February 17, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Inside Patch
9:20 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Slight onshore wind
Low fog to bright blue skies	Fun session

The movie company arrived at Bolinas this morning. A white van, several cars and fifteen to twenty people pulled up and unloaded expensive video equipment, wet suits, a small boat and other props. They marched down the ramp, climb up the steps to the north seawall, walked back and forth, chatted and waited; too much fog. An on-the-deck fog hung over the water; one could not see but could hear the waves. The movie crew had to wait for the fog to lift.

“Loren, go take a picture of the shark’s head,” Mary said.

“Shark’s head?”

“Yes, they have a fake shark’s head sitting on the seawall,” Mary exclaimed.

“What’s this?” I said to myself, “a low budget remake of Jaws?” Above is a photo of their shark prop.

“What are you filming?” I asked a young woman with a huge digital camera hung around her neck.

“We’re with the Discovery Channel,” she said. “We’re filming a documentary about shark attacks.” I immediately assumed they were investigating shark attacks here in Bolinas.

“Oh, you should film on the Seadrift side of the Channel,” I replied. “That’s where Lee Fontan was hit a few years ago.”

“Where’s that?” she asked.

“On the far side of the Channel,” I said. I could see in her eyes she had never heard of the Channel and that this was her first time in Bolinas.

“Did he die?”

“No. He was bit in the leg. 120 stitches, he lived and is alive and well today,” I replied.

But they were not here to film about shark attacks in Bolinas. Of course all of us were too focused on getting some waves to bother hanging around watching the filmmakers. Wave conditions were fair: a nine-foot swell at 12 seconds, a slight NW wind, a low upcoming tide and a thick low fog. Several of the regulars were there: Mary, David who rides the Becker board, Doug and Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays.

“I still work,” Scott announced. “So if I am going it has to be now.” I walked with Scott down to the Groin.

“Scott, this looks terrible,” I said. The waves were tiny, mushy and bumpy.

“I don’t care,” he said. “I’m going to get wet.” And off he went. I decided to go to the inside Patch peak were the others were. Good choice, with the tide coming up and the water filling in, a good right peak formed and David, a woman from Santa Cruz and I connected on several good fast walls.

After my session, the filmmakers were still there. A few had on wetsuits and boards under their arms and a couple were in the water straight out from the ramp. The fog had lifted and blue skies and bright sunshine poured out, a beautiful spring day. The production crew had a small dingy out beyond the breakers with a cameraman and a soundman standing in the stern holding a long microphone pole. They were filming two surfers sitting near the boat and conversing with active arm gestures.

“Hey, what are you filming?” I asked one of the crew who was standing on the seawall.

“We’re re-enacting a shark attack,” he replied.

“One here?”

“No, one that occurred in Oregon,” he said.

Well that explained it. We’ll have to watch for the next Shark Week on the Discovery Channel for the re-enactment of an Oregon shark attack here in Bolinas.