March 10, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Straight out from the north seawall
9:40 am to 11:00 am	3', sets to 4'
Mid outgoing tide	Offshore wind to no wind
Sunny and breezy with high clouds	Fun session

Wind, wind and more wind. When I awoke this morning in Mill Valley the tall redwoods across the canyon were swaying. Yesterday was sunny in the morning; clouds and a cold wind arrived in the afternoon and it rained hard during the night. The weather guys were predicting a break in the rain for today and Thursday before the next storm would move in on Friday afternoon. The strong winds had all the redwood trees dancing as I drove over the mountain. From the top of the Panoramic Highway I broke out of the clouds into bright blue sky, a clear view of Point Reyes and the Farallon Islands and white caps far out to sea. But in the Bolinas cove the water was smooth.

The buoy report had mixed details this morning: 9 ft NW swell at 13 seconds, 21 knot NNW winds gusting to 27 knots and a wind chill factor of 41 degrees. I stopped at Stinson Beach to collect a water sample for the Surfrider water-testing program. John the owner of the Parkside Café and Scott chairman of Surfrider Marin County were checking out the surf. Big uneven, rough walls of water crashed across the entire beach and slowly rolled towards the holes along the shore. A strong cross wind whipped across the faces of the waves. It didn’t look inviting and no one was out.

When I jumped out of the car at Bolinas, there was no wind. From the seawall with camera at the ready I watched clean, glassy 3’ to 4’ winds swells that peeled in both directions. An offshore breeze held up the curls and sent an arch of spray off the tops when they broke. I saw Ray the Petaluma fireman turned into a nice right wave; he crouched down in the middle of his board and cruised along a smooth face for a long ways. Marty connected on a good steep, fast left curl. And Doug took off on every wall he could catch. That’s him in the photo above on a fast but short left wave. With no wind, a glassy surface, warm sunshine and clean fun waves, I had to go out.

Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic was suiting up when I got back to my car. He reported that gale force winds were blowing at Dillon Beach, so he decided to take a chance on Bolinas. By the time I suited up my friends had exited the water. Ray came up as I was pulling up my wetsuit. Doug showed up as I picked up my board to walk to the ramp.

“Doug, you’re getting out so soon,” I said. “I’m just starting and you are exiting. What gives?"

“Hey, you’re late!” he replied. “I’ve been out a long time.” It was now past 9:30 am.

“When did you go out?”

“7:00!” he exclaimed, a two and a half hour session.

I passed Marty at the top of the Ramp. Only three people were out when I entered the water: Jeff, an athletic woman who was a good surfer and a thirty-something male who was a beginner. While strapping on my leash I watched Jeff connect with a good left. He dropped down a steep head-high face, banked left, stepped to the middle of the board and with his back to the wave shot through a fast section. He worked the wave all the way to the shore break when it finally closed out on him. It was a great ride.

“I want one of those,” I said to myself. It looked to me that Jeff had figured out the best take-off point. I padded out to join him. What a good move, for an hour Jeff, the athletic woman and I traded wave after wave, all good clean fast curls. Our female companion kept commenting how great it was. She was from Santa Cruz and claimed she was having more fun here. Here we were in warm sunshine, glassy fun waves and only three people on the peak. That would never happen at Santa Cruz.