, which is a long paddle, and then ended up at the Channel. The waves were best at the Channel.

No one was at the Channel when I paddled out, but by the time I left the crowd had swelled to twelve. I didn't connect on any memorable rides and the waves deteriorated as the tide went out and the wind picked up. I did manage to get a couple of fun little lefts near the Groin wall. My main accomplishment was exercise, something I had not had in all of July. I exhausted my arms and legs, but my spirits were up. It sure felt good to be back in the water again.