February 25, 2015 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:50 am to 10:40 am	2' to 3', no sets
Low dropping tide	Onshore breeze
Air temp: 63 degrees	Water temp: 57 degrees
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

"So how was the surf?"

"Crappy!" I had just come up the ramp from my session and was greeted by a tall, thin guy on his way to check out the waves. I could tell he was an experienced surfer by his big shoulders and neck muscles. "Hey, I'm being honest."

"I appreciate that."

In forty-five minutes I caught close to ten waves, all of them small walls that just flopped over, nothing to really to boast about.

I was determined to get into the water today. I arrived at 8:30 and the regulars, Mary, DB the Safeway checker and stand-up guys Frank and Russ, were at the peak right out from the base of the ramp. The Patch was tiny and a river of current was flowing out at the Channel. Mary and DB connected on some decent rides. That's Mary on one of them in the photo above.

Only DB was at the peak when I entered the water and within a few minutes, she went in, leaving me out there by myself. The tide was low, allowing me to walk out to the waves and I had no problems catching them. My weakness was popping up and today was a good day to work on that. I managed to jump up on half the waves and took the rest on my knees. By the time my creaky bones allowed me to stand up the ride was over.

I brought Cali, my 70 pound blond lab, with me this morning. The low tide (0.6 ft at 11:00 am) provided perfect conditions for the dog. She loved it. Cali dragged me down the ramp and sprinted down the beach when I let her off the leash. DB was about to enter the water when she saw Cali and I on the beach. She asked if I would hang around while she got her dog, Creola. She charged up the ramp and returned still in her wetsuit with her dog. We were thinking the two would play with each other. Well not exactly. They noticed each other, sniffed and wagged their tails and then charged off doing their own things. I threw a tennis ball for Cali while DB flung a cloth Frisbee to Creola. My dog loves the water so much she refuses to leave. Good thing DB was in her wetsuit. I asked her to retrieve Cali as she defiantly stood in shoulder high water.

After my session I took Cali down to the beach for a second time, this time with my wetsuit on. Again she had a great time plunging into the small waves to retrieve the ball. And again she refused to leave and I had to wade into the water to get her.

As usual it was another beautiful morning in Marin. The dog was wet and exhausted and I had that surfer's calm after vigorous exercise.

February 20, 2015 Friday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp and the Groin
9:10 am to 10:20 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Air temp: 60 degrees	Water temp: 57 degrees
Low overcast to patchy sunshine	Fun session

I walked down to the beach at Bolinas and was surprised to see four surfers at a peak straight out from the ramp. This peak had reappeared after four years of being dormant. No one was out at the Groin or the Patch. I have wonderful memories surfing this peak in years past – beautiful A-Frames waves peeling in both directions. Its reappearance has to do to shifting sands. Usually after winter storms the sand pulls out to sea and today all of the big rocks in front of the seawall were fully exposed. The sand must have reformed in sand bars 50 yards offshore forming these fun waves.

I stood on the seawall with camera in hand and watched Frank the stand-up guy, Mary, Jaime the starving artist and one other surfer connect on some nice well-formed three-foot curls. That's Frank on a good one in the photo above. He stroked into the peak, cleanly turned right, let the wave build up and cruised a long ways on a continuously peeling right curl. He ended up a few yards from the base of the ramp. Mary also connected on three long right waves in the ten minutes that I stood there.

"I'm going!" I said to myself. Gentle well-formed old man peaks breaking in both directions with long periods between sets for easy paddle outs. Jaime warned me that the upcoming tide was impacting the waves and the backwash off the retaining wall was increasing. The waves were better earlier – just my luck.

When I entered the water Mary was exiting. The peak had shifted to the south and water was rushing up the ramp. No one was out there. I paddled out to the peak with high hopes. But it didn't happen. The deeper water caused the waves to break closer to shore and the retaining wall of the house on the south side of the ramp. I managed to connect on two decent rights, but it was obvious that the good waves were over.

I walked down the beach to the Groin and paddled out around to wall to the first south peak. By now one surfer was out there and two stand-up guys were in the Channel. The waves at both locations were intermittent. I waited and waited and finally caught one slow mushy wave. It wasn't happening here. Knowing that high tides sometimes form good right peeling on the inside, I looked for them and they were there – the Malibo rights had appeared. I caught four of them – fast, two-foot right peeling curls. After an hour my arms were spent and I headed in.

On my way back to the car, the peak at the base of the ramp was crashing into the retaining wall. I chanced waiting for a lull to make a run to the ramp. I didn't quite make it and had to stop and move out to confront an incoming wave. I pushed my board over a wall of white water and braced myself to fight through the two-foot backwash wave bouncing off the wall.

While out at the Groin at stand-up surfer paddled over from Seadrift. It was Captain Kip, who had time on his hands due to the port slow-down by the Longshoremen; he is a captain of a harbor pilot boat. We chatted briefly, and he headed south while I moved in for the Malibo rights.

The surf wasn't great, but as usual after a dose of cold water and vigorous exercise, I felt great – revitalized and ready for anything.

February 11, 2015 Wednesday

Jeff Clark

"Hey was that THE JEFF CLARK?" I asked an aging local surfer while standing on the bluff at Kelly Avenue.

"Yes it was!"

Jeff Clark is one of the most noteworthy and respected big wave surfers, famous for discovering Mavericks, the big wave reef break in Half Moon Bay, and surfing it alone for fifteen years from 1975 to 1990. He founded the Mavericks big wave contest and currently builds custom big wave surfboards at his Mavericks Surf Shop.

Kate and I made our first pit stop on our drive to Ventura at the Half Moon Bay State Beach at the end of Kelley Ave. We purchased an Annual Day Use Pass (something all surfers should have) from the park ranger in the entrance booth and then drove over to the main parking lot and restrooms. A few cars were lined up along the curb nearest to the bluff that over looks the beach and the waves. In the middle was a white van with "Mavericks Surf Shop" painted on the side.

"That's Jeff Clark's surf shop, I wondered if he is here?" I said to Kate, and he was. "Kate, that's Jeff Clark over there." He was zipping up his wetsuit and chatting with two other guys.

His board was lying on the grass near a picnic table. It was short, about 8 feet, thick (at least 4 inches thick) with lots of rocker and a sharply turned up nose, definitely not a big wave board. At first I thought he was into short boards, then I noticed the paddle laying along side the board. Jeff grabbed his board, saluted his friends and headed for the water. He was into stand-up surfing.

The waves had some size and the strong offshore east wind was holding up the curls and sending arches of spray back over the tops of the breaking waves. Kelley Ave breaks like Ocean Beach only closer to shore with big powerful peaks and lots of current. My son Kevin loves this place and I hate it. Six short-boarders and one other stand-up surfer were out there. I watched one of them connect on a big left peak. He screamed across the top of the wall in a tight crouch, the lip folded over him, on he went completely barreled until the wave smothered him in swirling white water.

We met John, one of the guys Jeff was chatting with. Like Jeff, he too grew up in Half Moon Bay and has known Jeff for years. He provided us with some interesting details.

"Yes that was Jeff. He's now into stand-up. With age and creaky joints, he took it up."

Per John, Jeff's father was into construction and constantly had Jeff and his two brothers moving material like rocks and lumber around, causing Jeff to grow up physically strong. The Clarks' house was close to the water, allowing Jeff to check out ocean conditions every morning. He and John took up surfing at an early age. Jeff was always going for the big ones. He was never afraid of them. John, like all us normal surfers, knew his limits. John and Jeff used to sit on the cliff above Mavericks and contemplate if those big waves were rideable.

John remembered being with Jeff out at Ross' Cove, the inlet just north of Mavericks. Jeff was always paddling further and further outside of the rest of them and was drifting towards the peak at Mavericks. I'm familiar with Ross' Cove. On a Mavericks day, you can see the Mavericks break from the cliff above Ross' Cove. My surfer buddy Randy, who I worked with at Visa, loved Ross' and told me of many encounters of double overhead waves.

One time Jeff took John and a friend on a Zodiac out to the Mavericks. Jeff jumped off the front while John and friend stayed in the boat, safely in the channel. Jeff paddled about 50 yards over to the impact zone. For Mavericks it was a small day, maybe 10 feet. They watched Jeff catch a few. This was John's first time being close to the break and to him it was huge.

He claimed that he went out to Mavericks once, got pounded on three waves and never went out there again. As he put it, "big wave surfing, either you have it or you don't. And I don't"

I'm with John – love to watch the big ones, but for me nowadays, it's old men, longboards and four to five foot waves.

John and I watched Jeff paddle out through the white water of some pretty big walls and take off on two waves – one right and one left. On the first one, Jeff cut right on a head high wave and easily cruised through the peak out to the shoulder. On his second wave, he did the same thing going left, having switched his stance (right foot forward) to face the wave the whole way.

"I read that Jeff was originally goofy-foot, but he taught himself to surf normal foot forward because most waves at Mavericks break to the right," I said to John.

"Not true! He always could switch stance, from the get-go." I thanked John for his interesting tales and wished him a long life of surfing.

Now two of my absolute heroes, Laird Hamilton and Jeff Clark, are stand-up surfers. Someday I'm going to have to give SUP a try.

January 30, 2015 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
10:15 am to 11:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid dropping tide	NW cross breeze to no wind
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 55 degrees
High thin fog to bright sunshine	Fun session

Today was my third time surfing this week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Surf, waves and weather were pretty much the same all three days, and for the third time I brought my dog Cali.

Last night I was tired and I had already taken the dog to the beach twice this week. I could have easily talked myself out of going this morning. But conditions were good and I had four good reasons for going:

1. Kate needed the time to write. She was under a publisher's deadline to complete her latest novel, thus four to five hours without interruptions from me or the dog would be a big help to her.

2. Beach weather – the Bay Area had fallen back into drought conditions. A stubborn high pressure ridge sitting off the coast of Oregon or over the desert in Arizona has blocked low pressure rain producing storms from the West Coast and has forced the jet stream to direct cold Artic air over the middle of the country, causing severe snow storms and record low temperatures. But here in California all this week it had been sunny and warm with persistent east winds, making for perfect beach days.

3. Decent swell – per this morning's buoy report: 7-foot north swells at 14 seconds. Today's waves would be the same as Monday and Wednesday's – consistent 2 to 4 feet.

4. Mid-dropping tide – low enough to take the dog to the sand. Lately at high tide, the water was crashing up against the retaining wall of the house on the south side of the ramp, blocking foot access to the beach.

Conditions looked good; I had to go. I should take advantage of these drought days: sunny, warm air, warm water, no wind, glassy surface and consistent old man size waves.

The regulars were out today:

Frank the stand-up guy and Ray the retired fireman were toweling off from their sessions when I arrived. Hank and I checked out the waves from the seawall and then surfed together at the Patch.

Mary was coming up the ramp after when I went to check the waves. We had not seen each other for a couple of months. She enquired about my health. At our ages, whenever you don't see someone for a while, one thinks there must be a health problem. I assured her that I was fine.

Jack the Dave Sweet team rider and Jaime the starving artist were sitting on the seawall sunning themselves after their sessions when I walked by with my board in hand. Jack had his new Mystic Patch board. Jaime also had a new board, a custom Michel Junod based on Jaime's classic old Hobie single fin longboard. He had taken his Hobie down to Michel and asked for replica. Michel was familiar with the model, knew the shaper of the original board and created an exact copy of it. Jaime was stoked and was now getting the feel for the board. That's Jaime and Jack in the photo above, with Jaime in the lead.

Rob, Mr. Malibu, was suiting up when I passed by to check the waves. He showed me his new board, a big one, 10-foot Pearson Arrow, 23 inches wide, 3 3/8 inches thick, square tail and a glassed in single fin. Of course he ripped it up. I saw him on countless small curls walking the nose, hanging five, switching stance and executing big cut backs. For him it was just another fun day. He was also here Wednesday and Thursday.

David who used to ride the Becker board was out there this morning, his third time this week. I surfed with him Monday and Wednesday. David has completely recovered from his shoulder operation and was back to three or more hour sessions. He enters the water at 8 am and exits around 11. Today he stayed out to 11:30. Three and a half hours of constant wave after wave and paddling from peak to peak. Yes he is in good shape.

Greg O, the Branson parent, was out this morning. In his fifties he has become a real surf animal and a regular at Bolinas. I always see him out to the furthest peaks.

Robyn from Fairfax, who I had not seen in months, was out this morning. I asked her about her surfing son, who started at UCSB (my alma mater) this fall. He was doing fine. Robyn sat way outside waiting for the big ones and I watched her drop down a couple of head-high walls.

Chuck, the Bolinas local, actually spoke to me today for the first time in the twenty years that I have surfed here. He is not the talkative type. I was taking photos of the Patch from Terrace Road, Chuck was checking out the waves from his small pick-up truck. I asked him if he was going out. He said yes, it was a beautiful day and he needed the exercise.

Chuck rides a kneeboard and he is good. I watched him duck under the curl on a set wave and thought maybe I should take up knee boarding. I'm having difficulty standing up, my legs are weak and I'm not agile anymore. Most of my best rides lately are on my knees. I have considered stand-up surfing, where you are already standing when you catch the wave. But handling and carrying those big boards is a hassle. Now kneeboards are small, not much bigger than a boogie board. I watched Chuck closely as he skillfully hummed down some nice curls. I could do that; I should check this out.

What a beautiful morning and a great week of surfing. It is always fun to be in the water on sunny days with your friends. 

January 2, 2015 Friday

Stinson Beach	Life Guard Tower
12 noon to 1:00 pm	2' to 3'
Mid outgoing tide (-0.5 ft @ 4 pm)	NW cross breeze
Air temp: 55 degrees	Water temp: 57 degrees
Sunny with high wispy clouds	Fun session

The waves at Stinson this morning were flat, gentle, easy to catch and forgiving. On my first wave I connected on a good left, the take off was flat and left plenty of time to get up. I jumped up to a squat but lifting my body to stand up didn't happen. My legs were too weak. I pushed hard to get up but fell off to the side.

I hadn't surf in 48 days, from November 14 to today. Marin had four weeks of rain, starting the day after Thanksgiving that produced over 20 inches of water and filled the Mount Tamalpais reservoirs. The Christmas crunch, short days, and cold weather contributed to not surfing.

After the rains, a high-pressure ridge formed offshore of California and Oregon, setting up same drought pattern we had last year. The Jet Stream bent around the high-pressure ridge and directed the severe storms from Alaska over the middle of the country, causing one of the coldest winters in years in the Midwest. Meanwhile, dry warm weather settled over the West Coast.

No exercise plus the high caloric days of the Holidays had made me lethargic and slothful. I was determined to break out of this malaise by going surfing. The NOAA weather radio reported 3-foot NW swells at 13 seconds. Bolinas was flat with no one out at either the Channel or the Patch. With a 6-foot high tide, I figured that Stinson could be decent.

Captain Kip was just pulling out after his session when I arrived at Stinson. He stated that the "holes" were in – meaning good peaks caused by different elevations on the bottom. The storms had moved out the sand, uncovering the hard sandstone with its various under water canyons. Kip got some good waves down at the Calles. He gave me a free tide chart and I sold him one of our Surfrider 2015 surf calendars. Then off to work he went.

Kip was right, there were peaks, small well-shaped waves, nothing spectacular and nobody was out. I picked the peak straight out from the lifeguard tower. That's it in the photo above. In an hour I caught six waves, which were nothing to write about. All were lefts; the bottom was forcing all the waves to break left.

After two months without surfing, I thought my arms would be out of shape. Wrong! I had no problems catching waves, easily stroked out to the line-up and could quickly paddled from peak to peak. The weak spot was my legs. I couldn't jump up. I would jump up to my knees, ride through the first section hoping for a moment to stand up. It only happened twice. The legs just didn't have the strength. Deep knee bend exercises begin tomorrow morning.

Being Friday after a holiday and with sunny weather, Stinson beach was crowded – the beach, not the water. Nobody was in the water except one other surfer who was 200 yards to the north.

After my session, I went to the Parkside Cafe to purchase coffee and bread (the best bread in Marin County). The snack bar was jammed. I ran into John the owner of the Parkside and I thanked him for buying 20 Surfrider 2015 calendars, which he sells at the restaurant and hands out to friends.

As I knew it would happen, after vigorous exercise in cold water, I felt great, my body was alive. That's why I surf.