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.