November 1, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:40 am to 11:20 am	2' to 3', sets to 3'
High dropping tide	Slight offshore breeze to light onshore breeze
Bright sunny and warm morning	Frustrating session

“Now that was a good morning,” Marty said as we exited the water after our session at the Groin.

“I know surfers would never admit that they wasted their time, but Marty that was as close to a waste of time as you can get.”

Marty laughed, “I got some good rides. I worked on walking to the front of the board on those small mushy waves.” I’m glad he found it worthwhile. Before we went out we spent an extended period of time trying to decide whether to go out or not. Finally the warmth and beauty of the morning pushed us out there.

“Marty, we must have sat outside for half an hour without catching anything.”

“You’re right.”

When we paddled out the ebb flow from the lagoon had just begun. It increased over the next hour creating a ripple path across the surface and knocking down the waves. A perfectly formed three-foot peak greeted us when we reached the line-up. It feathered at the top, I turned to go for it thinking I was too late and that it was going to break on me. But I missed it. “How could I have missed that one?” I asked myself. The frustration had just begun. David who rides the Becker board had been out for two hours, Frank the stand-up guy was also there, and so was Bob from San Anselmo who Marty knew. All three abandoned the outside peak at the Channel and moved way inside near the Groin wall. Marty and I remained outside where the last set of waves had broken. We were optimistic more sets would come, but we were wrong. For thirty minutes we sat out there, paddled around and tried for one flat swell after another and missed them all. The current had pushed us out and to the north. Checking my two navigational points, the gray house on the bluff above the Patch and the house at the end of Wharf Road, the current was strong and we were moving like corks in a river.

David, Frank and Bob were catching waves. Marty and I gave up on the non-existent outside peak and paddled in to join the others. Finally I managed to catch a few waves. They were slow and mushy. After the initial peak would break, I would cut back into the white water hoping the wave would build up again into a good inside curl. It never happened, the bottom didn’t allow it. The waves broke over a shallow island of a sandbar and peeled into deeper water and promptly died. My frustration continued.

In hopes of connecting with faster waves I moved way inside and north of the Groin wall to catch waves that worked into the shore break. Finally I had some success. I caught five waves that had peeled from the Channel and reformed in front of the Groin Pole. I would catch the peak at the Groin Pole, jump up quickly, turn left into a small shore break wall, step to the front of the board and cruise for a second or two before the wave collapse on the sand. Fast but short curls.

I had high hopes for waves this morning even though the Internet forecast was mediocre at best: 5 ft NW swell at 11 seconds, light winds and a high tide. Last week’s rains had passed, a low overcast sat over Mill Valley but on the other side of the mountain, the skies were sunny with no fog and a calm, smooth ocean as far as the eye could see. The Internet sites were predicting the arrival of the season’s first Maverick’s size swell for tomorrow (14 to 15 ft at 20 seconds). I was hoping that first edge of the swell would arrive today; it never happened. When I turned into the parking area, Marty’s car was there with his board inside the car. Further down was Hans’ SUV with his board still strapped to the top, not a good sign. I found them standing on the seawall checking the surf. A couple of minutes later Jaime joined us. We stood there disappointed. The surf didn’t look good.

Our talk quickly turned to the San Francisco Giants, who last night had taken a 3 to 1 lead over the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

“Hans, you bought a new Giants hat?” He was wearing a brand-new Giants cap, that still had that new car smell on it.

“No it’s not new. I’ve had this cap for four years.”

“And you have only worn it four times right?” Han’s cap was symbolic of the Giants’ fortunes and their fans. All the Giants paraphernalia has been stuffed in the back of closets these passed few years until the Giants’ miracle turn-around in September and the play-offs. Nowadays everyone proudly displayed the Giants orange and black, including myself.