August 6, 2010 Friday

Pacifica	Linda Mar
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 4', sets 5' to 6'
High upcoming tide	West cross wind to onshore wind
Overcast to patchy sun	Fun session - confidence builder

Wednesday I signed up to enter tomorrow’s Kahuna Kupuna surf contest at Linda Mar. Jack the Dave Sweet team rider talked to me months ago about entering this contest. He has entered it every year for the past eight years and last year he won his age division. I was non-committal. It sounded like fun but in my thirty-five years of surfing I have never entered a surf contest and besides I had other things to do. Monday at Bolinas Jack was driving off in his truck when he saw me; he stopped and rolled down the window.

“Have you signed up for that contest yet?”

“No. I haven’t made up my mind.”

“Loren, do it! This is the only time in your life that you have to be in the finals of a surf contest. In our age group there is only one heat, thus all contestants are in the finals.”

“That’s a good way to put it.”

“Then do it! They have extended the deadline to Wednesday, they need contestants.” And off he drove.

Tuesday I mentioned to my wife Kate that I was oscillating about entering the contest. “Oh you have to do it. It will be fun.” That was just the push I needed to do it. Wednesday morning I printed off the entry form, threw my checkbook and my surf gear in the car and headed off to Linda Mar. I figured if I mailed the form in Pacifica it would get there before they closed off the entries. Also, I wanted to surf Linda Mar to prepare for Saturday’s contest.

I pulled into the parking lot and the weather was miserable, howling onshore wind, low fog and freezing cold. Only three surfers were out, which is unheard of at Linda Mar, usually twenty people are in the water regardless of conditions. A pickup truck with a big sandwich board advertising the contest sat in the front row of the parking lot. An old surfer about my age stood bundled up in a hooded sweatshirt next to the truck.

“I’ve come to sign up!” I greeted him with the entry form in my hand. “Great,” responded Roy who runs the contest every year.

“You’re 65?” Roy was looking at my entry form. “That puts you in our 65 to 69 group. That’s the one we call the legends.” Sounded great to me. Now I was committed. Meanwhile the surf looked terrible; I didn’t bother going out.

“Roy what if it’s like this on Saturday?”

“Well conditions will be the same for everyone. Thus we will go out.”

This morning I was determined to go out. Tomorrow the weather will be the same as today. I would go out to get the feel of the waves, the chop, wind and currents. The wind was from the west, a cross wind, that didn’t impact the shape of the waves. Twelve surfers were bunched together at a three to four foot peak just north of the restrooms. The waves broke left into a channel. My strategy was set, paddle out through the channel and then south to the peak. The waves came in close together pairs with the first one looking good and hiding the second one that was always bigger. I learned quickly to let the first one go and get prepared for the second one. On my first ride I paddled over the first wave and the second one was cresting when I first saw it. I had a split second to decide whether to go for it. I went for it, dropped left down a steep face with a “SHOOSH” sound, the shoulder went flat, I cut back and worked into the shore break and pulled out before it slammed into the embankment of a steep beach. That was the first of one big drop left after another.

At one point the waves disappeared, the crowd thinned out, the fog lifted, some sunshine broke through and the wind shifted onshore. For twenty minutes only four of us were at the peak. Soon a consistent set of several waves came through and the crowd swelled to twenty, all within a few minutes.

An older surfer ventured out who looked familiar, a Bolinas regular with dark hair with a little gray on the sides, riding a clear single stringer longboard with no booties and no leash. I watched him skillfully come down the face of a head-high wall. Now I remembered him. I have seen him several times at Bolinas. He was always on the big wave sets picking off the best ones. A few months ago he was the one at the Patch who told an arrogant stand-up surfer to “F - off” when the Stand-up guy complained about dropping in on him. We happened to be at the outside peak together and he recognized me.

“What’s up? Is Bolinas too small? Is that why you are here?”

“No. I entered that Kahuna contest so I’m here to practice.”

“Good for you! So have I. I’ll see you here tomorrow.” Meet Don, an excellent surfer and I sure hoped he was under 65 and not in my group.

I caught one more sizeable left and paddled in. Let’s not over do it, I thought to myself. Save some for tomorrow. After changing I chatted with Roy who was again standing by his pick-up truck with the sandwich board advertising the contest.

“Roy, how many sign-ups do you have?”

“Around sixty-five. I want to get at least seventy. I’ll probably hit that this afternoon through beach sign-ups.” His target of seventy covers the contest expenses and provides a decent contribution for the contest charity, the Pacifica Environmental Family.

“What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?”

“Same as today but the swell is supposed to be a little bigger. I come down here everyday and it’s never the same. The wind and fog are always different. One year it was Victory at Sea out here, howling onshore winds and big white caps. We almost didn’t hold the contest. We moved to the south end into the shelter of the bluff and people persevered.”

What a great morning. I drove off feeling refreshed and confident. If the waves tomorrow are anything like today’s, I will do fine and it will be fun.