January 4, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 10:00 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Low upcoming tide (2.5 ft at 9:00 am)	Stiff offshore wind
Sunny, high clouds and cold	Cold fun session

The wave of the morning belongs to Hans. We were sitting outside at the Groin waiting for the next set. A fun peak was breaking this morning peeling in both directions. The water was cold, the stiff offshore wind was cold and the air was cold. The offshore breeze was holding up the curls, and the low tide had passed two hours ago but the ebb flow was still pouring out of the lagoon. I was positioned ten yards inside of Hans to catch the waves late. A four-foot set wave approached and I wanted to take it left. I watched Hans closely to see if he was going to try for it; he was. I wasn’t sure if he would go left or right. He was right at the apex of the peak and could go either way. He had the right of way and went for it. I turned and paddled over it and caught a glimpse of Hans’ initial drop. The sunlight blared through the top of the peak turning the lip emerald green as spray blew back over the top. I went over the wave just as it was breaking and looked back. Hans had cut to the right, which meant I could have taken it left. He was crouched down in the middle of his board trimming through a fast section. He cut back, stalled a second and then turned into another fast section. I continued paddling out. I looked back and Hans was still going, again crouched down in the middle of his board and leaning into another good section. Again he cut back and turned yet into another section. I paddled over another wave and looked back again. Hans was still going doing the same maneuvers and trimming through another section. By now he was adjacent to the Groin pole and still going. He continued on a one-foot curl well inside the Groin wall before finally pulling out. It was one of the longest rides I have ever seen at the Groin. Everybody congratulated him.

I was going for the lefts as was Mary and David who rides a Becker board. My best ride came near the end of my session. The current was pushing us out and to the north. We had to keep paddling in to stay in the impact zone. The waves were difficult to catch thus I had to wait until they breaking to connect. Sitting inside, a four-foot set wave approached, I paddled out, turned, stroked towards the peak and took off as the wave was breaking. I jumped up, turned hard left, cruised along the bottom of the wave as it curled and broke in front of me. I had plenty of speed to drive under the white water and back into the swell. I climbed to the top of the wave, took a step forward, steadied the rail under the lip of the curl and cruised through a long fast section. I cut back into the breaking portion of the wave, rode the white water for a long ways to let the swell build into the shore break. Once into it I turned sharply left and drove the nose of the board into the curl as it broke on the beach. Though I was tired that was such a good ride I paddled back out for another one.

I almost did not go out this morning due to the cold Tule fog in Mill Valley, the cold offshore wind that ripped through me as I stood on the overlook above the Groin and the so-so waves. But my friends were in the water: Mary, Hans, David, Doug and Jim. I stood there freezing for ten minutes, a few good waves came through and suddenly they didn’t look that bad. From previous sessions I knew that the high cliff protected the beach from the wind. Get some exercise and say hello to my friends. As it turned out it wasn’t that cold, the waves were fun and the crowd was friendly.

News from the others: Mary announced she was leaving Wednesday with a friend for a surf trip in Costa Rica, ten days in a surf camp near Tamarindo. Doug told me about the great sessions he had at Dillon Beach last week with head high, glassy peaks. Jim the jazz guitarist talked about his steady gigs through the holidays playing “ambiance music” at a hotel in Santa Rosa. They were also talking to him about every weekend through April. Steady work for a musician in this economy is god sent. David, who just began surfing a few months ago, mentioned that he was intimidated by the big waves that came through last week. He paddled out and just watched the others. I understand intimidation, and David did the right thing for working up to taking off on the big ones. Get close and observe.