It was warm, almost hot, and sunny at the beach today. The town was crowded and there were a lot of families on the beach and a good number of people in the water. There was a steady offshore breeze but since the wind was coming straight off of the land there was only some small chop in the bay. I got a water temperature of 55. Occasionally there would be a good sized set but these were interspersed by longer periods of small waves. The wind was doing a nice job of holding up the faces of the waves but they were closing out. Swimming today were Rob, Niel, Sylvia, Kim and Lynn. While we were getting ready Rick Morena stopped by on his bike to see how we were getting along. It was warm enough today that nobody wanted to spend any time on the beach in a wetsuit so we headed right for the water before making a plan for the swim. The wade in felt OK but when I dived under the first wave the water below the surface felt a lot colder. We swam out and regrouped at the buoy line. The consensus was that it felt warmer than last Sunday's 52 but not 55. We decided to swim out to the end of the pier and then down to the creek. When Rob, Lynn and I got to the creek buoy we looked back and found three swimmers between ourselves and the end of the pier. I headed back to intercept the swimmer who was most off line and met up with Pete! He had arrived late and had come out along the west side of the pier to the end and followed after us towards the creek. The six of us came back along the buoy line to the pier and wanting to avoid a free barnacle dermabrasion courtesy of the swell we passed on swimming through the pier and came in on the west side. We swam 1600m and were in the water almost 45 minutes. While we were warming up Chad stopped by on his bike to day hi. We may be seeing him in a few weeks. Duke, he asked if you had been swimming.........
niel
Just came across your blog, and am totally jealous that you are still swimming outside in January! I swim with "The West Neck Pod" out of West Neck Beach on Long Island, New York, and except for our crazy Canadian, who kept swimming into December (with air temperatures in the 20's and 30's!), our open-water season ended in November. I write about our swims (and some other things) on my blog at www.TheWater-Blog.blogspot.com, and your postings remind me of us! Thanks for sharing -- I just became a "follower" and look forward to sharing your swims vicariously until the ice here melts and we get back in the open water!
ReplyDeleteCarol - I'm glad we can share some sunshine with you at a distance! I swam with CIBBOWS twice back in November so I've experienced a little taste of the the cold you guys endure out there! I actually follow your blog in my RSS reader and am totally familiar with your cold water expeditions, if I had more time when I was in NYC this year I was considering making my way out to Long Island to find you guys.
ReplyDeleteIf you're ever in the neighborhood make sure to stop by for a swim :)
Hi, Rob! I appreciate the sunshine, and now recognize you as the "Rob" of "Robaquatics," whose blog I also recently discovered! Glad you enjoyed your recent fling at Coney Island (where I have YET to swim -- but definitely plan to one of these days!). And please do come out and join the West Neck Pod on your next trip to New York! In the meantime, I'll be watching your posts and basking in your reflected sunshine...! Oh, and for the record, you have my vote for Chief Shark Master!
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