March 17, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:45 am to 11:20 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Low upcoming tide	Stiff offshore wind to no wind
Clear, bright and sunny	Fun session

Email response to my long time friend Jay the architect in Manhattan Beach -

Jay -

Thanks for the long and newsy email. Sorry about not responding sooner.

Today I got my first decent waves of the season. I caught the tail end of this past weekend's big swell, one where Maverick's was breaking. Though the swell has dropped, it was still 8 ft at 14 seconds from the west. I headed to my local spot, Bolinas, and went out at the Patch (formerly called the Clam Patch, but the clams are long gone, so now it's merely The Patch). It's a rock reef spread over a wide area that can set up several peaks depending on conditions. The waves are similar to Bluff Cove; they break way out there, have flat take offs and provide long smooth rides. Today the outside peak was connecting with the inside shore break that runs along the beach.

While checking out the waves, I watched my good surf buddy David, who used to ride a Becker board, take off on the outside, cruise to the right across the first section, cut back to let the wave build up, swung left through the second section, then cut-back right to drop into a perfectly formed right curl on the inside. He must have traveled a quarter mile. That did it, I was stoked and had to go out.

As the tide came in and the wind dropped, the inside peak improved in size, speed and shape. One could connect on a wave over the rocks of the Patch reef, work it to the inside section and cut across a nice curl over the sand. I managed to catch several of them in an hour and a half, and after that the crowd grew, the wind picked up and my arms gave out. While driving home I had that "Surfer's Glow" from vigorous exercise, warm sunshine and classic waves.

You were fortunate to connect on those big west swells. I missed both of them.

On Friday January 24th, when they held the Mavericks contest, Kate and I flew to Kona on the big island of Hawaii, our first time there. The waves were huge. For four days, the authorities posted high surf warnings all along the Kona Coast (the NW side of the island). On Thursday (our fifth day there) the swell dropped to my size – 4 to 5 ft. I rented a SurfTech Soft Top, which are popular with the locals, and went out at Kahalu'u Park – a gentle Cove/San Onofre type break – that broke over a reef 500 yards from shore. I had a ball: 3' to 5' waves, long shoulders, crystal clear 80 degree water and no wetsuit, just board shorts and a rash guard.

When the next big swell (Feb 27 - Mar 3) arrived, Kate and I were on the road to San Diego to visit my mother and my brother. This was not a surf trip. My 94-year old mother is declining and I wanted to make sure that I saw her one more time before the end. But I did see plenty of good surf along the way. On the way down, Rincon was overhead and only twenty guys out. On the way back we made a pit stop at El Capitan state park. In all my years of going to UCSB and driving to and from Palos Verdes, I had never seen El Cap break. On that day, 8 to 10 foot fast peeling rights were wrapping around the point and crashing over some gnarly rocks. Twenty short boarders were on it and in the 15 minutes I was there I saw some spectacular rides. As I watched two guys literally crawl over the boulders to get to the water, I thought that maybe in my youth I could have done that, but definitely not now in my late sixties.

That night we stayed in Pismo Beach and in the morning I saw some beautiful peaks with three to four surfers on each one along the cliffs north of the pier just before 101 turns inland.

So I missed the big swells and good waves until today.

Meanwhile, everybody is doing well. In retirement Kate is busier than ever and I keep reminding myself that you and I have to connect someday at C Street in Ventura.

Cheers,

Lorenzo 

March 5, 2014 Wednesday

 

Bolinas	Patch
9:45 am to 11:00 am	3' to 4', sets to 5'
Low upcoming tide	Onshore (south) wind
Overcast	Fun session

"Well I don't know, the south wind is picking up, it's choppy, the waves are mushy and they're way out there," I said to Jaime the starving artist as he was toweling off after his session.

"Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself out of it."

He was right, I was thinking of kissing it off. I had a lot to do, etc. But today was my only chance to surf this week. Tomorrow I have to pick up the water samples for Surfrider's water quality program and drive them to the Branson School and Friday was my day to take care of my daughter's dog. Jaime had fun and had to get out to write up 2-Mile's daily surf report and open up the shop. Here's his report -

PATCH:  Waist high stuff waaaaaay outside past the Rock/Meeting Rock/Bulk Head. Some go left, some go right and some don't go at all. It can be a good exercise session... or not. About four (4) there now with a proverbial Jamboree of logs, Janitor boards and even Bill on his wave ski.

QuikCast from Stormsurf reported:  "fading Dateline swell 6.0 ft at 14 seconds from 280 degrees and south wind at 5 knots."

No body was out at the Channel and six people were out at the Patch when I arrived, including Jaime, Mary, David who used to ride the Becker board, Bill from Berkeley on his wave ski, one stand-up guy and one other surfer. That's Mary at the end of a long ride in the above photo.

"The waves are good," Mary came by after her session with a grin from ear to ear from her fun session. "You will have a good time. I headed for Green/Africa (north of the Patch reef), but stopped, the waves were good at the Patch. I got several lefts. You will have a good time."

That did it; I decided to go. I hadn't surf in a week and needed the exercise. Mary was right. I had a good time, and I too caught several good, long lefts. 

February 24, 2014 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
9:20 am to 10:40 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
Mid dropping tide	No wind to slight NW cross breeze
Bright, warm sunny day	Fun session

"Loren, I'm going to put this brown paper bag on your car. Don't forget it," Frank the stand-up guy announced to me just as I had paddled out to the line up.

Frank was heading in, but I knew what he was referring to. For years I have preached to anyone who would listen that the "best bakery in the world" is VG's Donuts and Bakery in Cardiff by the Sea. Frank's daughter and new grand child live in the San Diego area, so Frank frequently travels down there. At my urging he did try VG's and agreed with me. In January Frank emailed me that he was at VG's Donuts. I emailed back requesting that he buy me a buttermilk bar (they're really good). So what if it's a couple days old, it will still be delicious. Frank and I didn't connect at the beach, so he put my donut in a Tupperware container and stuck it the freezer. Six weeks later he was finally delivering it. And you know what? It still tasted great. I split it with Kate in the afternoon and she too enjoyed it. VG's (which stands for Very Good) is the BEST bakery on the coast – bar none!

The weather was about to change so I had to go surfing today. High pressure and heat wave had returned after the major storm of two weeks ago. Today it was sunny and warm with no clouds, but the weather guys were predicting two approaching storms – one would arrive Wednesday and a bigger one for Friday bringing over two inches of rain and a ton of south winds. So the only day with decent weather was today.

The NOAA weather radio predicted a west 3-foot swell at 15 seconds with light winds. No one was out at the Channel. The current was already pouring out of the lagoon creating a path ripples through the middle of the impact zone. The Patch looked good – small well-formed lines peeling right across the Patch reef. Five surfers were out there and I knew them all – Mary, Hank, David who used to ride the Becker board, Phil from Corte Madera and Frank on his stand-up. I watched all of them connect on good rides. That's Frank in the above photo. There was no question about going out and where I would go.

All five were still out there when I entered the water. Frank went in shortly after I arrived. Hank exited a few minutes later and so did Mary. Twenty minutes later Phil went in. Soon only David and I were at the peak and for over an hour we had it all to ourselves. The waves were great and we both scored on several classic right peeling curls.

It was an ideal day and an ideal session.

February 19, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
9:50 am to 11:00 am	2' to 3', sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Stiff offshore breeze to no wind
Sunny, clear and warm	Fun session

"Loren the only decent waves are those inside rights," Steve the Bolinas local pointed at a nice right peeling shore break wave at the Patch.

We were standing on the sea wall checking out the waves. Nobody was at the Channel; it was small, confused and breaking at three points at once. The tide was low and the current was pouring out of the lagoon. Five surfers were at the Patch – Mary, DB the Safeway checker, Russ the stand-up guy and two guys from Concord who were here last Wednesday. Mary, DB and Russ were way outside beyond the outside rock. The other two were way inside going for the shore break rights. The swell had dropped in half since Monday. The San Francisco buoy reported 8 ft swells at 13 seconds and wind at 21 knots with gusts to 27. The wind was out at sea because here there was a stiff offshore breeze and glassy conditions.

While watching the waves Steve and I chatted about how much sand the recent storm had moved around, and we reminisced about the old days (a couple of years ago) when there were some decent peaks out in front of the ramp. Then Mary connected on a good one. She had moved in and caught a steep shore break wave. That's her in the above photo. Her ride and the warm weather convinced me to go out.

The weather was changing – a high-pressure front and a heat wave were moving in. We had drizzle and light rain last night, but that was over. Winds out at sea were moving the low pressure out and pushing the high pressure in.

I went for the inside rights and scored. When I entered the water, only one surfer was out there. After taking a few so-so waves, I got the hang of it – position not too far out, not too close to the rocks, wait until the waves are cresting, take off late, paused to make sure you are in the wave and then push it. The shape of the bottom was forcing all the waves to break to the right and the offshore breeze was holding up the curls. If an approaching wave looked walled or was peaking south of me, it would hold up. I could shoot under the lips of the curls, trim down the line and work them into the shore break. After I made the first one, I knew I could make all of them. And the waves were consistent. I never waited more than a couple of minutes before the next wave was there. In an hour I caught ten good waves (one every six minutes).

I had success riding waves on my knees. I would wait until the waves were breaking, paddle hard, jump up to my knees, duck under the curl of the first section and get to my feet on the shoulder of the wave. This way I didn't lose any time standing up, and I got the thrill of being eye level with the initial curl. On one I took off late, sprung up to my knees, literally ducked under the curl of the first section, rose to my feet, climbed high in the curl and froze while the wave continuously unfolded in front of me, all the way to the shore.

Walt the photographer paddled out on his stand-up. I hadn't seen him since last November when he had his hip replacement surgery. Walt was back and in good form. A set wave approached and I started to position myself to catch it. Walt was twenty yards further out, he turned, paddled for the same wave while it was a mere hump in the water and glided into it. I watched Walt cruise by me and followed him as he milked it all the way in. When he paddled back to the line up, Walt claimed his legs were weak, but he looked in fine shape to me.

I took my last wave on my knees. I shot under the curl, leaned forward on the nose to keep the board in the wave until it reformed, cut across the shore break and quickly lay back down as the wave collapse in one foot of water and bellied it the rest of the way to shore.

What a good ending to a good session.

February 17, 2017 Monday

Bolinas	Patch
10:00 am to 11:30 am	3' to 4', occasional 5'
Mid upcoming tide	Stiff offshore wind
Sunny with high clouds	Fun session

I almost talked myself out of surfing this morning. An approaching cold and a stuffy nose hampered my sleep last night, the temperature outside had dropped into the thirties, my fingers went numb strapping the board onto the top of my car, today was the Presidents' Day holiday, schools were out and people were off from work. It was the third day of a three-day weekend and Bolinas would be crowded. I got the last parking spot by the tennis court. Twenty surfers were out at the Channel going for some big walls that collapsed too quickly for anyone to get a good ride.

A short boarder who I had chatted with a few times out in the water last summer was walking up the ramp after his session. He reported that the waves were disappointing, the swell was all over the place, the waves were thick, difficult to catch, and once you dropped over the edge and the ride was over. Thus the Channel was out of the question – unorganized sloppy waves, crowded, cold offshore wind and an upcoming tide pushing up the ramp forcing one to enter the water there.

The Patch was different with twenty surfers spread out across a wide area. Incoming lines stretched across several peaks and the waves were random and breaking all over the place. My friends were telling me that despite the sizeable swell the waves weren't happening. Mary, who had just finished her session at the Patch, was disappointed. She had expected bigger waves (buoy reading was 8 ft at 13 seconds), the water was cold and the waves were difficult to catch. Hank exited the water with a similar report – cold, difficult to catch and breaking all over the place. At that point I was ready to kiss it off.

Then David who used to ride the Becker board caught a good one, and three friends who I had not seen in months showed up. Jacek the tattoo artist entered the water. He was wearing a hood, so I didn't recognize him until he was up close. As usual he was excited about going surfing and quickly jumped into the water. Within minutes he had scored on a fast inside curl. That's him in the above photo.  At the bottom of the ramp was Paul, a Branson School parent, paddling out on his stand-up. He waved and headed for the far peak at the Patch. At the top of the ramp was Yoshi, the owner of Umi, the sushi restaurant in San Rafael. He raved about the good waves that he scored on yesterday and was hoping to do the same today. Friends were in the water, the sun had come out, the air was warming up, and with no obligations this afternoon today was my day to go surfing. I decided to go out.

Boy was I glad I did; I had a great time. The waves were big, fat, powerful and frequent. After a couple of so-so rides, I got the hang of it – stay inside and take off late. Conditions (bottom, direction of the swell and wind) forced all the waves to break to the right. I kept hoping for some lefts, but they never came. After an hour I connected on my best wave. I was outside at our usual take off point near the outside rock, which was under the water with water swirling above it. A sizeable set wave approached, a definite right. It peaked north of me and I could hear the breaking part of the wave roaring towards me as I paddled for it. Sounding like a train, the wave scooped me up and I dropped down a head high face. Angling right while falling down the face, I leaned into curl to gain speed, shot through the first section, stalled to let the wave build up and again leaned into the peak, this time I climbed high in the curl, stepped to the middle of the board and hummed under a feathering lip, cut back and worked it into the shore break. What a great ride.

This put me way south and inside where David, Jacek and Rob (Mr. Malibu) were dominating a clean inside peak. I joined them, connected on a couple of good curls and called it a day.

Way outside the whole time was Hawaiian Steve on his stand-up. This guy was incredible. He has that Hawaiian style of paddling on his knees with his ass on his ankles, paddling two strokes on one side and then two stokes on the other side. I marveled at the waves he caught. Way outside (like 100 yards beyond the outside rock) the big sets would peak and sometimes break. Steve could catch them. A big wave approached, Steve started paddling like mad on his knees in the middle of his board and his head hanging over the nose to push into the wave. He jumped up, faded left into the peak, swung back right and then cut back left as the wave built up again. The wave started to break to the left and Steve was at the very top standing on the nose cutting under the lip of the curl. Again he swung around right and nursed that wave all the way into shore, a distance of nearly a quarter mile.

Yes it was just another beautiful morning in Marin. 

February 13, 2014 Thursday

Stinson Beach Erosion

Yesterday Mary told me about the major erosion at Stinson caused by last week's four days of rain. This morning I was at Stinson collecting a water sample for Surfrider's water testing program and followed up on Mary's report, and she was right.

Check out the above photos. Water erosion took out a large chunk of asphalt from the northwest corner of the Park's north parking lot and cut a ten-foot deep gully through the sand to the ocean. On the left is the destruction to the surface of the parking lot, and on the right I turned around 180 degrees to capture the new ravine to the surf.

"We came this close to being flooded out," said Maxine co-owner of the Parkside Cafe pinching together her thumb and forefinger. Her husband John stated that it was not that bad. But John, Maxine and their two children spent hours stacking sandbags along the external wall of the Parkside Cafe and Snack Bar because of runoff overflowing the banks of Eskoot Creek that runs between their property and the main parking lot of the Stinson Beach Park.

Here's what happen, as told to me by a park ranger. Over the summer the Park Service built a berm along the park's side of the creek to keep water from flooding the park's main parking lot. A couple of months ago a slide high on Mount Tam near the source of the Eskoot Creek created tons of loose rock and sand. Four days of rain washed the rock and sand down the mountain filling up the flat part of the creek between the Parkside and the berm along the parking lot forming a small lake that was quickly rising. The chief of the Stinson Beach Fire Department alerted the county of the threat of serious water damage. The chief and county agreed that it was better to flood the park than the businesses along the creek. The county bought in a backhoe and took out the berm. The water poured into the main parking lot and flooded the north parking lot in two feet of water, sand and mud. The water broke through the northwest corner taking out asphalt and cutting a small canyon to the ocean.

"Is the park going to rebuild the berm?" I asked.

"Yes, but first they are going to dredge out the creek."  

A couple days later, the backhoe was back digging out the sand and rocks that washed down from the mountain. The sandbags at the Parkside are still in place and John and Maxine are lining their side of the creek bank with bricks.

Next time you are at Stinson, check out the remnants of this major storm's force.

  

February 12, 2014 Wednesday

Bolinas	Patch
10:00 am to 11:15 am	2' to 3', occasional 4'
High dropping tide	NW onshore breeze
Overcast to patchy sun	Fun/exercise session

Circumstances were the story of today's session:

The last time I surfed was at Kahulu'u, Kona Hawaii, on January 30th, thirteen days ago. I came down to Bolinas last Wednesday (seven days ago) but it was flat and I didn't bother going out, neither did anyone else. The weather was beautiful that day, sunny, warm and clear to the horizon with a slight offshore breeze.

However, that afternoon the weather changed and the rain began that night. The skies opened up and dumped rain on northern California for four days straight. Over twenty inches of rain hit Mt Tam. The much-needed rain finally arrived to our drought stricken area, putting eleven acre-feet of run-off into MMWD's reservoirs. The rain let up on Monday, but I had a dental appointment and couldn't head to the beach. Tuesday was my day to take care of my daughter's dog, so by today I was ready to get back into the water.

The storms had pushed around the sand and swept most of it out to sea. The concrete and rebar at the end of the boat ramp were exposed and remnants of old pilings from an ancient pier stuck up above the sand in front of the retaining wall of the house on the south side of the ramp. But on the north side of the seawall, the ocean had pushed tons of small pebbles up against the boulders of the wall's foundation. What used to be a four-foot drop over the rocks to the sand was now a mere twelve inches. I easily stepped to the sand instead of carefully picking my way over the gnarly rocks.

The waves were merely ok. The set waves created a few decent rights on the inside peak of the Patch. That's Mary on one in the above photo. I managed to connect on a couple of good ones, but most of the time I paddled around trying to anticipate the next rideable wave. So I got plenty of exercise and a few long rides, thus all in all in it was a good morning.