September 10, 2009 Thursday

Montara	In front of the old Chart House restaurant
9:40 am to 10:50 am	3' to 6'
Low tide - 2.8 ft	Slight onshore breeze
Thin fog - limited visibility	Fun session

Son Kevin and I entered the water at the south end of Montara in front of the old Chart House restaurant. We were going for the lefts coming from the peak formed by an outcropping of large boulders. Kevin jumped in, pushed through some white water and stroked cleanly to the outside. I stood there waiting for a lull in the shore break. I waited and waited, but the waves didn’t let up. Montara consists of soft coarse sand and a steep beach that drops into deep water, which creates a fierce backwash. Big shore break waves crash shooting water up the steep berm that comes roaring back as the next one sucks up the water of the previous wave. I slowly inched myself further out to waist depth. My feet sank into loose sand up to my ankles. A big shore pounder crashed, sent water up the steep bank and a river of current came rolling back down. I stood there board in hand and the current knocked my down.

I instantly remembered that horrible drowning that occurred at this very spot at the end of June. Now I know how and why it happened. I had read about it in the paper and knew that Montara was a steep beach with a strong backwash. Montara is not a good swimming beach for little kids.

This poor mother came to Montara to enjoy the beach with her two daughters and three nieces. Two of the nieces wore wetsuits and were boogie boarding. The mother stood at the water’s edge with her daughters, ages five and nine. The nine year old got in trouble in the shore break. Holding the hand of the five year old the mother reached for the nine year old, but the backwash wept all three of them out into the impact zone. A moment of panic and a poor decision on the mother’s part and in an instant they were drowning. The nine year old made it back in but the mother and five year old didn’t. They yelled for help. A teenage boogie boarder tried to rescue them. The mother and child grasped the boogie board when the next set of waves hit. The teenage boogie boarder barely made it back in, but the mother and her daughter were swept back out. Rescuers found the mother, applied CPR but were too late. Thirty minutes later lifeguards in a rescue boat found the body of the five year old beyond the boulders of the south point.

On this cheery note I launched myself into the shore break, went through the white water of three waves and made it outside. Montara was the best break this morning. Kevin and I drove by Ocean Beach but the fog prevented us from seeing the waves. We parked at Sloat Ave and walked to the water’s edge to view the surf: small bumpy waves. We drove to Linda Mar and again walked to the water’s edge: small walls, the tide was too low. Montara had rideable waves, but the water was rough and bumpy with a lot of current. A strong backwash sent small one-foot waves back out into the impact zone.

Within a few minutes Kevin dropped into a head-high right wave, which quickly died after the initial drop. We moved around looking for the best take off point. We tried for several waves but didn’t catch them. We were too far out. The waves were deceptive, wind swells on top of ground swells. The wind swells would jump up looking like they were about to break, but they didn’t. We had to move in and concentrate on the ground swell portion of the waves.

I finally caught one, which was my best ride of the morning. I had missed a couple which put me on the inside. I turned to paddle back out and a five-foot peak was cresting in front of me. I turned and went for it. The wave jumped up and I dropped. My board went vertical, I stood on the tip of the tail block and thought the board would knife into the water and send me flying. It didn’t. The nose touched the water at the base of the wave, sent spray flying, bounced up and I made the drop. I turned, hit a bump of the backwash, I stumbled but remained standing. I looked down a well-formed line of water setting up to peel left. I positioned mid-swell, screamed down a head-high wave, cut back into the breaking part of the wave letting the shore break to form, turned left again, leaned into it and shot through the inside section. It was a great ride.

Kevin and I kept moving around and dropping into sizeable peaks. Some were lightning fast and others died after the initial drop. After an hour Kevin reminded me that he had to work today. Thus we played the “just one more” game. Then Kevin connected with his best ride. He stroked into a five-foot wall as I paddled over it. I looked back to see his head disappear as the wave broke. Three seconds later I saw his head pop out in front of the breaking curl. He cut back, maneuvered into shore break and drove his board right up to the edge of the steep berm of the shore. I caught a small one and also rode it up to the sand. We congratulated ourselves on having chosen Montara. It was a good session.

“Coming Soon – La Costanera, Peruvian Cuisine” read the sign on the window of the vacate restaurant. Two gentlemen were inside inspecting things. They emerged and were parked next to us. I inquired if they owned the restaurant. They did and commented that they planned to open in two weeks. This building was originally a Chart House and like all Chart Houses, it has a fabulous view of the ocean. Kevin and I vowed to return soon. Imagine surfing Montara in the morning on a classic big surf day and having a great Peruvian lunch sitting at a front window booth watching the beautiful scenery of the surf, ocean, cliffs, pelicans and boats. We have to do it.

August 31, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Channel
8:50 am to 10:15 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Offshore breeze
Overcast - high fog on the ridge	Exercise session

Hot chicken broth with udon noodles was the perfect remedy for overcoming this morning’s cold water at the Channel in Bolinas. Mary, Hans and I had lunch at Umi Sushi Restaurant in San Rafael. Umi is owned and operated by our Bolinas surf buddy Yoshi and his wife Atsuka. We had talked about coming here for weeks and today we finally did it. Umi presents sushi with a surfing flare with brightly colored paintings of waves and the ocean on the walls. In the above photo, a graphic artist friend painted the mural behind Yoshi. The Japanese lettering is “Umi,” which means ocean.

Yoshi explained that the noodles were hand made by his wife this morning from his grandmother’s recipe. Yoshi’s mother taught Atsuka how to make them and they were good. Mary ordered the chef’s special rolls: four different rolls, all light and delicious, spicy tuna, barbecued eel and California rolls. Hans had the udon noodles with kakiage tempura (shrimp). It always fun to have the cook come over and talk about the dishes. We all felt it was the right amount of food, we didn’t feel stuffed and it was delicious.

Yoshi had to show us his latest surf magazine in Japanese. It had the look and feel of the mags that we are use to, but all the writing was in Japanese characters. He pointed at photos of the top spots in Japan and talked about the upcoming surf contest in October at Trestles for Japanese surfers. Yoshi learned to surf in San Diego when he was a teenage exchange student. With luck his second host family lived in San Diego near the beach and they introduced him to surfing, a love he is still pursuing today. Later, Yoshi spent ten years in Santa Cruz working as a sushi chef and surfing Streamer’s Lane on a short board. Eighteen months ago, he and Atsuka moved to San Rafael, opened their own place, Umi, and Yoshi switched to longboard. Nowadays he hits Bolinas in the mornings for a short surf session then heads back to prepare the day’s specials.

The surf this morning was nearly non-existent: small peaks at the Channel that had no push. The weather had changed. Friday we had a heat wave, today we were back to the normal August gloom: high drippy fog, cold north breeze and a small wind swell. And the water was cold. Last night there was considerable wind that must have stirred up the cold water from the bottom. The water temperature had dropped five degrees from Friday. My hands burned when I first dipped them in the water. The offshore breeze smoothed off the surface and held up the peaks, making them look very inviting. But they had no punch. I would take off, drop down a nice peak and then the wave would just go limp and die. Slowly I worked my way north of the Groin wall to the shore break where Mary was in hope of finding some waves with thrust. But it never happened. After an hour and a half it was time to go to lunch.

The waves were so-so, the lunch was fabulous, all enjoyed with good friends, it was another great morning in Marin.

August 28, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	Consistent 3', sets to 5'
High dropping tide (4.1 ft to 3.3 ft)	Slight offshore breeze
Sunny and warm - heat wave	Fun session

Ray the Petaluma fireman was right. On Wednesday he told me things were going to heat up and the northeast winds were coming. Today was a heat wave. Fall weather has arrived. This past month up until last Monday has been overcast, dreary and misting with onshore south winds creating lousy surf conditions. Today all of that had changed: sunshine, clear skies, heat, warm water, slight offshore breeze, a decent swell and great waves. It was a mixed northwest swell, 4 ft at 12 seconds and a south swell, 3 ft at 14 seconds.

“You know last night at 11 o’clock it was 61 degrees,” said David a Bolinas local who lives in a house above the Patch. “This morning at sunrise it was 56.” For Bolinas, that was warm.

In the ten minutes that I stood taking photos on the beach at the Groin wall I saw four fast in the tube rides. Jack the Dave Sweet team rider from the sixties was high in the curl, locked under the lip of a wave for twenty yards. Josh the Bolinas fisherman came screaming down a fast curl in his unique on his knees style leaning into it as far as possible before it exploded around him. In the above photo this skilled surfer ducks under the lip with his back to the wave and one hand on the rail. A few minutes later, Doug executed a similar maneuver going a long ways down a steep curl before the wave collapsed on him. After seeing these great rides I knew I was in for a good session.

Warm weather and good waves on a Friday resulted in a crowd. Twelve surfers were packed together at the far peak in the Channel when I paddled out. The crowd was an issued. It impacted wave selection. Hard-breaking, quality waves attracted highly skilled surfers, which also impacted wave selection. I moved around, trying for the second and third wave of the sets, keeping an eye on who was taking off and waited for my turn. I managed to catch a couple fast ones that closed out in front of me. Then it happened. A third wave of a set was the biggest one, I was in position, and the others had gone for the two previous ones. I took off late, turned left and looked down a perfect unfolding continuous wall of water. I leaned into it, climbed high in the wave, tucked under the lip of the curl and stood there while the wave went on and on until it finally closed out ten feet from the Groin pole. What a great ride.

Barry the music producer from Stinson Beach was out there. “Mr. Throwback” only wore swim trunks and a leash: no wetsuit, no gloves, no rash guard and no booties. Paddling out I watched him take off at the apex of the peak of a set wave. I went over the wave and turned to watch the back of the wall of water with Barry’s head streaking in front of the breaking part of the wave with spray arching high above the curl. He cut back, paused a second and then turned back into the curl shooting down another fast section. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time. We have the common experience of both growing up in the South Bay of Los Angels, Barry in Hermosa Beach, myself in Palos Verdes. While in high school, he moved to 22nd Street, the center of the surfing scene in Hermosa, the hangout for Dewey Weber and David Nuuhiwa. I know the place well; its landmarks, the Little Green Store and the Bottle Inn Italian Restaurant, are still there after forty years.

After an hour and a half I was tiring and decided to work my way in. For the last thirty minutes I rode the shore break. No one else was there. The surf camps were over for the summer. The set waves would line up along the entire inside, but the shape of bottom and the angle of the south swell caused them to peel continuously to the left. I stood in chest deep water until a set approached. I would jump on my board, turn and as the waves were breaking I would stroke into them, turn left, cruise under the white water into the swell, walk to the front of the board and drive the nose into the white water as the wave broke on shore. I did that ten times before giving up for the day.

The only bummer of this session was I broke a side fin when due to tired arms I dropped the tail of my board as I was wrapping the leash around the fins. I heard a sharp “crack” as it hit the sand and knew that was not good. The fall snapped the fin in two. After such a fun session this annoyance didn’t bother me. I’ll get a new one and be ready go to on Monday, this good swell might still be running then.

August 26, 2009 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
8:40 am to 11:00 am	3', sets head high
Low tide - 2.7 ft	No wind - glassy
Overcast - high fog	Fun session

“Ken, what gives you the opportunity to surf on a Wednesday morning?” I asked during a lull between sets way outside at the Patch. Ken was a tall well-built surfer in his late thirties or early forties.

“I’m a personal trainer,” he said.

“So you have control of your time and schedule in surf times.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m also responsible for all of the health equipment at the JCC facility in San Francisco. It’s the largest gym on the west coast.”

“So you’re into physical fitness,” I continued. “You look like you have some form of physical exercise everyday.”

“Yes,” he replied. “Either surfing or working out.”

I explained my retirement story to him: surfing three to four times a week, cleaning up my eating, working out, losing twenty-five pounds, improving my overall health and eliminating stress.

“Stress! If I’m not doing this, surfing,” he exclaimed pointing to his board. “I’m not myself.” I knew what he meant. Surfing is the best stress reliever I know of.

We all relieved a lot of stress this morning. The buoy report looked good: four-foot swell at 14 seconds and 1.5-knot northeast wind. The swell was a combination of five-foot north at 12 seconds and a 2.4 south swell at 17 seconds. Strong south swell and no wind, I’m going.

At 8:15 am from the seawall at the base on the ramp in Bolinas, the Patch was the call. Two surfers were way out there at the Channel, but the ebb flow from the lagoon was knocking down the waves and produced a small chop on the surface, also the tide would continue going out for another two hours. The Patch was clean and glassy. Six surfers were out there: Mary, Martha, Ray, Hans and two others. From Terrace Road I took a few pictures. Mary was catching all the waves. She would get one long ride, paddle out on her knees, the next set would approach and she would turn around and connect on another long ride. As I entered the water, Hans was paddling in. He caught a three-foot inside wall, rode it on his belly and trimmed through a glassy curl. While paddling out, I watched Martha complete a good ride on the inside peak. I headed out to join Mary and Ray, but to my luck a sizeable wall approached, I turned, stroked into it and cruised down a smooth four-foot left wave. “Wow, what a good start,” I said to myself.

Outside I chatted with Ray, the Petaluma fireman. I asked him about his schedule. The schedule determines when Ray can surf. With the coming of fire season, for fire fighters vacations are over and everyone is on alert.

“I’m not back on until Friday,” he said. “But they say it’s going to heat up the next couple of days. In fact they’re predicting northeast winds this weekend, everybody’s favorite.”

Northeast winds are the hot, dry Santana winds that suck all the moisture out of the plants and trees and fan the flames in the dry hills. But for a surfer, northeast winds create ideal surf conditions: warm weather and an offshore breeze to hold up the waves. And this weekend, Stormsurf predicted the arrival of the season’s first north swell.

Only Ray and Mary were sitting at the outside peak when I arrived. After a few minutes Ray had to head in. Ken joined Mary and I. For a half an hour we had the break to ourselves. The waves had size but were gentle and long. They would break, roll for a few yards and then reform and break again. The initial take off was fast and smooth, but one had to cutback into the breaking white water to stay in the wave while it reformed. I would wait for the set waves, drop left down the initial peak, turn back into the breaking white water, turn left again, pause while the inside section formed and then cruise across the grass that grew on the rocks of the reef. These were long rides that ended in shallow water, and I would turn around and make the long paddle back out to the far peak.

After a half hour Mary paddled in after completing another long ride. Now Ken and I had the break to ourselves. A big set approached and I connected with my best wave of the day. A five-foot wall crested outside, I paddled out to meet it, white water began to slide down from the top of the peak, I turned and caught the white water, jumped up, turned left, rode under the foam into the steepest part of the breaking wave, leaned forward to gain speed, backed off to let the wave build, leaned into it again, stepped to the middle of the board, climbed to the top, dropped down to the bottom, climbed back to the top, back to the bottom, coasted until the wave formed up again way inside where I pushed the nose into the breaking water and grasses of the shallow water above the reef. It was a long, long ride and a long paddle to get back out.

Slowly others joined us. After two hours that was enough stress relief for me. I decided to work my way in by catching a few inside waves. I never caught one, though I padded for several of them. I paddled all the way in and my arms burned with fatigue. It was a great morning: glassy smooth surface, warm water, no wind, gentle power glide waves and a small friendly crowd to enjoy them with.

August 20, 2009 Thursday

La Jolla	Windansea
7:30 am to 8:00 am	3', sets head high
Mid upcoming tide	Onshore cross breeze
High overcast	Just took pictures

Yesterday afternoon Kate and I checked into the La Jolla Travelodge on La Jolla Blvd at the south end of town. Our room was two blocks from the water and I was anxious to check out the beach scene. We walked down to the end of the road and to my surprise ten surfers were vying for a beautiful peak that peeled in both directions. I recognized the place immediately, Windansea, one of the best breaks in California. Kate and I had flown to San Diego to attend a dinner for my mother’s 90th birthday. Fly down, attend the dinner, spend one night and fly back. A quick trip, thus I had no plans for surfing. We’re at the Travelodge because it’s close to the dinner and it’s reasonable. I had no idea that it was so close to Windansea. This morning I sat on the wall above the break to have my morning coffee and muffin and to take a few photos. Six surfers were on it. The locals would consider it flat, but the sets were head high, with well-formed peaks that broke in both directions allowing surfers to drive right up to the shore. I took 63 photos but only kept the twelve best ones. The above photo gives a good perspective on the shape and quality of the peak.

The swell was small and all the other spots were barely breaking. But here at Windansea, the three-foot wind swell jumped up to six feet. Per Matt Warshaw in his Encyclopedia of Surfing, an offshore canyon funnels the swell onto a flat rock reef that amplifies the waves into a consistent well-shaped peak that is rideable year round from two to twelve feet and offshore kelp beds keep the chop down. Windansea is one of the most dependable breaks on the coast. It breaks left and right over flat sandstone shelves that are often covered with sand. North swells create better rights, south swells produce long lefts and medium and low tides are preferred. Today, set waves consistently peaked at the same spot about sixty yards offshore. The waves peeled both left and right without sectioning right up to the sandstone shelves on the beach.

Localism is the main negative of Windansea. A single world-class consistent peak located in a densely populated affluent neighborhood where the locals are fiercely protective of their break. The localism reputation started in the sixties with the Windansea Surf Club, a group of highly accomplished and hard partying surfers, and the locals have never let up since then.

I surfed here once when I was fourteen, fifty years ago. I was on the one and only “Surf Safari” that the Palos Verdes YMCA ever organized, a weeklong camping/surf trip down the Southern California coast. Fifteen teenage boys with sleeping bags, clothes, food and camp stove stuffed into a cattle truck with their surfboards sticking out between the slats of the rear gate. We were an instant “crowd” wherever we went. One afternoon we pulled up to Windansea and disgorged out into the water, fifteen beginners paddling out to a single peak of overhead waves. The locals didn’t welcome us. I remember successfully going down the first overhead wave of my life and to me it was a great day. From then on I had a love for Windansea and have always wanted to return but the opportunity never arose.

August 14, 2009 Friday

Bolinas	Groin
8:50 am to 9:50 am	1' to 2' sets to 2.5'
High dropping tide	Stiff offshore (north) wind
Sunny and breezy	Exercise session

The pelicans were having a field day this morning about one hundred yards out from the ramp at Bolinas. Amongst the diving pelicans we saw at least three dolphins cruising up and down in the water. The dolphins were back.

“There are your Stinson Beach sharks,” I said to Cathy between sets at the Groin.

The National Park Service had closed Stinson for five days due to a shark sighting. The article in the paper stated that bathers (probably tourists from Oklahoma) reported to the lifeguards seeing a shark. The article also pointed out that the lifeguards had not sighted any sharks. But to be safe, the head of the Lifeguard Service closed Stinson Beach for five days. I bet the bathers saw dolphins. They often return to our territory with the fish and south swells.

Today was an exercise session. I had no expectations for waves but this morning was a disappointment. The NOAA San Francisco buoy reported six-foot NW wind swell at eight seconds combined with a one-foot south swell at 14 seconds. The report also noted 17-knot north wind with gusts to 21 knots and a drop in water temperature to 55 degrees, down from 59 on Monday. That’s a lot of wind. I was surprised by the wind and its direction. The Bay Area was moving into another hot spell with a drop in humidity and an offshore wind flow. Big fires were already raging in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in the Tracey area. Per the weather guy on the radio, tomorrow did not look good for the firefighters: 100-degree heat, 10% humidity and Santana winds. But this morning I was greeted by white caps far out at sea and a blast of cold wind at Bolinas.

From the overlook I saw six surfers out at the Channel. A four-foot wave came through and one guy got a decent ride. “OK, I’m going,” I said to myself. Mary, Marty, Doug, Professor Steve and Cathy were out there. As I watched with my camera in hand, everyone had difficulty catching the waves. They would peak and start to feather at the top but would not break. “OK, only the set waves are rideable,” I thought.

“It’s freezing out there,” said Mary, dripping wet and board in hand as she unlocked her car. “If you have any gloves, put them on.” She didn’t and her hands were numb. Last night’s big wind must have stirred up the water, bringing the cold water to the surface.

“Where did everybody go?” I said to myself when I walked down the ramp to the beach. The six surfers had dwindled to one, who was only a few feet from shore.

“It died,” stated Doug when I greeted him on the beach.

“The peak shifted,” said Marty when I passed him on the beach. “It must be the tide.”

Cathy was considering going in when I entered the water, but a set came through with a couple of promising waves so we decided to try for those. Just as I had observed, only the set waves were rideable. I caught the white water of a couple of waves and rode under the foam to get back into the swell. My first wave was my best ride: long, slow, power glide type wave. The tide had turned and the outgoing ebb flow was pulling us out to sea. In a few minutes we were beyond the impact zone and didn’t know it. We sat there thinking we were in a long lull between sets. We finally had to paddle in fifty yards to the Groin wall before we caught another wave. After forty-five minutes, I move to the inside peak where I was Monday, lining up with the house that is falling down the cliff. I stood in waist deep water to prevent the current from moving me around while I waited for the next set. Nothing spectacular came. I caught a couple of one-footers and belly-boarded them. After I hour I decided to call it quits and started paddling to the ramp for exercise. When I reached the end of the retaining wall of the house at the base of the ramp, a good set came through. I paddled through the white water of the first two waves and managed to catch the third one. It was a small slow curl but it carried me to within five feet of dry sand, providing me with a good point to exit the water.

Back at the cars I asked Martha if she got any rides out there. “I had a good time,” she replied. Spoken like a true surfer. Anytime you get into the water and get some exercise it’s a good session.

August 10, 2009 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:15 am to 10:45 am	1' to 2' sets to 3'
Low upcoming tide	No wind
Sunny and warm - heat wave	OK session

Heat wave conditions were the only reason for going out this morning: clear blue skies, bright sunshine, warm, no wind and warm water, 58 degrees. The waves were a weak one to two feet with an occasional three-footer. Shape was good and the surface was smooth. NOAA buoy report had 6-foot NW wind swell at 8 seconds combined with a two-foot south swell at 12 seconds.

The summer conditions put a lot of people in the water for a Monday morning. Mary, Kathy the biology teacher and Hans were way outside at the Patch where it was barely breaking. Marty, Matt and six others were out at the Channel going for small fast peeling left waves. Jimmy the Stinson carpenter and another surfer were on the far side of the Channel going for the rights. After I entered the water, Joe the Bolinas local with the wood laminated longboard and a couple of others joined us. Twelve surfers in all were spread across the Channel to the Groin to the inside break.

Crowd was an issue this morning. It impacted wave selection. The weak waves and their infrequency narrowed the take-off zone and caused the twelve surfers to bunch together. To deal with the crowd, my strategy was to go for right-of-way, which in surfing is to position at the apex of the peak and be the first one to catch the wave. Surf etiquette states that the one deepest in the peak has the right-of-way. Most surfers respect these rules. I paddled out to the furthest point at the Channel and along with four others waited for the sets. My other strategy was to catch the second or third wave of the set. After a long lull, four surfers will try for the first wave of a set. I would let that one go and be in position for the second or third wave which are usually larger. Not today. The first wave of every set was the largest one and three people would be on it. I did manage to catch some of the second smaller waves, but they had little force or shape.

After an hour, Marty and I moved to the inside break north of the Groin wall. Same place I was at last Wednesday, again lining up with the house that is falling down the cliff. My luck improved, but not by much. Both Marty and I managed to connect on a couple of decent waves. But the crowd was still a problem. When a set wave approached, I would look at the eyes of the surfers around me to see how many and who would be going for the wave. I respected the surf rules and passed on waves when someone deeper in the peak was paddling for the wave. After thirty minutes of maneuvering around others and seeing that the surf camp was about to dump another twenty individuals into the water, we decided to call it a day.

From a surf perspective I had an ok-session, but given the sunshine, the glassy conditions and the beauty of the ocean, it was another spectacular Marin morning.