May 28, 2010 Friday

Bolinas	Channel & Seadrift
9:00 am to 10:30 am	2' to 4'
Low upcoming tide (-1.4 ft at 6:30 am)	Stiff NW cross wind
Sunny with high clouds	Exercise session

“What am I doing here?” Mark the archaeologist had just gone in and I was sitting all by myself 100 yards offshore straight out from the third house on the Seadrift side of the Channel. The surf was terrible: two to four foot close out walls, the water was cold and a howling NW wind was pounding my face. A seal peeked up its head twenty yards north of me. Shark food I thought, and here I am on May 28th in the exact spot where a shark hit Lee Fontan five years ago on May 31st. I had just peed in my wetsuit; something my friends tell me not to do because sharks can smell it. I don’t believe that wives-tale, but that didn’t relieve my uneasiness about the possibility of a nearby shark. That was when I decided to start paddling north back towards the crowd at the Channel. I would catch a couple of waves and exit the water on the other side of the Groin wall.

What started out as a promising morning had quickly turned into a big disappointment. The weather had turned. Yesterday it rained and south winds ripped up the waves. I awoke to sunshine, clear skies and no wind in Mill Valley. The south swell that Stormsurf had predicted had arrived: 2.4 ft at 17 seconds. NOAA’s buoy website reported no wind to slight NW breeze on the ocean at 5:50 am. Warm sunshine, a strong south swell and no wind, it should be a good beach day. The only negative was the minus low tide.

All the rocks of the Patch reef were exposed when I arrived. Frank and Andy two standup surfers had paddled out beyond the outside rock. Three others scratched for small, infrequent and slow waves. Four surfers were at the Groin going for the two-foot set waves that collapsed as continuous curtains on the shore. I convinced myself that with the tide coming up the waves would get better and besides it was a beautiful morning, thus I had to go out. Just my luck, the wind turned while I was suiting up. I stiff breeze greeted me as I walked down the ramp. The breezed turned to a wind and an hour later it howled. White caps covered the sea by the time I exited the water.

When the waves are bad, surfers move around in search of the better peak. It’s the “grass is greener” syndrome, the waves look better further down the beach, let’s go check it out. I entered the water between the Groin and the Channel. I saw a couple of good lefts break at the peak further south. I paddled over there. A little further south it looked better and I paddled on. Soon Mark joined me. He had started at the Patch and said it was terrible: slow, powerless waves. So he paddled to Groin and then to join me. With my encouragement, he followed me to the next elusive left peak. Soon we were at Seadrift, three houses in and the waves were the same. An athletic woman briefly joined us. She too was doing the “grass is greener” ritual. I had seen her enter the water at the Groin. She caught a couple of waves, and then paddled to the Patch (a long paddle), not satisfied she paddled back to the Channel and rode a couple more waves. Then she continued paddling south to where we were and then she drifted further south looking for that elusive peak. Soon she was paddling north again, past us and continuing on to the Channel and the Groin. In her search she must have traveled four miles.

Mark gave it up and went in. I was now out there by myself freezing and thinking about sharks. I paddled north to the Channel, there were no waves, I paddled to the Groin and still there were no waves. I just continued on until I reached the ramp and went in. My accomplishment for this morning was a good healthy, aerobic and long paddle.