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.