September 27, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Groin
8:40 am to 11:00 am	Consistent 3' to 4', sets to 6'
Low upcoming tide	No wind, zero, zip, nada!
Low fog to bright sunshine, heat wave	Good session

The morning began with on the deck fog that was so thick my digital camera could not focus on the faint images of surfers coming down well-shaped waves at the Groin. The fog lifted and after my two-hour session in the water Marty and I went up the overlook above the Groin for a last look before we left for the day. The bright sun was out, great for taking pictures. Over thirty surfers were out going for some spectacular waves. By pure luck I caught the above surfer barreled at the Groin. The wave completely covered him; he held on and cleanly came out of the tube to sail on for another fifteen yards. Do you know this lucky surfer? I don’t. Let me know if you do.

I had high expectations for waves. All the Internet sites had predicted the first Gulf of Alaska swell of the season. It arrived on Friday, built up over the weekend and peaked this morning: 8 ft NW swell at 14 seconds. All the elements fell into place; strong swell, hot sunny day, warm water (56 degrees), no wind and an upcoming tide.

When I left Mill Valley it was sunny. Coming out of the forest above Stinson I was greeted by a shroud of low-lying fog that covered the entire Stinson-Bolinas Bay. I stood at the Groin wall with my camera at the ready but I could not see the surfers out in the water. My camera could only focus on the Groin pole. Busting out of the mist came Yoshi in his distinctive crouch, mid-board flying across a three-foot face in front of the Pole. I saw another surfer coming down an inside wall; he straightened out, rode soup all the way to the shore, jumped off and came in. It was Jack the Dave Sweet team rider, and at 8 am he was coming in.

“Jack how was it and why are you coming in?”

“I have been out for an hour and a half. The waves are good, head-high bombs that break in two feet of water. I’m coming in due to the crowd. There are a lot of aggressive bodies out there, short boarders who are dropping in on everybody.” Jack went on and on about the disrespect of the younger ones, the non-Bolinas types. “The Bolinas locals are fine, they share the waves. But these other guys don’t.” Despite the crowd Jack had a good session. “Lots of incredibly fast left curls.” Jack had to hustle off to his local house-painting job. He hoped get out again in the afternoon.

I suited up and headed for the ramp. Barry the management team trainer was toweling off after his session.

“Barry how was it?”

“It was great. You can’t believe how beautiful it was. Sitting out there watching guys drop down the peak with the mist and fog mixing with the sunlight. Seeing them tucked under the curl with the gray background and the sun reflecting through the curl, incredible.”

The fog was beginning to lift when I entered the water and I could finally see the crowd. The story this morning was the crowd. At 8 am on a Monday morning all the parking spaces at the tennis court were occupied. Again the power of the Internet reigned. Surfers from all over Northern California knew the swell was up and the wind was down. I was the 12th person at the peak when I entered the water. At eleven when I got out, thirty-four surfers were spread across the Channel and the Groin. All the cars this morning told me that all the other breaks were closed out and Bolinas was the only rideable spot. No wonder there were so many surfers I didn’t recognize this morning and all of them were good. That makes a big difference. Good surfers can see the sets coming, position themselves for the good waves and with excellent timing stroke easily into any wave they go for. Creighton who regularly surfs Dillon Beach mentioned that Dillon was huge thus he came here. Doug told me that yesterday he surfed Dillon, only caught two waves and both were overhead monsters. He was here today to connect with more manageable waves. I had no doubt that all the other popular breaks (Salmon Creek, Dillon, Ocean Beach and Linda Mar) were too big and thus the crowd came here.

I paddled out to join Marty, Jeff the contractor and David who rides the Becker board. They had been out for an hour and had located the edge; that spot between the initial break and the long inside curl. The short boarders that Jack alluded to were at the Channel peak and dominating the waves. With the speed of their short boards some could make the initial section and continue cutting up and down the face all the way to the inside break near the Groin pole. However, most of the time they screamed down fast walls and were buried by the power of the exploding waves.

David as usual had it figured out. He sat north and inside of the crowd. Time after time I watched him locked in the curl of a three or four-foot wall cruising a long way before the wave finally closed out near the Groin Pole. Marty had a good session. Paddling out I saw him drop into a four-foot shoulder, turned left into a well-shaped left peeling wave and on and on he cruised to the inside shore break near the Groin wall. Jeff had his short board and sat on the inside to pick off the waves that the rest of us passed up. His strategy worked and he connected on several good waves.

I finally connected on a good one. I took off late, dropped to the bottom of a head-high face, turned sharply left, climbed back into the swell, stepped to the middle of the board to pick up speed, stepped closer to the nose, leaned into the wave and climbed higher in the curl. For a brief couple of seconds I had that hanging on a vertical wall sensation as I trimmed along locked just below the lip of the curl. I cut back and maneuvered into the inside section near the Groin and pulled out as the wave broke in two feet of water. What a great ride and I caught at least five more just like it.

It was a good session. I stayed out for nearly two and a half hours, which was a long time for me. The elements had come together: consistent good waves, sunny weather, no wind and warm water. Only negative was the crowd. Despite that it was another great fall morning in Marin.