December 5, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel
9:45 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Mid outgoing tide	NW cross breeze to no wind to NW cross breeze
Sunny and cold	Exercise session

"Loren do you have a band-aid?" Ray the Petaluma fireman greeted me as I jumped out of my car this morning. He was holding a paper towel over a gash on his forehead.

"Better yet, I have a first-aid kit." I retrieve the kit that I always carry in my car as part of my surf equipment and handed it to Ray.

"Thanks, I usually have one in my car," Ray continued. "But on Thanksgiving I unloaded my car to carry six people and forgot to put it back." I was wondering why a fireman/paramedic wouldn't have a first-aid kit in his car.

"Ray what happened? Did you get hit by the skeg?"

"No I was going left (Ray is regular foot thus his back was to the wave) and the board got sucked up the curl, the rail turned up and I slammed my head on the rail. At first I thought I was ok and started to paddle back out. Then I wiped my forehead and noticed the blood. Then I came in."

"Ray don't tell Loren about your wound, he will write about it in his blog," Mary chimed in.

"I was thinking about taking a picture of it."

"Please no pictures. The last thing I want is more stitches." Ray pointed to a scare on his chin, but all I could notice was his bleeding forehead. "See twenty stitches from a previous surfing accident."

Frank the stand-up guy joined us. Frank is a retired fireman and thus now two professionally trained first-aid experts were conferring over the wound. "Boy you are going to have a bump with this one," Frank commented. Swelling now rimmed the gash on Ray's forehead.

"Thanks," Ray handed the first-aid kit back to me. "I'm going to the station to get some ice for this," and he jumped into his car and drove off.

The early morning crowd (Mary, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, and stand-up guys Russ and Frank) had finished their sessions and every one of them complained about the cold. Mary had lost feeling in her hands and had difficulty turning the key to unlock the door to her car. The big winds this past weekend had stirred up the ocean and brought the cold water to the surface. With everyone complaining about the cold I decided to wear my gloves. Friday I didn't and my hands froze. Gloves were a must this morning.

Hans and I checked out the waves at the base of the ramp. Two surfers were leaving and only David who rides the Becker board was in the water. The waves didn't look good but the sun was out and the air was warming up. "I'm going to suit up and get some exercise," Hans turned to go back to his car and I walked down to the Groin wall to take some pictures. Jacek showed up and also decided to go out. "One hour," I thought to myself. "Join my buddies and get some exercise."

At first the surf looked good, but it deteriorated as the tide went out. The current began to flow out of the lagoon; it picked up momentum and quickly became a river. Jacek and I sat at the apex of the Channel peak hoping to connect on the set waves. But the current kept dragging us out. We continuously paddled in, stopped and within minutes the current had pulled us back out. No set waves appeared, and we froze paddling around and watching David and Hank who were inside and to the north catch the small inside waves. Jacek and I gave up and paddled in to join Hank and David.

Jacek managed to connect on two classic lefts - long line peeling curls with him crouched down mid-board, back to the waves, locked in with spray arching off the tops of the waves. David scored on a couple of long inside curls. He always has a knack of knowing where to line up. I paddled over to where he was and managed to connect of two long-left curls. But that was all. I spent most of the time fighting the current, paddling and missing waves and trying to keep my hands and toes warm. After an hour I was spent and freezing. Exercise was all that I accomplished this morning.

"How is it out there?" Another surfer, who I didn't know, pulled up, and jumped out of his truck while I was changing after my session.

"Pretty crappy," I responded. "The current is pouring out of the lagoon and the water is freezing." After he had checked out the waves I asked him if he was going out.

"No. Looks like a good day to practice the guitar."

"What about exercise to keep your arms in shape? You have to be ready for when the good waves arrive."

"No thanks. I have this problem with surfer ear. My ear canal is closing down due to the cold water." A condition I know all about. I could tell he had made up his mind and nothing was going to change it. I couldn't disagree - today was a good day to practice the guitar.