November 13, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
8:45 am to 9:45 am	1', sets to 2'
High tide (6.2 ft at 8:30 am)	Stiff offshore breeze
Sunny with a cold wind	Exercise session

Surf conditions did not look good this morning: 6 ft north swell at 11 seconds, 23 knot NNW wind and a 6.2 ft high tide at 8:30 am. “Bolinas will be flat,” I thought to myself. “The tide is too high.” Fall was settling in with cooler temperatures, highs in the low 60s and lows in the 40s. High pressure was pushing in causing strong north winds, the big swells of last weekend were gone and only local wind swells remained. While driving over the mountain I was thinking I would turn around and come home if it wasn’t good. I had other things to do. I didn’t see any white water at Bolinas when coming down the Panoramic Highway. I was convincing myself it would be flat. I won’t even get out the camera. I’ll check the surf, jump back into my car, return home and get back to my chores

I pulled up to the parking area. Doug and Matt’s cars were there with boards gone. They were in the water. Mark the archaeologist arrived and a cold wind greeted us as we headed for the seawall to check the waves. The shore break pounded the south seawall and Mark and I dodged waves breaking over the north wall. Six surfers were out at the Groin: Doug, Jim the jazz guitarist, Matt, David who rides the Becker board and two others. They were scratching for these one to two foot weak waves that were barely breaking inside the Groin wall. Mark and I moved to the overlook for a better view and to stay dry. The waves, though small, looked good; clean peaks that were held up by the offshore breeze.

“I’m going out,” Mark announced and took off to suit up. I stood there watching the waves and thinking about all the things I could get done if I left right at that moment. I hesitated. The sun was warm, the waves were picturesque and the high cliffs protected the beach from the cold north wind. Why not go? One hour, get some exercise and shoot the breeze with my friends. So I decided to do it.

The waves were barely rideable. This was purely an exercise session. My most interesting wave was a two footer that I rode laying down. The wave had broken outside; I caught the white water and the wave reformed into a small shore break curl. To stay in this powerless wave, I remained laying down and paddled along with it. I got a good head-high view of this small peeling curl as I maneuvered to shore. I ended up in six inches of water, picked up my board and walked around the Groin wall instead of making the long paddle back out to the peak. I repeated this experience six more times.

In the water, Matt showed off his new board, a 9’ 4” SurfTech Dino Miranda model. This was his third time riding this beautiful board. He bought it from the 2-Mile Surf Shop where they gave him a good price for it. Mark mentioned that any day he would receive his new 9’ 6” Hobie. He went all out and ordered a foam board custom built by Hobie’s long time shaper Terry Martin. Mark said Terry is in his 70s, has been shaping boards for Hobie since the 1960s and that he looks like Santa Claus due to his white beard and stout figure. This was the third board that Mark has ordered from Hobie’s factory in Dana Point. He ordered them over the phone or online and had them delivered to Bolinas.

The tide turned, the current started flowing out of the lagoon and the wind picked up. Time to go. I bellied another wave to the shore and got out. Out of the protection of the cliff, the cold wind hit me at the top of the ramp. Fall was definitely upon us.

Follow up on Mark’s board, I googled Hobie Surfboards and here’s some details about Terry Martin: 72 years old, has been shaping surfboards for 55 years, 40 of them with Hobie, has shaped over 70,000 boards and is still going strong.

The next day Mark emailed me about Terry’s latest model, the One Fin Pin that he worked up with nose riding phenom Tyler Warren. They are only making 50 of them and one is them is Mark’s. I’m anxious to see it. Mark also included a link to a fascinating eight-minute YouTube video produced by Surfer’s Journal of master craftsman Terry Martin shaping a board from beginning to end. Everything is done by hand using a handsaw that he purchased in 1964 and a Skill Model 100 Planner, which they don’t make anymore, to hand sanding the rails. The link is below. Check it out.

Terry Martin Video