February 27, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
9:30 am to 11:00 am	3’ to 4’, sets head high
Low, right at turning point	No wind
Warm sunny day	Good session

Today was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect much given the small mushy waves we rode yesterday in the Channel. At 6:30 am I logged onto the Stormsurf.com to get the latest NOAA buoy readings: 3.5 ft north swell at 12 seconds, 2.3 ft south at 17 seconds and NW wind at 12 knots. 

“2.3 foot south swell at 17 seconds, that’s significant,” I said to myself. “Where did this come from? South swells go right into the south facing Bolinas, especially at the Patch.” 

When I arrived at Bolinas, Mary and Marty were already in the water. Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays was suiting up. His business attire, slacks, dress shirt and tie were neatly on a hanger in the back seat of his car. Another young surfer pulled-up, being very outgoing he started chatting with me about conditions, etc. Jeff, he had introduced himself to me, had an Australian accent and was anxious to get back in the water. 

Professor Steve was just coming out of the water. “It must be spring, you’re wearing a tee shirt,” he said to me. Yes I was; with the clear skies, no wind and warm sun, one did not need anything heavier. We chatted a few minutes about conditions, swells, weather, school, and Brown University. He inquired about my “Brown Dad” cap. I told him about my daughter’s pursuit of a PhD in Spanish. 

By the time I entered the water it was 9:30 am. I had said good-bye to Kate at 7:15 am in Mill Valley and two hours later I’m finally entering the water. Why did it take so long? Here’s why:

• I went to Bay Front Park in Mill Valley to collect two water samples,
• I stopped at Stinson Beach to gather a water sample there,
• I chatted with Scott,
• I chatted with Jeff,
• I chatted with Professor Steve,
• I went up to the overlook to take pictures of the Patch. I stood and stood there with camera at the ready waiting for my friends to catch some waves. It was a long time between rides.
• I went to use the public facilities,
• I pulled my wetsuit on only to discover that I had forgotten to put my car keys in the zipper pocket of my trunks. Thus I pulled the suit down, zipped the key in the pocket and pulled the suit on a second time. 

Finally out at the break, I watched some beautiful four-foot walls of water come through. Mary and I caught a good set wave. I recall the picturesque slight of looking down this gentle wall watching Mary high in the wave with me below her and the sun reflecting on the swell as we rode on and on until the wave died way on the inside.

The above photo reveals the conditions of the day. There are six long lines of south swells marching in with the furthest two shaping up to become good head high waves. The pattern of the white water reflects the “A” shape of the reef with its apex forming a peak that breaks both left and right and the inside reef showing the dominant right break of the Patch. There’s a surfer on the inside, another paddling out in the upper right corner and between them is the exposed outside rock.

The outside rock is a “landmark” for us. It is exposed during low tides and submerged when the tide is high. When submerged the water swirls around it marking a shallow point in the reef where the waves will break. Today this rock was my line up point. I positioned myself near it because the waves break there and I wanted to know its location so I wouldn’t run into it. Also the current was slowly carrying us out and to the north. The rock let us know how far we were drifting.

The set waves were breaking out beyond the outside rock. I went out and north of the rock to catch the set waves. A big beautiful right wave came through, it started to break in front of me, and as white water came sliding down the face I turned and caught it. As I stood up I looked down the face of a head-high wall that was feathering several feet in front of me. I climbed high in the wave, gained some speed and started looking for the rock. It was in front of me. “I can make it, I can make,” I was thinking to myself as I passed within ten feet of it. On the other side, the wave jumped up due to the shallow point in the reef and I shot through another steep head-high section. The wave went on and on, reforming into one section after another and I milked it for all its worth.

Later on I positioned myself just north of the outside rock when another set right wave came through. I caught it late, jumped up and cut to the right and looked for the rock. It was about ten feet away and slightly behind me; I managed to pass in front of it. The wave picked up, peaked on the other side of the rock and broke. With the breaking wave coming at me, my speed picked up and I swung around to take it to the left. To my surprise a good left curl formed in front of me. Scott was paddling for it but stopped when he saw me heading right at him. I rode that left curl a long ways.

I was out and north of the rock when a big set of well-shaped left waves came through. I paddled for the first one but missed it. Now I was out of position and while paddling out I saw Scott catch the biggest one of the set. He positioned himself perfectly, stroked toward the peak of the wave, caught it, swung left and got high in the wave and glided for a hundred yards down a beautiful green wall of water. I was frustrated for not catching one of these beauties, but the sight of Scott smoothly cruising down that long left is firmly planted in my memory.

Similar to what happened yesterday, within a very short period the waves changed. As the tide started to come in the waves stopped breaking. The swells kept marching in but the water was deeper and thus they stopped breaking until they reached the shore. The ever-optimistic surfer never accepts the fact that good breaking waves have slowly become now non-existent. Mary, who had entered the water at 7:30 am, now at 10:30 finally gave up and went in. I stayed out there another half hour hoping for one more beautiful good wall that never came. I caught one flat wave that managed to take me close to shore. To get inside and to stay in the wave I threaded my way around several inside rocks and was on top of rocks in six inches of water when the wave finally died. I quickly paddled straight south to get into deeper water, sand bottom and away for the rocks. Being close to shore I gave it up and went in.

It was a good session and the warm sun felt good as I greeted my companions in the parking lot. Mary, Marty and I agreed that it was a special morning, something we didn’t expect but we greatly appreciated the good waves and warm weather.

 

 

 

February 26, 2008 Tuesday

Bolinas	Channel
9:00 am to 10:40 am	2’ to 3’, sets to 4’
Low tide, right at the turning point	Slight onshore breeze
Beautiful, warm, sunny day	Average waves, good exercise

As I drove over the crest of the ridge at Pantoll I got my first glimpse of the ocean. It was calm, flat, smooth, no white caps and no ripples. The sun was out; it was warm with no clouds and no wind. Yesterday the ocean was still stirred up from the storms that had passed over Marin Saturday and Sunday. This morning the NOAA buoy report had the swell at six feet every 13 seconds with a slight NW wind. The ocean had settled down. My expectations for some good waves were building. I had already collected water samples from Bay Front Park in Mill Valley to take to Jamie at Branson. I stopped at Stinson to collect another sample there. The waves at Stinson were clean, well formed, about four feet but walled due to the low tide. “Bolinas must be good,” I thought. 

Marty and Doug were standing by their cars chatting when I pulled up at Bolinas. “Conditions aren’t good; there’s nothing there,” was Doug’s greeting. We went to check it out. They were right it didn’t look good; merely ripples at the Groin and all the rocks were exposed at the Patch. I suggested we go up to the bluff above the Groin to check out the Seadrift side of the Channel. We stood there for several minutes watching these small walls of water peeling to the right. Further down the beach in front of the Seadrift houses we saw a couple of sizable left waves come through. 

Recently the direction of the current in and out of the lagoon had shifted. It now flows close to the Groin wall and turns nearly 90 degrees north after the Groin pole and runs along the beach to the ramp. The rights were on the other side of the out flowing current. The channel for the current was deep, but on the other side where the waves were breaking it was shallow, very shallow. 

“It’s too shallow,” Marty said with concern. “Marty, you only need six inches of water to surf. It will be ok,” I assured him. My guess was the waves were two to three feet breaking in two feet of water. In the above photo you can see the Groin pole, the deep channel for the incoming current and the shallow beach were the waves are breaking. 

We hesitated about going out. But since it was a beautiful morning so we decided to go. I suggested a strategy: enter the water at the Groin, paddle through the incoming current, once on the other side walk out to the waves and depending on the waves work our way south to the Seadrift breaks. 

The waves were bigger than they looked from the bluff and the water was at least three feet deep. The waves were “soft”, not much punch or speed. In the Channel there was a deep section that formed some nice makeable right waves. Marty and I keep drifting further south hoping to discover some nice left peaks in front of the houses at Seadrift. It never happened. The waves over there were ripples of smaller waves that mushed together to form shapeless walls that crumpled into a shallow beach. 

After a half hour I suggested to Doug that we drift back to the Groin. It looked like the waves were getting better there. In the short time we were out there, the waves did change. We drifted back to the Groin. By now the wind had shifted to slightly offshore, the waves were now beautiful, clean, fast breaking right walls with spray coming off the top. I was determined to connect with a good one, but it didn’t happen. The waves broke too fast. By the time I stood up the waves had already broken several yards in front of me. I did finally connect on one. I managed to catch it early, stand up and cut to the right before dropping down the face. I was positioned well at the top of the curl when it started to break, thus I managed to go quite a ways before the entire wall collapsed. 

Soon Marty had reconnected with Doug and I. What surprised us was that the current pushed us north of the Groin. The tide had turned a half hour ago but the current was still flowing out of the lagoon. We have yet to figure out the turning of the current. Now we were several yards north of the Groin. I caught one good three-foot left that carried me all the way to the deep water of the current along the beach. Being just a few feet from shore, I decided to call it quits. 

All three of us enjoyed the morning. The waves were average, but we got some great exercise and the day was warm, sunny and beautiful. 

February 21, 2008 Thursday

Ventura	Surfers Point
8:50 am to 10:15 am	4’ to 6’ with sets overhead
High tide	Crosswind (south) breeze
High clouds and patchy sun	“Thrilling session”

“Kate it was thrilling! In fact, too thrilling,” I exclaimed to Kate when she joined me in the parking lot while I was getting out of my wetsuit that morning. I caught six waves and they were all overhead, thick, powerful and fast. 

Kate and I were staying at the Crown Plaza Hotel located on the water at Surfers Point in Ventura. I’m up early walking along the strand taking pictures of the surf. The city of Ventura has done a great job fixing up the beachfront here. It’s not a beautiful beach, the sand is dirt and the beach is composed of sea-smoothed rocks that butt up against a mass of man deposited boulders to protect against sea erosion. On top of the boulders is a nicely done concrete walkway or strand/bike path with green grass, palm trees, parking lots and public restrooms. This development stretches for about two miles and is very popular with the locals as well as the tourists. 

I was standing on a cement slab above a drainage pipe at a point in the curve of the oceanfront. Fifty yards out the waves peaked, broke to the right and wrapped into the cove in front of the hotel. Ten surfers were out there catching some great rides. As I focused with the camera on these rides I noted that the waves were big. Most were overhead and a few were two to three feet overhead. Out of the several photos I took I selected above one because it depicted the closeness of the waves in each set.  This photo shows four waves: white water of a broken wave on the inside, a breaking small curl, the shoulder high wave this guy is riding and an overhead big one just behind it. The sets consisted of four to five sizable, closely stacked waves. Being the “king of the knee high curl” who has spent the last several months riding the soft little waves of Bolinas I was a little apprehensive. But I came all this way, some 300 miles, with my board strapped to the top of the car to go surfing, thus I’m going out. 

I put on my wetsuit, tucked my board under my arm and walked up the strand to the point I had been watching. I’m thinking that here are some sizable waves at a break I’m not familiar with and I’m going out alone, that’s not a good idea. “Why didn’t I call Colin?” I said to myself. Colin is my niece Allison’s husband, lives in Ventura, tall strong young carpenter and a courageous dedicated surfer. I should have called him. Most likely he has to work, after all he and Allison have two young boys to raise, but I won’t know that unless I call. I passed another fifty-year old long boarder who had just gotten out of the water and I asked how it was. He hustled on mumbling, “They’ve all gone to Rincon.” I take it he was referring that the waves were good and there were only ten people out in the water. 

I stood at the water’s edge and devised my strategy. I would go for the inside peak that is just south of the peak where the ten people are located. I’ll enter the water and paddle at a 45-degree angle to reach the smaller inside peak. 

Good plan, but the execution was weak. The tide was high and the waves were crashing beyond the sea-smoothed rocks and up onto the man deposited ones. One has to carefully climb over the rocks to enter the water. I’m gingerly stepping from rock to rock when a wave of white water hits. In a flash, the surge knocks me over and I’m on my ass sitting on a slab of concrete, straining against getting washed down the shore. I shamble up, jump in the water and start paddling for all my worth. With a little luck and skill at ducking under white water I made it out. 

I sat out there a while trying to figure out the correct position. There is one other guy at this peak. Meanwhile the people at the big peak continue picking off these great rides and I was watching these large, large walls of water coming at me. Fortunately I’m at a point break thus no matter how big every wave has great shape. I finally went for it. A large wave came through, it was starting to break, I paddled as hard as I could, the momentum of the wave pick me up, I stared straight down at a six foot drop, I stood up, the board and I hung at the top of the wave for a second, “I’m into it,” I thought, and then I dropped down the face of the wave. At the bottom of the wave I swung to the right and was looking up at the crest of the wave as the wave started to close out in front of me. I watched while white water ten feet down the line that was beginning to slide down the face in front of me. I turned and straightened out and was thinking that maybe I could get under the white water and back into the swell. Then the white water hit me, it blew me off the board like an insect, my feet went vertical, the board shot out in front of me, and I fell into the turbulence of the wave’s washing machine. “Wow I did it, I rode one,” I said to myself when I surfaced. I grabbed my board and stroked outside to try it again. 

With the ice broken, I was determined to get some rides, which I did. I screamed down another overhead wave, which lined up perfectly in front of me. I shot through one section, executed a sweeping cut-back and turned into another fast section and keep milking the wave until I was way on the inside of the cove near the hotel. I managed to catch four more like this one. All were thick, powerful waves with big drops. 

While sitting out there watching the people at the peak to the north, I thought one of them was a woman. She caught a big one and came screaming by me. Yes, she was an older female about my age, athletic, big frame with gray-white hair pulled back into a small ponytail, no booties, no gloves and a white band-aid across her nose. When paddling back out, she commented to me, “Challenging waves.” I agreed. She caught as many waves as all the other guys out there. Since she showed no fear and such expertise, my guess was she has been surfing for thirty years. 

Getting out was difficult and getting in would be just as challenging. I figured I had to exit the water at the same spot that I entered. This meant I had to go over to the north peak. My strategy was to paddle over there and take a smaller wave and ride it all the way to the shore. Easier said than done. I paddled over there and here came a huge set. I had to paddle out, ducking white water after white water. After the set passed, I turned around and started paddling in. A good wave came, I caught it, swung right and shot down a beautiful wave, which put me near the shore. I paddled north to get to a point where I could leave the water. Like it was when I entered, I had to time my exit between large lines of white water. Floating up to the rocks that sloped down to the water, I managed to stumble over several small rocks to safety. 

When walking with my board down the strand to the hotel I met the older gal walking in the other direction. I asked her if she had caught a good one that took her all the way down here. No, she exited the water by the pier, which is about a quarter mile down the beach, because she’s barefoot and there’s sand instead of rocks there. 

As I walked back to the hotel I had this feeling of elation. I had gone out into overhead waves and handled it; six overhead waves, not bad for a 62 year old. I was proud of myself. 

For the rest of the day I was exhausted and I slept very well that night.

February 20, 2008 Wednesday

California Coast	San Francisco to Ventura
Rain, sun, high clouds to strong winds

Today Kate and I drove from Mill Valley to Ventura. We took advantage of a our two night certificate for the Crown Plaza hotel, which is located on the strand within a few steps from Surfers Point, that we won at a silent auction at the fund raiser for Lifehouse ten months ago. Last Easter we had stayed at this hotel to visit Kate’s sister Joan and her husband Larry. Kate and I had a great stay. I surfed two days with niece Heather and Colin, my niece Allison’s husband. From our eighth-floor room we had a great view of the beach and the surf; also the hotel is in walking distance of the several great restaurants, bookstores and gift shops of the revitalized downtown area. Last May, Terry and Jani invited Kate and I to attend the “Cooks of Marin” benefit for Lifehouse, an organization for children with disabilities. To our surprise among the hundreds of silent auction items there was one for three days and two nights at the Ventura Crown Plaza. Not many people in Marin are familiar with Ventura or this hotel and its location, thus there was only one bid when I entered mine and no one bid after me. We walked off with a great bargain, two nights right on the water at a popular surf location for $225. This week is Branson’s ski-week break thus with Kate off we made a reservation for Wednesday and Thursday nights. 

It took us eight and a half hours to drive down the coast. Why so long? We take our time, go along the coast so I can check the surf, and we were in my Jeep Liberty surf vehicle, which putts along on four overworked cylinders. Kate and I have been making this drive for 38 years. We go along the Great Highway in San Francisco, cut to Skyline Blvd (Hwy 35) to the turn-off to Pacifica, then onto Highway 1 through Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz to Moss Landing where we veer onto Hwy 183 through Castroville to Salinas. At Salinas we get onto Highway 101 and stay on it the rest of the way to Ventura.

Today we made five stops before reaching Ventura:

1. Kelly Ave State Park in Half Moon Bay to check the waves and to use the bathroom. Here I proudly used by Annual Day-Use pass that allows me to park all day at any California state park. This is a must have for surfers, it’s pricey, $125 a year, but there are numerous great surf spots that are state parks. Also, it’s very handy when traveling down to coast for bathroom breaks. 

2. Avenue 41 parking lot in Santa Cruz, again to check the surf and use the bathroom.

3. Carl’s Jr. on Davis Road in Salinas to purchase a snack and to use the bathroom.

4. McDonald’s at Highways 101 and 46 East in Paso Robles. This McDonald’s belongs to my good friend Greg and his son Dana, who we had dinner with that night. I reported to Dana that I rated his restroom an 8 on a scale of 10 for cleanliness. Kate and I purchased lattes there, which for machine made were very good. Espresso drinks are new successful menu items for McDonald’s which are having a competitive impact on Starbucks. 

5. Refugio State Park, which is on the coast five miles south of Gaviota and 15 miles north of Santa Barbara, to stretch our legs and use the bathroom.

When we were leaving Marin and approaching the Golden Gate Bridge, it was raining hard. I told Kate that it will be clear by Half Moon Bay and I was right. All along the way we passed through pockets of rain, bright sun and fluffy clouds to overcast and more rain. By the time we reach the coast north of Santa Barbara a strong northwest wind and white caps on the ocean greeted us. A strong front was moving in along the entire coast of California and it had an adverse affect of the surf. Only one break had descent waves and that was Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica. What follows is my surf report for 300 miles of California’s beaches. 

Ocean Beach, San Francisco had huge waves, giant walls with an extreme high tide, water right up to the road, strong south wind and no body out. 

Linda Mar, Pacifica had strong south winds, which are offshore at Linda Mar, blowing against big beautiful green walls with plums of spray coming off of them. Ten guys were out at the north end connecting with some long rights, and twenty were out at the very south end. Linda Mar turned out to be the best spot on the whole coast this day. 

Montara, which is the cove south of Devil’s Slide, had huge walls breaking way out there. They were impossible to ride and no body was out. 

The Jetty at Half Moon Bay had an extreme high tide causing the waves to mush up against the breakwater and the rocks of the roadbed. No body was out. 

Kelly Ave, Half Moon Bay had big surf, high tide, and waves breaking close to shore, which were rideable but no one was out. There was a definite channel that one could easily paddle out to the big peaks. Son Kevin would have gone out. I can hear him now, “Dad let’s go. You can handle those waves!” 

Half Moon Bay to Pigeon Point Lighthouse: Pesacadero, San Gregorio and Bean Hallow had spectacular sunshine, blue skies, blue water and beautiful big crashing waves over numerous rocky reefs. “You should take a picture,” Kate stated. The camera was in the back, locked in my Knack toolbox that I bolted to the floor of the Jeep especially for locking up the camera. I was in my “next time” mode. Push on. There wasn’t a convenient place to stop. Maybe I can stop at Pigeon Point. By the time we reach the Lighthouse, the clouds had returned, there was mist in the air and the omnipresent gray had returned. Another opportunity had passed me by. 

Waddell Creek, which is north of Santa Cruz and part of the Big Basin State Park, is a large creek that empties out onto a wide sandy beach filled with tons of driftwood and is a popular spot for surfing and wind surfing. Today the waves were huge; breaking way out there, closed out and no body was out. 

Scott Creek, which is closer to Santa Cruz, also empties onto a wide sandy beach. There were cars parked along the road, the waves were big and rideable, but no body was out. 

The Hook, Santa Cruz is located at the end of 41^st Ave. I was considering going out here. Parking lot was empty as we pulled in; that was my clue. The waves weren’t breaking because the tide was too high. The swells mushed up against the cliff and a south wind made the surface bumpy. No body was out. 

Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz had some overhead peaks that didn’t have much shape and four guys were out. A short walk north from the Hook allows one to view Pleasure Point. I took some pictures. The waves were big drops; one section and then they would die. The above photo is a sizeable Pleasure Point wave just after the initial drop. 

The Pismo Beach Pier can be seen from a distance on Highway 101. You can see the pier and the broad sandy beach. Today there were lots of white caps, wind and white water. The tide was now very low. From the road, I saw two waves break beyond the pier. This is a long, long pier, thus the waves had to be big. 

Gaviota to Refugio State Beach had small wind waves, two feet at the most, breaking on the shore. Highway 101 hits the coast at Gaviota and stays along the coast the rest of the way. In this ten mile stretch and out to sea there were endless white caps, but close in the water was smooth because the north wind blew sideways along this stretch. 

Refugio State Beach had some three-foot waves at the far point, but they were choppy, blown out and without form.  Tide was very low and there was a wide sandy beach. Way outside the sea was a bluest-gray and dotted with white caps. However, inside the cove, the wind was offshore because Refugio is a south-facing beach. The cove was sunny, the water was smooth and there were a few well shaped one to two feet peeling right waves on the inside. This had possibilities. 

El Capitan State Beach was flat as usual. One can get a glimpse of the point from the highway. In the forty years that I have been driving by here I have yet to see any descent waves. There are people who claim that El Capitan has a hot right curl, but I have yet to witness it. 

Summerland was flat as always. I mention it because you get a good look at the beach from the highway. 

Santa Claus Lane, which is just south of Montecito in Santa Barbara and just north of Carpenteria, had small wind waves crumbling onto a low tide beach. Again I mention this break because you can’t miss seeing it from the highway.

Rincon is the jewel of the whole coast. If there is any swell, Rincon will be breaking, but not today. It was blown out with shapeless two-foot waves at the point and nothing on the inside. Two guys were out and they were wasting their time.

Mussel Shoals is the next point down from Rincon. On big swells it can get good, but not today. It had six inchers breaking onto an exposed bed of seaweed covered rocks. 

Ventura Overhead is the freeway overpass at the very north end of Ventura. On huge days, the outside reef breaks, forming one huge “A” frame that breaks in both directions, but not today, it was totally blown out. 

Surfers Point, Ventura was also totally blown out. After checking into the hotel, which sits right on the water at Surfers Point, Kate and I took a quick walk up the strand, bike path, along the entire length of the point. It must be a couple of miles in length. There was a 35 mph north wind blowing like hell. I could see that there were some overhead swells, but due to the wind there was no shape and only one hearty soul out there. However, there was one wind surfer out there having a great time. He was a real expert. He would cruise way out to sea at great speed, swing around and catch the large approaching wind swells. Once in them, he shot down the line of these walls at great speed, cutting back and forth to milk the most out of the swell and then he would swing around and head back out to sea to do it again. Incredible. 

Kate and I never tire of driving up and down the beautiful California Coast. Today like all others did not disappoint.

 

 

 

February 16, 2008 Saturday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
10:00 am to 11:15 am	Consistent 4 ft to 5 ft, sets overhead
Medium dropping tide (4 ft down to 2 ft)	Cool NW breeze (slightly offshore)
Sunny with high clouds and a cold breeze	Good session

“Note: This swell to be powerful, dangerous and unmerciful. Do not overestimate your skills. Do not venture into unfamiliar waters. Assume you will be caught by the biggest sets in the worst possible place. Seek protected breaks.”

The above quote is from Mark Sponsler, the creator and Webmaster of Stormstorm.com. In the ten plus years I have been reading his informative website this is the first time I can remember him giving a “warning” regarding an up coming swell. This reference was for Northern CA Storm #19 of this winter season.

“Size to hold well into Saturday morning (2/16) with swell still 9.5 – 10.5 ft @ 16 – 17 secs (15 – 18 ft faces) with a few sets to 11.5 ft @ 17 secs (20 ft).”

I read this Friday afternoon trying to gauge conditions for Saturday morning. “Wow we’re in for some big waves,” I said to myself. This called for taking my big gun tomorrow, the 9’ 2”, thick, narrow pintail with lots of rocker shaped by Bob Miller. I called son Kevin at work to give him the heads up for waves this weekend. 

In my new retired state, I don’t normally surf on the weekend, but Saturday Surfrider Foundation, Marin was holding a beach cleanup at Bolinas from 10:00 am to noon. I figured I could get out there early and get some waves before the cleanup. If I stayed on my normal weekday routine, which is up at 5:30 am, out the door by 7:00 am, get to Bolinas at 8 am and in the water by 8:30 am, I can surf for an hour and a half. Well “the best made plans, etc.” I didn’t get out the door until 8:30 am Saturday morning. On my drive to Bolinas I had this anxious feeling: I’m late, the surf will be big, will Tom be there to set up? If Tom doesn’t show up the beach cleanup will be a bust. 

There were lots of cars parked on Brighton Ave this morning, all of them surf vehicles with lots of activity of waxing surfboards and putting on of wetsuits. It looked like all of Marin was heading towards the water. As I pulled up I saw Tom walking towards the ramp wearing a Surfrider tee shirt and carrying a folded up card table in one hand and a box of Surfrider literature in the other. “Hey get in the water the waves are great. I can handle the cleanup, you get in the water, the waves are fantastic” was his greeting. Just what I wanted to hear, Tom would man the table while I surfed. 

From the seawall at the base of the ramp I took a few pictures. The waves were not as threatening as the warning had stated. Sizable, yes, head-high to one foot overhead with some power, but not crunchers, and with plenty of time between sets to get out. I also took a couple of shots from the bluff above the Groin. There were plenty of people out, but they were spread out all along the beach. A few were at the Patch, several straight out from the ramp and about twenty guys out at the Channel, just past the river of out flowing current from the lagoon. I took the above picture from the bluff of a good ride in the Channel. I shot it with my 300 mm telephoto lens cranked to full power and then I enlarged it further with Photoshop. 

While taking shots from the seawall, my old Visa companion Ben came by. He was just ending his session. I was glad to see him. Ben is in his early forties, very athletic, from Vermont and a recent convert to surfing. A couple of years ago he mentioned to me in Visa’s gym that he had just surfed for the first time and loved it. The surf passion bit him. Since then he has been surfing every chance he gets. Since my retirement, I have crossed paths with him several times at Linda Mar in the early mornings before work and a couple of times at Bolinas. He is still at Visa, still part of the Technology Strategy group and still hanging in there. I asked him about Visa’s IPO. It’s coming, any day, but they (management) are not saying when. He didn’t seem to have the old enthusiasm he used to have about the job. And with that he was off. 

I entered the water at 10:00 am. So much about getting out there early. I paddled straight out from the ramp. I stood in swallow water to let a sizable set pass and then I paddled way, way out there. The outside waves were breaking at least 500 yards offshore. I was still nervous; I don’t know why. I had trouble connecting with the waves at first. I didn’t recognize any of the other surfers around me. My first wave closed out and I rode white water for several yards. My second wave had a good left curl to it, but I dug a rail and fell face first into the water while trying to jump up. “Relax!” I said to myself. I paddled outside, sat and rested to gather myself. 

I’m sitting there several hundred yards offshore and there is a group of surfers another 100 yards outside of me. The sets would peak and break out where this group sat. They would break, rolled in a long ways and then reform into another sizable curl. I sat at the reform point. But I was amazed at watching these guys and gals catch these outside waves, ride them in, straighten out, and push themselves forward to stay in the swells as they reformed. Watching them reminded me of the classic shots of Waikiki where the hotel beach boys would catch the flat swells way out there and gracefully glide by turning back and forth on these gentle swells riding them forever to the beach. Believe me it was a beautiful sight. 

A big one was forming way out there. I watched one of the better surfers catch it as the wave broke, he glided off to the left and I focused on the wave reforming in front of me. The white water disappeared as the swell built up again, I could see that it was going to break again, I patiently waited, the wave got steeper, I was in position for a late take-off, as the wave crested and was feathering at the top I turned and with two strokes I was into it. I dropped into a sizable head-high left breaking wall. The wave had some force and was fast. I managed to shoot through one section, cutback slightly and let the wave build for a second fast section. I rode this one a long ways. I was near the shore when the wave finally died out. Yes, that was a good one. 

From then on I was relaxed. I positioned myself at the reform spot and lined up with the north end of the house on the south side of the ramp. From this point I caught several waves. The take-offs were flat, you had to push yourself over the edge but once in the wave you were into a big drop. My last two waves were my best. On the next to last wave I barely managed to get into it. I hung at the top and at the last instant I made the drop into an overhead very fast wall that went on and on. On the last wave I took off late, dropped into a head-high curl, climbed to the top of the wave and stayed there. It was a constant curl all the way to the inside deep spot where all the waves died. That was it. I was a few feet from shore, so I called it quits and headed in. 

Once out of my wetsuit and into dry clothes I joined Tom at the Surfrider table. I took pictures while Tom handed out free Sobe Life Waters (a so-called energy/health drink) to the surfers as they ended their sessions. The Sobe Company had given Surfrider Foundation of Marin a pallet, which is about 100 cases, of their Life Water energy drink. The pallet sits in Tom’s garage and after eight months we have given out only half of the drinks. Tom and I laughed to ourselves because we both hate the stuff (it’s full of corn syrup) but we gladly give it away. There was no one cleaning up the beach because nobody could get to the beach due to the high tide, no sand, deep water and wave surge at the bottom of the ramp. We figured today was a Surfrider promotion day as we handed out free drinks and talked up the Surfrider causes. 

All in all it was a beautiful day. I caught some great waves and had fun chatting with Tom and all the other surfers. It was just another day in paradise.

 

 

February 13, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:15 am to 10:30 am	Consistent 3’ & 4’, sets head high
Low tide (0.5 ft)	North (offshore) 15 mph
High clouds, some sun and cold wind	Great fast breaking left curls

“Oh no, wind, not a good sign” I said to myself at the crest of the ridge. The tops of the tallest redwood trees were swaying as I drove by the Pantoll ranger station. Coming down the ocean side of Mt Tamalpais I could see white caps far out to sea. But with my first look of the Stinson-Bolinas bay the outlook changed. I saw the surface was smooth and stray was coming off the tops of the waves at Stinson. We have strong offshore winds.

From the seawall at the base of the ramp at Bolinas I watched these amazing picturesque curls. The strong offshore winds were sending arches of fine spray off the tops of the curls. We had steady west swells coming in long lines, a bottom shaped for fast left curls and strong offshore winds to hold up the waves. Look at the beautifully formed wave in the above photo. All of the waves this morning were of this caliber, one after another. The only negatives were the freezing temperatures of the wind and water. 

Mary was off by herself at the Patch while six others including Marty, Doug and Professor Steve were out front of the ramp. I joined them. I connected with several high quality left curls like the one in the above photo. All of us were getting excellent fast waves. Twice I took off late, pushed under the white water sliding down the first section into open swell, let the waves reform and then became locked into fasting breaking curls on the inside near the shore. The good waves just kept coming and coming. 

Despite the beautiful picturesque waves, the cold drove me out of the water after a little more than an hour. But all of us agreed that this was one of the best sessions in recent months. It was just another wonderful day in paradise.

 

 

February 11, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3’ left curls, sets to 4’
Low tide, just turned at 8:00am (1.1 ft)	Wind
Warm, clear and sunny	Fun session

This morning I gathered two water samples from Bay Front Park in Mill Valley for the first time. The Southern Marin Sewage Agency had two recent sewage spills: January 25^th of 2.45 million gallons and January 31^st of 2.7 million gallons. That’s more than 5 million gallons of partially treated sewage dumped into Richardson Bay. Both spills are the result of capacity problems due to the runoff from rainstorms and operator inattentiveness in activating auxiliary pumps. You can imagine the political “stuff hitting the fan” from the ecology sensitive Marin populace. Bay Front Park sits on the edge of Richardson Bay in front of the treatment plant that had the problem. Surfrider Foundation of Marin of which I am the Secretary/Treasurer has a water-testing program in partnership with the Branson School. The program tests water at the popular surf locations for sewage related contamination such as e-coli and enterococcus. We quickly expanded the program to include Richardson Bay near this problematic sewage plant. This morning I took our first bay water samples to Branson for testing.

Next I stopped at Stinson to gather another water sample and to check the surf. There was a swell but the tide was too low, thus onto Bolinas. When I arrived, Mary and Marty were there chatting with surfboards still in their vehicles. They had been there for a half an hour waiting for the tide to turn. Professor Steve came up the ramp from his morning exercise. He thanked me for the photo I had given him last week. He said he had it on his desk. Robert the Larkspur carpenter arrived. We all watched the waves for awhile and concluded that with the tide change wave conditions were improving, so decided to go out front of the ramp. 

What a good move. Straight out from the ramp was a peak that was breaking in both directions with the lefts being faster and longer than the rights. As the tide came in the waves got better. They were a fairly consistent three feet with sets at four feet. The waves were a combination of a wind swell on top of strong ground swell. The wind portion would peak, crest and break by sliding from the top while the ground swell formed into steep breaking wave with some force. The trick to riding them was to catch the wind portion as it was first sliding down the swell and then drop into the stronger ground swell portion of the wave. It took all of us awhile to get the hang of catching these waves. But after a half-hour we all were catching several waves. I managed to catch five great high in the curl long fast breaking lefts. 

Marty, Mary and I sat out there and admired the beauty that surrounded us. It was warm, sunny, and clear and the waves were fun. It was a great day.

 

 

February 8, 2008 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:30 am	4’ but soft, no punch
High, rising tide (6 ft at 12 noon)	No wind
High fog, patchy sun	So – So session

It’s now been nine days since I have been in the water. I’m anxious to catch some waves. None of my buddies were at Bolinas this morning. The Patch was flat and there were two guys way out at the Channel. I could barely see them through the high thin fog and patchy sunlight. There was a river of incoming current flowing into the lagoon. On the Seadrift side of the current there was a right peak that look like it had possibilities. There was also a right breaking peak outside of the Groin pole. Since I was dying for waves I decided to go out.

I entered the water at the Groin. Due to the fog I didn’t see the two guys who were at the Channel. At first I thought I would go out there and join them. But I didn’t see them. My plan was to paddle straight out from the Groin pole, get pass the surf line and then verve left to the Channel.  Fifty yards out a sizable set of four-foot swells came through. Maybe I should stay here. I glanced to the north to notice another surfer ending a good ride at the peak north of the Groin. Maybe I should go for that. So I drifted over to the north and the other surfer drifted south. After my first wave, which was initially fast and powerful but died quickly, I paddled out to where the other surfer was. 

It was Mark, the cancer survivor, riding his clear green Mystic longboard. Last week I saw Mark for the first time. On a sunny morning when Marty, Mary and I were changing out of our wetsuits, Mark, who had also just gotten out of the water, greeted us with enthusiasm about the great waves and the beautiful morning. Mark has dark hair, I guess in his late thirties, stocky with a solid frame. Mary knew him and returned his greeting. He then proceeded to announce that he was so glad to be back in the water because last year he had to battle cancer, quimo and all that stuff, but survived it and was again surfing. He was obviously he elated about his situation. 

This morning we chatted about the wave conditions. I introduced myself to him. The swell had some size but no punch. Again due to the deep water and high tide, the swells would peak, break, reform and die. We were going for the rights. The rides started with some speed but soon slowed down; we would straighten out to let the swell build. With luck we would work it into the inside, way inside adjacent to the Groin wall, but most of time the momentum died before making it to the inside break. Mark and I chatted about how frustrating the rights were. With a little more force the rides would be great. 

I saw possibilities of catching some lefts. The peak was definitely favoring the rights, but I knew that the bottom forced waves to break to the left on the inside. I caught a few lefts and they proved to be faster and more powerful than the rights. I would turn into the peak, go under white water of the initial section, cut back and let the inside swell form, which broke left into the shore break. I got one really good one where I managed to get high in the curl, step to the middle of the board and then plant myself there to sail through a fast section. There was only one of these the entire session. 

As the tide came in the impact zoned moved in. Soon the peak was not breaking at all. I moved way, way inside to catch the rights breaking onshore next to the Groin wall. In my twenty years of surfing this break, I knew that during extreme high tides often a small, fast, Malibu like curl forms by the wall. I thought I saw this possibility this morning. I caught one well-formed right very close to the wall. I turned swiftly to the right, got high in the curl, which was building and building, then the wave jumped up and I saw sand below me. I bailed out, diving back into the wave as it dumped onto the beach. So much for going for the inside rights. 

That was enough for today. The shore break was now surging up against the cliff and was creating a sizable backwash. It was a small challenge to wade through the backwash to the steps at the end of the wall. My next hurdle was the three-foot shore break crashing at the base of the ramp and the seawall of the first house. I walked along the beach to the end of the seawall and re-entered the water to paddle around it to the ramp. I had to go out about thirty yards offshore to get pass these pounders. I waited outside to let a set pass and paddled like mad behind the last wave of the set to let the wave’s surge push me towards the ramp. Once between waves I kept vigorously paddling to safely reach the ramp before the next wave arrived. What an interesting way to end a So-So session.

 

 

 

February 6, 2008 Wednesday

 

Stinson Beach	In front of main bathrooms
9:30 am	Three to four feet, walled, no shape
High tide (6.3 ft at 10:00 am)	Stiff on-shore breeze
Patchy sun, overcast and cold	Didn’t go out

 It’s been a week since I have been in the water thus I was hopeful for some waves this morning. Surf conditions as reported on the Internet looked okay: 

·      5.5 ft north swell at 12 seconds,

·      1.1 ft south swell at 14 seconds,

·      NNW wind at 13.6 knots,

·      Incoming tide, 6.3 ft at 10:30 am,

·      Air 50.4 degrees,

·      Water 51.8 degrees, and

·      Wind chill at 45.0 degrees.

Cold morning, descent swell, up coming tide and the wind blowing in the correct direction for Bolinas. I was hopeful.

Because of the six-foot high tide I decided to check out Stinson first. As I was walking across the parking lot to the beach, a white pick-up truck was driving out. The truck stopped and out jumped Doug wearing his wetsuit that was dripping wet. He told me he had just gotten out of the water. He had ridden about four waves and they were all slow and mushy. He was on his way to check out Bolinas.

“Loren, are you going out? If you go out I will go out too,” Doug stated.

“No, I want to look at Bolinas first,” I responded. I did look at Stinson before heading for Bolinas. Surf didn’t look good. It was blown out and mushy. Bolinas didn’t look any better: blown out, mushy and smaller. 

At Bolinas Professor Steve arrived for his morning exercise. “Steve, wait, I have a present for you,” I said. I rushed back to my car to retrieve the photo I had for him. From my trip to Palos Verdes I had pictures of Dean and Allison enlarged for my mother. At the same time I enlarged the photo I had of Professor Steve paddling towards the Groin in the early morning. The above photo is the one handed to Steve; I took it from the bluff overlooking the Groin on an absolutely flat day. He was surprised and very appreciative.

“Too bad I’m not of some monster wave.” 

“Steve, it was flat that morning,” I said. 

The surf wasn’t happening at Bolinas this morning. Doug decided to call it a day. I took a water sample and headed back to Stinson. Maybe I’ll go out. However, when I returned and looked at it again, the conditions weren’t inviting. Windy, blown-out, choppy, mushy and cold, thus I decided to kiss it off. I gathered a water sample, drove to Branson and went home discouraged.

February 4, 2008 Monday

Ocean Beach	Sloat Ave
10:00 am	Huge (10’ to 15’)
High tide (6.1 ft)	Strong north wind
Clear and windy	Unrideable, nobody was out

 

I took the above photo in the parking lot at Sloat Ave at the end of the Great Highway at 9:45 am in the morning. On my drive home from the San Francisco Airport, returning from my Superbowl Sunday trip to Palos Verdes, I took my usual path along the coast to check out the waves. I turned onto the Great Highway, came over the rise to get my first view of the ocean and my mouth dropped. “It’s huge!” Miles of white water lined the entire Ocean Beach and the outside reefs were breaking. One knows the swell is huge when waves are breaking over the distant reefs on the horizon. That’s right, the horizon; these reefs are miles out to sea.

“I have my camera in the car, take a picture,” I said to myself. For the above photo, I used my 300 mm telephoto lens cranked to full power. Thus this wave is breaking several hundred yards out. I estimate that this wave is close to 15 ft. high. 

There’s no doubt that Mavericks is breaking today. I saw Mavericks from a distance in the plane. From my window seat I watched the California coastline the entire trip. I pride myself in being able to recognize the major surf breaks from the air. I saw Malibu, which was breaking, the big rock at Leo Carillo State Park (Secas), which was also breaking, County Line had white water and Rincon was flat. As the plane was descending into the Bay Area, I could see far ahead the hill at Pilar Point with the Air Force radar domes. I saw Ship Rock and a large “vee” of white water far out from the rock. Yes, it was breaking. 

After taking some photos at Sloat Ave, I traveled the length of the Great Highway, passed the Cliff House and stopped at Loui’s diner for breakfast. What a great place with a spectacular view. While enjoying hamburger steak and eggs, I watched the waves crash on Seal Rock, the great blue sea and hundreds of sea gulls as they swarmed around the pools of rainwater in the ruins of the Sutro Baths. 

It was good ending to my Superbowl Sunday trip.

 

 

February 3, 2008 Sunday

Superbowl Sunday

 

Palos Verdes	Indicator
5:00 pm	Huge, blown out
Low tide	Strong on-shore wind (25 – 30 mph)
Rain, wind and cold	Unrideable

In the above photo, son Kevin is checking out the Indicator, a break in Palos Verdes. It’s half time of the Superbowl, about 5:00 pm in the evening. The wind has been blowing hard for 24 hours, the ocean is all stirred up and the waves are huge. The Indicator, which is located on the northwest side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is further west than Bluff Cove, and thus the swells break there first before wrapping into the Cove. Bluff Cove is still a classic long board break and was the favorite spot for the first generation of California surfers in the forties and fifties. The old timers would sit way outside at the Cove and watch the distance breaking waves at the far point to the south. Big waves at the point would “indicate” that a big set was approaching Bluff Cove, thus the name Indicator.

Kevin and I have surfed the Indicator a couple of times. It’s a “hairy” break. First it’s difficult and dangerous to get to. One has to descent a narrow, steep footpath that cuts back and forth across a 200-foot cliff. The waves break over huge bounders, making surfing at low tide impossible. It’s a powerful left break that only happens on big north swells. 

The Indicator is across the street from my mother’s house on Paseo del Mar. Her house is a surfer’s dream. 180 degree view of the Santa Monica Bay, a world class break in the Indicator out the front door, a solid long board break at Bluff Cove down the street and great fast left walls at Haggerty’s around the bend. Whenever Kevin and I are at my mother’s house we always check the surf by walking across the street and peering over the cliff down at the Indicator, which is what Kevin is doing in the above photo. We check the surf year round even though we know that it only breaks on big winter north swells. 

This morning Kevin, Allison and I ran in the Redondo Beach Superbowl Sunday 10K Race. This is an annual event for me. Brother Carl and I ran it together for 10 years until Carl’s knees could no longer take it. Kevin has taken Carl’s place. We ran it last year. Allison joined us this year for the first time. When we awoke at 6:30 am this morning, it was raining and raining hard. I was ready to throw in the towel. I think Kevin was neutral. But Allison set us straight. “I just flew 3000 miles across the country to run in this race, so I’m running.” Allison, who is a grad student at Brown University in Providence RI, had used her Christmas money that my mother had given her to purchase airfare to join the annual Superbowl family reunion. Well that did it. We all went for it. 

The race was miserable. It was nothing but wind and rain, rain and wind. At the start of the race, we managed to stay dry under the large, spacious awning of the Crown Plaza Hotel, which sits next to the starting line. We stood there along with about 200 other runners until the countdown to the start of the race began, then we moved out onto the street in front of the starting line. Once we started running the cold and rain didn’t bother us. All three of us stayed together with me the old one setting the slowest pace. Towards the end in the fifth mile I ran out of gas. Wet and tired, I had to walk up the last hill. Our time was 1 hour, seven minutes; not bad. But I felt terrible. I revived at the Ashi tent with a free Ashi lite. When I told Kate about this in our phone conversation that afternoon, she cut to the source. “Did you drink a lot of wine and have a big dinner the night before?” Bingo! Revealed again. I’m not young anymore and cannot go to excesses and then run 6.2 miles the next day. 

Sticking to my Superbowl Sunday traditions, we went to CJ’s Pantry for breakfast, a small, down home, one owner operation, big omelets and bottomless coffee pots café. Usually there is a 30-minute wait to get a seat. Not today, due to the rain we were seated immediately. After a great breakfast, all three of us agreed to do it again next year. 

I had a great time doing the usual Superbowl Sunday family event. The game itself was outstanding, one of the best Superbowls ever. In the family pool, brother Carl was the big winner. But my number (4) was winning up to the final 35 seconds of the game when the Giants scored the winning touchdown and forged ahead 17 to 14 over the favored New England Patriots.