Wednesday, September 28, 2011

It was gray all of the way down to the horizon and all of the way around this evening.  The surf was not large but there was a minus tide at 5:30 PM so the waves were forming up to break just inside of the buoy line.  The water was clean and 61 degrees.  The ocean was very empty with only no birds except for a few gulls and one lonely seal.  There were small wind waves form the south.  Rob and I got in on the west side and swam down to the creek and came back to the pier.  We had planned to stay close to the beach in case the clouds and fog settled in and we lost some visibility   The surge was exposing 3 to 4 feet of mussels and barnacles on the pilings so we declined swimming under the pier and instead went out to the end and around.  Swimming out along the pier into the incoming tide and the south swell took a surprising amount of extra effort.  We rounded the end of the pier, waved to a woman who was crabbing from the end of the pier so she could shoot some video of us and took a wide swing away from the pier into the beach.
We covered less than a mile but it felt great to get and enjoy the favorable swimming conditions. 


niel   

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Avila Beach was a big surprise today.  I was expecting a foggy/gray/overcast day but it was sunny and warm when we got there.  There was a breeze from the SE and some small chop on the water but conditions looked nice.  Sylvia and Yvonne were already out along the buoy line.  I checked the water temperature and got a 61.  The water looked very clear and clean.  There was one seal on the left side of the pier but no sign of bait fish or other 'attractive' activity to make getting in questionable.  Sylvia and Yvonne were just getting out as Kim and I got in.  We swam out to the buoy line and turned left. We went parallel to the beach to the end of the sea wall and came back to the pier.  Kim headed in and I continued under the pier and down to the last buoy at the creek.  Just short of the last buoy the water jumped up in temperature and then started tasting real bad.  The creek gets stagnant for its last 1/2 mile before the ocean and attracts a lot of roosting birds, which seems like a recipe for bad water quality, so I reversed course and headed back to the pier.  The water was clear enough that while I was swimming under the pier to thought that I could see some dark rocks or starfish on the bottom.  By the time I was out and settled down to lunch the wind had died and shifted into its usual direction from the NW and kicked up a bit, with whitecaps forming offshore.


We are still swimming Wednesday evenings at 5:30.


niel    

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Gerry and I swam today.  The early fog burned off before 11 and left it calm and sunny at Avila.  The surf was 1 to 2 foot, the water was very clear, and about 58 degrees (my new thermometer is in transit and will be on duty soon).  There were no signs of any bait fish or birds rafting on the water.  There were three seals playing in the surf.   There were small wind waves, about 6 to 8 inches, moving toward the beach from the SW.  We swam the buoy line end to end and a bit more, probably about 1.25 miles, and were in the water for 40 minutes.  The swimming conditions were very comfortable with the little waves just enough of a ripple to mess with my breathing and make it interestnig.  It was nice and warm and relaxing next to the wall after we got out.




niel

Wednesday Evening, September 14, 2011

Nobody swam this evening.  The wind was dying down and there were no birds or seals so conditions looked pretty nice, but I was the only one who showed so I took the evening off too. Rob was home nursing his back and Ryan was burnt after too many 10 hour days.  My thermometer has broken so I have no water temperature to report.


niel  

Sunday, September 11, 2011

It was gray, overcast and cool at Avila this morning but the upside was that there was no wind, current or swell and just the typical 2 to 3 foot surf.  The water's surface was glassy with a temperature of 58.5.  There was a large group of shearwaters on the water that would move around but they were far off of the end of the pier.  There were no pelicans, one seal and a small pod of dolphins that was cursing the buoy line.  Swimming today were Sylvia, Yvonne, Gerry and Niel.  The conditions were good for a swim down the beach to Fossil Point so we swam out to the buoy line, turned left and swam parallel to the beach until we were just off of the caves in the point, then reversed out course and came back.  The shearwaters had moved off and didn't come back.  The overcast and maybe the 62+ temperature from Wednesday's swim made the water feel colder than 58 but I got comfortable quickly.  
This swim is about a mile. We spent a fair amount of time visiting when we regrouped and spent 45 minutes in the water.


niel

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Warm Wednesday's are back!  The water was 62.5, very clear and carnivore free.  I could see one pelican, a few gulls, one lonely seal and one fisherman no sign of bait fish or feeding activity, unless you count the gulls who were working the goodies that had been left with a group of beach chairs and towels.  There was a steady wind from the East pushing a medium chop and current to the west.  The chop was not whitecapping so swimming conditions looked very good.  Ryan, John and Niel were ready to swim at 5:30.  The tide was high and the surf back to normal so it was a good opportunity to swim all of the way down the beach to Fossil Point.  We went out, turned left at the buoy line and continued along that line past the last buoy until we were just off of the cliff face at the cave on the point.  After a brief break we came back along the same route.  This swim was just short of a mile and we were in the water for 33 minutes.


niel

Monday, September 5, 2011

Today's conditions were a copy of yesterday's; a 57 degree water temperature, very little wind and almost glassy conditions at times, some occasional large waves and hardly any birds, one seal and no bait fish. Rob and I were going to swim to the rock off of Fossil Point if the conditions were this nice but we had not counted on the number of boats and fishermen that were out. They were near the reefs and off of the point and the rock and were moving around as we watched, so we decided not to swim out amongst them and instead swam to the Poly Pier. We went down the buoy line to the creek, over to the second set of cross bracing, to the end of the Avila Pier and in. We were in the water for about 40 minutes and covered approx. 1.25 miles. Jerry Gross got there after we had started so he went out on a run and we contemplating getting in when I left.

Rob and I are going to keep up the Wednesday evening swims until dark and conditions make it a bad idea, so we will be swimming mid-week until I post a quitting date.

niel

Sunday, September 4, 2011

It was gray and overcast at 10:30 but burning off. The water was 56.5 and much clearer than on the previous Wednesday. The big south swell was still providing some 5' waves but the big sets were 10 minutes or more apart so getting in was just a matter of waiting a bit. Getting in the water were Rob, Niel, Casey, Duke, Chad, Amy, Kim, Kamber and Jerry. Rhonda came by to hang on the beach and soak up some sun. Casey is getting ready for the LA Tri so he and Chad stayed on the east side of the pier and practiced entries and exits through the waves. The rest of us went in on the west side and swam the traditional triangle route counterclockwise. The water temperature has dropped below 60 so it took me until I reached the buoy at the creek to get completely comfortable, but then the water felt great. When we finished the sun was out and felt good. Rob and Chad went back out to boogie board and get in some additional play time.

Monday, 9/5, Labor Day, we will swim at 11AM.

niel

Wednesday Evening, September 31, 2011

I've been out of town for 10 days so this was my first time in the ocean in almost two weeks. Our string of warm Wednesday's is over, with this evening's below 60 water temperature of 58. There was a steady SW breeze. The chop was not whitecapping but there was a noticeable current from the right to the left along the beach. A big south swell was predicted to create 8' to 10' waves on the south facing beaches between Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday evening we saw occasional 5' sets with long spans of smaller waves between. Here to swim were Bobby, Ryan, Niel and Rob. Rob decided to get his boogie board and catch some of the waves. There was a huge concentration of birds feeding on bait fish on the right side of the pier so we decided to go out on the left side to the end of the pier and swim in the opposite direction to the last buoy and then down to Fossil Point and back. When we got to the end of the pier the birds had moved to a point farther out but to the left of where we were. We didn't hand around and boogied to the last buoy, canceled going to the point and swam back along the buoys to the pier and came in. Low tide was about 6:20 and when we got out the surf had flattened out, much to the disappointment of the surfers and boogy boarders who were in the water looking for the big waves.

Rob and I will be on the beach to swim this Sunday at 11.

niel