October 13, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
9:15 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Low outgoing tide	Slight offshore breeze to no wind
Bright hot sunny day, heat wave	Fun session

Here’s a good story of will and determination.

Walking up the ramp after taking some photos of the Patch, I met Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic and his wife. Jeff was still recovering from a serious boating accident that he had two months ago (see September 13th).

“Jeff, how are you feeling? I have seen you out in the water twice.”

“Better but it still hurts.”

“What does your doctor say?”

“I saw him yesterday. He said I’m one of those few who heal quickly. He was surprised and told me that he doesn’t need to see me again unless I’m having problems.”

“That sounds like determination and strength of will to me. You said that as soon as you could zip up a wetsuit you would be back out there.”

“That’s right and it feels good to be back in the water.”

“Are you doing any special exercises?”

“I’m going to physical therapy. The trainer there has been helpful. He realizes I’m an athlete who is anxious to get healed. He pushes me, which is just what I need. My insurance will cover a few more sessions with him that I’m going to take full advantage of. After that I will exercise on my own.”

“So now I take it you will think twice about going 80 mph on a speed boat.”

“No way! I will get back to that as soon as I can.” Jeff was racing a small hydroplane going 80 mph when he hit a bump in the water and went flying. Jeff’s resolve extends beyond surfing. Despite his numerous injuries from his accident, he is determined to get back to racing hydroplanes. Jeff and I were out at the Patch enjoying the mellow waves. I lasted for nearly two hours and Jeff was out for three hours, another sign of his rapid recovery.

Today was a heat wave. The Weather Channel on my iPhone forecasted a high of 94 degrees in the afternoon for Mill Valley, that’s hot. The State Park Service had closed the Bootjack parking lot and the road to Mt Tamalpais due to fire danger. I’ll have to get into the water just to cool off. The Internet surf forecasts were positive: 10 ft NW swell at 11 seconds, a 3 ft south swell at 14 seconds, light NNE winds and an outgoing tide. From the cars parked at Brighton Ave Mary, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, David who rides the Becker board, Martha, Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays and stand-up guys Frank and Russ were already in the water. Six surfers were at the Groin but the ebb tide current was knocking down the swell. The Patch looked better. While taking photos there, Jaime connected on a long mellow right wave, that’s him in the above photo, and Mary managed to catch three waves in the ten minutes that I was standing there.

I paddled out to the far peak at the Patch thinking about going left over the shallow reef. Mary, Jeff, Robert the Larkspur carpenter and Scott were there. Conditions were extreme mellowness: bright sunny sky, hot weather, no wind, glassy surface, long smooth rides and no fear factor. Strategy this morning was to be patient, wait for the set waves, take off when the waves were breaking and enjoy the ride. I sat of the left side of the crowd convinced the lefts were breaking harder than the rights due to the shallow reef. I caught a series of good ones where I managed to climb high in the curl, lock the rail of my board under the lip the wave and cruise down these long sections. The rides were long, slow and consistent. A set of good waves appeared every five minutes.

“Scott, what is Robert waiting for? A tsunami?” Robert was sitting way, way outside. The rest of us had moved inside and sat in the white foam from the previous set of waves. As soon as I had commented Robert was waiting for the impossible, the impossible appeared. A big set wave was feathering a 100 yards outside. Robert stroked into a head high wall while the rest of us were frantically paddling out. Robert jumped up, faded to the right as the wave broke in front of him and then swung around left. The wave lined up for him. He stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down and cruised through a long, long section. I had a perfect view of him humming down this wall as I ducked under the white water sliding down from the top of the wave.

After two hours I was ready to call it a day. My last ride was a good one. I stroked into a late breaking wave, cut right, centered in the middle of the board and stood there frozen through a long section. I cut back, turned into another good section and ended up twenty feet from the shore. I headed for shore instead of making the long paddle out to the peak. As I looked back, the beauty of the day hit me: blue seas on the horizon, a few white caps in the distance, long mellow lines of surf coming through the Patch and me with that glow of satisfaction from another invigorating session in the water.