January 21, 2011 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:15 am to 10:45 am	4' to 5', sets overhead
Mid upcoming tide (6 ft at 11:30 am)	Slight North breeze to no wind
Sunny with high clouds	Thrilling session

Per Stormsurf, a big swell (Swell #5 – fifth big north swell of the season) was hitting Hawaii and California. The Jetstream was in a holding pattern, blowing hard from Japan to Canada causing a low pressure front to form off of Japan that blew consistently 35 to 40 knots for four days straight generating a huge swell aimed at Hawaii with remnants headed for Northern California. The holding pattern also set up high pressure over the West Coast generating fair sunny weather and light NW winds. Ideal conditions: mild sunny weather and a NW big swell. The surf forecasters on the Internet predicted that the swell would hit Northern California Friday afternoon (7 ft at 19 seconds), peak on Saturday (9 ft at 20 seconds) and hold on until Monday (7.5 ft at 15 seconds). Long intervals mean high-energy ground swells. I had to go to the beach to see what was happening.

Coming down the Panoramic Highway I could see lines of swell marching in. White water lined the Duxbury Reef and Stinson had end-to-end walls crashing on the beach. Cars were already parked beyond the tennis courts and half way to the post office on Brighton Avenue at 8:00 am. David who rides the Becker board had just checked the waves and was excited. From a distance I saw Don Holm, my Kahuna Kupuna Surf Contest buddy, suited up and bristly heading for the ramp with board in hand. Doug and Jim the jazz guitarist were changing at their cars after their session. Doug said it was great.

High tide was not for another three hour but already the water was rushing up the ramp and waves were pounding the retaining wall of the house on the south side of the ramp. I took some photos from the overlook above the Groin. Twenty surfers were packed into a single peak, and the waves were big and powerful but not clean. I didn’t see any good rides. One after another would drop down the face of an overhead wall only to plow into a ton of white water. I stood there a long time because I kept seeing lines far at sea of another big set coming in.

From Terrace Road I got some good shots of the Patch, like the one above. Ten surfers were out there including Mary, Marty, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist and Russ on his stand-up board. The waves were breaking way, way out there and then reforming. The crowd sat on the south edge of the impact zone to catch the rights. The take-offs were flat but the waves reformed on the inside into steep fast curls. I watched Mary catch two set waves; on both she faded left letting the waves reform and then swung right to cruise across two long walls of water. Jaime caught a good one; he worked it into an inside right peak to hum across a sizeable and fast shore break curl. Feeling my age and the lack of conditioning I opted for the No-Fear-Factor and headed for the Patch.

Walt, Matt, Robert the Terra Linda carpenter, DB the Safeway checker and Mark the archaeologist suited up at the same time and all headed to the Patch. Mark pulled out his short (6’ 6”) Hobie. He usually rides a 9’ 6” longboard.

“Mark, that’s the wrong board. Where’s you big Hobie?”

“I just got back from several days working in Bakersfield, was dying to surf and just grabbed this one.”

“The take-offs are flat, thus catch the white water and work them into a reforming wave.”

“That’s the plan.”

After our session, I saw Mark with his short board tucked under his arm.

“Mark, you must admit that you had the wrong board.”

“You’re damn right. But I did manage to catch the white water and turn them into decent rides. I did better way outside when I first went out.”

That sums up my session. I connected on some great waves when I first went out there. Then as the tide came up, the waves changed. They became bumpy, mainly due to the backwash coming off the cliff and they broke closer to shore, head high swells looming onto shore.

When I first paddled out, I watched Jaime, who was sitting way inside, come down a head-high peak, cut back into the curl, swing right again to shoot through a fast shore break wall and pull out as the wave collapsed on the sand. Wow, that looked like fun. I decided to join him and besides it was a short paddle. The crowd was way outside at the far peak.

“Jaime, is this the spot or are you working you way in?”

“Hey, I was going in. My arms are spent. But then I connected on a good right and decided to go for one more. That was several waves ago.”

In came a sizeable wall that was feathering at the top. I went for it, dropped down a head-high face, leaned right, cruised across a fast curl for twenty yards and bailed out as it crashed near shore. Great ride. Jaime and I traded several great waves over the next half-hour.

DB paddled over to join us. After a few minutes she drifted outside to wait for a set. I watched her get a good one. The wave broke ten yards outside of her, which was fifty yards from me. She stroked into the white water that was sliding down from the peak, jumped up, continued straight as the wave began to reform, and swung right into an overhead face. I got a great side view of her turning into the curl as I paddled over the wave.

Robert executed his usual tsunami strategy of sitting way, way outside waiting for the big one. I saw him at least three times catch waves a hundred yards outside of me. He would fade left, letting the swell build up, swing right, cut back, swing right again to connect with the inside curls that we were going for. Each time he rode these waves to the shore.

With the tide coming up, I kept watching the waves boom against the seawalls. Getting in was going to be an adventure. I caught a big one that put me near the rocks and near to the shore. Matt and Mark were paddling in, and I decided to follow their lead. They paddled outside of the first seawall, the one with all the graffiti painted on it. Mark had no problem timing the waves and paddling into the beach. Matt struggled. A big shore break wall clobbered him and knocked him off his board. He drove under a couple more waves before wading up to the beach. I decided to try for the patch of sand just north of the seawall and the big tree trunk sitting on the beach. You know the one, a large eucalyptus that came down during the first El Nino in 1997. I let a couple of sets go by and then sprinted for the beach. I didn’t make it. A big wave broke outside of me; I bailed and dove under it. When I surfaced I was now mid-seawall, bouncing around the incoming waves and the backwash coming off the wall. The current had carried me about thirty yards south. I jumped back on my board and dug hard to go back out and to the north to try again. The second time I made it into the beach.

Though I didn’t catch any memorable waves, it was an adventure being out there when the ocean was throwing some of its finest and strongest waves at us.

January 19, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
11:45 am to 1:15 pm	2' to 3', sets 4'
High dropping tide (6.8 ft at 10:30 am)	Stiff offshore wind to no wind
Sunny and breezy	Fun session

Scott told me this morning when I was collecting a water sample at Stinson Beach for Surfrider’s water testing program that a sewage spill had occurred two days ago on Wharf Road in Bolinas. A pump broke causing raw sewage to pour out into the lagoon. We decided that I should take a water sample at the end of Wharf Road at the mouth of the lagoon. When I went down there, crews had the road blocked-off and had posted signs dated January 16, 2011 stating the water was contaminated. The work crew was digging a huge hole in the street across from the Bolinas Museum. Later locals told me the story. The pump is located there and its function is to pump the sewage uphill a couple of miles to the sewage plant located on Mesa Road by the fire station. They had the pump and sewage pipe repaired by the next day. Of course a little contamination warning didn’t keep the surfers from entering the water.

“Loren the wind is blowing,” Kate said, as I was getting ready to head out to the beach. “I couldn’t sleep and was up at four and the wind was howling.”

At 6:30, the San Francisco buoy reported 23 MPH north wind with gusts up to 31. North winds are offshore at Bolinas. From the Panoramic Highway, I saw white caps far out to sea, except at Bolinas which sits in the wind shadow of the Bolinas Ridge. Ten surfers were out at the Channel, two on the Seadrift side and eight bunched together going for the lefts. Check out the above photo; the offshore wind sent plumes of spray off the tops of all the waves. They were big, a sizeable swell came in yesterday and was still pumping this morning: 7 ft west swell at 15 seconds. The waves looked great, glassy, plumes of spray and head-high, but no one was getting any good rides. The swells marched in and kept coming and coming and building and building, but they did not break until way on the inside. The tide was too high and the waves were difficult to catch.

The Patch didn’t look any better and the waves were half the size of those at the Channel. Six surfers were out including Marty, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist and Walt and Russ on standup boards. Due to the high tide, the swells were bouncing off the cliff causing large backwash ripples that impacted the waves and screwed up the rides. The waves weren’t inviting and I was considering heading home.

Jaime exited the water and reported the waves were good earlier and then faded as the tide came in.

“Loren, remember how one day you forgot your wetsuit? Well today I forgot my trunks, thus I’m al natural under my wetsuit.”

“With this cold your huevos must have sunk up to your chest.”

“Yes, I felt like a Frenchman out there,” Jaime laughed and moved on.

Walt came up the ramp and said he had a frustrating session. He had not surfed much in the last few weeks, conditioning and timing took their toll. A professional photographer, Walt, was working on a personal project about older surfers. He mentioned that he had made an appointment for an interview and photo shoot with Doug Haut, the long time surfboard manufacturer in Santa Cruz. Due to traffic Walt was late and worried that Doug wouldn’t hang around. The time was short but Walt managed to get some good shots and felt good about the session. He won’t show us his project until it meets his high standards. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

My old friend Mark drove up. At first I thought he was John my companion in the Kahuna Kapuna surf contest last August. Mark and John look similar, tall, thin though not skinny, long gray-white beard and massive tattoos on the arms.

“John,” I said, “how are you? I haven’t seen you since August.”

“Loren, I’m Mark. You don’t recognize me because I cut my hair.” He was right. I didn’t recognize him. Mark used to have shoulder length hippy style hair, dark with streaks of gray. Now his hair was short and totally gray.

“Mark, I confused you with someone else. You’re right; it’s the hair, and your car. What happened to your old red panel truck?” An old beat-up, dented, rusty relic that Mark had ever since I knew him.

“It died when I ploughed into a herd of deer outside Petaluma.”

Mark and I go way back. The first group of Bolinas regulars I connected with was Mark’s crowd. This was in 1990 when my son Kevin and I took up surfing again. Pat was the leader of the group, an excellent surfer in great shape who could stay out all day and was always in position when the sets arrived. Pat, Eddy and Mark would be out there every weekend dominating the Groin and the Channel. They would surf all morning and then head to Smiley’s to down a few. Mark was a plumber. He is now retired. Pat and Eddy worked for a stone company. They delivered and installed decorative rock. Heavy lifting led to powerful arms that really helped in the water.

“Mark, how is our old friend Pat?”

A few years ago Pat had a stroke that left him incapacitated and was in an institution recovering. Mark filled me in. Pat is home now, is still physically out of it, and can’t hear. His woman takes care of him and she won’t let any of his old friends get near him. Thus Mark had not seen him in a while. With Pat out of action the old group broke up. Eddy has moved to Oregon and Mark usually surfs at Dillon Beach these days. It was great to see Mark again. Pat is a sad story, an excellent, healthy, energetic and friendly surfer who is now a near vegetable.

I joined Mark, Mary, D.B. and Martha out at the Patch. With the tiding dropping I was hoping the conditions would improve. The waves were ok, flat, slow and hard to catch, but it felt good to be out in the water.

“D.B. was it worth it?” I asked after our session.

“Every time you get in the water, it is worth it.”

I put the same question to Mary and received the same answer. “It’s always worth it when you get out in the water.”

What more can I say?

January 7, 2011 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:15 am to 10:45 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	Cold offshore wind to no wind
High fog to patchy sun	Good session

I was suited up, board in hand, running in front of the retaining wall of the house on the south side of the ramp when I heard,

“Loren! Loren!”

“Someone is calling you,” said a surfer walking in the other direction. I was heading to the Groin and the upcoming tide was beginning to shoot spray up to the windows of the house. I turned and there standing at the top of the steps of the seawall was Jack the Dave Sweet team rider with water dripping from his wetsuit. I headed back towards the ramp.

“Jack, what’s the call?”

“The Patch! There are too many short boarders at the Groin. Go to Robinson’s Reef. It’s great, that’s where I went and I got some great rides. Head to the Patch and avoid the shortboarders.”

Change of plans. I had oscillated on where to go, finally settled on going to the Groin, but if Jack said the Patch was the call then I’m going to the Patch. The surf forecast this morning was positive. The NOAA weather radio reported 8 ft west swell at 17 seconds, NNE wind, 52-degree water temperature and an upcoming tide. Claude and I had arrived at the same time. We went up to the overlook above the Groin to check conditions. I hadn’t seen Claude in weeks. Like me, he had only surfed a couple of times in the last month due to the weather and the holidays. Twenty surfers were bunched together at the Groin. The waves were big and fast, maybe a bit too fast, and glassy with offshore winds blowing spray off the tops. The above photo is some lucky soul getting barreled. Claude decided to beat the crowd by going for the rights on the Seadrift side of the Channel. He took off to suit up and I went up to Terrace Road to check out the Patch. The waves were smaller and mellow with only six surfers out. The inside rights (Robinson’s Reef) looked good.

I saw Jeff from Mill Valley connect on a fast four-foot curl at Robinson’s Reef. That looked inviting. I met Creighton toweling off as I walked back to my car. He had a great session at the Groin, lots of fast curls. I passed Doug as he poured warm water, which he had brought from home, over his head. He too reported that the Groin was great. After suiting up and walking to the beach, I met Novato Pete who had a good session at the Patch. I chatted with Russ who had a good standup board session at the Patch. Mary walked up and stated that the waves were good everywhere and that I couldn’t go wrong no matter where I went. I passed Mark the archaeologist who recommended the Groin. So I decided to head for the Groin until Jack changed my mind.

Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water was waxing up her board on the beach at the Patch. Susan was the story this morning. We entered the water together and she paddled to the furthest peak at the Patch while I stopped at the inside break. Thirty minutes later I noticed Susan paddling to the Groin. I have seen her do this before. Paddling from the Patch to the Groin is a long ways, at least one-half mile. Thirty minutes after that I saw her paddling back to the Patch.

“It’s better over here,” she said when she arrived. “It’s a long time between sets, only a few big waves came through and it’s crowded.”

Again she paddled to the furthest peak outside and north of the pack. She was still out there when I got out of the water. Susan is in great shape. To paddle over and back from the Patch to the Groin and to continue surfing for another hour is one hell of a lot of paddling. I could never do that.

At Robinson’s Reef I joined Hank, Jeff from Mill Valley, Robert the Terra Linda carpenter and one other surfer. The set waves were big and stretched across the whole impact zone. At first I thought they would close out, but I was wrong. Hank proved that. With his big paddling machine he could stroke into all of the waves. Time after time, I would paddle over a wave, turn around and from the back watch Hank scream cross a head-high wall with spray blowing off the top and his head streaking ahead of the fast breaking curl.

Only by moving over the reef into the middle of the impact zone could I catch waves. My first one was a good one. I stoked into a set wave as it was breaking. I thought for sure it would close out. I took off, dropped to the bottom of a head-high face, cut right, drove under white water sliding down from the top of the wave, briefly climbed back into the swell, the next section broke in front of me, I tried to push through the white water, but the lip collapse on my inside rail and sent me flying. Now I had the take-off point figured out and managed to connect on two long, fast right walls.

Claude paddled over from the Groin. He said his first wave was exceptional, a big right curl on the Seadrift side of the Channel, but that was it. The set waves were closing out and the crowd drove him nuts. A few minutes later I watch him streak down an overhead face, bottom turn right, climb mid-swell, set himself mid-board and cruise on and on until he pulled out in the shore break.

For an hour the four of us had the inside peak to ourselves, sharing the waves and enjoying each other’s company. What a great way to spend a beautiful Friday morning.

January 3, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel and Groin
9:40 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', sets 5' to 6'
Very high tide	Stiff offshore breeze
Sunny with high patchy clouds	Frustrating session

The tide was too damn high – 6.6 ft at 9:30 am. The buoy reading was impressive: 7 ft NW swell at 13 seconds and light NNE winds. Signs of extreme high tide greeted me as I passed Stinson Beach. Water had filled the entire east end of the lagoon wetlands right up to the edge of the Water District building and only the top the old abandoned dredge peeked above the surface; the rest was submerged. As I got out of my car at Bolinas I heard the “thud” of a large wave smashing into the seawall. Water rushed half way up the ramp and up and over the steps leading to the seawall. I took pictures of the four-foot waves crashing into the seawall sending white water high into the air. From the overlook above the Groin I watched two surfers having trouble pushing into the waves. They were big and uneven with each one breaking in a different location and a strong offshore wind sent arches spray off the tops of the peaks.

I walked up to Terrace Road to check out the Patch. Eight of the Bolinas regulars were out there: Mary, Marty, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Shu-Shu, Novato Pete, Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water and standup guys Russ and Frank. The above picture is Susan paddling through the shore break to get out to the break. I stood there and stood there with my camera in hand, no waves came through even though the swell was big. Finally a set came in and everyone paddled for the waves, but only Russ on his standup board caught one and he cruised down a sizeable peak. The waves were barely breaking and the tide would be coming up for another hour. Despite this I decided to head to the Patch. I had not surfed for three weeks due to the rains and the holidays. I was anxious to get back into the water and the small, gentle Patch waves looked appealing.

By the time I suited up my companions had exited the water. First Mary followed by Jaime, and then Frank and Russ came up the ramp carrying their standup boards. Soon Marty came up followed by Novato Pete. By my count, only Susan and Shu-Shu were still in the water. I shouted to Hans who was suiting up that I was heading to the Patch. He said he would join me.

Between waves that were pounding the seawall and pushing water up the ramp, I dashed up the stairs to the top of the seawall. With great disappointment I stared at a completely flat Patch. No one was out there. Susan and Shu-Shu had paddled to the Groin. The tide was so high the swells, even the set waves, just mushed up against the cliff. It was unrideable.

Plan B, go to the Channel, six surfers were out there now. Getting pass the shore break was a challenge. I stood in waist high water at the base of the ramp waiting for a set to pass. I saw a break and dashed out into waves. The rush of water coming back down the ramp from the previous wave carried me out. I thought I was through the shore break when a series of four waves crested further out. I scratched over the first three and ducked under the white water of the fourth one. So much for easing back into it.

Once out at the Groin my frustration started. The swells were big, thick, powerful and difficult to catch. I paddled for endless waves and missed them all. I would start down the swells but I could not push over the edge. The others were having the same problem. Shu-Shu connected on a few at the apex of the Channel peak. She would paddle like mad and pushed herself into some big walls. The standup surfers were doing well. Annette and Miko had paddled out from Seadrift. From a distance I saw Miko cruise down a head-high right on the Seadrift side of the Channel. Annette stroked into a big peak, stepped to the center of her board getting for weight forward to push over the edge and then quickly swung left to drop down a sizeable wall. Colin, who I had just met this morning, caught a good one. To catch a wave I kept moving inside, then a big set came and I was too far inside. Paddling like mad to get over a six-foot wave, I caught a glimpse of Colin dropping down the face in a tight crouch with his back to the wave and his hand firmly gripped on the outside rail. He shot down the line as I duck-dived under the white water. As I surfaced I looked back but could not see him, the wave was over his head. A few minutes later I saw Colin walking his board on the beach. He rode that wave all the way into shore, walked around the Groin wall and re-entered the water there to avoid paddling through the impact zone.

After forty-five minutes I finally caught a wave; nothing to brag about but it did have a decent left shoulder. I managed to catch a couple more by moving inside and to the middle of the Channel. By now the ebb flow was building and the cold had set in. It was time to go in, but what was the best route. The shore break was still pounding the seawall at the base of the ramp. Professor Steve, who had just come out, suggested paddling north of the seawall to the Playground, a sandy portion between the two houses that sit on the beach.

“What do you plan to do?” I asked Steve.

“Oh, I’ll go in at Wharf Road. I parked there.” He was referring to the ramp at the end of Wharf Road next to the mouth of the lagoon. Steve has been entering the water there during this stretch of high tides.

Out at the Peak I watched Shu-Shu attempt to walk her board in front of the seawall of the house on the south side of the ramp. If she can do it so can I. She waited for a set to pass, started walking as the water withdrew, about half way the next set of waves came in. She quickly turned around and retreated. Last I saw, she was paddling out to go around the seawall to chance going in between waves at the ramp. I assume she made it ok.

I was sitting inside, mid-channel when the next set came in. A big wave broke outside, I stroked into the white water; it picked me up and thrust me forward. The wave started to reform, I jumped to my knees, pushed on the nose to stay in the wave, got back down in a prone position and paddled as the board moved along to keep in the wave. I worked it all the way in and pulled out ten feet from dry sand. I ended up half way to Wharf Road; that did it. I’ll go the Wharf Road route. I made the long walk down Wharf Road through town to Brighton Ave to my car. I changed, walked back into town for a coffee and on the way back the warm sun beamed. Even though the waves were frustrating I had exercised my arms and body, had been outside in the elements and had soaked up the scenery. I now had that glow of satisfaction that surfers get after a vigorous session. It felt great to be back in the water.

December 31, 2010 Friday

Tribute to Jim Sylvia

I received the following email from Mark the archaeologist.

Loren,

Something perhaps to note in your blog.

Jim Sylvia, Norcal surf pioneer, passed away on Dec 7th at the age of 79 and his memorial was this past weekend. Jim along with fellow Stinson Beach lifeguard Bill Wilson are credited in the “Stormrider Guide, North America” as being the first to surf Bolinas, Point Reyes, and Stinson Beaches back in the pre-wetsuit 1950s. Jim is also credited with being the first to surf South Jetty in Humboldt Bay.

I knew Jim my whole life, early on he being a teacher along with my father in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District (when I was really small, my family and Jim's young family shared a duplex). During the summer months Jim was a lifeguard at Stinson Beach, a position he held until 1972. He moved to Eureka in the mid-60s to teach and coach at College of the Redwoods. Jim was the real deal, his surf transport being a 1949 Ford Woody and he still had an early 60s O'Neill board that he used back in the day.

I would see Jim from time to time when he was visiting my folks, and he loved to talk about surfing. He would tell me how they would wear wool sweaters to stay warm while in the water and would start beach fires, often fueled by discarded tires, to bring the feeling back to their numb bodies; they surfed year round. Although he started his surfing career down in Santa Barbara, he loved the raw nature of Norcal.

Anyway, as we surf in Jim’s footsteps, I thought it might be worth a mention,

Mark

After receiving the above email I asked my friend Scott, a long time resident of Stinson Beach and former chief lifeguard for several years, if he knew Jim Sylvia. Yes he knew him because Jim always came back for the annual Stinson Beach Lifeguards reunions. Jim was the Supervisory Lifeguard (i.e. Chief) at Stinson Beach after Fred Van Dyke and before Scott. Jim had the reputation of keeping all the local guards in-line and professional in those days. Scott also mentioned that Jim was a nationally ranked wrestler and a Judo competitor and instructor.

Thanks to the wonders of Google I was able to uncover several other facts about this extraordinary individual. First his surfing exploits:

While attending UC Santa Barbara in the early 50’s, Jim worked as a lifeguard and took up surfing at Carpinteria Beach, a sport he loved. Quick side-note here, he must have surfed Rincon which is just around the corner from Carpinteria. In 1959 Jim and his buddy Billy Wilson, both seasonal lifeguards at Stinson Beach, surfed Streamers Lane in Santa Cruz and they were the first to surf Wood Beach, the north side of Point Reyes. In the mid-sixties, Jim became the first to surf the South Jetty in Humboldt Bay. Both of these “firsts” were highlighted in the August 1991 issue of Surfing Magazine in an article entitled “First Surfs.”

Lets pause and think about this a second. Surfing in the cold waters of Marin and Humboldt counties before wetsuits and leashes, on heavy balsa wood boards in the open and rough seas of Point Reyes and Eureka, this had to be one tough individual.

Tough is putting it mildly. Check out some of the non-surfing facts about Jim Sylvia.

Born in 1931 and raised in foster homes in San Francisco, Sebastopol and Brentwood.

In 1952 as a sophomore at Santa Rosa Junior College where he was a linebacker on the football team, Jim was drafted into the army.

The army formed a new unit and after six months Jim joined it. He was one of 700 men that became the original Special Operations Forces, later known as the Green Berets.

Jim graduated from UC Santa Barbara, where he played center on the football team, with a degree in Physical Education. He went to graduate school at San Francisco State University and earned a Masters degree in Health Education.

While there Jim joined the Olympic Club and at the age of 28 took up wrestling. He did ok as a wrestler, he even wrestled against the noted wrestler and famous novelist Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). It was wrestling that got Jim thinking about teaching. He felt he was a better instructor than a wrestler.

In 1965 Jim became one of the original faculty members of the new College of the Redwoods and he remained there until he retired in 1997. He taught and coached wrestling, football, track, baseball and cross-country.

He always had an interest in Japanese Samurai and thus he took up Japanese martial arts. He earned a third degree black belt in Kendo and a fourth degree black belt in the Japanese sword arts of Laido. Jim had the opportunity to travel to Japan many times, and he led six U.S.- Japan cultural exchange wrestling teams that competed throughout Japan.

Jim was twice inducted into the College of the Redwoods Hall of Fame and on May 16, 2009 he received a Life Time Service Award from the California Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Rest in peace Jim Sylvia: northern California surf pioneer, long time Stinson Beach lifeguard, Green Beret, coach, teacher, husband, father, grandfather, member of the Wrestling Hall of Fame and all-time good guy.

December 15, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
10:00 am to 11:20 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Mid dropping tide	Offshore breeze to no wind
High overcast to patchy sun	Fun but frustrating session

Jack the Dave Sweet team rider had just put his board in the back of his truck and was sitting in the driver’s seat with his wetsuit on as I came back from checking the surf at the overlook above the Groin.

“Jack, are you taking off for some other break?” I asked.

“No. I’m cold and I’m going home to take a nice warm shower.” Jack had just finished a good session at the Groin, but now the outgoing tide was impacting the waves. He recommended that I go to the Patch.

“Loren, I heard Jaime on the radio last night.” Jack was referring to our surf buddy Jaime the starving artist cartoonist. He has a show on the local West Marin Community Radio station, KWMR (89.9 FM).

“It was cool.” Jack added with enthusiasm. “He plays good rock music and he gave a salute to us. He said, ‘Here’s to the Bolinas dawn patrol. You know who you are: Mary, Frank, Russ, Marty, Jack, Hans and Loren.’ It was so cool. You should check it out. I can’t get it in Sebastopol so I listen to it on the computer. Just Google KWMR and click on KWMR LIVE and you get the live broadcast. Check it out.” And with that he drove off.

I followed up on this and yes there was Jaime in the station’s schedule:

Faultline Radio with Jaime Crespo - Curing your insomnia by spinning random music randomly each and every Tuesday evening from 8:30 pm -10:30 pm (PST).

The surf had come up overnight, a mix of NW and south swells. Internet data had: 8 ft NW swell at 11 seconds and a 2 ft south wind swell at 8 seconds and a water temperature of 54 degrees. The weather guys on TV were predicting a series of storms coming in tomorrow and lasting through Sunday. Thus I had to go out today. Only three surfers were at the Groin when I arrived and six were out at the Patch: Mary, Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water, Jaime, Hans and the standup guys Russ and Frank. That’s Frank on a small one in the above photo. The outgoing current from the lagoon was knocking down the waves at the Groin. The Patch waves were clean, small and slow. Jack was right; the Patch was the call this morning.

Again, while suiting up my friends at the Patch all left. Frank, Russ and Jaime were toweling off and jazzed me about “the lunch patrol” as I headed for the water. On the beach, Hans was wrapping his leash around his favorite Bear longboard. Mary had just exited the water and Susan was paddling from the Patch to the Groin.

I paddled out to Robinson’s reef, the inside right peak at the Patch to join Tom and another surfer. The morning and the waves were beautiful, lots of God shots of sun beams pouring through breaks in the clouds onto the glassy blue-gray peaks of the Patch. But the waves were slow, weak and had no push. With the tide going out the water was shallow and the larger rocks were beginning to show. All three of us independently came to the conclusion to move south of the reef over the sand. Our tactic was to catch the waves over the reef, cut right and connect with the steep shore break over the sand. Easier said than done. I only managed to do it a couple of times. While paddling out I looked sideways to see Tom tucked into a squat, ass over heels, in the curl of a well-formed three-foot right peeling wave.

After an hour, the three of us ended up way inside going for the shore break. We had this nice little peak of fast curls to ourselves for a half an hour. Tom and I caught the same wave and connected with the inside curl and hummed along until it finally closed out in knee-high water, ten feet from dry sand. That did it for me. I waved good-bye to Tom and headed in.

Mary, Robert and Pete were sunning themselves on the seawall as I walked by. They inquired about my session.

“Fun, but frustrating and it’s getting better on the inside peak.”


Click on the link below to listen to Jaime’s radio show -

KWMR 89.9 West Marin Radio

December 13, 2010 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:40 am to 10:50 am	2', sets to 3'
Mid dropping tide	Slight offshore breeze to no wind
High overcast and high fog	OK session

Work on the seawall was the story today. Big construction and earth moving equipment and the appropriate crew of people were gathered at the top of the ramp when I arrived this morning. From the cars I could tell that the regulars were already in the water: Mary, Marty, David who rides the Becker board, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Hans and standup surfers Frank and Russ. The construction crew had placed sheets of plywood against both sides of the ramp, and the “jefes” were standing on the seawall discussing the project.

“What are you guys going to do?” I asked.

“Fortify the wall,” one jefe responded. “You can see that the wall is slowly giving way.”

“So what are you going to do with the naked woman?” Years ago someone had sculpted a figure of a nude stretch over the top of one of the sandstone boulders. It has become a landmark for all the Bolinas regulars.

“Don’t worry, we’ll protect that one.”

I walked to the Patch to take some photos of Mary, Hans, Russ and Frank. On my way back, I had to walk up against the left wall because the lead jefe was slowly driving a massive tractor-tread backhoe down the ramp. They were getting ready to move some rocks around. I went up to the overlook above the Groin. While taking some photos a huge rock carrying dump truck arrived, turned up the road to the overlook and backed down the ramp to dump its load of boulders. That’s it in the above photo. After suiting up and with board in hand I had to wait patiently at the top of the ramp until the massive backhoe had finished grabbing a boulder out of the truck, turning and dropping it on the sand in front of the north side of the ramp. Seeing my chance I dashed up the steps and across the seawall to get to the Patch.

Out in the water and despite my poor hearing and earplugs I could hear the constant groan of the backhoe and the clash of tumbling boulders being dropped at the base of the seawall.

“What’s the best way to get around the machinery?” Mary asked.

“Go across the top of the seawall and wait at the top of the stairs for an opening to dash up the ramp.”

Around eleven I thought about going in and looked to see what was happening with the construction project. By now a big bulldozer for pushing around the sand had joined in. The tractors had stopped. Both the backhoe and bulldozer were parked on the sand at the base of the ramp.

“It must be lunch time,” I thought. “But why stop? They have to get this done while the tide is low.”

Three guys with push brooms were sweeping up the ramp as I walked by after my session.

“Hey are you guys through already?” I asked the guy sweeping up the lower part of the ramp.

“I don’t know! I’m here to clean up someone else’s mess.”

A streak of black fluid three feet wide stretched from the top of the ramp to the bottom. The sweeping crew had spread an absorbent that looked like cat litter on the fluid and were now sweeping it up. At the top of the ramp were a fire truck, three county pickup trucks, a sheriff’s car and one large purple dump truck still loaded with rocks. Lots of people were standing around: the sheriff, three truck drivers, the whole construction crew and five Marin county workmen with shovels, brooms and bags of cat litter. Another driver sat in his truck waiting his turn to dump his load; he fired up his engine, made the difficult maneuver to turn the truck around and slowly drove off with its load still in place. Obviously one of the trucks had spilled something and the project had come to a halt.

Marty and I went into town for a coffee and when we returned the same crowd was still standing around. We walked down the ramp to get a better look and to check the surf. We talked to a nervous truck driver who was standing in front of the rocks that were already dumped. He was a hard-ass character that looked like a member of the Hell’s Angels, long thinning hair, large graying beard, cut-off sleeves and tattooed filled arms.

“What happened?”

“Backing down the ramp my truck hung up on the hump at the top. It broke the line that runs from one tank to the other and diesel fuel flowed out. I pulled the truck up to the street and now I’m stranded until they repair the fuel line. And then I won’t know if I have enough fuel left to get out of here.” His truck had two large round cylinder tanks located under the doors of the cab with a line that runs between them. It was this line that broke.

“Hey we overheard that the contractor didn’t have a permit.”

“I don’t know about that. They called me to haul some rocks so here I am.”

The backhoe driver and a companion from the work crew stood nearby. Marty and I overheard a piece of their conversation.

“Can you imagine that? You would think that the general contractor would had taken care of the permit.”

The surf was ok, mellow small waves at the Patch, glassy conditions and only three of us out there. But the real story of today was the mess at the ramp. A truck had spilled a tank full of diesel fuel that ran down the ramp and some general contractor had just dump tons on rocks on the beach without a permit. It was just another interesting morning in beautiful Marin.