It was sort of eerie at Avila when I got there a little after 10 this morning. Everything was still; there was no wind, the ocean was completely flat, the 'waves' would not have come up to your knee, there were not many people on the beach and there was not a bird, seal. dolphin, whale, otter or any other sea creature to be seen. I actually checked my watch to see if I had somehow managed to arrive several hours early. I got a water temperature of 59. The water was extremely clear and clean looking. From the pier I saw Allison on her kayak and spoke to her briefly. She had had a group of seals following her but they had taken off to find someone else to play with. Rob, Susan and Yvonne were already on the beach and were followed by Sylvia, Ronnie (who found us on the net and is doing an Alcatraz swim in a couple of weeks), Amy and her friend John who is new to swimming in the ocean and Gerry Gross. Rob was not going to swim. He had crewed a successful Anacapa Island to Oxnard crossing Saturday and worn out. Joining him on the beach were Dale and Al McVay and Rick and Rhonda. With two swimmers who were both new to us and ocean swimming I decided that a route up and down the buoy line would be best so if anyone became uncomfortable the beach was only a short swim away. Everyone did fine and enjoyed themselves. We had people swimming a lot of different speeds and so group became stretched out but Allison did a great job of working back and forth along the line, keeping track of everyone and lending navigating assistance as required. The water was especially clear for Avila Beach, which was even more unusual because the visibility is typically better in the winter when there is less plankton. While swimming under the pier I could clearly see the base of the pilings in the sand and count the shells on the bottom.
We will swim Wednesday evening at 5:30, Sunday at 11 and also MONDAY, LABOR DAY at 11. After Monday's swim there will be a pot luck lunch.
niel
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