February 3, 2012 Friday

Bolinas	Patch
10:00 am to 11:00 am	2', sets to 3'
Mid dropping tide	Cold, stiff east cross wind
Patchy sun - high wispy clouds	Exercise session

Walking down the ramp to the Groin with my camera in hand, I spotted Hank coming towards me. I had seen his car in the parking area with his board still strapped to the roof.

"Well?" I asked.

"I'm going to wait it out for another hour. There's not much happening at the Channel. Yesterday I had a great time at the Patch, so with the tide going out, I'm hoping that it will start firing. There's nothing there now, but I'm sure it will pick up."

We walked down to the Groin to check out the rides of the seven surfers at the Channel. Some of the regulars were out there - Mary, David who rides the Becker board, Ray the Petaluma fireman, Mark the archaeologist and stand-up guys Russ and Frank. Hank was right. While we stood there, no one got a decent ride. The tide had turned a couple of hours earlier and already the current was flowing out of the lagoon. The only decent waves were on the Seadrift side - the other side of the outgoing current.

Hank and I walked back to the Seawall to check out the Patch. Not much was happening. Every once in awhile a set would come through looking like it had some possibilities. One stand-up surfer was out there - an older gentleman about my age. We could tell he was a beginner, but he did catch a couple of "ankle snappers" - small, slow and close to the rocks. That's him on one of the bigger ones in the above photo.

"Well I'm going to do it," Hank announced after watching a couple more sets come through.

"I'll join you."

Our theory was that while we suited up and paddled out to the far peak at the Patch, the tide and conditions would have changed and we would be in the water when the good waves started coming through. But it never happened. We paddled around catching the same ankle high waves that we saw an hour earlier.

I managed to catch two decent rights. Both were two-footers where the wind held up the curls and the wave continuously peeled to the right. Hank on his big paddling machine caught several waves. I caught a good sideways view of him on a good one - a set wave to the south of the Patch reef. Hank saw it coming, paddled south and was in position when the wave jumped up. He dug hard and coasted into a picturesque three-foot wave. He dropped down a translucent green peak, cruised across a waist-high face, cutback and then the wave died. One drop was all there was - which was typical of this morning's waves.

The real story was the COLD. Winter had finally set in. Before we went out, Hank had mentioned how fortunate we were with this warm weather. Here it was February and the sun was out, winds offshore and only a slight texture on the water. But once we paddled out, we felt the wind and it was freezing and it was constant. Cold air continuously moved over our hands, arms and bodies. Moving air causes evaporation - something I remembered from my high school physics class. And evaporation sucks the heat out of the under lying object - like our bodies. After an hour my hands were turning numb; I was ready to go in. Hank, who was fifteen yards south of me, gestured one more wave. I agreed and caught a small wave in the next set, rode it on my knees so that I could keep leaning on the nose to stay in the wave. Hank connected with a wave in the next set and rode it all the way in.

Of course, we agreed that it was all worth it. Good exercise, beautiful scenery and good company. Hank summed up the morning. "The hot tube is sure going to feel good when I get home."

January 30, 2012 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:00 am to 10:30 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid dropping tide	No wind
Patchy sun to high overcast	Exercise session

"Did I hear that right?" I turned up the volume on my radio to clearly hear this morning's buoy observations. "Yes I heard it correctly - 4 ft at NINETEEN seconds. A small swell with a lot of energy in it, the waves could be good."

This swell translated into two to three foot waves with sets at four feet. Nobody was out at the Channel when I arrived due to the river of water flowing out of the lagoon that was knocking down the waves. Seven surfers were out at the Patch - Mary, Hans, DB the Safeway checker, Larry (brother of Russ) and stand-up guys Frank, Russ and Walt the photographer. The waves were good - small, clean, long lines that continuously broke to the right. In the ten minutes I was there, all of them caught waves and I got photos of all of them except Larry. Mary caught the most waves, as she often does, on her big paddling machine with the tangerine-colored nose. She skillfully locked into these right curls that kept going and going. DB connected on a couple of good inside curls - that's her on one of them in the above photo. Hans also dropped into a nice wave, crouched down mid-board and hummed through a glassy section. Russ stroked into two long rides and Frank turned into a small inside curl.

I got excited watching them. "Knee high curls, my kind of waves. Get out there Loren and catch some with your friends."

But it didn't happen. They all came in before I got into the water. First was Walt, followed by Larry, who claimed that he had to go to work. Then DB came in, quickly changed and sped off to her Safeway job. Next Russ and Frank exited the water, which was their usual time for getting out of the water.

When I walked down the ramp to the beach, only Mary was still in the water. She was standing in waist depth water next to her board. It looked like she was coming in, but she remained standing there. I thought that she was taking some pictures. When I got closer, I saw that she was pointing a small waterproof camera at the waves and the horizon.

"The light is perfect. I had to get a picture of it." Mary, who is an excellent artist, paints large canvases of the ocean's surface, thus she is constantly observing the impact of the sun's light on the water. Just as I had guessed, her session was over and she was going in.

Now I was by myself. For an hour I flounder around alone. All the good waves had disappeared. The rapid out-going tide made for shallow water and exposed rocks. I lined up about fifteen yards south of the outside rock. On my first wave, I jumped up, cut right and immediately had to weave my way around several small boulders that were peeking above the surface. I gingerly backed out of the wave and slowly put my feet on the rocky ocean floor. That was how it went this morning. It was really too shallow to surf, but I kept trying. I moved south over the sand but couldn't catch anything because the waves broke over the rocks. I then moved further in and remained over the sand and waited for the set waves. This didn't work either; by the time I caught the wave it was a shore break suck-out wall that collapsed on the beach.

I was standing in knee-high water, ten feet from dry sand and thought about kissing it off for this morning when I saw a set of three waves come through that broke beyond the outside rock. "Let's give that a try." I made the long paddle out to the rock, then headed north to a peak about thirty yards further out. A four-foot wave came through and I connected. The initial section had some force and speed. I cut back to stay in the wave that kept slowly breaking to the right. I felt like I was riding a mid-ocean swell, one that keeps rolling on without changing size or speed. After a long ride, the wave turned into a shore break wall and I managed to pick up some speed in the curl up to the point where the breaking part of the wave was coming at me. I cut sharply left and rode it for couple more seconds going left before it closed out. I ended up over sand, in two feet of water and a few feet from shore.

"Don't press it Loren," I said to myself. "Time to call it a day."

I quickly changed, walked into town for a coffee. Now surfers are always positive and never admit they had a bad session. With a hot coffee in my hand and warming myself in front of the ancient gas heater in the Coast Café, so I too felt I didn't waste my time - I got some good exercise on a beautiful Marin morning.

January 25, 2012 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
11:00 am to 12:30 pm	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Mid upcoming tide	Slight onshore breeze
High fog to sunshine	Fun session

"Get thee to the Patch!" Mary called to me after stopping her car and rolling down the window. She said that the waves were good, she had a great session and there were only a couple of surfers out there. I had expectations for some waves. The Internet site Wetsands had predicted waist to overhead waves, maybe a couple of feet overhead with WNW 8 to 9 ft swells at 11 to 13 seconds with light winds.

I oscillated between the Channel and the Patch. The waves were bigger and thicker at the Channel with twelve surfers bunched around one peak. I watched a skilled stand-up of surfer connect on a couple of long rides. He could coast into waves while they were still flat and maneuver into position to drop down the faces ahead of the hard breaking curls. That's him in the above picture. The others had trouble catching the waves, and when they did, the waves quickly closed out in front of them. I followed Mary's advice and chose the mellow waves and the smaller crowd at the Patch.

Four surfers were sitting together at the Patch as I walked down the beach with my board. While I strapped on my leash I watched one surfer ride a wave from the far peak all the way into the shore and exit the water. While paddling out, I saw LiAnne the Bolinas local come down a four-foot face, turn right and milk the wave all the way in. She waved to me and paddled to shore. Now only two were at the peak when I reached the line-up. One was my Kahuna Kupuna surf contest buddy Don from Berkeley and I didn't know the other guy, who was obviously just learning and drifted away from us.

So for an hour and a half, Don and I had the break to ourselves. We traded wave after wave. Don took the rights and I took the lefts. The waves were mellow, long and clean. Don is from the "old school" - he was out there with no booties or leash just cruising over shallow water skillfully getting the most out of every wave. I managed to connect on several decent left curls that kept going on and on.

It doesn't get much better than this and Mary was right - "Get thee to the Patch."

January 23, 2012 Monday

This incredible photo was attached to an email I received this morning from Kahuna Mike of the Riviera Wave Riders, a group like us who surf at Torrance Beach in the South Bay of Los Angeles.

"Aloha,

Monday, January 23, 2012, 11:00 AM; in the middle of a rain storm

'Just when we are thinking we are going to have to wait until this storm blows through to get our surf stoke going; we end up receiving photos like these taken just minutes ago.

Our surf friend Monica lives here near Torrance Beach and had her camera handy when this rainbow; which only lasted minutes; came through.

Not only did Monica catch a fantastic rainbow, but look at that wave and surf rider she caught as well. We're sure the few surfers who are out there are super stoked. A big mahalo to Monica for taking these photos and sharing them with all of us.

Surfs Up! - Riviera Wave Riders"

Torrance Beach is where I learned to surf in the late 50's and early 60's and believe me it never looked like this. It's just a typical beach break, better at high tide and exposed to afternoon westerly winds (like OB or Dillon's up here). So I forwarded this to my friend Jay the Manhattan Beach architect with a comment that I have never seen Torrance this good. Jay also grew up learning to surf at Torrance Beach in the 60's. Here's Jay's response -

"Yeah, the surf's been pumping. Of all the South Bay beach breaks, the Avenues and Torrance have been the most under control.

I didn't see a rainbow today - it has been raining off and on. I did surf yesterday, though. It was well overhead and really clean. I walked from 30th Street down to Marine (in Manhattan Beach) where it looked a little more manageable. I was lucky and got out with only two bombs to duck dive. The waves were really well shaped, considering the size, and there were a moderate number of guys out. I was a little intimidated for about thirty minutes. It was pretty big. I finally caught an OK wave, big carving turn and over the top. I didn't want to get caught inside. A few minutes later, a real nice one came my way: dropped in, turned right, went up high, sped through a good section, cut back, then it let down and I was hopelessly stuck inside. So I went in. I felt good I even got out and caught a wave!

You're right, Torrance NEVER was any good except for summer time slop. But things have changed: Under the right conditions, Torrance and Rat Beach (the south end of Torrance Beach) can get good! I surfed Rat during that really big swell three weeks ago. It was REALLY big, and there was a bad wind. Torrance and Rat are now partially protected by a nice kelp bed (note - there weren't any kelp beds in the 60's) so Rat was still head high and pretty smooth. There's a little mini-left rock reef there now, which never was before, a kind of a "Lower-Lowers Haggerty's". You should have seen Haggerty's (located at the base of the Palos Verdes cliffs, a prime left break over some heavy rock shelves that only breaks on strong north swells) - there were 300 guys out, multiple drop-ins on every wave, etc. Total chaos. More guys surf outside Hag's now, especially when it's huge. - Jay"

So the storm that caused Candlestick Park to turn to slop for yesterday's 49er's - Giants playoff game where the Niners lost in overtime had moved down the coast to Manhattan and Torrance beaches. Today, our breaks were still torn up from the winds. But over the four hundred mile journey, the swell cleaned up forming perfect peaks for the breaks around Los Angeles.

Many thanks to Monica, Kahuna Mike and the Riviera Wave Riders for sharing this "End of the Rainbow" gem.

January 17, 2012 Tuesday

Bolinas	Channel
8:30 am to 9:30 am	1' to 2', sets to 3'
Mid outgoing tide	No wind
Sunny, wispy high clouds and freezing cold	Didn't bother going out

Check out the above photo closely. Notice the ice covering the car. Dexter the Bolinas local and DB the Safeway checker braved the cold to go out this morning.

"Loren, did you bring your camera?" Dexter greeted me when I arrived at Bolinas. "Get it and take a picture of me in my wetsuit next to the all the ice on my car."

DB came up the ramp after her session. We got her into the picture and chose the above car because it had the most ice on it.

"How was the water this morning?" I expected some explanation about how cold it was.

"It's a hell of a lot warmer than the air," exclaimed Dexter. "What's the water temperature?"

"52 degrees."

"That's a lot higher than 39!"

These two were the only ones to venture out this morning. DB wanted to try out her new fish shortboard; she caught eight waves and had a good time. Dexter was working on getting his arms in shape for his upcoming trip to Baja. When I drove up David who rides the Becker board's truck was parked in its usual spot with his board sticking out the back, and there were no other surf vehicles parked along Brighton Ave. Not a good sign; parking area was empty and David the surf fanatic who surfs in all kinds of conditions wasn't in the water. The NOAA weather radio had issued a Frost Alert for the entire Bay Area. A new front was moving in to break up the high-pressure ridge and was bringing cold air and much needed rain for Thursday and Friday. Today was my last opportunity for some waves for a week. But it was colder in Bolinas than Mill Valley. David checked out the waves, shook his head and headed home. I too kissed it off and went for a long walk around the Duxbury Point instead.

January 13, 2012 Friday

Bolinas	Channel
10:00 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Mid upcoming tide	Strong offshore wind
Sunny, clear and cold	Fun session

Wind was the story today - strong SE winds blowing against the waves, putting chop and white caps on the surface. The trees at Four Corners, the top of the hill above Mill Valley, were whipping around. A high-pressure ridge was still stationed over the East Pacific blocking the storms from Alaska and causing cold temperatures and offshore winds for all of Northern California.

I had not checked the Internet this morning, so I had no idea what to expect. As I turned onto Brighton Ave at Bolinas I saw David who rides the Becker board's truck parked in its usual spot, but his board was sticking out the back. Not a good sign. The surf fanatic, who always arrives early and surfs in all kinds of conditions, was not in the water. I pulled up to the parking area by the tennis court and saw that Mark the archaeologist was standing by his truck with his board still strapped to the roof. Stand-up guys Russ and Frank were out of the water and were putting their boards into their vehicles. Marty's board was still in his car and Mary was sitting in her car tuning her ukulele. Dexter the Bolinas local was standing by his van eating a bowl of oatmeal and chatting with Martha. Only Hank was suiting up.

"Hank, what gives? You're suiting up and everybody else is standing around."

"I'm going to get wet. Besides I think it's going to get better. The wind has died down, the tide is coming up and I saw a couple of nice waves out there."

All of them had been standing around for an hour waiting for conditions to change. When the tide turned and the wind dropped a little opinions changed. As soon as one started heading out, everyone else did the same. David came back from checking the waves and stated he was going to join Hank. Martha started to suit up and so did Mary and Mark. Matt pulled up, said hello and immediately changed into his wetsuit. He had not surfed in a while and was determined to go out.

I got out my camera and walked with Marty to check out the waves. No one was in the water, neither at the Patch nor at the Channel. David and Hank stood at the base of the ramp suited up with their boards in hand trying to decide where to go. It was not an easy decision, both breaks were flat and then both sprang to life when sets of three to four-foot waves came through. They decided to head for the Channel. Mary, Martha and Matt went to the Patch. Seeing these sets, Marty headed back to his car to suit up. I walked to the Groin wall to get some pictures of David and Hank. That's David in a vertical drop in the above picture. After seeing them on a couple more decent waves, I too headed back to suit up. The Channel was definitely the call.

By the time I zipped up my wetsuit, the wind had picked up again. It blew me down the beach to the Groin. The waves were difficult to catch due to the force of the wind lifting your board out of the water and then blasting you with a rain of spray into your face. Near the end of my hour session I caught two great lefts. All the previous ones were frustrating. On my best wave, I took off late, paddled hard with my body close to the nose, pushed my weight forward and jumped to my knees to make sure I was in the wave and not to lose any time by standing up. I turned the board with my hands and looked down a straight line of water with spray blowing off the top. After shooting through the first section, I jumped up to my feet, leaned into the curl and stepped to the front half of the board to pick up speed. The wave stood up in front of me. I climbed to the top of the swell locked my rail under the lip and stepped closer to the nose. By now I was nearly free falling down the face. I was so parallel to the wave I felt for a brief instance the tail block lift out of the water, swing out toward shore and then swing back in. And on and on I went until the wave closed out near shore in two feet of water. This ride made my whole session.

The others caught good rides also. Marty caught several steep fast curls, as did David. I watched Mark drop down a four-foot wall crouching down with his back to the wave and turning the board with his hand that grasped the outside rail. Once I had passed over the wave I looked back - Mark was calmly standing in front of the breaking part of the wave with the curl up to the small of his back and arches of spray blowing off the top. He sailed on for several yards and then sharply straightened out. I complimented him on his ride when he returned to the line-up. He said he was moving along when suddenly there was Larry standing broadside directly in his path. Mark quickly cut back and dove off to avoid hitting Larry.

After an hour the cold was setting in when I connected with my second best and final wave. It was another good nose ride that took me near the shore. Marty had just completed a good wave and was heading in, and I decided to do the same. The wind was still blowing hard making it difficult to walk up the beach. But as always, it felt great to be in the water and to enjoy the elements of Marin's beautiful coastline.

January 11, 2012 Wednesday

Bolinas	Channel
9:50 am to 11:20 am	3' to 4', occasional 5'
Mid upcoming tide	No wind
Sunny and warm	Frustrating session

Mill Valley was cold and clear this morning and as I approached the ocean the temperature rose. It was at least five degrees warmer at Bolinas and the added warmth made a big difference. The last couple of nights I took Nyquil to fight a nagging cold. Kate recommended that I kiss off surfing and nursed my cold. I wavered - thinking I would just take the water samples (on Wednesdays Marty and I gather water samples for Surfrider's water quality program and take them to the Branson school where a team of students run the tests). Thus I would get the samples, chitchat with the crew at Bolinas and head home. But once I felt the warmer air and saw the glassy conditions, I knew I was going out.

In the parking lot, the early morning crowd was hanging out after their session. Dexter pointed to the green pointed-nose shortboard on the top of DB the Safeway checker's car.

"That's my fish!" DB had just downsized. She said it was her first time on a shortboard and that she had fun and was excited about trying something new. Frank the stand-up guy had also just downsized. He showed off his new Blair 8' 6" stand-up board.

"Do you find it easier to maneuver?" I asked - thinking a smaller board facilitates turns and cutbacks in the curl.

"I'm still getting used to it. I caught several waves and the board wobbled back and forth," Frank gestured with his hand that the board snaked through the water. "And then I would fall off."

Mary, Hank and one other surfer were out at the Patch. The waves looked slow, but after his session Hank said he caught several long rides from the outside peak all the way to the shore. Ten surfers were out at the Channel, including David who rides the Becker board, Jacek the tattoo artist, Marty, Martha and Josh the Bolinas fisherman. The waves were beautiful, clean glassy peaks that peeled in both directions. I stood at the Groin wall with my camera at the ready and quickly captured a dozen classic shots of surfers locked in the curl. Check out the above photo. There was no doubt in my mind where to go - the Channel was the call.

Dexter recommended I head for the Patch because with the upcoming tide the Channel waves would become soft. I elected to take my chances at the Channel. But Dexter was right. By the time I suited up and paddled out the waves had died. Martha asked me if I had checked out the Patch. She was considering moving because nothing was happening here. From a distance, Jacek gave me that "Where did they go?" hand gesture. David talked about how good it was earlier - wave after wave, all good peeling lefts.

The waves were still breaking but they were difficult to catch. They had to be breaking before I could get into them. On my first wave, a four-foot wall broke outside; I turned and caught the incoming white water. The wave was powerful and I bounced along prone for several yards, then I jumped up hoping the wave would reform - it didn't; it just died. Next I paddled out to the furthest peak and sat in the middle of foam from previous waves. I was all by myself and in the half hour that I was there, I stumbled on four sizeable waves - all hard to catch and all of them walled. By the time I stood up the rides were over.

I worked my way back north and inside to join David and the others. David, who usually catches numerous waves, was having difficulty catching these waves. I did manage to connect on a couple of decent rides. But after an hour, my cold was zapping my strength. I missed a few more and then caught a fast four-foot left curl that I rode for several yards before it closed out. I straightened out and milked it as far as I could. I ended up twenty yards into the lagoon from the Groin pole. Time to call it a day.

The cold water, the sunshine and the exercise felt great. Surfing is always a good remedy for kicking a cold.