August 23, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4', occasional 5'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze to no wind
Warm, bright sunny day, heat wave	Good session

“David when did you come out?” It was 10 am, I had been out for an hour and David, who rides the Becker board, and I had separated from the pack at the Channel.

“I came out about seven.”

“How was it earlier?”

“On and off. Fifteen minutes of good waves and then nothing for a long time.” A good set of three and four-foot waves came through.

“David, I think it is getting better.”

“I think you are right.”

From ten to eleven the so-so waves picked up and a continuous flow of three to four-foot walls marched in. David and I picked off one long peeling wave after another.

I had high hopes for waves this morning. Internet conditions looked good: 4 ft north swell at 8 seconds, 3 ft south swell at 17 seconds, 5 knot NW wind, up coming tide, 55 degree water and heat wave conditions. The weather had changed. The cloud cover that had hung over the coast for the last three months was gone and our first day of real summer was finally here.

I met Jack the Dave Sweet team rider at the base of the ramp at Bolinas. He was discouraged. The waves looked weak. Jack was working on a house above the Patch and wanted to get in a few waves before working on his project. Where was the south swell? We went up to the overlook above the Groin. Four surfers were out including David and Marty. We watched Marty catch a couple of waves. That’s him in the above photo.

“Loren, there’s no thrust, no push, no green line to cruise down.” Stormsurf.com claimed that south swell #S6 was arriving today and would peak on Wednesday; four to five feet at 17 seconds, that’s big.

“Jack, Wednesday, the south swell peaks on Wednesday. Be here Wednesday.” Disappointed, Jack decided to go to work and hope for a better day. The heat wave was enough of a reason for me to go out.

I paddled out to the Groin peak to join Marty and David. The waves were gentle and fun; wind ripples piled onto three-foot ground swells. Being a warm day the crowd picked up; lots of new faces I had never seen here before. David drifted north and inside to separate from the crowd. Paddling out I saw him connect on a good inside, steep and long section. That’s what I want. I had gone out to the far peak twenty yards further south to catch the waves when they first broke. Good idea, but most waves closed out before I could get going. David has the spot, I thought to myself as I watched him cruise down another inside curl. I moved over to join him.

The inside waves ended close to the Groin. “I almost pulled a ring from the Groin pole,” David said paddling back after another long ride. He was referring to the Merry-go-rounds in the old days that had a chute filled with metal rings that one could lean out and hook with a finger as their horse passed by. I bet most of you cannot remember these old Merry-go-rounds. “And if you hook the gold ring, you get a free ride,” I chimed in.

As the tide came in, these inside waves got better. For an hour David, two other guys and I traded waves. Each set had four to five waves, thus with patience David and I connected on several long beautiful rides.

“Why are you not at the far peak?” Claude called out as he paddled by.

“We’re separating from the crowd and catching these good inside walls,” I replied. Thirty minutes later Claude paddled back to join us.

“Claude how was it over there?”

“My first wave was great, a right that reformed into a fast long section, and then nothing.” I told him to wait here for the sets. He did and he too connected on several good ones.

After two hours I was spent. David was pushing four hours in the water and still going strong. Another set came through and I stroked into a three-foot wall, stepped to the middle of the board and cruised down a long section that took me close to shore. I called it a day. Walking towards the ramp I looked back at the Groin and another set of good waves approached. David dropped down the first wave, Claude was on the second one, and Robbie, a Stinson Beach local, caught the third one.

What a beautiful day and what perfect conditions. I’m coming back for sure on Wednesday for the peak of the south swell.