June 13, 2012 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin
8:15 am to 9:30 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
High tide (4 ft at 8:15)	Onshore (SW) breeze
Overcast	Cold and miserable

This morning I got out the door early. School was out for Kate and she was sleeping in. No heading into Mill Valley to Peet's for a latte and to hang out with my buddies Matt and John to chat about the Giants. Instead, I headed directly to the beach to get there early before the wind picked up. On the way over I day dreamed about small, super glass-like curls at the Groin. I was going to surprise the dawn patrol by arriving before they exited the water.

The surf predictions on the Internet were not good - 8 ft NW swell at 8 seconds combined with a 1 ft south swell at 17 seconds with 15 to 25 knot NW winds. The weather pattern had changed. Monday was a heat wave, 70 plus degrees at the beach with little wind. A low-pressure trough moved in last night bringing in cloud cover and fog for the coast. Per Stormsurf, high pressure would build in behind the low-pressure causing gale force NW winds out at sea. The big winds would have an eddy affect, meaning a big rotating swirl that could cause west or south winds along the coast. And guess what, they were correct. When I arrived Bolinas sat under a low cloud cover with a stiff south breeze ripping up the surface of the water. The breeze continued to build and turned to a stiff, cold wind within an hour.

When I charged down the ramp with my camera in hand, I saw a beautiful four-foot peak peel off in both directions at the Groin. Only three surfers were out there - Jack the Dave Sweet team rider and Jaime the starving artist cartoonist were on the Seadrift side of the Channel going for the rights and Frank the stand-up guy was out at the Groin peak. That's Jaime and Jack on a good right wave in the above picture. The wave kept forming in front of them and they went on and on until it died near shore. Seeing that and since I was here early, I had to go out.

I figured that I would join Jack and Jaime at the right peak and then work my way back to the lefts at the Groin. Good plan, but it never happened. By the time I suited up, Jack, Jaime and Frank had all exited the water and were back at their cars. Jack warned me about the cold water.

"Loren, the water is so cold that it feels the same after two hours as it did when I first touched it," Jack exclaimed with emphasis. "It's a good thing that you have those gloves, you will need them."

Cold water often burns when you first stick your hands in it, but usually after a few minutes your hands become accustom to the temperature and the sting and cold goes away. Not this morning. I froze the entire one hour and fifteen minutes that I was out there. The recent big NW winds had stirred up the water. "Upwelling" is what it is called. Cold water from the depths circulates to the surface, bringing up much needed nutrients and dropping the surface temperature by several degrees. Upwelling is what keeps the water in the Bay Area cold (50 to 55 degrees) all year round and provides the moisture for the constant cloud cover (i.e. fog) during the summer months. As I sat out there freezing, I thought to myself that this feels like August: low cloud cover, blown-out conditions, tiny wind waves and freezing water. What a contrast to this past Monday.

The waves were lousy and the cold water didn't help. I floundered around for an hour, catching a few blown-out mushy waves and trying to stay warm between sets. DB the Safeway checker was out there on her new fish (a thick seven foot board with twin points in the tail with a fin under each one). She did well considering that she was just beginning to surf on a smaller board.

Bill from Berkeley was out there strapped onto his water ski. Similar to a kayak in shape and size, a ski is a thick board that the rider sits on with feet hooked into straps and uses a paddle to propel it. Bill certainly got his exercise; he paddled from the Groin to Seadrift and back, catching occasional waves along his journey. Between sets Bill mentioned that since he lives in Berkeley all the popular surf spots are one hour from his house and he has to decide before leaving whether to head for Bolinas, Ocean Beach, or Linda Mar in Pacifica. Also the price of gas was not helping -- last month he spent over $500 on gas chasing waves.

After an hour I was freezing and had to get out.