August 1, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:15 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Low upcoming tide	Offshore breeze to no wind
Overcast to patchy sun	Exercise session

"Rob, what are you doing playing such a dangerous sport as tennis when you should be saving it for surfing?" Rob was standing at the Groin wall nursing a pulled groin muscle that he injured last Friday and thus was not going out today.

"I should have stopped and let the other guy have the point instead of lunging for it and pulling my leg muscle." Thus he was staying out of water for a few days to let his leg heal. Rob kept saying that the waves would get better as the tide came in. He pointed to the out-going current, noted how fast it was and stated that surf was better yesterday in the afternoon.

"Do you live here in Bolinas?" I asked.

"No I live in Dogtown." Rob had recently moved there and was renting a small cabin. The population of Dogtown is 37, so I suggested that he keep an eye out for two of the town's famous residents: Doris Ober who wrote the Dogtown Chronicles and her husband Richard Kirschman who initiated the Coastal Coin program.

We watched David who rides the Becker board and Marty catch a couple of decent rides. They were half way between the Groin and the Channel. The waves were small, peeling to the left, breaking in very shallow water. The waves at the Channel were breaking too fast to ride. Ray was on the Seadrift side going for the rights. He caught one waist high wall and could only go straight off. I got pictures of them; that's David in the above photo on a short but sweet ride.

I had no expectation of waves this morning. When I arrived Kathy the biology teacher had just come back from purchasing a coffee in town. She was waiting for conditions to improve. Hank and son Clint pulled up. They didn't bother checking the surf; they suited up and headed for the Patch. Mary, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Dexter the Bolinas local and stand-up guys Russ and Frank were way outside at the Patch, several yards beyond the exposed outside rock. The surface was perfectly smooth and all of the rocks of Patch reef were exposed. And there they sat and sat between sets to finally scratch for a few flat slow waves.

I decided to go out at the Groin to join David, Marty and Ray who had moved back to the Groin. The surface was plate-glass smooth. We hadn't seen glassy conditions here in months. Meanwhile the waves were breaking too fast to make them and they were also difficult to catch. My best wave I took on my knees. There was a moment on the take off where I could jump to my knees. The lip of the curl was eye level and I ducked under the lip to shoot through the first section, but I didn't make the second one.

The waves improved as the tide came up, but not by much. Towards the end, I caught two decent small curls. When walking back to the ramp after my session I looked back and the waves were beginning to peel perfectly in both directions. I had gone out a couple of hours too soon.

Back at the cars Marty gave me a copy of Sublime, a British magazine with an article by Marty's formal student, Will Kennedy. A couple of months ago Will conducted telephone interviews from London with both us about surfing. The magazine featured California with a series of short pieces showing the vitality of California, despite all its economic problems. The article with Marty and I was about seniors who are still surfing. It contained a full-page close up picture of Marty and quotes from both of us. After today's so-so waves, what a nice ego boost to see one's words in print.