February 22, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4'
Low dropping tide	Slight cross breeze
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

Matt, Dexter and I stood on the seawall at the base of the ramp at Bolinas looking at some unimpressive waves this morning when Mark the archaeologist arrived grinning and boasting about his recent trip to Hawaii.

“Honolua Bay!” he exclaimed.

“You went to Maui?” I asked. Honolua Bay is the best break on Maui, a long Malibu like point break on the NW corner of the island. I had surfed there a few years ago on a sunny December morning with consistent 3’ to 4’ lines peeling for hundreds of yards from the point to the cove. To me the waves were beautiful, but for the locals it was considered flat and they didn’t bother going out.

“Yes,” he replied. “The twelve foot faces were a little intimidating. But the next day it was smaller, more my size, and though crowded I managed to connect on several good ones.” He obviously had a good trip and was glad to be back to his home turf.

This morning the recent rains had stopped, it was sunny and clear, I hadn’t surfed in a week thus I had to go out. I had no expectations for waves, though the buoy report was favorable: 9 ft NW swells at 15 seconds. The inland fog was thick and cold in Mill Valley but it was clear on the ocean side of the mountain. Coming down the Panoramic Highway the Farallon Islands peaked up on the horizon, a line of white water stretched across the Duxbury Reef and Vee patterns from breakers appeared along Stinson Beach and Seadrift, all good signs.

Mary, Doug and David who rides the Becker board were suited up and heading for the water when I pulled up.

“When will you get off January 28th?” Russ greeted me. He was referring to Lorenzo’s Surf Journal, which I had not updated for three weeks.

“Soon,” I replied.

Russ had a lower back problem that bothered him and impacted his surfing. He had difficulty jumping up, thus he would initially ride on his knees and stand up later in the wave. He told me he had been searching the Internet about back problems and of course he found a ton of stuff. He demonstrated a stretching exercise that seemed to work. He spread his board bag on the street, lay down on his back with his knees bent and then slowly raised and lowered his abdomen. He claimed this really helps.

From the seawall I took photos of Doug and David out at the break in front of the north seawall, the one with all the graffiti on it. Mary was barely visible at the far outside peak at the Patch. Doug and David had trouble catching the waves and when they did the waves were walled and the rides were short. The above photo is Doug on a good one. Matt and I paddled out to the far peak at the Patch to join Mary. Mark and Dexter headed for the inside break with Doug and David. I figured that with the tide dropping, this peak, which was already walled up, would soon begin sucking out.

The waves were rough, not clean; wind swells that would combine together on top of small ground swells. The set waves had some size and force and fortunately the sets were frequent. The waves would break on the outside and reform on the inside. On my first ride, I caught the white water sliding down the peak of a four-foot swell, coasted into a reforming curl and cruised left over the shallow reef for a long ways. The waves were better than they look from the shore. For over an hour Mary, Matt and I managed to connect on a few sizeable set waves that produce long enjoyable rides. It felt good to be back in the water again and we all agreed that despite the chop and the rough surface the few good long rides made it all worthwhile.