September 6, 2011 Tuesday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', occasional 5'
High dropping tide	Slight cross breeze to no wind
Fog to patchy sunshine	Good session

I thought that remnants of last week's good south swell would still be hitting Bolinas, and I was right. Hank gave serious considerations of going to Linda Mar in Pacifica but decided as he was leaving his house in Mill Valley to head for Bolinas instead, and was he glad he did. Out in the water Hank and I gloated about how ideal it was: no wind, glassy smooth, warm water, small mellow crowd (only six surfers) and beautiful three to four-foot left peeling waves.

"Dexter, I bet you were in Santa Cruz during last week's big south swell," I commented to Dexter as we walked down to the Groin for me to take some pictures. He often goes to Santa Cruz and has just started taking some classes on construction there.

"I went to the Hook last Wednesday and Thursday. There were five hundred professional photographers on the cliff and the break was filled with professional shortboarders. I only caught three good waves. The rest of the time I went for the scraps because the pros were on every decent wave - they dominated the break. On Friday I got more waves and had more fun at the Patch."

We watched David who rides the Becker board, Marty and Professor Steve catch one decent well-formed left after another. The photo conditions were ideal: with the high tide they rode the waves right up to the beach, and I had Jacek's big 400 mm lens on my camera. That's Professor Steve on a good one in the above picture. Don't worry, he didn't hit Marty on this wave, but he did come close.

When Dexter and I headed back to the cars to suit up, Shu-Shu was coming down the ramp with her board in her hand. She stared at the Patch, looked at the Groin and then looked at us with that "what's the call" expression on her face. Without saying anything, I pointed to the Groin and off she went.

On my first wave I took off late, jumped to my knees, shot through the first section, then jumped to my feet, the wave built up again, I leaned into the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down, shot through a second section, cut back and turned left again into a third section. What a great way to start a session.

Hank had his new big paddling machine out there. He would sit outside, wait patiently for the sets, and would connect on one big one of every set and cruise all the way to the Groin wall. After our session I asked him how he would describe the waves - "fun, just plain fun." I would describe them as smooth. There was that "swoosh" sound as you dropped down the face and a "swoosh" sound when you cut back.

David had another one of his good sessions. He was in the water when I arrived and connected on five good curl rides while I was taking photos on the beach. He continued catching one good wave after another. Two hours later when I exited the water, he was still there. He told me he entered the water at 7 am - just another four-hour session. How does he do it?

Shu-Shu also had a good session. To avoid the crowd she sat way inside and caught the small fast curls that peeled right up to the Groin wall. After an hour the waves started to die. The current coming out of the lagoon quietly pushed us outside without us realizing it and knocked down the waves. While Hank, David and I paddled around wondering where the sets went, Shu-Shu was connecting on one good inside curl after another. Every time I looked towards the shore, there she was streaking across another waist-high curl.

I followed her lead and moved inside. I dropped into a string of four small fast peeling lefts. Soon David and Hank moved inside also. After two hours my arms were spent - I had to go in. My last wave was a good one. I dropped down a head-high wall, climbed high in the curl and shot through a steep section, cut back, turned into an inside section that kept building right up to the sand north of the Groin wall. What a way to end a good session - just five steps from dry sand.