September 18, 2011 Sunday

Bolinas	Straight out from the ramp
8:00 am to 10:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 3.5'
Low tide	Slight NW cross breeze
Bright and sunny	Memorable

Memorial Paddleout for Novato Pete - Part 1.

The fog that had oppressed us for the last few days was finally gone, the sun was high in the sky and sky was blue. The weather had turned for Pete.

This morning we - the Bolinas regulars and friends of Pete - gathered for a paddleout in his memory. Pete had passed away on July 12th, his family had spread his ashes at the top of Mount Tamalpais (one of Pete's favorite biking destinations) last weekend and today his surfing companions were going to celebrate his life.

All of us had talked about holding a paddleout from the moment we heard about Pete's death, and now we were finally going to do it. All of us wanted to do it. Mary had quietly taken charge of bringing the celebration together through countless emails inviting every one to come and to spread the word. She also had conversations with Frank the stand-up guy and Mark the archaeologist for their assistance. I have participated in a few paddleouts before and had a notion of what to expect. I had received Mary's email with the basic directions: location - Brighton Beach Bolinas, the time - eight am, and the directive to be ready to enter the water at that time.

I arrived at 7:30 and several of the regulars were already suited up and others were getting ready. With board in hand I marched down the ramp to the beach. Mark, who has participated in paddleouts before, took charge - good for him. He directed everyone to lay their boards on the sand diagonally pointing to the water in two rows with ten to twelve-foot spacing between them. Everyone stood by their boards and when we had all gathered, Mark directed us to enter the water two at a time - one from each row. As a procession, we entered the water in pairs forming a long continuous line of surfers slowly paddling at out sea. Thirty surfers entered the water and two of Pete's biking buddies stood on shore watching the celebration. Fortunately, the ocean in front of the ramp was flat and calm and we easily proceeded out about fifty yards from shore. By Mark's direction we formed a large circle, holding hands and awkwardly bobbling up and down. Mary pulled out her waterproof camera and took a few pictures.

Frank the stand-up guy now took charge. He explained that we were here to celebrate Pete's life and that each of us if he or she felt like it could say a few words about Pete. Frank started off with his own words. Over an hour, everyone - all thirty of us - cited a memory or trait about Pete. The praises were too numerous to repeat here, but one thought came pouring through - Pete had more friends than he realized.

"And thank you Pete for lifting the fog," the last person completed his words. Everyone that had paddled out with flowers threw them into the middle of the circle, while the rest joyously splashed the water. "Look at the dolphins," as if on cue, two bottlenose dolphins surfaced twenty yards out from us and began happily diving and surfacing in a circle. "Let's go surfing and ride one for Pete." We all turned and began paddling to the Channel. I could only imagine what the six surfers at the Channel thought when they saw thirty surfers heading right for them at the one and only peak that morning. Our spirits were high and we had a grand time playing around in the small weak waves of that morning. And guess what? The dolphins followed us.

But something spiritual happened in that circle. As we held hands, looked at each other and expressed our feelings about our Pete, we came together. After the ceremony, I heard conversations about we're friends, companions, a community, a family and a tribe. The emails the next day talked of coming together, taking care of each other and being thankful for the companionship.

Pete, in your own wacky way, you have brought us together. Thank you. We all now realize we are a community, and you are still part of it.

Rest in peace, Peter Weiss.

September 14, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
10:00 am to 11:40 am	3' to 4', sets to 6'
Mid upcoming tide	NW cross breeze
Fog, overcast and misty	Good session

I was sitting at the peak midpoint between the Channel and the Groin as a sizeable set approached. Nine of us were bunched together in tabletop glassy conditions. I patiently let the others go for the first two waves and now I was in position for the third one -- a four-foot perfectly formed left. I stroked into it, cut left, drove underneath white water sliding down in front of me, climbed back up to the middle of the swell, set my inside rail under the lip of the wave and flew down the line in front of a fast breaking curl. I cut back, turned left into an inside section and hummed down another fast section. The wave finally died just inside the Groin wall. What a great ride.

I paddled out around the peak and over to the line-up. I had planned to rest a bit before going for another one, but in came a well-formed left wave, I looked around, and no one else was going for it - I couldn't believe it. I waited to the last moment and since nobody was going for it, I quickly turned around, dug hard three times and coasted into another great wave - one as good as the last one. That was how this morning's session went: catch a good wave, paddle back out, wait a few moments and stroke into another clean, fast one.

I knew there could be waves this morning. I had a good session Monday and was hopeful of a repeat performance. The NOAA weather radio reported 6 ft swells at 15 seconds with 3 ft of the 6 being SW swells at 16 seconds. The NW winds were strong at Bodega and Point Reyes, but they were offshore at Bolinas. Thus conditions looked good: 3 ft south swell, offshore winds and an upcoming tide.

I parked in the last available parking spot at the tennis courts, meaning the word must be out on the Internet that the surf was up. From the base of the ramp I saw six surfers at the Patch and ten at the Channel. I walked down to the Patch with my camera to take some shots of Jaime the starving artist cartoonist, Jack the Dave Sweet team rider and Dan. They were camped on Robinson's Reef going for the good inside rights. Within a few minutes each of them connected on two or three good inside curls. I walked up to the overlook above the Groin to checkout the waves at the Channel and the Groin. The sets at the Channel were clean, peeling continuously left and sizeable, maybe peeling a little too fast. With his unique knee riding style, Josh the Bolinas fisherman connected on two long, fast curl rides. Jacek the tattoo artist, Marty and Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays, also caught good rides in the few minutes that I was standing there. With the tide coming up, those waves would become more rideable, thus I would head for the Channel.

Jacek greeted me with a big grin when I paddled out. He was having a grand time. He claimed that he got barreled a few minutes earlier. He was locked in the tube and watched the lip folding over his head for twenty feet in front of him. Last Monday Jacek was riding a 9' 6" nose rider and hung five in both directions. Remember that Jacek owns sixty boards and chooses the one that best fits the conditions. Today he was on a short board. I told him it was too short. "No way!" he answered. On this little thing, his riding style changed to up and down turns. After a long ride and while standing in chest high water near the Groin pole, I got a good view of his last ride. Jacek came flying down a head-high wall that was quickly peeling across the impact zone. He looked like he was riding a skateboard going up and down the walls of an empty swimming pool. The wave finally closed-out in front of him, he straightened out and rode the white water all the way to the shore.

Chuck the Bolinas local who rides a kneeboard was out there. He is an excellent wave rider who likes to move around and take off at the very last second. So I had to keep an eye on him to stay out of his way, which resulted in frustration on my part. Sets would come through and Chuck would paddle towards the peak like he was going for the waves, only to paddle over them at the last moment. I would hold off thinking he was going for them. Finally I just ignored him and went for anything that looked good. I did get a great side view of Chuck on an excellent wave. He shot through the initial curl, climbed back to the top of the wave, dropped quickly to the bottom, turned sharply left with his hand holding the outside rail, he leaned into the wave while white water pounded his shoulder, shot back into the curl, climbed to the top again, dropped to the bottom, back to the top, dropped down again and on and on he went.

On such a good day, why was I entering the water at 10 am? Today was the first day this season that we were collecting water samples for Surfrider Foundation's water testing program. That and taking photos and chit chatting with the crowd in the parking area was my excuse. Nevertheless I had a good session, I totally exhausted my arms and body and felt that glow of satisfaction for the rest of the day.

September 12, 2011 Monday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	No wind to NW cross breeze
Fog to patchy sunshine	Good session

A young woman who I didn't know had just suited up and was about to head for the ramp as I pulled up.

"How does it look out there?"

"Ankle baiters! But it's beautiful - glassy smooth and clean little waves."

She was right - there was no wind and the surface was tabletop smooth. Three surfers were at the peak between the Channel and the Groin, and Ray the Petaluma fireman was on the Seadrift side of the Channel going for the rights. Jaime the starving artist cartoonist and stand-up guys Frank and Russ were at the Patch. I had my camera at the ready but the surfers at the Channel didn't catch anything. After several minutes one guy finally connected on a well-formed left and cruised all the way to the Groin wall. The waves were better than they looked. I had no expectations this morning. The buoy report read 2 ft NW swell at 10 seconds combined with a 2 ft south swell at 14 seconds. Per Stormsurf the south swell was building and would peak tomorrow afternoon and last into Wednesday.

"Ray, I heard on the radio that there's a big fire down south. Did they send any of your company there?" Ray had just returned to his car while I was suiting up.

"No. That's in Kern County and they have lots of equipment there. The fire started by lightning."

"There's been lightning around the Bay Area which has started several fires. Did you get called?"

"No. Yesterday I climbed the Transamerica Tower in the City."

"What was the occasion?"

"As a memorial to the firemen lost in New York on 9/11, we scaled the Transamerica building." Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attack and there were memorials all across the county.

"How tall is it?"

"Forty-five stories. We did it twice to accomplish ninety stories like the guys did on 9/11 and I'm beat."

"Did you do it with sixty pounds of gear on your back?"

"No, they wouldn't let us enter the building with our packs on. But we had everything else on. We climbed forty-five stories, took an elevator back down and went up again. It was hard."

"I would get sick doing that. Did anyone get sick?"

"Yes, one guy threw-up and it sank up the stairwell for several floors."

Ray paused and then continued, "I was surprised at the number of white hats going up the stairs - that's the fire chiefs. I carried the badge number of one of firemen who perished on 9/11. I didn't know him, but I was familiar with his station. When I finished I rang the bell for him. Everyone carried a badge number and the bell rang 364 times."

I could tell that Ray was proud to have participated in this ceremony.

While paddling out I thought the waves were looking good. My first wave was ok - a smooth, long, but slow left. As the tide came up the waves improved and I clicked on a good one. I took off late on a four-foot wall, turned left and slid under white water of the breaking wave. Once back in the swell, the wave lined up perfectly. I climbed high in the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down and cruised. I froze my position and watched the spray come off the top of the curl while the wave peeled on and on in front of me. Finally it died ten feet inside the Groin pole. That was the first of five similar waves.

Jacek sat of the outside waiting for the set waves and connected on one good one after another. He had his nose rider board and managed to plant his foot on the tip of the nose of his board at least five times coming down perfect left curls. For an hour four of us had the Channel peak to ourselves. After two hours the wind picked up and my arms were spent - time to go in. But what a pleasant surprise, I had no expectations and paddled out to ideal conditions: glassy smooth surface, warm sunshine breaking through the fog, a small mellow crowd and consistent three to four-four left peeling waves.

September 7, 2011 Wednesday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
8:00 am to 10:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
High tide	No wind
On the deck fog to patchy sunshine	Fun session

Hank summed up this morning's session this way, "the morning was so beautiful the waves were secondary." The on-the-deck fog lifted putting a mist on the water while the sun broke through in spots creating an array of blues and grays on the glassy smooth surface as the same perfect peeling left waves that we had yesterday continued onto today.

I had such a good session yesterday and was hoping to do it again this morning. I left the house early and arrived at Bolinas at 7:15. The fog was thick, Mary was suited up and heading for the Patch, but due to the fog she didn't know if there were any waves. Jaime the starving artist cartoonist was already out there.

"How was the Patch yesterday?"

"It was great. There were waves and only Matt and I were out there. I don't understand why no one else was out. It was great without crowd considerations. I could move to any peak and take off without worrying about anyone else."

After this morning's session she gave the same report. "Yesterday it was just Matt and I. Today it was just Jaime and I and there were plenty of waves."

As Marty and I walked down the beach to the Groin, I saw Rob cruise down a nice four-foot wall. I knew I was into another good session. On my first wave I hung high in the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, stuck out my right foot for a cheater five nose ride and just cruised across a nice clean section.

Marty caught several good ones. After one of my rides, I was standing in waist deep water near the Groin pole and watched Marty connect on his best ride of the morning. He hung at the top of a four-foot curl, dropped down to the bottom, swooped back up to the top and hung there just below the lip of the wave before dropping down the face and trimming a long way to the Groin wall.

Professor Steve was out there having another one of his brief half-hour sessions before heading off to teach class at Mills College in Oakland. Steve went in and Hank came out. Slowly the crowd swelled to nine and because there was only one peak we were bunched together. But the crowd was mellow and everyone caught their share of waves. Bolinas regulars were there - Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic, Rob from Dogtown, Hank, Marty, Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays, Jacek the tattoo artist and Shu-Shu the mother of two from Dogtown. Shu-Shu had connected on several good ones yesterday and had to come out this morning for more of the same.

As usual Jacek scored on several good waves. Today he was riding a 9' 2" thick in the nose board built seven years ago for his wife. She hasn't surfed in a couple of years, thus Jacek has claimed her board. He sat way outside and further south than the rest of us at the apex of the Channel peak. And as usual he had the ability to paddle into set waves while they were still flat. I watched him closely on one of his longest rides. A sizeable set wave approached, Jacek dug hard five to six times and glided into the wave while it was still flat. He jumped up, turned left and with his back to the wave crouched down and grabbed the outside rail as the wave feathered over his head. He streaked down the line just ahead of the breaking wave, stood back up, stalled for a brief second and cruised through another section. A few moments later I noticed that he had caught another wave way on the inside and was heading right along the contour of the north bank of the Channel and ended up close to the boat ramp at the end of Wharf Road.

My last ride was a good one. After two hours my arms felt like they were going to drop off my body - time to head in. I moved in to catch the good inside curls close to shore. A set wave came through and I stroked into it. I remained prone to insure I was into the wave and then jumped up to my knees and shot under the initial break. Next I jumped up to my feet, leaned into the curl, climbed high in the wave, crouched down and cruised. The wave kept building in front of me. I dropped into the inside curl and was heading right for the Groin pole. But I could see that I had room to cross in front of the wall. I leaned into the curl again and shot pass the front of the Groin pole and dove into the white water as the wave broke on the sand. When I surfaced my board was sitting on the top of the wall. Since I ended up three feet from dry sand - and the wall, I decided to call it a day.

Hank, who had just exited the water, was standing on the beach and saw my ride. "I thought we were going to lose you."

"Hey, no sweat. I knew I could make it."

"What a good way to end your session."

September 6, 2011 Tuesday

Bolinas	Channel & Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', occasional 5'
High dropping tide	Slight cross breeze to no wind
Fog to patchy sunshine	Good session

I thought that remnants of last week's good south swell would still be hitting Bolinas, and I was right. Hank gave serious considerations of going to Linda Mar in Pacifica but decided as he was leaving his house in Mill Valley to head for Bolinas instead, and was he glad he did. Out in the water Hank and I gloated about how ideal it was: no wind, glassy smooth, warm water, small mellow crowd (only six surfers) and beautiful three to four-foot left peeling waves.

"Dexter, I bet you were in Santa Cruz during last week's big south swell," I commented to Dexter as we walked down to the Groin for me to take some pictures. He often goes to Santa Cruz and has just started taking some classes on construction there.

"I went to the Hook last Wednesday and Thursday. There were five hundred professional photographers on the cliff and the break was filled with professional shortboarders. I only caught three good waves. The rest of the time I went for the scraps because the pros were on every decent wave - they dominated the break. On Friday I got more waves and had more fun at the Patch."

We watched David who rides the Becker board, Marty and Professor Steve catch one decent well-formed left after another. The photo conditions were ideal: with the high tide they rode the waves right up to the beach, and I had Jacek's big 400 mm lens on my camera. That's Professor Steve on a good one in the above picture. Don't worry, he didn't hit Marty on this wave, but he did come close.

When Dexter and I headed back to the cars to suit up, Shu-Shu was coming down the ramp with her board in her hand. She stared at the Patch, looked at the Groin and then looked at us with that "what's the call" expression on her face. Without saying anything, I pointed to the Groin and off she went.

On my first wave I took off late, jumped to my knees, shot through the first section, then jumped to my feet, the wave built up again, I leaned into the curl, stepped to the middle of the board, crouched down, shot through a second section, cut back and turned left again into a third section. What a great way to start a session.

Hank had his new big paddling machine out there. He would sit outside, wait patiently for the sets, and would connect on one big one of every set and cruise all the way to the Groin wall. After our session I asked him how he would describe the waves - "fun, just plain fun." I would describe them as smooth. There was that "swoosh" sound as you dropped down the face and a "swoosh" sound when you cut back.

David had another one of his good sessions. He was in the water when I arrived and connected on five good curl rides while I was taking photos on the beach. He continued catching one good wave after another. Two hours later when I exited the water, he was still there. He told me he entered the water at 7 am - just another four-hour session. How does he do it?

Shu-Shu also had a good session. To avoid the crowd she sat way inside and caught the small fast curls that peeled right up to the Groin wall. After an hour the waves started to die. The current coming out of the lagoon quietly pushed us outside without us realizing it and knocked down the waves. While Hank, David and I paddled around wondering where the sets went, Shu-Shu was connecting on one good inside curl after another. Every time I looked towards the shore, there she was streaking across another waist-high curl.

I followed her lead and moved inside. I dropped into a string of four small fast peeling lefts. Soon David and Hank moved inside also. After two hours my arms were spent - I had to go in. My last wave was a good one. I dropped down a head-high wall, climbed high in the curl and shot through a steep section, cut back, turned into an inside section that kept building right up to the sand north of the Groin wall. What a way to end a good session - just five steps from dry sand.

September 2, 2011 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	3' to 5', sets overhead
Low upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze to no wind
Low fog to sunny and warm	Good session

After yesterday's good session I knew the word would be out on the Internet. The south swell was peaking today, the wind had dropped and everybody knew it. I emailed Marty to be there early due to the crowds, even though the low tide would turn at 8:30 and the waves would be better two hours later with the upcoming tide. The buoys reported an incredible 5 ft south swell (190 degrees) at 20 seconds. Let me summarize: biggest south swell in years on a Friday before a three-day holiday with lots of sunshine in the forecast - yes it would be crowded.

All the parking places around the tennis court at Bolinas were taken at 8 am. I drove around the block and ended parking halfway to the post office and I didn't recognize any of the cars. Twelve surfers were bunched at one peak between the Groin and the Channel. From the overlook, I could see lines of swell marching in. The surfers struggled to get into the waves - they were hard to catch. When they did stroke into these walls, they would drop down overhead faces and would immediately be buried in a ton of white water. In the ten minutes I stood there, I didn't see any one get a decent ride.

Thirty surfers - that's right 30, I counted them - were spread across the Patch. The swell was definitely in and had cleaned up from yesterday. From Terrace Road, I could barely see the furthest group of surfers - specks on the horizon. I estimated they were at least 500 yards out to sea. A big set came through and these lines of water filled the horizon. I watched two brave souls streak down an overhead peak. The waves were big, fat, clean and rideable - no bump like yesterday. Mary and Jaime the starving artist cartoonist were at the middle peak half way out there. I watched both of them connect on overhead waves. The waves were "soft" meaning flat on the take-offs and forgiving, and would reform on the inside for a second nice curl. My strategy was set - I would head for the middle peak to join Jaime and Mary.

While suiting up, Doug drove by, stopped and rolled down his window to say hello. "Doug, this weekend is do or die for the Giants. They have to sweep the Diamondbacks." Doug is a big Giants fan.

"You got that right." He shook his head in frustration, the Giants were sinking like a stone and the D-Backs were coming on strong.

"Doug, where did you go out?"

"I went out at the Channel, caught two great lefts and that was it. I was the first guy out there - I had it all to myself. After my second good wave, I looked at the beach and I swear ten shortboarders were paddling out. I moved over to the Seadrift side to join Creighton. These huge waves were coming through and breaking in one foot of water. Well, I would like to stay longer but I have to go to work." Doug had retired from thirty years of teaching a couple of years ago, but continues doing small construction jobs and off he drove.

The middle peak was a long ways out there. I had to entered the water at the first seawall instead of at the Patch reef due to the big shore break. I paddled out to join David who rides the Becker board, Mark the archaeologist, Martha, Rob from Dogtown and numerous others who I didn't recognize. Yesterday's strategy of catching the white water and working the waves while they reformed didn't work today - I couldn't push into the reformed waves. I watched Martha stroke into the initial break of a wave at the middle peak. She turned into a nice right curl, cutback, let the wave build up and swung right again into a fast curl.

"That's how it is done." I moved over to join her and immediately caught a good left with a decent curl. On my next wave Martha and I collided. I was sitting at the middle peak watching an approaching swell build. It jumped up and was about to break. I quickly turned around, stroked into it, turned left and here was Martha coming right. We hit - the nose of my board went over the top of hers. The boards became entangled and I dove over the top of them. Fortunately, no harm no foul. I had decided to go for a wave at the very last instance without looking around and didn't see Martha going for the same wave. For the rest of the session I paid close attention to what was going on around me.

A few minutes later Mark and I score on a good wave together. We took off on the same peak; I went left and Mark went right. I sped down a head-high curl toward the breaking part of the wave, and swung around right into a reforming steep right curl. Mark was ten yards in front of me, the wave broke in front of me and Mark continued in the curl. I swung around left into a nice reforming left curl and worked that curl until it broke on shore. Mark did the same on the right side. I ended up in waist high water fifteen feet from shore and looked for Mark - he was twenty yards south in knee high water carrying his board to begin the long paddle out to the line-up, how about that - two long rides on one well-formed wave.

Like yesterday, the stand-up surfers were having a field day. From a distance I watched one guy stroke out on his knees. I knew I had seen him before. He was the one with the Hawaiian style and who was good. As I got closer I knew it was him. Pure Hawaiian, he was on his knees, butt resting on his heels, hand firmly positioned just above the head of the paddle, three strokes on one side, then switch hands and three strokes on the other side. The guy caught everything he went for, cruised down the faces, cutback, turned back into the wave, cut up and down the face and crouched down mid-board to shoot through the curls. He was the furthest one out there and caught at lease one if not two waves of every set. I sat there and admired his big drops, sweeping turns and locked in the curl rides. Twice he hung five - true hanging five with toes (he didn't wear booties) wrapped over the nose of his board - which was not easy to do on a thick stand-up board.

After surfing two hours yesterday and one and a half hours today, my arms were spent. Both sessions required a lot of paddling - long paddle out to the middle peak, long paddles back out to the line-up and continuous moving around to position for the peaks. While I rested between sets I looked around. "This is ideal," I thought - warm sunny day, no wind, warm water, and a five foot twenty second south swell rolling in. It doesn't get any better than this.

September 1, 2011 Thursday

Bolinas	Patch
9:40 am to 11:40 am	3' to 5', sets overhead
Low upcoming tide	Onshore breeze to no wind
High overcast to patchy sun	Good session

Boy was I looking forward to today - a big south swell arrived yesterday and would last through the weekend. All the Internet sites had predicted this swell a week in advance. Stormsurf labeled it Strong #S7 - meaning the seventh major south swell of the season. The swell began south of New Zealand near the Ross Ice Shelf, and sustained winds of 50 to 65 mph (hurricane speed) had generated 50 ft swells aimed at Peru and Chile with remnants of energy on the great circle that runs through California. Surline warned that the waves wouldn't be that huge, but the force behind them would be significant, thus novice surfers should take caution. The NOAA weather radio put out a special weather advisory that a long period swells would cause big waves, especially at south facing beaches. The National Park Service send out a broadcast email to the citizens of Stinson Beach warning of dangerous surf and rip currents for the Labor Day holiday weekend. This morning Kahuna Mike of the Riviera Waveriders sent out an email with photos of ten-foot crushing walls at Torrance Beach in Southern California. Torrance is a normal beach break that seldom has waves over six feet. The swell hit there yesterday.

This morning's buoy report had 7 ft 7 second NW swell and - get this - 3 ft south swell at 20 seconds. I was excited. This was it. The big swell had finally arrived and I was ready - and so was everybody else. All the parking spots were gone at 8:30 am. Someone had just pulled out and I quickly grabbed his place. Long faces of disappointment greeted me as I jumped out of the car. All night south winds had torn up the waves. Doug and Creighton had just exited the water and groused about the bump, the chop and the rough texture of the surface. Hank was suiting up but wasn't optimistic. Mary and Paul headed for the water hoping for the best. Marty had planned to be in the water at seven and out in an hour to make it to his eye doctor appointment. The disappointing conditions prevented him from even going out.

"David, you're late," I gestured to my watch to as David who rides the Becker board was heading to the beach. He usually was in the water by 7:30 am. Like others this morning, he was waiting for the tide to turn before going out.

From the overlook above the Groin, I watched two surfers scratch for four to six-foot bombs that exploded in one foot of water. At Terrace Road I saw twenty surfers spread across several peaks at the Patch. The swell was there but the waves were not clean. With a strong swell I expected to see long lines that stretched across the entire Patch reef - no way. Instead there were numerous peaks of crumbling waves randomly spread across the entire Patch impact zone. A couple of surfers and three stand-up guys were a mile out there at the furthest peak - mere specks on the horizon. Small groups of surfers were located at various peaks - one group was half way out there going for set waves that had reformed. Mary caught one of these waves and then she paddled out way outside and a few minutes later was back at the halfway peak. Another group was near shore going for a sizeable and challenging shore break. In the above photo that's Dan letting a wave build up before turning into a fast curl.

"What a disappointment. I was hoping for better waves," I commented to Brandon from Fairfax who was also checking the waves.

"I have learned to never have any expectations. That way I'm never disappointed." That was certainly a difference take on today's waves.

Susan who always wears sunglasses in the water pulled up with her board in the car. She too was disappointed. She said yesterday it looked terrible, but she went out anyway and it was terrible. She was determined to try again today.

Mary had moved back to the halfway peak to join David. I decided I would join them because these two always know where the best take-off point is. The shore break consisted of strong sizeable walls that pounded on the sand. Wading out, I tossed my board over the top of some incoming white water. The power of the wave popped my board up and right into my face. It slapped me in the nose and it hurt. I rubbed my nose and there was blood on my hand. Great, I had a bloody nose and I had just entered the water. I shook it off - don't panic. I paddled out to join Jeff the Dillon Beach boat mechanic.

"What happened?" Jeff asked gesturing to my nose. It was still bleeding. Fortunately the blood was coming from the outside of my nose, a scrape and not internal. Within ten minutes it stopped, but I did have a swollen nose at the end of my session.

I paddled further out to join Mary. She mentioned that she tried for the far outside peak but couldn't do it. The waves were too constant for her paddle through them, plus the rides weren't that good. Our strategy was to catch the white water of the outside set waves and ride them into reforming waves near shore. This strategy worked. On my first wave the peak showed some left. I stroked into it as it was breaking, jumped up quickly, dropped down a steep fast left curl, stalled slightly to let the wave build up again and cruised across a steep inside curl. I knew I was over the rocks of the Patch reef and heading into shallow water. When I saw water boiling around the rocks I pulled out. What am I doing? I already had bloodied my nose and was risking landing spread eagle on the rocks, but what a good ride. With the tide coming up the water got deeper. I ended up catching four more steep left curls into the shallow water of the Patch reef. The rights were good also. I paddled into the soup of a big outside wave that was reforming. The force of the wave was strong, I was buried in white water, I jumped up to my knees, leaned on my hands to push my board over the edge of the reforming curl, jumped up to my feet, cruised down a head-high right shoulder, and on and on I went until I pulled out as the wave collapsed on the sand.

After an hour Matt paddled out. He was working and took a break to get in some waves. The good news was that he was working. He also took up the catch white water strategy, which he did with great success. Later he told me that on his last wave he caught white water of a huge wave, it reformed and he screamed across a head-high wall all the way into shore. From a distance I saw Susan on a good one. I could tell it was her - goofy foot, feet spread apart and arms held high. She was way to the north and outside of us as she dropped down a head-high peak, turned left and cruised on and on down a beautiful wall.

After two hours my arms were spent, but the waves were getting better - the wind had stopped, the surface glassed off, the waves got bigger and cleaner and the crowd had swelled, but I had to go in. Again I caught white water of a set wave that was big and had some force. The wave reformed and I kept cutting back to stay in it and ride it to shore. The wave stood up and I cruised across a four-foot curl that kept unfolding in front of me. I pulled out over the top as the wave broke on the sand. What a great way to end a good session.