August 10, 2011 Wednesday

Pacifica	Linda Mar - out front of the Pump House
8:30 am to 9:15 am	4' to 5', sets overhead
Mid upcoming tide	Offshore breeze to stiff NW cross wind
Patchy sun with a fog bank on the horizon	Frustrating session

My frustration was mounting and I was determined to catch one of the big ones this morning. A large set wave with a definite right angle was cresting in front of me. I turned and dug hard to catch it but didn't quite get into it. I felt the wave pick me up, I looked over the edge and the nose of my board was out of the water hanging at the top of the wave, when suddenly out of no whereas my son Kevin came across the wave under me. I was hanging at top a good two feet above him as he shot by me. He sailed on for several yards locked in the curl of a fast breaking wave. It was a beautiful sight looking down on Kevin as he sailed by with the bright sun reflecting off the water and spray from an offshore breeze blowing into my face.

Watching Kevin on that wave was the highlight of this morning's frustrating session. We were at Linda Mar in front of the Pump House for a brief before work session. The tide was still on the low side, the waves were a consistent four to five feet with sets overhead (6' to 8') and walled. In the forty-five minutes we were out there I only caught three waves. I dropped down a head-head left, hung on as it broke in front of me, tried to push back into the swell as the wave began to reform, but it quickly died in the deep water channel north of the Pump House. I stroked into a big right wave, dropped down the face, briefly hung in the curl as the wave closed out in front of me. After paddling around for a long time trying to position for a rideable wave, I stroked into a big wall, jumped up in time for the vertical, straight-down elevator ride to the bottom. I bounced around as I rode out the white water to the shore.

After the practice sessions I had recently and riding the rough waves during the Kahuna Kupuna contest, I thought I was ready to handle the big Linda Mar walls. I certainly have the skill to catch them, drop down the face and to straighten out. This session was going to be my morning to conquer the big walls. But it didn't happen. Seeing those huge walls of water that stretched for one end of the beach to the other, I just couldn't do it. I froze. Call it age, call it caution or call it plain old fear, I couldn't muster the courage to throw myself into those waves. I spent most of my session scratching over the outside sets and then moving back in to connect with the smaller waves. One of these days, maybe when conditions are better, I'm going to drop down those big Linda Mar walls.

Despite our frustrations, Kevin and I were glad we went out and planned to meet here again next Wednesday.

August 8, 2011 Monday

Tribute to Novato Pete

On July 12th, Novato Pete left us. His death shocked all of us. One of regulars, one of the tribe, one who loved the waves, was gone. As a tribute to our companion and friend, below are references to Pete from the Lorenzo's Surf Journal. Thanks to Russ the stand-up guy for the above photo of Pete at the Patch.

January 7, 2011 Monday
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.

February 11, 2011 Friday
Judging from the cars Mary, Novato Pete and stand-up regulars Frank and Russ must be in the water… I walked down to the Patch to take some pictures. Mary and Pete were sitting inside. Rocks were beginning to peek above the water. With the tide going out, soon all the rocks would be exposed. The waves looked small and weak, but Mary caught three nice inside curls in the ten minutes that I was standing there…Just my luck, while suiting up the wind picked up and all my friends came in. I passed Randy on my way to the Patch. On my way out Mary and Pete caught waves and paddled in.

February 23, 2011 Wednesday
“It must be flat for all of you to be standing around,” I greeted Jacek the tattoo artist, Jeff from Mill Valley, Novato Pete and Mary.

“There’s not much there,” said Pete. “Maybe when the tide turns.” David with wetsuit on and board in hand walked by and announced he was going for it. Pete and Jacek went to check out the waves and Jeff and Mary continued practicing strumming techniques on their ukuleles.

“Well are you going to do it?” I asked Jacek and Pete when they returned. “There are a couple of waves out there. I’m going,” Pete said. Jacek decided to pass… The waves were tiny and with all of us bunched together at the only peak, we constituted a crowd. There was David, Jeff, Mary, Novato Pete and stand-up guys Frank and Russ.

Pete got the best ride this morning. He was at the apex of the Channel peak when a good set wave came through. He stroked into it, angled left, locked the rail under the lip of the curl, crouched down in the middle of the board and cruised a long ways before the wave finally closed out on the inside in front of the Groin wall. A few moments later while paddling out, I saw Pete do it again on his next wave. Pete was riding his brand new Johnny Rice longboard. He showed it off to us back at the cars. It was beautiful: 9’ 4” in length, three stingers, one single large fin, wide in the nose and 3 1/8 inches thick. Pete’s previous board was 8’ 6” and now on this longer paddling machine he was catching everything he tried for. Pete loved it.

March 14, 2011 Monday
Six surfers were out at the Patch including Bolinas regulars Marty, Novato Pete, Hans and standup guys Frank and Russ. The Patch was smaller than the Channel, mellow and low keyed…I paddled out to join Marty and Pete…Pete moved around from peak to peak with some success but ended up with Marty and I at the outside rock…Pete, Marty and I had this peak ourselves. For an hour we shared the waves and hooted each time one of us dropped down a well-formed peak. I felt great being out in the water again, connecting with a couple of waves and conversing with my friends. It was just another beautiful morning in Marin.

May 18, 2011 Wednesday
The south swell had arrived; well-formed three-foot waves were peeling at a peak between the Channel and the Groin. Jacek, David who rides the Becker board and Novato Pete were out there… I paddled out to the line-up and saw some nice looking peaks coming through…In the short time I was out there, the others connected on some good waves…Next time I was paddling back out to the line-up, I saw Pete drop down the face of a four-foot wall with his back to the wave, crouched down on one knee on the back half of the board, holding the outside rail, screaming along just ahead of a fast breaking left curl.

August 8, 2011 Monday
That image of him streaking down the line was forever implanted in my mind. That is how I remember him.

Rest in peace Novato Pete.

August 6, 2011 Saturday

Pacifica	Linda Mar - north of the Pump House
10:30 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', sets overhead
Low tide	Stiff onshore wind
Patchy sun with a fog bank on the horizon	Frustrating session

Kahuna Kupuna Surf Contest

"Greg, look over there to the left, it's low tide and we could almost walk out to the waves," I said to Greg Cochran pointing to a stretch of sand out that extended out to the breakers as we waited to enter the water for our heat in the Kahuna Kupuna contest.

"No, don't do that, you'll get killed over there. The channel is over there to the right. We have been going out there all week." Linda Mar is Greg's local break, he surfs here everyday and knows the break. Who was I to question his advice?

The horn blew and we hustled into the water to paddle out to the line-up. I followed Greg, and he was right, we easily made it out through the rough breakers. Once outside we waited for the next horn to start our heat. This was my second time entering this contest and the same five guys that were in the "Legends Division" (65 - 69 yrs) last year had returned: Greg Cochran, Jack Ellis (the Dave Sweet team rider), John Fordyce, Gary Silberstein and myself. The surf was terrible, if it wasn't for this contest I would never had gone out - low tide, stiff onshore wind, chop everywhere, consistent three to four foot walls with sets overhead. The contest was a sprint; we had fifteen minutes to catch three waves.

The horn blew to start out heat. From that point on, I was so focused on catching waves I didn't notice what was happening to the others. I didn't hesitate and paddled for everything that was catchable. I missed my first two attempts. Then I stroked into a sizeable wall and dropped down the face of a head-head right, the wave began to line-up, for a brief moment I thought I was into a good wave, but I was over anxious, nervous and slipped off the back of the board. I scrambled to get back onto my board to paddle through an incoming set of waves. I paddled over the first one and was greeted by a massive wall that was breaking in front of me. Just my luck, caught inside. I rolled to get under the torrent of white water coming at me. The force of the wave ripped the board out of hands and push me down into its washing-machine turbulence. I felt my leash go taut and pull on my ankle. Thank goodness for leashes.

I struggled to surface, grabbed the leash and reeled in my board. I wrapped my arm around my board and turned towards the incoming waves. There was Jack dropping down the face of a head-high wave coming right at me. That's him in the above photo. Look at it closely. Jack skillfully threaded the needle between John and me. That's John in the orange jersey on the left struggling to get back out and I am on the right in the green jersey.

Once back outside, I paddled around for what seemed to be forever to position myself for another wave. I finally caught a left wall, dropped down the face and the wave collapsed in front me. I rode the white water hoping the wave would reform, it didn't and I pulled out near shore. The horn sounded signifying five minutes left. Now I was trapped in a hole where the current was pushing me in. I fought hard but could not get back outside. With little time left, I turned and caught the white water of a huge wall the crashed ten yards in front of me. I worked the white water to the shore. The horn blew ending our heat. At least I had caught three waves. I walked up the steep bank of sand feeling disappointed in my performance. Like last year, I had such hope of doing well, but as it turned out, I was lucky to catch three waves.

"Loren, I think Jack won!" Jaime the starving artist cartoonist excitedly exclaimed to me. "He caught more waves and bigger waves than Greg." Jaime and his wife had traveled to Linda Mar complete with beach towels, blankets and beach chairs to watch us compete. I had no idea how the others had done. Greg was favored having won it several times before and because he's excellent surfer.

"Loren, I think I won," Jack stated when he walked up to greet Jaime and me. Jack was feeling good about his performance. "And I hit Greg out there." Coming down another wall as Greg was paddling out, Jack was heading right at him, Greg had to bail out and Jack ran into his board. Both boards ended up with dings - in their new boards, Greg's favorite 9' 6" Harbour and Jack's new Bluecoil board.

All five of us felt good for having competed and vowed to do it again next year. The results were announced that night at the contest dinner, which I didn't go to but Jack did. The next day I received an email from Jack announcing the results: Jack 1st, Greg 2nd, me 3rd, John 4th and Gary 5th.

Thanks to Jaime for taking pictures with my camera during our heat. Below is a link to my photos. A professional photographer, Debbie Durham Cissna took pictures of all the heats. Check out her photos via the second link below. The photos of our heat are 108 to 115.

When you look at all the photos, there's no doubt that Jack won. He caught and skillfully cruised down four sizeable walls of water. I'm determined to try again next year and I'm going to follow Jack's lead. This year, Jack spent Friday at the Beach House hotel that is located across the street of the north end of Linda Mar. At 7:45 am in the morning he was in the water catching a few waves to tune up for the contest. That's what I'm going to do. By riding some waves before my heat I will get a feel for conditions and more importantly run off some nervous energy and be more relaxed for my heat.

Just wait until next year.

Lorenzo's photos

Debbie's photos

August 3, 2011 Wednesday

Pacifica	Linda Mar - out front
8:00 am to 9:00 am	Consistent 4', sets overhead
Low tide (8:40 am)	Stiff west cross wind
Patchy sun with a fog bank on the horizon	Frustrating session

Humbled! I only caught three waves in one hour. This was suppose to be my final tune-up for the Kahuna Kupuna Surf Contest this coming Saturday. The contest rules called for at lease three rides in fifteen minutes. By this morning's performance I would be skunked.

I had made arrangements to meet son Kevin here for a before work session for him and contest practice for me. If I wasn't in this contest I would have never gone out - the surf was terrible. Kevin and I were discouraged watching wall after closed-out low-tide wall crash on the beach. Kevin suggested going to Montara; he had two good sessions there last week. No, I was here to practice for the contest. I don't get to choose the time of day, tide or peak; the contest officials decide that. The contest runs the entire day, thus I could be surfing at low tide with strong onshore winds and chop. I had to be prepared for anything. So we stayed here and headed out for a short one-hour session.

At 7:20 am I arrived at Linda Mar and only one surfer was out front and conditions looked bad. I grabbed my camera and headed towards the south end. Three surfers and a boogie-boarder were at a peak just past the Taco Bell. The surfers were beginners and didn't catch anything. The boogie-boarder knew what he was doing and connected on one steep curl after another. That's him in the above photo.

Kevin arrived and we suited up and headed out front. Then the frustration started. I walked out as far as I could then a big set came in. Linda Mar has the unique feature of multi-wave sets - like ten or more in a row. I stood there holding the nose of my board and pushing through wave after wave. A lull finally came and I quickly paddled out to join Kevin.

I watched Kevin sail down a head-high wall for a brief second before the wave detonated around him. I tried for several waves and missed them all. They were deceptive and difficult to catch. They would crest and start to feather at the top but would just keep coming and building. I knew I had to take off late, right when the wave was breaking. Easier said than done. I would stare at these walls that stretched across the entire impact zone. It's tough to build up the courage to stroke into an obvious wall that offers no direction - the only direction was straight off. I finally caught one - a head-high left. I dropped down the face, cut left, rode for a brief second and straightened out as the wave collapsed around me.

Kevin and I drifted inside to catch the smaller waves, risking being caught inside when the big sets came. On my second wave I was inside and an outside set came through. The first wave was big but the second wave was bigger, and I knew I could never make it over the second one. I turned around quickly and dug hard to catch the first one. I felt the wave lift me up, I turned right, skimmed across the top of the wave for several feet until it started to break in front of me, I turned to straighten out and hung on through a vertical-elevator drop down an over-head wave. I made it, and I survived.

I scratched into one more wave, which was similar to my first one. By now it was time for Kevin to head off to work and I went in with him. As Kevin changed into his Silicon Valley business casual attire, Hank pulled into the parking lot. He jumped out, said hello and then waved to David who rides the Becker board as he headed with board in hand for the water. Hank said that Bolinas was awful due to strong south winds, chop and fog. He couldn't believe how sunny it was at Linda Mar. After changing I walked down the beach to watch Hank and David. They too were into frustrating sessions - having difficulty catching the waves and dropping straight down big walls when they did catch one. Now I didn't feel so bad. All of us Bolinas guys struggle with those huge Linda Mar walls.

I set down the details of this session while having breakfast at Denny's across the street from the beach. Denny's ultimate skillet breakfast of two eggs and roasted vegetables was healthy and filling. What a good way to end a frustrating session.

August 1, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:15 am to 10:45 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Low upcoming tide	Offshore breeze to no wind
Overcast to patchy sun	Exercise session

"Rob, what are you doing playing such a dangerous sport as tennis when you should be saving it for surfing?" Rob was standing at the Groin wall nursing a pulled groin muscle that he injured last Friday and thus was not going out today.

"I should have stopped and let the other guy have the point instead of lunging for it and pulling my leg muscle." Thus he was staying out of water for a few days to let his leg heal. Rob kept saying that the waves would get better as the tide came in. He pointed to the out-going current, noted how fast it was and stated that surf was better yesterday in the afternoon.

"Do you live here in Bolinas?" I asked.

"No I live in Dogtown." Rob had recently moved there and was renting a small cabin. The population of Dogtown is 37, so I suggested that he keep an eye out for two of the town's famous residents: Doris Ober who wrote the Dogtown Chronicles and her husband Richard Kirschman who initiated the Coastal Coin program.

We watched David who rides the Becker board and Marty catch a couple of decent rides. They were half way between the Groin and the Channel. The waves were small, peeling to the left, breaking in very shallow water. The waves at the Channel were breaking too fast to ride. Ray was on the Seadrift side going for the rights. He caught one waist high wall and could only go straight off. I got pictures of them; that's David in the above photo on a short but sweet ride.

I had no expectation of waves this morning. When I arrived Kathy the biology teacher had just come back from purchasing a coffee in town. She was waiting for conditions to improve. Hank and son Clint pulled up. They didn't bother checking the surf; they suited up and headed for the Patch. Mary, Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Dexter the Bolinas local and stand-up guys Russ and Frank were way outside at the Patch, several yards beyond the exposed outside rock. The surface was perfectly smooth and all of the rocks of Patch reef were exposed. And there they sat and sat between sets to finally scratch for a few flat slow waves.

I decided to go out at the Groin to join David, Marty and Ray who had moved back to the Groin. The surface was plate-glass smooth. We hadn't seen glassy conditions here in months. Meanwhile the waves were breaking too fast to make them and they were also difficult to catch. My best wave I took on my knees. There was a moment on the take off where I could jump to my knees. The lip of the curl was eye level and I ducked under the lip to shoot through the first section, but I didn't make the second one.

The waves improved as the tide came up, but not by much. Towards the end, I caught two decent small curls. When walking back to the ramp after my session I looked back and the waves were beginning to peel perfectly in both directions. I had gone out a couple of hours too soon.

Back at the cars Marty gave me a copy of Sublime, a British magazine with an article by Marty's formal student, Will Kennedy. A couple of months ago Will conducted telephone interviews from London with both us about surfing. The magazine featured California with a series of short pieces showing the vitality of California, despite all its economic problems. The article with Marty and I was about seniors who are still surfing. It contained a full-page close up picture of Marty and quotes from both of us. After today's so-so waves, what a nice ego boost to see one's words in print.

July 29, 2011 Friday

Pacifica	Linda Mar - out front
8:30 am to 10:00 am	3' to 4', sets overhead
Low upcoming tide	Offshore breeze to west cross breeze
High fog to bright sunshine	Good session

"You really had a good session. I saw you. You caught one great wave after another. I got photos of your last ride. Here, take a look." I turned on my camera and stepped through the last four shots that I had taken. I was talking to Hinde (hee-day) a Japanese surfer who I shared waves with this morning at Linda Mar. "You are good. You managed to hang five on at least twenty waves."

"I started learning to walk the nose a couple of years ago and now I'm practicing it for the contest."

"Contest? Are you signed up for next week's Kahuna Kupuna contest?"

"Yes, I'm in one of the youngest groups, the fifty year old group." This contest was for forty and older surfers.

"I'm in the contest too, but in an older group. I'm sixty-six years old."

"OOOOOOh," Hinde said putting his hands together and bowing out of respect for his elder. I knew I like this guy. That's Hinde on his last ride in the above photo.

A new NW swell had come in this morning and the waves were bigger and more powerful than Wednesday (July 27) when I was here last. Again south winds and my determination to practice for next week's contest compelled me to return to Linda Mar. A pronounced channel had formed just north of the main bathrooms causing all the waves at the peak out front to break to the left. Most of the waves were slow and mushy due to the depth of the channel. While paddling out through the channel after a slow flat wave, I looked down the line to see Hinde streaking down a fast breaking left with his left foot firmly planted on the nose of his board. "That's what I want," I said to myself. "How does he do it?" From then I paid attention to what he was doing and mimicked him. Hinde sat inside of the main crowd and waited for the sets, the ones that looked walled or looked like they would break to the right. Hinde knew that the deep channel caused all the waves to break to the left. Thus by taking off on the walls or the ones that were peaking north of us, he would drop into steep, left peeling curls. I did the same and managed to connect on several good waves. All this happened in the last forty-five minutes of my session. The quality of these rides turned a so-so session into a good one.

Sam, a Bolinas regular, was out there this morning riding that classic longboard that he made. He had a good session also. Sam likes to sit outside and go for the big ones. Every twenty minutes or so, a set of big overhead walls would come through. Sam would be on them, making classic elevator type drops and then hanging on, as a ton of white water would engulf him. Sam told me that Bolinas had not been good for several days. He lives in Oakland and thus has to make that critical decision as the leaves the house of which break to go to. After a long drive there's no correcting a bad decision. He told me he studies the Internet the night before and decides where to go before he goes to bed. That way, he just jumps up in the morning and heads out without any hesitation or second guessing his decision. We both agreed that he made the correct decision this morning.

After an hour and a half, my arms were feeling it, the wind had picked up, the crowd had swelled and surf camps were in session, time to call it a day. Sam and Hinde were still out there. I hurried changing, grabbed my camera and managed to snap some good shots of both of them. Again as I turned onto the Great Highway near Sloat Ave on my way home, overcast, wind and chop greeted me. I gloated with the satisfaction of having made the right decision that resulted in a good surf session at sunny Linda Mar.

July 27, 2011 Wednesday

Pacifica	Linda Mar - South end
8:15 am to 10:15 am	3' to 4', sets head high
Mid upcoming tide	Offshore breeze to onshore breeze
On the deck fog to bright sunshine	Fun session

This morning I decided to head to Pacifica. Why Pacifica? South wind. The conditions favoring Linda Mar were: a four-foot NW swell, Linda Mar is a north facing beach and the north swells head directly into the narrow cove; an upcoming tide (4 ft at 11 am), Linda Mar breaks best at high tide; and a three-knot south wind that would blow offshore there. Also on my mind was the upcoming Kahuna Kupuna surf contest. Jack the Dave Sweet team rider, who enters this contest every year, reminded me the other day to send my money in. We entered the contest last year, had a great time and placed second and third in the “Legends” division (65 to 69 year olds). The contest was in two weeks and I needed to get in a couple of sessions in to get familiar with the feel of the waves.

What a good decision. Ocean Beach was a mess, strong onshore wind, chop, white caps, crumbly waves and no one out. A dense on-the-deck fog greeted me at Linda Mar, but the wind was offshore and the waves were clean. Standing on the shore with camera in hand I could barely see the surfers in the water and could not make out the conditions of the peaks. I asked a young shortboarder who had just exited the water about his session. He stated he was at a good right peak half way between the Taco Bell and the south bathrooms. I walked down there and saw a gaggle of six surfers bunched together, but I still could not see the quality of the waves.

I decided to head for the left peak that is always at the very south end of the beach. I paddled out and only one other surfer was out there. Ten surfers were at the peak to the north. After missing a couple, I caught a small, slow left wave. After coming down the face, my board hit the brakes and I tumbled off. Kelp, I had hit a patch of kelp. Sea grass was hanging on my arms and shoulders when I surfaced. The whole south end was thick with kelp and sea grass. On my next two attempts, the kelp wrapped around my feet and arms preventing me from paddling when I turned to go for the waves. A few minutes earlier the other surfer had moved to the peak north of us. No wonder no one else was here. After struggling with the thick kelp, I too moved north to join the crowd at the next peak.

After a frustrating hour I finally figured out the waves. By then the fog had lifted and hung on the horizon, the sun broke out, the sky was a deep blue and the crowd had grown. I sat inside, waited for the sets and took off when the waves were breaking. The smaller waves were flat, slow and difficult to catch. The late take-offs on the four to five-foot waves were steep, fast and challenging. If my timing was good, I dropped into a fast curl that held up. Often I was too late and merely plowed down into a ton of white water. The water and sunshine were warm, the crowd was mellow and my arms felt strong. I after each ride I quickly paddled back out for another one.

A young shortboarder paddled from the north to our peak. I could tell by how cleanly he moved through the water that he knew what he was doing. He was riding an old beat to crap thick green board with a pointed nose and fish tale. A big wall came through and with two strokes he was on it while I paddled over the wave. I looked back to see him drop down the face, disappear, shoot back up to the top, cut back and trim down the face. I was right; he was good.

Back out in the line-up I heard him grumble about having to go to work. “Is work getting in the way?” I asked.

“Yes, and it’s just starting.”

“Where do you work?”

“There,” he said pointing to shore where a surf camp was just starting. Twenty little kids in camp tee shirts sat of the beach listening to a camp leader.

“Surf camp instructor. What a great job working with little kids. You must be a hero to all those little guys.”

“Yes, it’s a great job and I love it.” And with that he caught a wave and rode it all the way to shore. After my session, I saw him with his white “Instructor” shirt on surrounded by ten excited little surfers. He smiled and gave me a wave as I walked by.

Back at the car, the ambassador of Linda Mar, Greg Cochran, had parked next to me and was suiting up to go out. Greg won the Legends heat that Jack and I were in at last year’s Kahuna Kupuna contest. I assured him that I would be in this year’s contest. Greg showed off his new board, a Harbour, 9’ 8” epoxy foam, single fin, beveled nose beauty. He claimed that it was strong and light and insisted that I pick it up, which I did, a 9’ 8” board that only weighed 15 pounds. On such a paddling machine, Greg will be impossible to beat.

While driving out of the parking lot, I nearly ran over Don Holm, a Bolinas regular and Kahuna Kupuna contestant. Don had signed up for the contest and he assured me that our other friend John Fordice would be there also.

The above photo was taken on the deck of the Taco Bell that sits on the beach at Linda Mar. I’m not a fan of Taco Bell but their 7-Layer burrito was awfully good, but the main benefit of this establishment was its location. The view from the deck was fabulous: bright sunlight, fog on the horizon, blue sky, surf camp to the south and a hundred surfers spread across the peaks to the north.

As I turned onto the Great Highway on my trip home, the sky was overcast, the fog was drifting in, the chop and the whites caps were still there and no one was out. Linda Mar was definitely the correct decision this morning.