October 23, 2011 Sunday

San Francisco	Ocean Beach - 21st Street
10:00 am to 11:30 am	3' to 4', sets from 5' to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	Stiff offshore breeze
Sunny and warm - heat wave	Good session

Saturday afternoon son Kevin called to tell me about the great surf session he just had at Ocean Beach and asked if I wanted to join him in the morning. Now I hate Ocean Beach, the place is dangerous, the currents are terrible, the waves are rough and the paddle outs can be impossible. But the swells were down - four feet at seven seconds - weather predictions were for heat wave conditions and it was an opportunity to surf with my son, so I said yes.

Kevin was right. Sunday morning the weather was great - Indian Summer heat wave with offshore east winds - and the waves were just my size, reasonable 4 to 5 ft peaks with occasional overhead waves spread all along the two mile stretch of the Great Highway. The frequency of the sets was spaced such that I could wait for a lull and easily paddle out. The waves were excellent, A-frame peaks peeling in both directions. Being a Sunday, warm weather and fun waves you would expect a big crowd, but the hundred surfers in the water were spread across twenty or more peaks. Kevin and I connected with several fast thick long curl rides in both directions. One of the Bolinas regulars, Captain Kip, paddled by and said hello. He continued north to the next peak. From a distance I saw him skillfully come down three overhead set waves.

The story this morning was the strong south current. We entered the water at 21st Street at the north end of Ocean Beach near the Park Chalet and the north windmill. Twenty minutes later we were straight out from the newly restored south windmill at the intersection of Lincoln and the Great Highway. We started paddling north until the next set came through.

"Dad, we could just not worry about the current and let it take us south, ride a wave in and walk back along the beach. I've done that before out here. That way we don't waste our energy constantly battling the current."

"Good idea. Let's do it."

But we didn't do it. At that moment, the closest peak was north of us so we paddled over there to wait for the next wave. We both caught waves and paddled back out to the north peak. Two or three times we talked again about just letting the current take us, but we never did it. There was that nagging compulsion to compensate against the constant pull to the south. For the next hour we broke our strategy by constantly paddling north in a vain attempt to regain our original position. So we exhausted ourselves by steadily paddling against the current and despite our efforts we ended up a quarter mile down the beach at the south windmill when we exited the water.

Take a close look at the right photo above. When I arrived and saw the big crowd on the beach I thought they were having a volleyball tournament. Walking by the crowd on my way to the surf, I realized they were playing soccer. They were having a beach soccer tournament - ten short thirty-yard fields (my estimate) with five players on a team. Note that the white poles in the above photo are soccer goals. There must have been over twenty teams in all age groups from little kids to old guys who still thought they were young kids - somewhat like us retired souls who still surf. But everyone was having fun. Parents lined the fields enjoying the play of the younger teams. From a parent's point of view, what a great activity - their kids were outside, in the sunshine, on the beach burning up millions of calories endlessly running back and forth in the deep sand. That's what a beach is for.

The parking lot was full, hundreds strolled while others roller skated along the strand, a major sand soccer tournament was in progress, little kids built sand castles at the water's edge, and Kevin and I along with countless other surfers scored some fun waves. It was a great morning.