Superb day at Bolinas yesterday. Of course, being a Saturday, with 2-3′ south swell coming in at 16 seconds and the starting from 0 and incoming tide and the sun out, it was crowded. Did I mention the light, nearly offshore breeze? That too. And that water was warm? Outflow from Bolinas lagoon stores up in the Patch… if the tide is outgoing late evening on a previously warm day, the water at low tide is toasty warm.
From my estimation, the sets were coming in roughly 5-10 minutes apart, generally between 5-12 pretty nice swells. I haven’t seen the Patch in that condition in a couple of years.
There were lots of waves, and lots of room on the waves. Because of the way the Patch sections off, it’s easy for people to take the right and the left, and for people to come in way behind someone already on a wave. Yeah, yeah, I know about cutting back, but no, you aren’t cutting back 75 feet through slow moving white water. You just aren’t. Really you aren’t. Waves in the Patch can be shared. And that’s actually pretty cool.
Of course, as friendly as the patch is, with all the newbies mixed in with the old dudes, and most everyone really friendly as usual, *I* had to get snaked.
Yep.
Some SOB stroked in from 50 feet to my right, around outside me, came in right behind me to my left, and snaked right in front me. I was sitting right on the peak, perfectly positioned. I would have run him over. Then, of course, he cuts back left, and a clean right breaks empty all the way to the beach. This was definitely a deliberate move: “I’m going to snake that dude over there.”
This is an open letter to you, man, and all your ilk.
It’s The Patch.
Yeah, you’re a Big Man… because you can snake people in the Patch.
Why don’t you come on down to Sloat on a double-O day and try that. Seriously. You’re a big man, right? Just go right on ahead and snake someone out there.
This burns me up so much more because I was giving waves away, and all this dude would have had to do is just call it. Yep. “My wave!” And it would have been his. I would have let have have it, no problem at all.
I guess that wouldn’t have been any fun at all.
In other news, after 4 years Miss J is still driving the same truck, still surfing the same board, still paddling butterfly, and apparently, still hasn’t learned to turn. Definitely one kook I stay far away from. She dropped on me in the channel several years ago, ran me over, then cussed me out for being in her way.
Had a long talk with Steve Hill about how much Bolinas has changed over the years. I’ve started going out there in early 2003, and even I can feel how it’s changed since then. It’s a new crowd out there even since then. Can’t wait until fall!
In any case, it was a great day, and overall I had a blast. The Patch doesn’t always work that well, and I surf it maybe 2-3 times per year. When it’s on, as it was on Saturday, it’s as nice as San Elijo.
