Sunday, January 31st, 2010

I was in Cayucos celebrating my birthday and missed going to the beach today. The water in Cayucos looked dirty but there were a lot of surfers out. At high tide the waves were hitting the bottom of the pier, 1-1/2 to 2X overhead, so a little muddy water wasn't going to keep them out of the fun. I did get some good pictures. I don't know if the waves were as large or the water was any cleaner at Avila. Did anyone get wet?

niel

Sunday, January 24, 2010

It was a day of brown and black. I was concerned about the water quality due to the runoff from the rain so I rode to Avila adn had lunch on the beach with Sylvia. The ocean was chocolate colored from runoff. While the SLO County Health Department has yet to post any advisories for poor water quality, Sylvia told me that virtually all of the beaches in Santa Barbara county were closed due to polluted runoff so it seemed like a good day to stay out. The tide was very low and a lot of material has been pulled off of the the beach buy the storm surf. Most of the beach sand had a salt and pepper appearance due to the quantity of oil particles that were mixed in with the sand and there were numerous globs of tar that ranged in size from a silver dollar to desert plate. Sylvia and I picked up some non-natural debris from the beach, including some shattered pieces of boat hull. Gerry Gross came buy to check out the surfing conditions. He told me that on Wednesday the surf was cresting out beyond the end of the Avila pier and then reforming and breaking again closer in, which was wilder that he had ever seen it including the years that he lived at Avila. There is more rain predicted, beginning tonight and off and on through next Friday, so it is had to predict if the water will have cleared up by next Sunday.
It is hard to remember now that less than a month ago I was wondering if the string of beautiful Sundays was ever going to end and that we would get some winter weather.

niel

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

It was just starting to spit rain when I got to the beach. The swimming conditions looked OK; the breakers had not pushed up too much yet and it was flat out at the buoy line. The water temperature was 55.5. Sylvia and I watched the ocean for a while and had a chance to speak with Barry Cleavland. Barry swam with us some years ago, was out on a bike ride and was taking a break at the foot of the pier. She had also spoken earlier to Duke and Angela who were out on a walk. Duke is on the disabled list with two broken ribs due to a bike crash. I'll let him tell you the whole story. It began to change from spitting to rain, Barry needed to get back to town and Sylvia and I decided that the two of us didnt create sufficient critical mass to get us in the water. Swimming next Sunday looks questionable. With the amount of rain we are supposed to get in the next 5 days the water quality is likely to be poor from all of the runoff. If it is sunny, I'll always come to just have lunch on the beach.

niel

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

It was another very nice day at Avila Beach. It was warm and sunny with some 6' to 7' sets of waves. The tide was very low so the large waves were starting to break just inside the buoy line. There was a slight left to right wind and current. Sylvia swam out to the buoy and I did the triangle route clockwise. Getting in and out was easy a long as you waited for the breaks in the sets.
Sylvia brought by a great book that a lot of you would be interested in. It is Swimming Anatomy, ' Your illustrated guide for swimming strength, speed and endurance' by Ian Mcleod. It is exercises categorized by stroke and body part with great illustrations.

niel

Sunday, Jamuary 3, 2010

If you were out here from Ohio for the Rose Bowl game, today's weather would make it very hard to go home. It was clear and sunny at Avila with just a slight offshore wind. The air temperature was in the upper 60's and the water was back to a seasonally correct 54.5. I continue to thank the ocean gods for that nice bump up in the water temperature on New Year's Day. There have been some high tides and the wash line is up to the bottom of the stairs. There were some nice waves today but they were spaced out enough that getting in and out was not a problem. Rob and I swam around the pier and Sylvia got wet enough to enjoy the warm sun up next to the wall. Duke and Angela came by on their way out for a run. They are going to do a bike training camp and will be back at the beach in a couple of weeks.
Rob haas posted a selection of the pictures from New Year's Day on the blog at http://swimavila.blogspot.com/


niel

New Years Day Swim Pictures!

Friday, New Year's Day, 2010

We had very nice conditions and a great turnout of our New Years Day swim. It was overcast with an air temperature in the mid-60's that felt quite warm when the sun peaked through. The sea was flat with no wind and small surf. The water temperature was a unseasonable and very welcome 59. The Health Department had posted a water quality warning early in the week but it was cleared on Wednesday. Tom Lorish (wetsuit) swam out from the beach to the end of the pier to escort us back in. Niel, Mat Farmer, Kevin Watkins, and at 72, Sylvia Glenn jumped off of the the end of the pier (no wetsuits). Dale (wetsuit) and Leslie (no wetsuit) went in off of the floating dock at the end of the pier. The support crew who carried our stuff, took the pictures and created the energy to make it possible consisted of; Big Steve and Nan, Duane and Linda, Matt's whole family, Fred Casillas and Tom Mc Neill and Moodie. We had an outstanding pot luck lunch on the beach with more food than we could finish. I had a great time and look forward to seeing everyone at the beach in the coming year. Give me a day or so to get the pictures posted on the website.

niel