August 13, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
10:45 am to 12:15 am	Consistent 3', sets 4', occasional head high
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
Air temp: 65 degrees	Water temp: 62 degrees
Overcast to patchy sunshine	Good session

In an email yesterday, Jack wrote - "See you tomorrow... 11 am."

That did it, I was going. The surf has been "iffy" for the last couple of months. I went to Bolinas last Monday, it was flat and I didn't bother going out. I was undecided about today, but Jack's note pushed me into it. Jack's an excellent surfer who has been surfing for over fifty years. He knows conditions and he only surfs on upcoming tides. He schedules his week around raising tides. I checked the Tidelog for August 13 – 1.1 ft low tide at 7:51 to a 6.1 ft high tide at 2:39 pm. Thus 11 am was exactly mid-tide. When I arrived at Bolinas at 10 am, no body was in the water and the waves were flat. Hank had just finished his session and said only a few small ones came through at the end. I took a few photos of the empty waves at the Patch and the Channel to capture conditions. Jack was already suiting up when I came up the ramp. He hadn't even bothered to check the waves – he was going out no matter what.

You know what? Jack was right. We hit a window of good waves. They started at 11 am and continuously kept coming until 12:30 when the fast raising tide killed them. For an hour and a half Jack and I and a few others scored on one long right peeling wave after another. We took off at the furthest peak, dropped into well-formed curls and rode them all the way to shore. We would then make the long paddle back to the outside peak and within a couple of minutes would do it again.

Jack was in good form as usual. That's him in the photo above from last Wednesday (Aug 6). Today he scored several similar waves. I followed his lead. He would sit at the furthest peak, just a little on the north side of the Patch reef at the point where the waves first broke. From there I could go either right or left, though most waves broke better to the right. On one left I managed to climb high in the curl, step within a couple feet from the nose and work the board up and down the face. I loved the lefts but after I drove through the middle of fifteen surf school campers, I had to stop.

Dan H. was out there when I arrived at the line-up. While paddling out after a good one, I watched him hum down a perfectly formed right curl to the shore. After a half hour Rob, Mr. Malibu, paddled out with his 8-year old son. Rob walked the nose Mickey Dora style on one two-foot wave after another. Following in father's steps, his son scored on some fast inside shore break curls. Back at the cars after my session I met Martha who went out to the Groin and had a fun session. The window of waves appeared there also and died at about the same time as the Patch. Bill from Berkeley told the same story.

While suiting up, Oliver, who I have not seen in years, stopped by. Oliver used to be the manager of the German Hiking Club on Mt. Tam and lived on the premises with his wife. Three years ago they moved to Petaluma when his wife became pregnant. He introduced me to his curly haired three-year old son who was tagging along behind him. Though he hasn't surf much lately he was out there at the Channel this morning and had a fun time.

At 12:30 Jack came by after his session to let me know that "the window had closed." Too much water from the high tide and the waves had died. Thanks to Jack, our timing was perfect.