January 19, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
11:45 am to 1:15 pm	2' to 3', sets 4'
High dropping tide (6.8 ft at 10:30 am)	Stiff offshore wind to no wind
Sunny and breezy	Fun session

Scott told me this morning when I was collecting a water sample at Stinson Beach for Surfrider’s water testing program that a sewage spill had occurred two days ago on Wharf Road in Bolinas. A pump broke causing raw sewage to pour out into the lagoon. We decided that I should take a water sample at the end of Wharf Road at the mouth of the lagoon. When I went down there, crews had the road blocked-off and had posted signs dated January 16, 2011 stating the water was contaminated. The work crew was digging a huge hole in the street across from the Bolinas Museum. Later locals told me the story. The pump is located there and its function is to pump the sewage uphill a couple of miles to the sewage plant located on Mesa Road by the fire station. They had the pump and sewage pipe repaired by the next day. Of course a little contamination warning didn’t keep the surfers from entering the water.

“Loren the wind is blowing,” Kate said, as I was getting ready to head out to the beach. “I couldn’t sleep and was up at four and the wind was howling.”

At 6:30, the San Francisco buoy reported 23 MPH north wind with gusts up to 31. North winds are offshore at Bolinas. From the Panoramic Highway, I saw white caps far out to sea, except at Bolinas which sits in the wind shadow of the Bolinas Ridge. Ten surfers were out at the Channel, two on the Seadrift side and eight bunched together going for the lefts. Check out the above photo; the offshore wind sent plumes of spray off the tops of all the waves. They were big, a sizeable swell came in yesterday and was still pumping this morning: 7 ft west swell at 15 seconds. The waves looked great, glassy, plumes of spray and head-high, but no one was getting any good rides. The swells marched in and kept coming and coming and building and building, but they did not break until way on the inside. The tide was too high and the waves were difficult to catch.

The Patch didn’t look any better and the waves were half the size of those at the Channel. Six surfers were out including Marty, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist and Walt and Russ on standup boards. Due to the high tide, the swells were bouncing off the cliff causing large backwash ripples that impacted the waves and screwed up the rides. The waves weren’t inviting and I was considering heading home.

Jaime exited the water and reported the waves were good earlier and then faded as the tide came in.

“Loren, remember how one day you forgot your wetsuit? Well today I forgot my trunks, thus I’m al natural under my wetsuit.”

“With this cold your huevos must have sunk up to your chest.”

“Yes, I felt like a Frenchman out there,” Jaime laughed and moved on.

Walt came up the ramp and said he had a frustrating session. He had not surfed much in the last few weeks, conditioning and timing took their toll. A professional photographer, Walt, was working on a personal project about older surfers. He mentioned that he had made an appointment for an interview and photo shoot with Doug Haut, the long time surfboard manufacturer in Santa Cruz. Due to traffic Walt was late and worried that Doug wouldn’t hang around. The time was short but Walt managed to get some good shots and felt good about the session. He won’t show us his project until it meets his high standards. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

My old friend Mark drove up. At first I thought he was John my companion in the Kahuna Kapuna surf contest last August. Mark and John look similar, tall, thin though not skinny, long gray-white beard and massive tattoos on the arms.

“John,” I said, “how are you? I haven’t seen you since August.”

“Loren, I’m Mark. You don’t recognize me because I cut my hair.” He was right. I didn’t recognize him. Mark used to have shoulder length hippy style hair, dark with streaks of gray. Now his hair was short and totally gray.

“Mark, I confused you with someone else. You’re right; it’s the hair, and your car. What happened to your old red panel truck?” An old beat-up, dented, rusty relic that Mark had ever since I knew him.

“It died when I ploughed into a herd of deer outside Petaluma.”

Mark and I go way back. The first group of Bolinas regulars I connected with was Mark’s crowd. This was in 1990 when my son Kevin and I took up surfing again. Pat was the leader of the group, an excellent surfer in great shape who could stay out all day and was always in position when the sets arrived. Pat, Eddy and Mark would be out there every weekend dominating the Groin and the Channel. They would surf all morning and then head to Smiley’s to down a few. Mark was a plumber. He is now retired. Pat and Eddy worked for a stone company. They delivered and installed decorative rock. Heavy lifting led to powerful arms that really helped in the water.

“Mark, how is our old friend Pat?”

A few years ago Pat had a stroke that left him incapacitated and was in an institution recovering. Mark filled me in. Pat is home now, is still physically out of it, and can’t hear. His woman takes care of him and she won’t let any of his old friends get near him. Thus Mark had not seen him in a while. With Pat out of action the old group broke up. Eddy has moved to Oregon and Mark usually surfs at Dillon Beach these days. It was great to see Mark again. Pat is a sad story, an excellent, healthy, energetic and friendly surfer who is now a near vegetable.

I joined Mark, Mary, D.B. and Martha out at the Patch. With the tiding dropping I was hoping the conditions would improve. The waves were ok, flat, slow and hard to catch, but it felt good to be out in the water.

“D.B. was it worth it?” I asked after our session.

“Every time you get in the water, it is worth it.”

I put the same question to Mary and received the same answer. “It’s always worth it when you get out in the water.”

What more can I say?