Avila seemed to be its normal self when I arrived this morning. It was sunny and calm, with no wind and some fog hanging way off over Pismo Beach. Sylvia and Rhonda were already here. The water looked clear and fairly calm, with some small, close packed ripples coming in out of the SE. I got a water temperature reading of 60 degrees. I always take the temperature on the left side of the pier because the usual NW wind will push the thermometer away from the pilings. Today I had to drop it in on the right side because the water was moving in the opposite direction. There was one fisherman on the pier, one seal in the surf line and nothing else to be seen above or in the water. High tide had been just before 8 AM but the water seemed to be really high, still almost near the high tide line. The significance of this would soon become apparent. Swimming today were Bill, Amy, Sylvia, Niel, Dale, Duke and Rob. We decided to do the triangle route counter-clockwise starting on the east side of the pier. I started straight out from the beach and when I cleared the surf line the push from the waves toward shore didnt' slack off, but got even stronger. The short swim out to the buoy line felt like I was in a river swimming up stream. WE gathered up everyone at the buoy line and headed under the pier and towards the last buoy at the mouth of the creek. This leg was surprisingly rough, with water water trying to get in my mouth no matter which side I breathed on. The leg to the end of the pier was straight into the chop, which seemed to be building even though there was still no wind. Duke likened this leg to a round in a Maytag. It was a lot of work against a current in rough surface conditions. Also, the fog that had been hanging over Pismo Beach had moved in and was warping itself around Fossil Point. The third leg was across the waves and current which I found to be easier but still a workout, getting bent all over the place by the chop passing underneath. Half way there the fog moved over the cliff and covered my siting point. The last leg parallel to the beach seemed easier, with a little push from the left rear quarter. The swim is about a mile. We finished in 42 minutes which seemed reasonable considering that it felt like I did enough work for a mile and an half. By the time we were all out and cleaned up the beach was all fog thick enough so that you could not see the buoy line from the beach. It was even starting to spit so nobody hung around too long.
Rob and I are still swimming Wednesday's at 5:30 until it gets too dark.
niel
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