September 14, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
10:00 am to 11:40 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	NW cross breeze
Fog, overcast and misty	Good session

I was sitting at the peak midpoint between the Channel and the Groin as a sizeable set approached. Nine of us were bunched together in tabletop glassy conditions. I patiently let the others go for the first two waves and now I was in position for the third one -- a four-foot perfectly formed left. I stroked into it, cut left, drove underneath white water sliding down in front of me, climbed back up to the middle of the swell, set my inside rail under the lip of the wave and flew down the line in front of a fast breaking curl. I cut back, turned left into an inside section and hummed down another fast section. The wave finally died just inside the Groin wall. What a great ride.

I paddled out around the peak and over to the line-up. I had planned to rest a bit before going for another one, but in came a well-formed left wave, I looked around, and no one else was going for it - I couldn't believe it. I waited to the last moment and since nobody was going for it, I quickly turned around, dug hard three times and coasted into another great wave - one as good as the last one. That was how this morning's session went: catch a good wave, paddle back out, wait a few moments and stroke into another clean, fast one.

I knew there could be waves this morning. I had a good session Monday and was hopeful of a repeat performance. The NOAA weather radio reported 6 ft swells at 15 seconds with 3 ft of the 6 being SW swells at 16 seconds. The NW winds were strong at Bodega and Point Reyes, but they were offshore at Bolinas. Thus conditions looked good: 3 ft south swell, offshore winds and an upcoming tide.

I parked in the last available parking spot at the tennis courts, meaning the word must be out on the Internet that the surf was up. From the base of the ramp I saw six surfers at the Patch and ten at the Channel. I walked down to the Patch with my camera to take some shots of Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Jack the Dave Sweet team rider and Dan. They were camped on Robinson's Reef going for the good inside rights. Within a few minutes each of them connected on two or three good inside curls. I walked up to the overlook above the Groin to checkout the waves at the Channel and the Groin. The sets at the Channel were clean, peeling continuously left and sizeable, maybe peeling a little too fast. With his unique knee riding style, Josh the Bolinas fisherman connected on two long, fast curl rides. Jacek the tattoo artist, Marty and Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays, also caught good rides in the few minutes that I was standing there. With the tide coming up, those waves would become more rideable, thus I would head for the Channel.

Jacek greeted me with a big grin when I paddled out. He was having a grand time. He claimed that he got barreled a few minutes earlier. He was locked in the tube and watched the lip folding over his head for twenty feet in front of him. Last Monday Jacek was riding a 9' 6" nose rider and hung five in both directions. Remember that Jacek owns sixty boards and chooses the one that best fits the conditions. Today he was on a short board. I told him it was too short. "No way!" he answered. On this little thing, his riding style changed to up and down turns. After a long ride and while standing in chest high water near the Groin pole, I got a good view of his last ride. Jacek came flying down a head-high wall that was quickly peeling across the impact zone. He looked like he was riding a skateboard going up and down the walls of an empty swimming pool. The wave finally closed-out in front of him, he straightened out and rode the white water all the way to the shore.

Chuck the Bolinas local who rides a kneeboard was out there. He is an excellent wave rider who likes to move around and take off at the very last second. So I had to keep an eye on him to stay out of his way, which resulted in frustration on my part. Sets would come through and Chuck would paddle towards the peak like he was going for the waves, only to paddle over them at the last moment. I would hold off thinking he was going for them. Finally I just ignored him and went for anything that looked good. I did get a great side view of Chuck on an excellent wave. He shot through the initial curl, climbed back to the top of the wave, dropped quickly to the bottom, turned sharply left with his hand holding the outside rail, he leaned into the wave while white water pounded his shoulder, shot back into the curl, climbed to the top again, dropped to the bottom, back to the top, dropped down again and on and on he went.

On such a good day, why was I entering the water at 10 am? Today was the first day this season that we were collecting water samples for Surfrider Foundation's water testing program. That and taking photos and chit chatting with the crowd in the parking area was my excuse. Nevertheless I had a good session, I totally exhausted my arms and body and felt that glow of satisfaction for the rest of the day.