October 15, 2012 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:20 am to 10:40 am	3’ to 4’, sets head-high
Mid upcoming tide (6.4’ at 11:15 am)	Offshore breeze to no wind to onshore breeze
On the deck fog to patchy sun	Fun session

I’M BACK!

I was out in the water for little over an hour. I caught four waves – three were good and one was so-so. My arms were tired, but not exhausted. My legs and body felt active and strong, and my spirits had just been dramatically lifted. All my doubts were gone. I’m back!

I had considerable apprehension about going back out into the water. From August 17^th, my last day surfing before my operation for prostate cancer to today (two months – 58 days to be exact), I had not surfed nor have I exercised much. Surgery physically takes it out of you, and after two weeks of inactivity lethargy sets in. The body shifts into a different mode – muscles relax and become flabby, arms and legs become weak, and this lethargy occurs more readily in older people, like myself. During my recovery I could feel myself becoming weaker, I gained weight and simple exercise, like walking into town and back, caused my legs to tremble.

How could I jump on a board and paddle out? Over a week ago, my doctor gave me the ok to go surfing. My first tactic would be to exercise at home – long walks, sit-ups and lifting of ten-pound dumb bells – to gain some strength first. In reality I barely exercised at all. Last Wednesday I shifted course when I went out to Bolinas to collect water samples for Surfrider’s water quality program. It was a beautiful day and something snapped watching Hank, Mary and David who rides the Becker board in the water. What am I doing? I have to get out there. Surfing should be my main form of exercise for getting back into shape. It’s great exercise, the scenery is beautiful, it’s fun and it connects me with my friends. I can vary the amount of exercise – start off slow, don’t over do it, build it up over time and do the other exercise (walking, jogging and lifting weights) to supplement surfing. That way I will break out of my lethargy, strengthen my body, lose weight and feel good about myself. I set a goal for myself, next Monday I’m going out.

I woke up this morning determined to go surfing. I figured I would go for the gentle waves at the Patch. The weather was changing, a high-pressure ridge was moving in and the temperatures would rise. Coming down the Panoramic Highway I dropped into on-the-deck fog that blanketed all of Stinson and Bolinas Bay. With camera in hand, I tried to take some photos from the seawall at the base of the ramp, but couldn’t, the fog was too thick. I could barely make out two surfers at the Groin. At the Patch I saw the outlines of one stand-up surfer (I guessed that was Frank) and one surfer getting a nice ride on the inside at Robinson’s Reef. I figured this had to be David who rides the Becker board. So the crowd was at the Patch, thus I would head there.

Paddling out a set of five four-foot walls came through. David was on the first wave and cruised by me, and Hank caught the one way outside and rode it all the way in. Once out at the line-up, I saluted everyone to hoots of welcome back. It was good to see the old crowd again back in the water: David, Hank, Marty, Shu-Shu from Dogtown, Jacek the tattoo artist, DB the Safeway checker, Hans, Mark the archaeologist and Bill from Berkeley on his water ski.

The waves were bigger than they looked and had some force – 4.6 ft NW swell at 16 seconds with a 1.5 ft south swell at 17 seconds. Jacek said that yesterday was good but that today the waves were bigger. My first ride was a good one. I paddled for a couple and missed them. With my weak arms, I knew that the waves had to be breaking on me for me to catch them. I missed one and was inside with Hank and Marty. The next wave was cresting and I went for it. What a thrill to feel the wave pick me up and for me to start gliding down it. I jumped up and looked at a head-high right curl forming in front of me. Mark saw me and pulled back to let me have it. I cruised down a well-formed peak, staying just ahead of the white water. The wave had some speed, I coasted out onto the shoulder, attempted to cutback but the wave died. But what a great feeling – I was back.

All of us connected on some good waves. There was Jacek dropping down a head-high face, cutting a sharp bottom turn, climbing back up to the top of the curl and stepping to the front of the board to cruise down a long section. While paddling out I watched Marty stroke into a steep peak and nearly hit me as he cruised on by. David sat south and inside to connect with the fast inside right curls, of which he caught several.

After our session, Marty and I walked into town for coffee and walked back to the seawall to watch the bigger swells and crashing waves. By now the six foot high tide was all the way in. The swell was getting bigger and the waves pounded the retaining walls of the houses on both sides of the ramp. David was struggling to get to shore. He had to time it between waves before charging to the beach north of the first seawall. David exited the water at noon. He went in at 8 am, a four-hour session. How does he do it? I could barely last an hour. Hey give me a few more sessions and I will hit the four-hour mark. (Careful Lorenzo, this is a fantasy – I will never be able to stay out for four hours, but one can dream).

It was another beautiful morning in Marin and it sure felt good to be back.