Walter was on one of his Fabulous Furlough Fridays, and Jee decided surfing was for her, so it’s off to Bolinas for an afternoon.
The weather was great… early on.
After meeting up at the Dean’s IGA in Mill Valley, we piled into a little car with a stack of big boards, and roared over the mountain. Had to make all the stops… Muir Beach was first… lot of changes in the last month!
If you haven’t been to Muir Beach in a while, check it out. The creek is getting rerouted. The windbreak at the parking lot has been cut down, the porta-potties moved, the parking lot re-configured (no more parking down at the end), and a number of other jarring odds and ends. I think it will look better when they finish. Hopefully they will regrade the lot too.
The surf was cranking! Sets were coming in left of the rock at a solid 4-6. At least 6. More or less rideable; if you can ride at Cron, these were good, steep and fast. Make the drop, bottom turn, climb out and over before it closed.
Next stop was overlooking Steep Ravine. It’s surfable. Almost. Barely. Little too gnarly on that day, but I’ve seen it working. Mess it up and you’re in the rocks.
Off to overlook at Stinson. Two people out. Rideable at the lifeguard tower. Looked pretty decent at Mickey’s rolling in around 6 foot.
By this time Jee was jumping up and down to get in the water… so it was off to Two Mile to get her some gear. Easy peasy. With a Rip Curl 4/3 and 8′ sponger, we’re dressed up like seals and off to play with the sharks (hat tip Walter).
By now, the weather had started to turn… but there were still a few people in the Patch, and there was plenty of water moving around. Loads of waves. A little bumpy, but definitely surfable.
Jee got into some whitewater and learned to plane, while Walter and I headed for deeper water and slightly bigger waves. The outside was working at about 4 foot, a very nice size for Bolinas. I was riding the Hinds 10/4. Lotta lift in the tail on that board (which is important, as you will read momentarily).
Since the current was hauling out to sea, I caught a few then headed in to give Jee a pointer or two about catching waves. She caught on quickly and had a blast being pushed all the way in by the foamy stuff.
I went out for another lap, caught a few more waves.
Now, we went in the water a little after noon, but we couldn’t stay out too late as Two Mile Surf Shop closed at 4. On my second trip back to the beach, I did that usual thing… grabbed some shallow whitewater to ride in… but my board pearled! The big 10/4 remember? This was bad… because the back end of the board picked up and drove me face first into a foot of water.
1 foot of water!
Crunch. Oww.
I was surfing the sand with my forehead. That was rude. And undignified. But no big deal. I start walking back over to Jee, as Walter was sitting on the outside. She waves at me, we’re having fun!
Then I see her face turn from glee to horror…. she shouts “You’re bleeding!”
I swipe my hand over my face, it comes away covered with blood. Awesome! (I was tempted to lick my hand… j/k. Sort of 
No big deal. Just a little scrape. I traded boards and took the sponger out to catch a few. Not a bad board. Stable, not real responsive, but that’s ok.
By this time, it’s starting to pour, and it’s definitely time to pack it in.
We finished it off with a nice snack at the Sand Dollar in Stinson, and called the day a raging success.
Respect the ocean boys and girls. It’s not the big ones that will get you, it’s the little ones when you’re not paying attention.
It was an awesome day in deed! Not only was I only Furlough Friday, but I was out surfing with two good friends! Glad you’re okay after that spill in shallow water, and you’re right – even small waves pack a lot of energy behind them. Definitely look forward to getting out the next time though, incident free!
I am hooked! cant wait to go back out with you guys…I hope you’re feeling better Dave.