May 14, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	2’, sets to 3’
High dropping tide	No wind
Hot and sunny	Fun session

There’s nothing like a heat wave to get a surfer’s juices flowing, that’s beach weather: hot sun, no wind, tee-shirt, shorts and sandals. It was 72 degrees in our house at 6:30 am this morning. Kate quickly closed up the house to keep the heat out, windows closed, shades down and the curtains drawn. A low pressure to high pressure gradient caused our recent big NW winds. The low pressure has moved on and the high pressure has settled in. The San Francisco Bay Area was in for four days of record high temperatures. 

With high pressure the wind dies and so does the swell. All we have is residual wind swell left over from last week’s big winds; eight feet, eight second NW swells, which little if any reaches into Bolinas. 

Marty, Doug, Robin and two other guys were out at the Groin when I arrived. It was high tide (four feet) and turning. A small peak was breaking about fifty feet out from the end of the Groin wall. They were going for the infrequent, soft-mushy two to three footers. The surface was glassy, the waves looked beautiful but they had little force. 

Doug was smart. He was way on the inside catching the Malibu like rights that formed next to the Groin pole at the end of the wall. Often with a high tide good inside right curls form. In the above photo Doug is on one of them. I was standing on the Groin wall, which is buried in sand, as Doug came cruising by. He had positioned himself at the peak of the wave as it was breaking. He caught the white water as it was starting to slide down the face, swung right and worked back into the swell and then cruised for a long ways. I watched Doug catch three such waves in a brief period. 

I joined Marty and Robin at the outer break. I caught a few nice lefts but was unable to connect with the inside curls. The waves just didn’t wave any power. All my effort was trying to force my board to stay in the wave, which meant pretty much going off straight. 

About 10:00 am Marty and Doug got out and starting heading for the Ramp. I had to catch up with Marty to give him the water samples I had already gathered that morning to take them to Branson for processing. Marty had injured his back, which was why he was getting out so soon, a pulled muscle or muscle cramp. While we were standing there, Robin came up still in her wetsuit completely frustrated. She had just locked herself out of her van. It was a pure accident. She had just opened the door, threw her keys on the front seat when the woman in the car next to her startled her, Robin jumped and shut the door in the locked position. We helped her out by calling the Triple A, who responded quickly by sending a truck from Point Reyes Station, a mere twelve miles away. 

I went back out. By now the tide and current had turned. There was a strong out-flowing current that had knock down the outside peak. I moved inside to catch the rights that Doug had ridden. These too were impacted by the current. I did manage to catch a few that built into good fast right curls and several others that did not build up but just died. I lasted about forty minutes at this and at 11:00 am I called it quits. 

The enjoyment of the morning was the weather, beach weather, the kind that compels you to get in the water. The water temperature had improved. This morning’s buoy report had the water temperature at 49 degrees, which is cold. But at Bolinas the sun warms the water in the shallow lagoon and at low tide pours all that warm water into the sea. 

It was just another typical heat wave in paradise.

May 8, 2008 Thursday

Surfrider Foundation Marin County monthly meeting	Wipeout Bar & Grill in Greenbrae
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm	Jonathan Kathrein talk

Meet Jonathan Kathrein, shark attack survivor. 

Scott Tye, chairman of the Surfrider Foundation Marin County, invited Jonathan to speak at the chapter’s monthly meeting held May 8^th at the Wipeout Bar & Grill in Greenbrae. 

On August 26, 1998, the last day of summer, a shark attacked sixteen-year old Jonathan while boogie boarding at Stinson Beach. The waves were small, his friend Sean had just gone in when Jonathan’s hand hit something hard in the water. It felt rough and solid. Jonathan at first thought it was sand and pictured a pile of sand under the water. Maybe it was a seal, but seals surface and would look you in the eye. Maybe it was a jellyfish. Jonathan turned to head in. The shark hit the back of his right leg, lifted him into the air and then took him under water. He tried to grab the shark but the shark was so big he could not wrap his arms around it. Fortunately Jonathan had the sense to open his eyes underwater, reached for and grasped the shark’s gills. The shark immediately let him go. 

Jonathan then managed to swim ashore and Sean who witnessed the attacked sought help. A rescue crew arrived shortly and took him by helicopter to the John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek where emergency doctors administered over 400 stitches to save Jonathan’s life. 

After his recovery, experts told him given the size and teeth pattern they assumed he was hit by a twelve-foot great white. Jonathan who was dressed in shorts emphasized this point by showing us the long strings of scares on his knee and the back of his leg. 

From that day on Jonathan’s life changed. First he encountered the public’s fascination with shark attacks. While recovering in the hospital the next day, his dad mentioned that some reporters were outside who wanted to talk to him. Jonathan responded, “Sure, let them in, it won’t be news tomorrow.” How wrong he was. Over a hundred reporters interviewed him while he was in the hospital. In Germany he became a hero. Chancellor Helmet Kohl presented him with Germany’s Person of the Year award. 

Why the fascination with sharks? They don’t eat humans thus shark attacks are rare, less than ten people a year worldwide die from shark wounds. The reverse is not true. Humans do eat sharks, mainly shark fin soup, and about 10 million of them are slaughtered every year. In fact sharks are becoming an endangered species. 

Second, Jonathan feels no animosity towards sharks, has learned a lot about them and works to help protect sharks and the oceans they live in. He has taken his near death experience and expanded it into a message of peace and understanding. He is an inspirational speaker who heads Future Leaders for Peace organization and has written a children’s book, Don’t Fear the Sharks.  He gives talks to school age kids and his message stresses animal to human relationships, which he easily extends to human-to-human interactions. Sharks don’t dislike humans. Once in a while when humans enter the sharks’ environment sharks become frustrated and lash out, much like frustrated children often do. 

By the way, Jonathan is back to surfing. 

David McGuire, coordinator of World Ocean Day, invited Jonathan to sign copies of his book along with big wave rider Grant Washburn at the June 6^th World Ocean Day event sponsored by Surfrider Foundation Marin County and the Wipeout Bar & Grill.

May 3, 2008 Saturday

Corte Madera	Book Passage
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm	Gerry Lopez book signing

Last night 80 avid surfers and myself crowded into the small speakers area of the Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera to listen to surf legend Gerry Lopez present his new book, Surf Is Where You Find It. The bookstore was overwhelmed by the turnout. They gave it little promotion but the word-of-mouth network of the surf community quickly spread the word. Employees scrambled to set up more chairs and they sold out of Gerry’s book before the talk began. Luckily I managed to purchase one of the last copies and gladly stood in line for a half hour afterwards to shake Gerry’s hand and to get his signature. Before the talk I counted the attendees; I stopped at 83. It was an older surfer crowd but there were several young surfers in attendance also. My surf buddies Mary, Marty, Jock were there as were Surfrider Marin members Christie and Michele. 

The book is a collection of 41 of Gerry’s stories. In the book’s introduction Gerry states that though surfing is an individual endeavor the stories can be enjoyed by anyone. Through his fifty years of surfing Gerry has put these talking stories into written form. He wants to spread the wisdom of a lifetime in the water. Gerry read his story Pakala about his discovering surfing as a small boy at his grandmother’s sugarcane workers home in Kaua’i and then presented slides of the photos that begin each story. He briefly described the origin of the photos, the people and the stories they represented. 

Gerry has lived an interesting life, mixed with incredible characters and has achieved fame and success from surfing. Yet he is quiet, humble and unassuming. An air of calmness surrounds him that moves one to want to be around him. In the Q&A session, someone asked how he stands out from others. “Stand out? I’m always trying to blend in,” was his response. 

I was impressed by the short sayings Gerry had about life and surfing. Here are a few: 

Buzzy Trent, a big surfer from the 1940s and 50s when asked about the difference between surfers of his day and those of today stated, “Surfers of today are better fit, better trained and better fed.”  Gerry somewhat disagreed with this statement because early surfers like Buzzy Trent were extremely fit and tough as nails.

“The best surfer is the one having the most fun,” was Gerry’s response to an Australian journalist who was pressing him to state who was the best surfer in the world. This was in the 1970s when the world’s champion surfers were Australians. The journalist pressed Gerry to name someone. “Tommy Zahn,” Gerry finally said. Tommy is another great surfer from the 40s and 50s. “What’s so great about Tommy Zahn?” the journalist snapped. “Well, Tommy Zahn slept with Marilyn Monroe.” Well that does it in my book. 

“When the surfing bug bites, things change.” In his 20s, Gerry was surfing everyday. He noticed that in the water were older surfers and young kids. Men in their prime were working. Gerry wanted a flexible schedule that would allow him to surf when conditions were good. That’s when he became a shaper, started the successful Lightning Bolt line of boards and managed to expand into other phases of the surf industry to maintain his flexible schedule for the past fifty years. 

“The first twenty years of surfing are just a test to see if I was interested.” Gerry claims he is still learning. 

“Surfing is a metaphor for life. Life doesn’t hold still.” Gerry made this statement when comparing snow skiing to surfing. Mountains don’t move, but waves do. For this reason surfing is like life because life is always changing. 

“We’re going backwards. We need to heal our planet. First we have to get control of our minds.” This was Gerry’s lead-in to the next statement. 

“Live with aloha, breathe through your nose and keep paddling,” which is Gerry’s extension to the Delhi Lama’s “peace is within you.” 

Question: “Is surfing art, sport or a religion?” Gerry, “It’s all three, like an onion. We’re just going through layers. I’m just scratching the surface.” Later on he stated, “Surfing is a never ending challenge.” 

“When in doubt, paddle out,” which is a lesson Gerry learned from his friend Herbie when Gerry was just beginning to surf. 

“There’s always another wave,” one of Gerry’s main lessons in life. “Don’t be bummed-out because you missed that wave. Get the next one.” 

“Just keep paddling. One little wave keeps you going for months.” There’s a feeling of satisfaction about catching a wave that lasts and lasts. “Get it while you can. The moments are brief but they last for a long time.” 

Question: “Do you understand why Greg Noll quit surfing?” Gerry, “No.” After a short pause he continued, “I have teased Greg several times that he is still riding that wave from 1969.” Gerry is referring Greg Noll’s riding of the biggest wave ever ridden. In 1969 during a storm of the century, at Makaha Greg Noll paddled into the biggest wave ever ridden. He wiped out, barely survived and quit surfing on that day. He has not ridden a wave since then. 

Question: “In all your travels what is the most interesting culture in the world?” Gerry, “Bali. It’s an incredible place. The people seem happy, even tough they don’t have much. In fact the further you go from the city the happier the people are.” Bali is the land of the surf spot G-Land that Gerry and friends discovered, which is the place that in Gerry’s opinion has the most challenging and intense waves. 

To Gerry conditioning is key to keep surfing. He follows a strict regiment of yoga and swimming to stay flexible and in shape. As long as he can do it, Gerry will keep surfing. “There’s always another wave.” 

Through setting down these talking stories, with this well put together book, with these presentations and his quiet, confident demeanor, Gerry shares with us his wisdom of a life in the water.

May 2, 2008 Friday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
8:30 am to 10:30 am	Consistent 4’, sets head high
Mid upcoming tide	Stiff offshore breeze
Sunny and cool	Epic session

 

All the elements came together this morning:

• A strong south swell (3 ft at 17 seconds),
• Consistent 4 ft waves with frequent head-high sets,
• Mid-up coming tide (4.5 ft at 10:00 am),
• An offshore breeze (NNW),
• A bottom contour that forms fast left peeling curls, and
• It’s my birthday.

The only negative is the cold water, which is 48 degrees. Mark Sponsler at Stormsurf.com had predicted the arrival of this swell a week ago. Everyday he updated the advance of the swell from New Zealand to California. For a Friday morning it’s unusual to see all the parking places at the tennis count taken at 8:00 am. Obviously surfers everywhere were reading the predictions on the Internet and rearranging schedules, work plans, sick days, etc to meet the arrival of the new swell. Here are three examples. 

Coming up the ramp was Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays. “What are you doing here? It’s not Wednesday,” was my greeting to him. I continued, “Don’t tell me you have been watching the surf reports on the Internet and you knew Friday was going to be good so you cleared your calendar.”

With a big smile on his face Scott replied, ”That’s right. On Wednesday I did all the things I normally do on Friday, thus clearing Friday for surfing.” 

“So how was it?” 

“It was fun!” 

I ran into Nate, one of the owners of Proof Lab Surf Shop, suiting up to go out. I told him about Gerry Lopez speaking at Book Passage tonight at 7:00 pm. “That’s interesting, but the surf is too good,” was his response. His plan was to surf Bolinas this morning, go open up his shop and work until 2:00 pm then head for Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands for more surfing. He told me that Cronkhite should be twice as big as Bolinas because south swells bounce off the Potato Patch reef to focus in on Cronhkite. He didn’t say it but logic told me that he couldn’t be at Book Passage at 7:00 pm because he will be in the water until sunset. 

After my session I met my Surfrider friend Christie who introduced me to two other guys that I have been sharing waves with. One of them was a fifth grade teacher at the Ross School. I asked him if he was taking the day off. “I’m playing hooky,” he said. “Yes, he has a board meeting,” Christie added. This reminded of the tales of famed big wave rider, Fred Van Dyke, a teacher at the Punahoe school in Honolulu in the 50s, would “play hooky” whenever the waves got big at Sunset Beach on the North Shore. 

The waves at the Patch looked good, long lines marching in, breaking way out there with lots of white water everywhere and thirty people in the water. Set waves were head high with some overhead. The lefts were tempting with long steep walls continuously breaking left for hundreds of yards. Maybe I should go out there. No way, the fast curls in from of the ramp looked great. 

The good left that we have been seeing since January was still working. I knew to line up at the north end of the seawall. The waves would look walled but the bottom had them breaking left and the offshore wind would hold them up. I caught one memorable head high fast wave. I took off, quickly turned left, climbed to the middle of the wave, crouched down, gained speed, looked down this beautiful green wall of water, feathering sway coming off the top and I heard the “fizz” from the board shooting down a perfectly smooth swell. The fizz happens only on glassy waves when one hits “cruising” speed. Sailors will understand. The fizz occurs when sailboats hit “hull speed”, which is maximum efficient speed for the hull. For two hours I caught great wave after great wave. 

Several of the Bolinas regulars were there. Lou the boogie boarder came out about 9:30, “Better later than never.” Professor Steve showed up for his morning exercise, caught three great waves and headed home. Robyn, who always sits way outside, caught the best of every big set. Grant who is a long boarder, good surfer, no leash with a beautiful wood laminated board paddled over from the Patch and caught several big ones. He let me have a couple of waves and I always deferred to him when he was paddling for a wave. I saw Matt from the shore as he was coming in from the Patch. He gave me the high-five wave after I connected on a good fast curl. From the water I saw Mary walking in from the Patch. I could tell it was her by the distinctive design on the bottom of her board.  I bet she was in the water at 7:00 am this morning. Christie claimed she got four great waves at the Patch, but the cold drove her out of the water after an hour. Jock drove by as I was toweling off to tell me that he enjoyed reading my surf journal. I asked him about his session. He said it was great, he was exhausted and somewhat intimated by the size, wind and the crowd. 

While wiping off my board to put it into the car I discovered a huge gash in the bottom of my board, a deep puncher through the fiberglass eight inches long and up to my first knuckle in depth. How did this happen? I don’t remember it and it didn’t impact the performance of the board. It must have been early in my session when I ran up close behind a short boarder who took off in front of me. This is my strategy for people who drop in on me. I come up as close as I can to borrow a line from the movie Bull Durham to “announce my presence with authority.” The idea is to let them know I’m there and to prevent them from doing any maneuvers. In this case I was very close to him, within one foot, when the wave finally closed out close to shore. We both dropped into the water and our boards collided. I thought it was a gentle bump, but it must have been severe. I asked him if was ok. He said he was. Thus my arrogant tactic just bit me, but that guy didn’t drop in on me again. 

I’m writing this while sitting on the seawall after my session. I’m exhausted and feeling good in the warm sunshine. It’s 12:45 pm and the surf is still epic. Far out to sea I see lines of swells marching in. The waves are still head high, fast barreling lefts. Ten guys are out there screaming down some epic waves. I have to call son Kevin.

April 30, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:30 am to 10:30 am	2’ to 3’, sets were waist high
Mid dropping tide (4.4 ft at 8:00 am)	Stiff offshore breeze
Sunny, breezy and cold	Beautiful nose riding curls

Wind! That’s what I heard when the alarm went off this morning. Lying in bed I could see the redwood trees on the ridge across from our house swaying back and forth. With all this wind the waves will be terrible. What am I thinking? Shall I kiss it off? It’s Wednesday and I’m obligated to gather water samples for Jamie. It’s important to keep Surfrider Foundation’s water testing program moving. But there is too much wind. I could email Jamie that there won’t be any samples today. I went downstairs and logged onto the computer. Per the morning NOAA buoy report the wind was NNW at 24 knots. That’s a lot of wind for 6:00 am in the morning. The swell was 9.5 ft at 8 seconds, which are merely wind waves. But the wind could be offshore. I remember the strong offshore winds on February 13 held up the waves to form perfect nose riding curls. I’ll go to have a look and to gather water samples.

From the ridge at the Pantoll ranger station I could see white caps far at sea, but when I rounded the last bend of the redwood forest I saw nothing but smooth water in the Stinson-Bolinas bay. Great, the northwest winds are offshore at Bolinas and there was plenty of white water indicating there were waves. 

At Bolinas straight out from the ramp there were five surfers in the water including Marty, Doug, and Lou the boogie boarder. Waist high perfectly shape left curls were marching in. In the above photo, Marty is cruising down a nicely shaped left wall. That’s it I’m going. 

The cold really hit me when I entered the water. April’s strong northwest winds have stirred up the water causing the super cold water from the bottom to come to the surface. For the last three weeks, the water temperature at the San Francisco buoy, the one closest to Bolinas, has been pegged at 48 degrees. Cold water combined with a cold strong offshore wind makes for a freezing surf session and instant ice cream headaches anytime one has to put their head under water. 

But the waves were great. On my first wave I connected with a great long left curl. I turned into a good fast breaking line, stepped to the center of the board to gain some speed, crouched down to shoot under the lip of the breaking curl, stepped to the nose, climbed high in the curl and as the wave as about to close out the tail block of my board came out of the water causing the board to free fall sending me flying into some very shallow water. I had several other similar rides in this session. The wind was holding up the waves creating curls that seemed to last forever. Everyone out this morning was connecting with great long left waves. 

Out in the water, Lou thanked me for mentioning him in my Marin’s Other Athletes article that was printed in the Marin IJ. He had an interesting tale about it. He didn’t see it in the paper. Someone had taped the article on the door of his Laundromat in Fairfax. In the early morning when he arrived he scanned the article in the dim light. “What is this?” he said to himself, and then he noted the mention of a boogie boarder who owned a Laundromat. He quickly unlocked the door, turned on the lights to read the article. “Who wrote this?” Then he saw my name at the top and understood its source. Lou appreciated the article. 

Due to the cold I got out after only an hour. All four of us, Marty, Doug, Lou and I, were freezing, felt great about the good waves and vowed to be out here again when the first big south swell arrives on Friday.

April 28, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:00 am to 10:30 am	2’, sets 2 ½‘
Mid dropping tide (0.2 ft at 12 noon)	Steady onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	Fun session

Knee high curls again. In the above photo Mary lines up a swell, catches it and gets a descent ride. What started out to be disappointing conditions turned out to be a fun session. This morning’s buoy report had west swells at 6.2 ft at 11 seconds, 1.2 ft south swells at 12 seconds and NNW winds at 15.5 knots, not exactly stellar conditions. 

When I arrived at Bolinas, Mary was already in the water, Matt was suiting up, and few moments later Robert the Larkspur carpenter arrived. I watched Mary catch a few waves from the overlook and was disappointed; small mushy waves again. Also the wind was a surprise, it was onshore. What happened to the strong NNW winds in the buoy report? Should I go out or kiss it off? I have a lot of other things to do. I’m at the beach, my friends are going out, I haven’t surfed for a week and it’s warm and sunny, thus I decided to do it. 

Mary and Matt were at the peak south of the ramp when I entered the water. I went straight out hoping to connect with great lefts I rode here last Monday. There was a small ground swell running resulting in two foot walls that lined up across the Bolinas beach. The first few waves I caught closed out. I moved further north. The last couple weeks I lined up at the north end of the seawall to catch the good lefts. I tried that again and connected. The shape of the bottom forces these walls to peel to the left. I got one good small left curl and then another one and another. I managed to get up quickly, turn sharply to left, step to the middle of the board to hum through the first section, let the swell build and then step to the nose as the wave closed out in the shore break. I did this nine times this morning. Keep in mind that I do have a loose definition of a “nose ride”. Anywhere beyond the midpoint of the board is a nose ride for me, but all of them were long in the curl rides. 

When Robert paddled out he immediately turned and stroked into a good left curl. Later I saw Matt on a good left kneeling on one knee with his back to the wave and going on and on until the wave collapsed on shore. After a while all four of us were at the north end of the wall connecting on these small clean left waves. Mary and Robert kept eyeing the Patch. Every ten minutes or so an appealing set of waves would be breaking beyond the outside rock. Around 10:30 am they began the long paddle to the Patch to take advantage of these waves. I had to take the water samples to Branson thus after another long left curl that put be in ankle deep water at the shore I decided that was it for me. 

The warm sunshine felt good when getting out of my wetsuit. After gathering a water sample, Matt came in and a few minutes later Mary and Robert returned from their journey to the Patch. They claimed it was great, but I didn’t believe them. A surfer never admits that a long paddle to get to some distance break was not worth it. All four of us agreed that it was a beautiful morning and a fun session, and we were all looking forward to the reported arrival of the first big south swell of the season that is supposed to arrive late Thursday and last through the weekend.

 

 

 

April 2, 2008 Wednesday

 

Bolinas	Straight out from the Ramp
9:10 am to 10:40 am	2’ sets to 3’
High tide (5.1 ft at 9:18 am)	No wind, perfectly still
High overcast	Great fun session

“What am I doing?” I said to myself. “I’m the King of the Knee-High Curl and I’m standing here watching my friend Professor Steve ride these perfect knee-high curls. I’ve got go to out!” 

I had convinced myself to kiss it off today. I wouldn’t even take pictures. Stormsurf.com’s prediction was, “No swell of interest forecast – less than 2 ft.” Small waves were breaking out front at Bolinas. The Patch was barely breaking and the Channel waves were breaking inside the Groin wall. Besides I had things to do: taxes, take water samples to Branson, catch up on the Surf Journal entries, pay bills, work in the yard, finish my book on Visa, etc, etc. 

At the top of the Ramp, Professor Steve pulled up in his ancient Volvo, wetsuit on for his morning exercise. 

“Hey, I hear you are quite a journalist,” he greeted me, referring to my article that was printed in the Marin Independent Journal this past Sunday. Steve had not seen it but was told that he was in it. I promised to email him a copy. He pulled out his longboard and I accompanied him down the ramp. Steve asked if I would also email him the photo I took of him last week. Of course I would. 

“Steve, get out there, I’ll take your picture this morning.” As soon as I got back on the seawall and the camera turned on, Steve was taking off on a nice little left peeler. I quickly focused and captured the end of his ride. I thought to myself that I would hang in here for a few more minutes to see if I can get a couple more shots of him. Within a brief ten-minute period, he caught another three great little waves. I got pictures of him on all of them. He would finish a ride, paddle out, here would come another one, he would turn around and stroke into another glassy curl. That did it. I’ve got to go out. 

While suiting up, Steve, who never stays out very long, was already out of the water and came driving by. “There’s some great little waves out there,” he waved and drove on. 

There was nobody out there when I entered the water. Surely others will show up. Often when one person catches a few waves others observe it and join in, but not this time. For an hour and a half I had the break all to myself. 

The waves broke in one small area, just north of the Ramp about mid-point in the seawall. With a small swell and a high tide the waves were breaking close to shore, much closer than Monday. They were two feet with sets to three feet. The peak was a perfect “A” frame with waves peeling both left and right. I would ride one left and then one right, then left again, and then right again, left, right, one after another. I never caught so many waves in such a short period. The waves were consistent. I would finishing riding one, paddle back out to the peak, wait thirty seconds and here would come another one. On the lefts, I would get high in the curl, step to the center of the board, lean into the wave to pick up speed and cruise across the faces of these small waves right up to the shore, within three feet of dry sand. 

The rights were even more makeable than the lefts due to the deeper water on the inside near the shore. I would go right on the set waves, which were solid walls of water across the entire impact zone. The right curls would hold up. I could drop into them, cut right, climb high in the curl and lock the inside rail under the lip of the curl, stand there frozen and glide to the shore, literally into six inches of water. 

At one point between sets, I paused, took a deep breath and looked around. “This is surfer paradise,” I thought to myself. It was perfectly still, there was no wind, breeze or breath of moving air. The surface was tabletop smooth and the water had warmed up a few degrees. The high cloud cover cast a grey glow over the hills behind the Bolinas Lagoon and Stinson Beach. It was beautiful, in front of me was a continuous pulse of perfect little curls and I had it all to myself. I was stunned by it all. 

This is a day I won’t forget for a long time.