November 11, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
8:50 am to 10:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid outgoing tide	Offshore breeze to NW cross breeze
High overcast with patchy sunshine	Fun session

“Why are there fourteen people at the Groin at 8:00 am on a Wednesday?” I asked a young surfer standing next to me on the seawall checking out the waves. “Don’t these people have to work?”

“It’s Veterans Day,” he calmly replied. “The schools are out, the banks are closed and there’s no mail service today.” Well that explained it. We watched these surfers paddle for and miss weak two-foot waves at the Groin. The tide was too high. The swells wouldn’t break until they were within a few feet of the Groin pole.

“It looks like a paddle session to me,” Martha said as she was heading down the ramp to enter the water. I asked her if she was out this weekend for the big waves. “I came out Sunday,” she replied. “The waves were big and bumpy. I didn’t have a good time.” I had heard others talk about how frustrating this past weekend was, big crowds and big waves without much shape. “I think this place is better on a three-foot south swell than on a twenty-foot north swell,” Martha added and I agreed.

“Maybe I should have gone to Stinson,” I said to myself after a half hour paddling for and missing small waves at the Groin. Expectations for fun waves looked good this morning: 8 ft north swell at 11 seconds and a 5-knot NW wind. I had joined Martha and David who rides the Becker board at the peak north of the Groin wall. I paddled for a wave that I was sure I was going to catch but just missed it and some guy who had caught it at the furthest peak came cruising by me. “That does it, I’m going out there.” By now the outgoing current from the lagoon was rippling through the outside peak putting a texture on the surface. I paddled over there and still I couldn’t catch a wave. Within a few minutes the current had moved me outside beyond the impact zone. A big set approach, I paddled for the first wave and missed it, I paddled for the second it and missed it also. Now I was several yards closer to shore. The third and biggest wave of the set approached, foam was forming at the top, I went for it, dropped down a head-high face, plowed under white water from the wave breaking in front of me, climbed back into the swell and cruised through a good section. Finally I had caught a wave.

From outside I watched someone trim on a right wave in front of the Groin pole with great speed. It was Martha. I saw David connect on a good left curl close to shore. “That does it, I’m moving inside with them.” Good move. I caught several fast curls right up to the shore. The tide had dropped causing the waves to become steeper. Here we were inside of the outgoing current from the lagoon so the surface was smooth. On one I took off late, turned quickly to the left, got high in the curl and stood there just under the lip of the wave. My legs felt like shock absorbers as I bumped over a series on one-foot backwash swells bouncing off the seawall.

“Party wave,” yelled Dan to Professor Steve and I as we were stroking for a well-formed three-foot peak. I pulled back to let them have it. Dan took off, dropped into a crouch with his back to the wave. I turned to watch. Dan had disappeared. I thought he had wiped out, but then I noticed the wake of his board tracking ahead of the breaking part of the wave. After a long ways, he popped up still in the critical part of the wave as it broke onto the shore. What a great ride. I saw David on a good one. He took off with his back to the wave, cut left, trimmed through a fast section, cut back, turned left again and cruised through a fast inside section. For a guy who had just started surfing he is picking this up in a hurry.

After connecting on all those inside curls, it turned out to be another fun session for the old kid here.