Wednesday Evening, 12 October 2011

Rob and I swam this evening.  It was hot at Avila with an offshore wind that was veering from NE to NW.  There were some large waves but the biggest sets were spaced well apart so getting out was just going to be a matter of timing.  Low tide had been at 4:44 and the larger waves were beginning to break just inside the buoy line.  There wasn't much out there; a few gulls and one seal.   Rob and I swam out on the east side of the pier to the end with the thought of going to either the poly pier of the end of the buoy line at the creek, depending on what seemed like a good idea once we got there.  I had measured a water temperature of 61 but it felt a lot colder once I got out to the surf line.  At the end of the pier my feet were cold and I could still feel the water moving around in my suit.  Idling at the end of the pier we were rising and falling 4 or 5 feet with the swells.  We agreed to swim to the end of the buoy line at the creek and come back towards the pier.  When I breathed on the side towards the ocean during the leg along the buoy line towards the pier I would be looking way up at the face of the incoming waves.  Our timing was good when we headed in towards the beach and we both got in just ahead of the next big set.


niel