Boat Surfing on Petaluma River

At about 10:30, I drove with Alex to Novato, California (about 30 minutes away from our Airbnb home in San Francisco) for a boat surfing session with Rob Case (surfingpaddling.com), scheduled for 11:15. This was part of Alex's 19th birthday present, and I was hoping that it would turn out well.

The plan was for 3 surfers to take turns surfing for 15 minutes each (45 minutes per person) while being pulled behind a wake-generating boat.

When we arrived in Novato (1192 Bel Marin Keys Blvd), we slipped on our shortie wetsuits and applied a lot of suntan lotion to our faces. I also attached a GoPro Hero7 Black camera to my helmet and took two towels, a bottle of water, and our two surfboards to the dock, where Rob was preparing the boat.

Rob showed us some videos of boat surfing, introducing the two proper techniques for getting going:

• Water-starting (the surfboard lies side-ways, and when the line is tightened, the board automatically turns properly around the fins
• Popping up after getting going on the stomach

After a brief safety briefing, we boarded the boat, and Rob headed for the nearby locks. After exiting the locks, Rob motored about 20 minutes up to Petaluma River, to a location on the river where the water was pretty calm.

 

Rob's 22-foot boat had 410 horsepower to generate nicely sized waves with wave settings between 2 and 6, from small waves (best for longboarders) to large waves (best for shortboarders).

 

First up was John, who had lots of surfing experience. He was able to get going using the water-start method and did very well on his 50-liter board. Although he fell a few times, he surfed very well.

Next up was yours truly. I took out my Firewire Spitfire 6'6" board and waxed it thoroughly. I zipped my O'Neil shortie wetsuit and jumped into the water. It wasn't freezing at all.

For the first two attempts, I tried water-starting, but kept falling off. I decided to try popping up after surfing on my stomach. I could surf quite well lying down on the board (like a boogie-boarder), but I fell every time I tried popping up.

Next up was Alex. Alex could pop up from his prone surfing position on his second attempt and surf quite well. He surfed for quite a bit before falling off.

 

Here is a short video clip of Alex boat surfing:

 

 

 

For the second session, Sarah surfed instead of John, and she popped up quickly and had a fantastic session despite having never done it before.

I was up next, and this time, Rob offered some pointers on improving my water-starting. I needed to move my butt on the surfboard and let the boat pull me. Rob's advice was helpful, as I was immediately able to water-start. It was so much fun! I have been surfing for a long time and have had many great surfing sessions.

 

Here is a short high-def video of my boat surfing session, as recorded by my helmet-mounted GoPro Hero7:

 

 

Here is a video of my boat surfing, as recorded by two of Rob's onboard GoPro's:

 

 

 

 

 

After my 15 minutes had expired, Alex tried his luck. He proceeded to water-start right away and had many excellent rides. He had a fantastic session and surfed for 10 minutes straight!

 

Here is a video of Alex's boat surfing, as recorded by two of Rob's onboard GoPro's:

 

After the surfing sessions had ended, the boat motored back to Novato, and we returned to our Airbnb home in San Francisco.