September 12, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	No wind to NW cross breeze
Fog to patchy sunshine	Good session

A young woman who I didn't know had just suited up and was about to head for the ramp as I pulled up.

"How does it look out there?"

"Ankle baiters! But it's beautiful - glassy smooth and clean little waves."

She was right - there was no wind and the surface was tabletop smooth. Three surfers were at the peak between the Channel and the Groin, and Ray the Petaluma fireman was on the Seadrift side of the Channel going for the rights. Jaime the starving artist cartoonist and stand-up guys Frank and Russ were at the Patch. I had my camera at the ready but the surfers at the Channel didn't catch anything. After several minutes one guy finally connected on a well-formed left and cruised all the way to the Groin wall. The waves were better than they looked. I had no expectations this morning. The buoy report read 2 ft NW swell at 10 seconds combined with a 2 ft south swell at 14 seconds. Per Stormsurf the south swell was building and would peak tomorrow afternoon and last into Wednesday.

"Ray, I heard on the radio that there's a big fire down south. Did they send any of your company there?" Ray had just returned to his car while I was suiting up.

"No. That's in Kern County and they have lots of equipment there. The fire started by lightning."

"There's been lightning around the Bay Area which has started several fires. Did you get called?"

"No. Yesterday I climbed the Transamerica Tower in the City."

"What was the occasion?"

"As a memorial to the firemen lost in New York on 9/11, we scaled the Transamerica building." Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attack and there were memorials all across the county.

"How tall is it?"

"Forty-five stories. We did it twice to accomplish ninety stories like the guys did on 9/11 and I'm beat."

"Did you do it with sixty pounds of gear on your back?"

"No, they wouldn't let us enter the building with our packs on. But we had everything else on. We climbed forty-five stories, took an elevator back down and went up again. It was hard."

"I would get sick doing that. Did anyone get sick?"

"Yes, one guy threw-up and it sank up the stairwell for several floors."

Ray paused and then continued, "I was surprised at the number of white hats going up the stairs - that's the fire chiefs. I carried the badge number of one of firemen who perished on 9/11. I didn't know him, but I was familiar with his station. When I finished I rang the bell for him. Everyone carried a badge number and the bell rang 364 times."

I could tell that Ray was proud to have participated in this ceremony.

While paddling out I thought the waves were looking good. My first wave was ok - a smooth, long, but slow left. As the tide came up the waves improved and I clicked on a good one. I took off late on a four-foot wall, turned left and slid under white water of the breaking wave. Once back in the swell, the wave lined up perfectly. I climbed high in the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down and cruised. I froze my position and watched the spray come off the top of the curl while the wave peeled on and on in front of me. Finally it died ten feet inside the Groin pole. That was the first of five similar waves.

Jacek sat of the outside waiting for the set waves and connected on one good one after another. He had his nose rider board and managed to plant his foot on the tip of the nose of his board at least five times coming down perfect left curls. For an hour four of us had the Channel peak to ourselves. After two hours the wind picked up and my arms were spent - time to go in. But what a pleasant surprise, I had no expectations and paddled out to ideal conditions: glassy smooth surface, warm sunshine breaking through the fog, a small mellow crowd and consistent three to four-four left peeling waves.