October 27, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:30 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
High upcoming tide	Slight offshore breeze
High overcast	Fun session

Dateline Storm #1 – from Stormsurf.com

“With 36 hrs of 60 – 70 kt winds acting on the ocean’s surface generating estimated seas of 40 ft or greater and expected 84 hrs of seas greater that 30 ft, virtue fetch continues to look likely for the US West coast providing a higher than usual set wave count in the 17 – 20 sec period energy bands, peak energy to top out in the 23 sec period range.

North CA: Expect swell arrival starting near sunrise Saturday (10/25) with period 22 – 23 secs. Size creeping up as period drops, peaking just after sunset 9.0 – 9.5 ft @ 18 – 19 secs (16 – 18 ft faces) … Swell to continue into Sunday at 8 – 9 ft @ 16 secs early (13 – 14 ft faces) fading to 14 secs by sunset.”

As noted above, the first winter north swell arrived this weekend. I heard spectacular reports regarding epic waves at Bolinas. My son spoke of long lines of six-foot waves from the Channel to the Groin on Sunday. Mark the archaeologist surfed Saturday and Sunday and was still feeling it in his arms Monday morning. It was crowded and judging by the license plate frames on the cars, several surfers from San Francisco were out at Bolinas. This is not unusual. Whenever big swells generate monstrous unrideable waves at Ocean Beach, the San Francisco surfers come to Bolinas, one of the few places with rideable surf. With thirty shortboarders out at the Groin, Mark went to the Patch and had a great time. Doug reported that Sunday he surfed the Patch. Doug hates the Patch but due to the shortboarder crowd, he too went out at the Patch.

“Loren, I never had caught so many waves at the Patch, head-high, long, long rides,” Doug said to me out in the water Monday morning.

Remnants of the swell were still running this morning: 6.2 foot swell at 15 seconds producing three to four foot waves with sets to six feet at the Groin, powerful, thick waves with fair shape. A big peak at the Channel broke into deep water causing rides to quickly die after a big drop. The peak at the Groin formed into a good line-up on the inside, but with longer lulls between waves than at the Channel. The ocean had that winter storm surf feel: gray skies with a sizeable sideways wind swell causing a constant bobbing up and down when sitting there waiting for the next wave and a strong current that pushed us in and over towards the mouth of the lagoon. The paddle out was difficult. I crashed through the white water of several waves with a strong pull toward the shore.

Only five of us were out at the Groin: Mark, Doug, a former student of Doug’s, another surfer whose wife was a former student of Marty’s and myself. Locating the right take-off point was frustrating. My first ride was a good one; a head-high take off, a big drop, white water in front of me, cruised below the foam and back into the swell for a second fast section. My second wave was slow, flat and died in deep water. The next few rides closed out in front of me.

After forty-five minutes I found the right spot. I had watched waves lining up and continuously breaking left on the inside near shore. I moved way inside and north of the Groin wall to try my luck there. I lined up with the lighthouse looking structure above the Groin and to the north the gray house high on the cliff above the Patch. The intersection of those two points was my take-off point. I waited for the sets that would peak there, take off late and drop into steep fast breaking lefts. Several waves were close outs and I made several of them. For forty-five minutes I had this peak to myself. The sun came out, the wind died, the surface glassed off and I connected with wave after steep four-foot wave. Finally another surfer came out to my peak. I told him about the good inside line-ups; he said he noticed. My best wave was my last one. I could see the waves were building, which indicates a set is coming. My companion took a wave thus I had no concern about him. A set approached, I paddled out and to the north, a sizeable wave was right in front of me, I turned and stroked into a head-high emerald green wall. I was in perfect position, the wave lined up cleanly in front of me, I stepped to the middle of the board, gained some speed and stood there in the middle of the curl for a long, long ways. The wave worked into the shore break, I pulled over the top and the wave pounded on the shore. I was three feet from dry sand and at the end of the south seawall. I had traveled from just north of the Groin wall to the south end of the protective wall of the house on the south edge of the ramp. It was 11:00 am; I was tired, had things to do and thus called it a day.

Two other surfers were walking down the beach to go out. I told them about the good inside lineup. They thanked me for the tip. What can I say? It was a beautiful Monday morning, no wind, glassy conditions and strong four-foot waves peeling in from the Groin. Isn’t retirement great?

October 24, 2008 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets to 4'
High tide - 5.6 ft	Onshore breeze
Sunny and warm	Fun session

“Man, this sure beats sitting at a computer watching the market go down.”

An older surfer (about my age) who I had seen in the water several times before made this comment as we sat outside at the Patch waiting for the next set. The country’s financial crisis was in full swing and the stock market was in steep decline. It was a sunny and warm morning and consistent three to four foot, long, gentle waves were coming through at the Patch, producing mellow conditions and a perfect way to forget about the economic meltdown.

Good weather and a new combination of northwest and south swells on a Friday attracted a crowd. Per the surf websites, a north 5.6 foot swell at 12 seconds combined with a south 2.0 foot at 14 seconds to create nice long lines. A big crowd was at the Groin, including Lou the boogie boarder and Doug.

I decided to go to the Patch where the crowd was smaller and several of my friends were there. Mary greeted me when I paddled outside. Cathy from the Russian River was out there on her 10’ 6’’ tanker. Jim said hello.

Hank from Mill Valley was sitting way outside as he always does. I saw him earlier sitting in his car. I tapped on the window; he lowered it, “You going out?” I asked. “Yes, as soon as I get off the phone.” He was juggling work and surfing, squeezing in a few messages before heading out. Hank’s technique was to wait for the biggest sets. He sat and sat; I thought he was nuts, but finally a set of four foot waves came through, Hank connected with the biggest one and cruised down a long right swell. When he paddled back out he commented about how great it was to have the Patch breaking again, which has been flat for the last few months.

Later I paddled over to the guy who commented that he would rather be here than watching the market to decline. “Are you a broker?” I asked.

“I used to have a seat on the Pacific Stock Exchange,” he replied. “It closed in 2001 and I’m been on my own since then. But now the big money guys are manipulating the market.”

“Manipulating the market? How?” I asked.

“Bargains are out there. Last week I bought into a company whose stock was at an all time low. The company is sound, plenty of cash, pays big dividends and was about to announce strong earnings per share,” he stated with emphasis. “But the share price declined! How do you figure?” The old rules and guidelines for investing, the ones he had followed for years, no older apply.

I agreed with him that this beautiful morning, warm sunshine and mellow waves were the best formula for getting one’s mind off the crumbling economy.

October 20, 2008 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:20 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid out-going tide	Offshore breeze
Bright sunshine, clouds on the horizon	Frustrating session

I tried an experiment this morning: I used my son’s 8’ 0” Becker surfboard. Since I ripped the fiberglass off the bottom of my favorite 9’ 2” Haut (see October 1 entry), I’m in the market for a new board. There are three boards that I’m interested in: another Haut like the one I recently destroyed, a Becker 9’ 0” Mike Gee model and an Al Merrick (Channel Islands Surfboards) waterhog model.

My Haut was 9’2”, three inches thick, thin rails, tri-fin with lots of rocker. I used it for seven years and patched twelve holes in the bottom. I loved it.

The Becker 9’ 0” Mike Gee model is a beautiful board. The bulk of the board is a little in front of the mid-point, narrow in the rear and a rounded tail. $610 price is a bargain. Problem is Becker’s shop is in Hermosa Beach. Do I drive down there, purchase the board and drive back? Or do I order it online and have them ship it to me via DHL for an extra $100?

The Proof Lab surf shop in Mill Valley carries the Al Merrick waterhog model, another beautiful board. It’s a cut-down longboard that also has the bulk of the board in front of mid-point, pulled back in the rear and a rounded tail. The waterhog label implies the owners catch waves so easily they will hog all of them. Models are available from 7’ 0” to 8’ 11”. Proof Lab just got a new shipment in and the longest waterhog they have is 8’ 6”, and longer models have to be special ordered and take three months to deliver.

I’m tempted to purchase the 8’ 6” waterhog, but it’s a shorter board than what I am used to. Kevin thinks I can handle it, and so does the sales guy at Proof Lab. Thus my experiment, if I can handle riding Kevin’s 8’ 0” Becker, which is a Mike Gee model, then the 8’ 6” waterhog would not be problem. So I threw the Becker into my car this morning.

When I pulled up at Bolinas, Mary and Doug were in the water. Mary and one other person were at the Patch. Clean lines came through but without any force behind them. I watched Mary catch a couple of mushy slow ones.

Doug was out by himself at the Groin riding small slow waves. Marty arrived. He’s nursing a knee injury but came out to see us and to check out the waves. We watched Doug for several minutes. Finally a good set of four foot waves came through. Doug caught a good long curl and that did it for me, I was going out.

When I entered the water, Professor Steve and Jim had joined Doug. I jumped on this smaller board and immediately felt the difference. The board sank under water and paddling out was almost impossible. I couldn’t gain any speed. The usual “glide” just wasn’t there. Fortunately with the tide going out, I could walk out to the waves, which I did. The waves were well formed, left peeling lines. My first wave was ok. I managed to ride some curl before the waved closed out. I missed the next three waves. “I have to wait until the wave is breaking,” I kept reminding myself. Then I pearled, and on the following one I slipped off. On another I barely pushed myself into a wave and by the time I stood up the wave had broken twenty feet in front of me. Jim caught a long right wave, Doug got a few good lefts and Professor Steve connected with a beautiful four-footer, the wave of the day. I caught nothing.

Finally I got a good one, a small well-shaped two footer. I jumped up as soon as I felt the wave take up the board, the swell was in front of me, the small board allowed me to quickly position myself in the middle of the curl to gain some speed. My next wave was even better, a shoulder high fast peeling curl. Again I took off late and jumped up quickly. The board hung at the top of the curl, I took a half step, pushed my weight forward and shot down a beautiful section. Yes, that’s how it is done. Take off late and for an instance the board hangs at the top. If you can jump up at that moment you will be into a good wave. If not, you drop to the bottom of the wave, momentum dies and the ride is over. I found it difficult to get into that groove. I tried and tried but did not catch another good wave.

What a beautiful day, sunny, bright, stiff offshore breeze, blue-green lines of swells and me on a board that is too small. After an hour and a half my arms were spent and I gave it up.

Result of my experiment: at age 63 one does not downsize. I’ll stick with a 9’ 0” or longer board.

October 17, 2008 Friday

Rick Griffin

Look at the above photo closely. Brad, on the left, and Chris, on the right, are life long friends that I went to elementary and high school with. We learned to surf together in 1958 at Torrance Beach, and Brad and I roomed together for four years at UCSB. Between them is a pastel chalk drawing done by Rick Griffin of Murph The Surf in the Makaha shore break. The photo was taken in May 2007 and the drawing was done in 1962, forty-five years ago and it is in pristine condition.

Rick Griffin is a well-known artist whose reputation is still growing today. He created the cartoon character Murphy, a surf gremlin, in the early sixties. Murphy graced the cover of an early edition of John Severson’s Surfer Magazine. Rick’s career took off from there with more Surfer covers, a regular cartoon strip in each issue, drawings on record covers and advertisements. Rick did album covers for the Belairs and the Challengers surf bands. He moved onto San Francisco with the hippie movement and became one of the five leading artists to do the famous psychedelic rock concert posters. He also did several record album covers including the beautiful Aoxomoxoa album for the Grateful Dead. The hippie movement played out and Rick evolved. He converted to Christianity and began doing striking murals of the Gospel of John stories. His fame as a serious artist was growing when unfortunately he died in a motorcycle accident in 1991 at the age of 47.

Architect Rob Quigley, life long friend of Rick’s and avid collector of his art, Bolton Colburn, Director of the Laguna Art Museum and hundreds of Rick’s friends gathered Rick’s works to stage a Rick Griffin exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum from May through September 2007. The highly acclaimed exhibit included pieces from all phases of Rick’s career from surf cartoons to his religious murals.

One piece that didn’t make the exhibition was the Murphy cartoon on Brad’s bedroom wall. Brad, Chris and I went to high school with Rick and Brad and Chris were close friends. Brad and his mother hired Rick to do the above cartoon. In fact, Rick did five such drawings in 1962, not all at the same time but through out the year. Whenever Rick needed money for a surf trip or when the surf was down, he would show up to do another one. Rick did chalk drawings for other friends, but Brad’s mother was smart. She researched the local art stores for the best lacquer for protecting pastel chalk. Rick’s other friends didn’t do this and those drawings are long gone. Brad’s mother razzed him about the expense of the lacquer. She claimed she spent more on the lacquer than on payment to Rick for the drawings. Thank goodness, her foresight has preserved all five drawings.

The amazing part of this story is that the drawings are still there and in excellent condition. Brad’s father had the house built in 1949. Rick did the drawings in 1962. Brad’s parents sold the house in 1967, when Rick was doing psychedelic posters in San Francisco. The family that bought the house still live there; though their children are grown and long gone. The woman of this family loved the drawings. She had no idea who Rick Griffin was when they purchased the house. Her son surfed and he thought it was cool to have surf cartoons on his bedroom walls. So they kept them. Through the years the woman learned about Rick Griffin and preserved the drawings. They remodeled the house, adding a second story but they left the back bedroom untouched. They painted the inside of the house including the back bedroom. But they had the painters carefully paint around the drawings using a fine feathered edge technique. The drawings are still there and in excellent condition. But the woman warned Brad last summer that within the next ten years she will have to give up the house; she is getting up in years.

Two women, Brad’s mother and the mother of the family that purchased the house from Brad’s parents, loved Rick’s drawings and have preserved them for forty-six years. So what’s going to happen? The bedroom walls are lathe and plaster, the house was build before drywall was invented, thus one cannot cut the drawings out of the walls. They would crumble to dust. The least that can be done is to capture the images through professional photography.

Meanwhile, we hope and pray that the next owner will also continue to protect these the drawings and keep them in perfect condition.

You may view Brad’s photos of all five drawings and a couple of Rick’s murals in my photo album via the link below:

http://gallery.me.com/lorenlmoore1

October 14, 2008 Tuesday

Bolinas	Groin
8:50 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
High upcoming tide	Slight offshore wind
Bright sunny day	Good session

The first north swell of the season hit this morning. The 5:50 am NOAA buoy report had 6.9 ft swell at fifteen seconds from the northwest (287 degrees). Mark Sponsler at Stormsurf.com predicted the arrival of this swell seven days ago. He’s his analysis:

Dateline Gale: A semi-tropical low pressure was off Japan tracked north and joined forces with a cold low pushing through the Bering Sea on Wednesday (10/8) producing a small fetch of northwest winds over the dateline barely south of the Aleutians generating 20 ft seas. On Thursday AM pressure dropped to 976 mbs with the core of the gale in the Bering Sea generating 23 ft seas aimed down the 300 degree path to NCal. Friday AM increased winds were blowing from the northwest tracking east with 30 ft seas aimed right down the 297 degree path to NCal. Some form of moderate period swell (15 – 17 secs) in the intermediate class size range is expected to push into exposed breaks in Central California starting after sunset Monday (10/13) peaking overnight at 6.5 ft @ 15 – 16 secs – 9 ft faces and holding well into Tuesday AM from 297 – 300 degrees.

Mark was spot on. Coming out of the forest on the Panoramic Highway, getting my first glimpse of the Stinson-Bolinas Bay, I was greeted by a spectacular sight: clear view to the horizon, Farallones islands in plain sight and lines of swell marching in from the northwest. At Bolinas two groups of surfers were in the water, one at the Channel and the other at the Groin. Sets were head high, walled, barely makeable and separated by long lulls.

I ran into Kathy, the biology teacher, exiting the water. She had to rush off to school but reported the waves were good but closing out. While suiting up, Doug came up from his early morning session, raved about his last two waves, big fast lefts, and waved as he headed off to a remodeling project.

I paddled out to the peak at the Groin. A strong ground swell combined with a rippling wind swell to form flat thick waves with small peaks on the top. The ground swells were peaky, not solid lines across the impact zone. I had to take off late, as the top peak was breaking, push over the edge of the ground swell and cruise down the face. Though I caught several good waves, they were powerful, but slow. My strategy was to position myself north of the others and inside of them for late take-offs. The skill level of the three guys outside was good. They caught all the set waves and left few for the rest of us. I caught the ones they let go by and those that came through after these guys had picked off their waves.

A big good one came through, I stroked into it as the top portion was breaking. Another guy took off in front of me. There was room for both of us. He stayed on the shoulder and I was able to stay high in the curl about ten feet behind him. We cruised down this beautiful wave for a long ways. He finally pulled out over the top and I straightened out, coasted down a head high wave and became surrounded by a ton of white water. I hung on in front of a mountain of foam and cruised along enjoying watching the contours of the bottom through the crystal clear water. As the high tide slowly came in, I moved further north and inside. For the last thirty minutes, I caught one fast, well-formed left curl after another.

After an hour and a half, I was exhausted and called it quits. I sat in the warm sun and watched others sail down these beautiful waves. Bright sunshine, clear skies, blue water and peeling left waves; it’s just another wonderful morning in Marin.

October 6, 2008 Monday

Montara	Old Chart House Restaurant
9:30 am to 10:30 am	4' to 5', sets overhead
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Sunny, blue skies, fog on the horizon	Brief thrilling session

Again I was sitting outside in surf more thrilling than I like. Kevin and I went to Montara after rejecting Pacifica.

The plan was to meet at Linda Mar at 7:45 am so that Kevin could get in a brief surf session before work. Tomorrow he leaves for Madison, Wisconsin to attend a computer conference at his alma mater, thus today was his only chance to surf this week. My phone rang as I pulled into the parking lot at Linda Mar. It was Kevin, “Dad I over slept. It’ll take awhile to get there but I’m coming. How’s the surf?”

“Not good. It’s head high but not clean,” I answered.

“You want to check out Montara in the meanwhile?” he asked.

“No I’ll wait for you here,” I replied. I wasn’t anxious to go to Montara. The waves this morning at Ocean Beach were big, thus I figured Montara would be huge also. The safe bet was to stay here.

My expectations were high. Stormsurf predicted six-foot local wind swell at ten seconds and a 2.5 foot south swell at fourteen seconds. This combination could produce some great waves at most breaks. But at Linda Mar, which is a narrow north-facing cove, the south swells can’t get in. The surf was west wind swells, irregular peaks, bumpy, and not clean. Size was flat to three feet. Every five minutes the wind swells would pile together to form a set of head high waves. The north end was bigger and more irregular than the south end, which was smaller but clean. Set waves at both ends were walled. I took pictures but no one connected with a good one. The above photo is the best wave I shot that morning. While I watched the surf got worst.

Kevin arrived. “Dad let’s check out Montara. We can come back here if it’s not good. Or we could go out here if you want to. The north end looks the best.”

“Most likely Montara is better than this. Let’s go,” I replied. Of course we would not be coming back.

From the parking lot of the old Chart House Restaurant at the south end of Montara, we saw the same bumpy conditions. The waves looked small but there were a couple of well-defined peaks. No one was out, thus to save time and beat the crowd we decided to go out here, a quick forty-five minute session. Like the last time I was here, the waves were much bigger than they looked from the bluff: thick waves, big drops and powerful sections that drive right up to the steep beach.

We timed our entry well, waiting for a lull between sets, running down the steep incline, we jumped in and paddled out with no problems. The backwash was pronounced, we bobbed up and down and felt the swirling current all around us. Kevin caught one, dropped into a head high left, hummed down a fast section and straightened out as it closed out near shore. I paddled into a left wall, hung at the top a second, dropped down the face, cruised across a fast section that died in the shore break, a great ride. Then the big sets came marching through. At this point the waves became a little too thrilling for my tastes.

I caught another one, a big wall of water. I jumped up, hung at the top of the wave a little too long. “Oh, no,” I thought as I free fell down a crashing six-foot wave. The nose of the board dipped in the water, bounced up and bucked me off into the turbulence, which held me down for what seemed a long time. Under water, my board bushed my head. I was lucky it didn’t hit me. “Yes, it’s little too thrilling.” After that I became very selective and paddled around one closed out wave after another.

I watched Kevin take off late on a sizeable wave. He screamed down the swell and disappeared in a curtain of white water. After a few seconds his board popped up and then Kevin surfaced. A makeable left came in, I went for it, paddled hard, pushed into it, hung at the top for an instance and dropped into a steep head-high section, screamed across the face a long ways and straightened out ahead of a crashing wall of white water.

Paddling out was an adventure. A big set came through and I was caught inside. I ducked, rolled and scratched through several waves until there was a break in the set. Once outside, I was fifty yards north of Kevin. Breathing hard, I sat there and rested. “I’m too old for this,” I thought. “I’m going to get back into running to build up my stamina.”

“One more good one and I’m going in,” Kevin shouted to me.

“Me too,” I responded. Kevin caught a good right wave. From the back I watched his head speed ahead of the feathering lip of the breaking curl until the entire wave collapsed all at once. He surfaced and started paddling back out. I guess that wasn’t “a good one.” I stoked into a big right peak, dropped to the bottom, swung right and watched a twenty-foot long curtain of water come over all at once. I straightened out, turned left, rode the soup and drove the board right up to the steep beach. “That’s it, I’m out of here.”

I turned to watch Kevin take off on another sizeable right wave, he hung at the top too long, dropped straight down, the wave was at least two feet over his head, the board bounced up and knocked Kevin off into four feet of white water. He surfaced and immediately caught the soup of a small wave to come in.

Back at the cars, we were glad we had gone out. The wind was picking up. We had caught the best of the morning. Kevin quickly dressed, gave me a hug and headed off to work. He was leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow and wouldn’t be back until Sunday. As I drove off, the ocean was filled with white caps and a fog bank shrouded the north point of the cove. Off to Denny’s in Pacifica I went for breakfast and to write up this adventure.

October 5, 2008 Sunday

Call It Home: Searching for Truth on Bolinas Lagoon

We in Marin are so lucky: we have a treasure in the Bolinas Lagoon, talented filmmakers and a concerned populous that protects and preserves the environment.

On Sunday October 5th Bill Chayes and Nancy Olin premiered their Bolinas Lagoon documentary, Call It Home, to a packed Sequoia Theater as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Local filmmakers Bill Chayes (on the left in the above photo) and Chuck Olin (on the right) spent five years researching and filming this must see piece for all Marinites. Chuck unfortunately is no longer with us, but his wife Nancy has carried on his work as executive producer. The above photo was taken at the Surfrider Foundation Marin County’s Ocean Migration Festival held at Stinson Beach in June 2004.

Call It Home astutely captures the beauty of the lagoon, establishes why the lagoon is an important ecological treasure, describes the critical silting issue and provides an in-depth account of the conflicts and struggles of local community groups attempt to preserve the lagoon. It begins with a panoramic view of the lagoon from the Bolinas Ridge and moves into those views all of us love: striking sunsets, harbor seals, egrets, pelicans, cormorants and mirror smooth water. It moves under water for shots of fish, plants, and mollusks. Famed oceanographer, Dr. Sylvia Earle, explains the importance of estuaries, and how Bolinas Lagoon is one of the last remaining saltwater wetlands in the northern hemisphere.

Today we are reaping the benefits of the persistent efforts of concerned citizens in the fifties and sixties who blocked a crass development effort of the lagoon. The movie pans in on a development map for the town of Bolinas with hundreds of lots, a yacht harbor, an extension of the freeway to the coast and a golf course. The Kent family, local politicians and hundreds of determined citizens out maneuvered the county’s development agency to block the development project and to revert ownership of the lagoon to the county. Due to their efforts, development of the lagoon will never happen.

In the 1980's local residents became alarmed by all the evidence that revealed the lagoon was filling up with silt. What to do? The movie skillfully frames the unique situation where everybody in Stinson Beach and Bolinas wants to preserve the lagoon, but how to do it? The various factions cannot agree upon what to do, how to do it and how to fund it. The issue boils down to one question: should we (humans) interfere with the natural processes of silting to prevent the mouth of the lagoon from sealing off the tidal action of the ocean, which is essential to the health of the plants and marine life within the lagoon.

One faction wants to dredge the mouth and around Kent Island to keep the tidal action flowing. The opposing group pushes for no action because silting is a natural process of the evolution of estuaries. Environments are far more complex than we realize and thus well-intended action could disrupt the delicate balance of an ecosystem, and intervention by humans to solve one problem could cause unintended side effects.

With federal funding, the Army Corps of Engineers studied the silting problem and proposed a $60 million plan to do extensive dredging of the lagoon and other projects. The community factions couldn’t agree and the plan died.

What does science say? The County of Marin contracted with consultants Phillip Williams Associates to study the problem, model the silting action and predict what would happen in fifty years. Their study concluded that the main cause of silting came from the erosion of the bluffs to the north of the mouth of the lagoon, due to wave action and tides, and that in fifty years the mouth would still be open but the average depth of the lagoon would be half of today’s depth.

The factions still couldn’t agree. Federal funding dried up because there was no consensus among the local groups. Environmentalists argued that the lagoon is experiencing a natural process: a seismic event followed by years of silting to another seismic event. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake dropped the average depth of the lagoon three feet and silt has been filling in this new hole caused by the earthquake for a hundred years. The opposing faction feels that environmentalists are sophisticated “do nothing types.” They use fancy data and technical jargon to justify inaction. The opposition feels that “we must do something to preserve the lagoon.”

The movie delivers clips, quotes and statements from local citizens who participated in the numerous meetings concerning the dying of the lagoon and makes them the stars of the movie: Josh, the fisherman, representing the dredging proposal; Gordon, head of the Sierra Club, opposing intervention; the head of the Audubon Society concerned about the delicate environmental balance; Maria, superintendent of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, working to bring the groups together, and Scott, head of Surfrider Foundation of Marin County, commenting on the furor generated by the discussions.

The epilogue stressed that local factions have partnered with the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary to reach an agreement that targets mitigating the impact of humans on the lagoon. The new partnership is now searching for funding to implement the agreement. The movie ends with a stirring speech by Dr.Sylvia Earle, marine biologist, to study more and learn more. Our greatest problem is not knowing. With knowing comes caring.

Bill Chayes and Nancy Olin’s movie engaged and enthralled the audience. The packed house was filled with locals, who like myself, are very connected to the lagoon and who could not disengage from the issue when the movie ended. The first question for Bill Chayes from the audience was, “What’s the solution?” Poor Bill was the messenger here. He quickly turned the question over to the head of the Sierra Club who gave a very positive response about the agreement.

Congratulations to Bill and Nancy for skillfully documenting this treasure of Marin and articulating the lagoon’s evolutionary issues. All people of Marin would enjoy this movie. My rating: four stars.

October 1, 2008 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
Low upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Sunny, blue skies, high white clouds	Fantastic session

“What’s this? A crack in the rail, I don’t remember getting hit.” I’m sitting outside at the Groin and a big set had just rolled through. It’s a beautiful morning with some fantastic waves. I got off the board and flipped it over. A straight crack in the fiberglass crossed the mid-point of the board and up and around both rails. How did this happen? Another ding in my favorite board.

Surf prospects looked good this morning. The NOAA buoy website reported 5.6 ft west swells at fourteen seconds, no wind and 62 degree water. Stormsurf.com had a five-foot west swell with a two-foot south swell at fourteen seconds. West and south is a good combination for Bolinas. Coming over the hill on the Panoramic Highway, I saw clean swell lines marching into the Stinson-Bolinas bay. Several cars were parked at Bolinas indicating that others were watching the Internet and responding to the good conditions. Marty, Matt and Doug’s vehicles were there. Walt was suiting up and couldn’t decide whether to go to the Groin or the Patch. Lou the boogie boarder arrived. I hadn’t seen him in weeks. He didn’t even bother to look at Palomarin; he knew it would be good here. I followed him out into the water.

Marty, Matt and couple others were at the Patch. Doug and five other surfers were spread across the Channel and the Groin. Walt was stretching on the beach, studying the surf and still trying to decide whether to go the Patch or the Groin. For me there was no question, I would go for the harder breaking waves at the Groin. The low tide had just turned and the waves were not clean. They broke in peaks, one or two in the Channel and one on the inside north of the Groin wall. I’ll go there, I had good luck there Monday lining up with the brown wood framed house on the cliff.

The waves were bigger than they looked from shore, a consistent three to four foot hard breaking waves with sets to six feet. I paddled into a four-footer, peered over the edge, down the line of a steep drop; I pulled back and let it go. I paddled for others but missed them. I finally got my fortitude up, pushed myself into a sizeable one, stood up, put my weight on the tail block, dropped down a head high curl, turned, traveled a long ways with the wave peeling over the middle of my board until the wall of water exploded and knocked me off. OK now I’m into to it. On my next wave, I climbed high in the curl and shot through a steep, fast section, a great ride. That was the first of several fast curl rides.

Paddling out I got a good side glimpse of Lou on his boogie board locked into a fast four-foot curl with the lip pitching over his head. I saw Walt coast down a well shaped left peeling line. A good set came through and Doug was in position. We encouraged him to go for the first one, a five-foot beauty. As I paddled over the second wave I looked back and watched Doug’s head sail in front of the fast breaking curl, he made it through this section, cut back and shot into the shore break. It was a great ride. Mr. Throwback (whose name is Barry), with no wetsuit or booties, was at the far Channel peak. The waves were softer there. He slowly worked his way down to the Groin break with us. I assured him that the walls were makeable. He caught one good one after another.

I had discovered that these walls were holding up. There was a definite edge to the break. When the wave would first break, there would be a moment where it slowed up allowing one a split second to position the board high in the curl and pick up speed through a left peeling section. Knowing this I watched an approaching wall and thought, “this will be tight, but I think I can.” I stroked into it, caught it, quickly stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down and shot through a head-high section. The wave slowed up for an instant, I climbed higher in the curl, stepped to the nose (really ¾ of the way) as the wave built up for the next steep section. I stood there and cruised. I worked up and down the wave by shifting my weight over my feet, stalling a second, dropping a little down the wave and then leaning on my lead foot to climb back up to the top of the curl. On and on I went right up to the shore break, the wave began to close out, I cut back and coasted down it. The shore break was shoulder high (four feet). That was one of the longest nose rides of my life.

After an hour I was sitting on the inside to take off late. I had to be careful not to get caught inside. I saw a set coming way out there. I gingerly paddled out. I didn’t want to get too far out. A huge wave approached. “Wait until you see the wave before going further out,” I thought to myself. I finally saw it. The wave was thirty yards out there and feathering at the top. I started digging to get over it. There was no thought about catching it; I was too late, and I wasn’t going to get over it. I abandoned my board and dove under the white water that was sliding down from the top of the peak. Under water, the surge of the wave pulled me back, for an instant I thought I was going over the falls. I pushed through the turbulence and came to the surface. The wave engulfed my board, and the leash was stretched tight for several seconds before my board popped loose. Lou shouted over to me, “man, that had to be six feet plus.” I thought it was bigger.

Afterwards I was sitting outside and felt a ding in the rail. I flipped the board over and saw the crack that went across the bottom of the board. Wow, that wave must have landed on top of my board and nearly snapped it in half. What am I going to do? The crack looked repairable. What about this great swell and the new one that is going to arrive on Friday? I have another board, my big wave board, it is solid and I have used it to ride small waves, thus I can keep surfing. I caught a good wave, stood in the curl just like all the others. The crack wasn’t impacting the performance of the board. Good I will continue picking off these good waves.

In came a big one, I went for it, stroked into it, maneuvered to the middle of the swell, crouched down and hummed across a four-foot wall. I heard a faint clunk, a rip, my board instantly stopped and I flew off the front of the board. It felt like something had slammed on the air brakes. “This can’t be good,” I thought to myself under water. Standing in chest high water, I retrieved my board, flipped it over and was greeted by two sheets of fiberglass flapping in the breeze. The force of water passing under the board had gotten under the crack and ripped the fiberglass from the crack in the middle of the board to the fins. What am I going to do now? I’m finished for today. With the bottom flapping loose I couldn’t paddled in. I waded to the shore with my wounded board. The guys in the parking lot got a good hoot out of my ordeal. In the above photo, I’m standing there with the fiberglass flapping. I felt like throwing it in that “Dump Runs” truck. Well, it’s time to buy a new board.