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.