August 14, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
8:50 am to 9:50 am	1' to 2' sets to 2.5'
High dropping tide	Stiff offshore (north) wind
Sunny and breezy	Exercise session

The pelicans were having a field day this morning about one hundred yards out from the ramp at Bolinas. Amongst the diving pelicans we saw at least three dolphins cruising up and down in the water. The dolphins were back.

“There are your Stinson Beach sharks,” I said to Cathy between sets at the Groin.

The National Park Service had closed Stinson for five days due to a shark sighting. The article in the paper stated that bathers (probably tourists from Oklahoma) reported to the lifeguards seeing a shark. The article also pointed out that the lifeguards had not sighted any sharks. But to be safe, the head of the Lifeguard Service closed Stinson Beach for five days. I bet the bathers saw dolphins. They often return to our territory with the fish and south swells.

Today was an exercise session. I had no expectations for waves but this morning was a disappointment. The NOAA San Francisco buoy reported six-foot NW wind swell at eight seconds combined with a one-foot south swell at 14 seconds. The report also noted 17-knot north wind with gusts to 21 knots and a drop in water temperature to 55 degrees, down from 59 on Monday. That’s a lot of wind. I was surprised by the wind and its direction. The Bay Area was moving into another hot spell with a drop in humidity and an offshore wind flow. Big fires were already raging in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in the Tracey area. Per the weather guy on the radio, tomorrow did not look good for the firefighters: 100-degree heat, 10% humidity and Santana winds. But this morning I was greeted by white caps far out at sea and a blast of cold wind at Bolinas.

From the overlook I saw six surfers out at the Channel. A four-foot wave came through and one guy got a decent ride. “OK, I’m going,” I said to myself. Mary, Marty, Doug, Professor Steve and Cathy were out there. As I watched with my camera in hand, everyone had difficulty catching the waves. They would peak and start to feather at the top but would not break. “OK, only the set waves are rideable,” I thought.

“It’s freezing out there,” said Mary, dripping wet and board in hand as she unlocked her car. “If you have any gloves, put them on.” She didn’t and her hands were numb. Last night’s big wind must have stirred up the water, bringing the cold water to the surface.

“Where did everybody go?” I said to myself when I walked down the ramp to the beach. The six surfers had dwindled to one, who was only a few feet from shore.

“It died,” stated Doug when I greeted him on the beach.

“The peak shifted,” said Marty when I passed him on the beach. “It must be the tide.”

Cathy was considering going in when I entered the water, but a set came through with a couple of promising waves so we decided to try for those. Just as I had observed, only the set waves were rideable. I caught the white water of a couple of waves and rode under the foam to get back into the swell. My first wave was my best ride: long, slow, power glide type wave. The tide had turned and the outgoing ebb flow was pulling us out to sea. In a few minutes we were beyond the impact zone and didn’t know it. We sat there thinking we were in a long lull between sets. We finally had to paddle in fifty yards to the Groin wall before we caught another wave. After forty-five minutes, I move to the inside peak where I was Monday, lining up with the house that is falling down the cliff. I stood in waist deep water to prevent the current from moving me around while I waited for the next set. Nothing spectacular came. I caught a couple of one-footers and belly-boarded them. After I hour I decided to call it quits and started paddling to the ramp for exercise. When I reached the end of the retaining wall of the house at the base of the ramp, a good set came through. I paddled through the white water of the first two waves and managed to catch the third one. It was a small slow curl but it carried me to within five feet of dry sand, providing me with a good point to exit the water.

Back at the cars I asked Martha if she got any rides out there. “I had a good time,” she replied. Spoken like a true surfer. Anytime you get into the water and get some exercise it’s a good session.