Sunday, December 30, 2012

The water quality was questionable and the surf was up so we did not swim at Avila today.  We watched several boogie boarders who were much encouraged by the size of the surf but fast learning how short the rides are at Avila.  Rob, Allison and I took our kayaks over to the port, launched at the boat dock and paddled over to the base of the breakwater.  We disturbed some napping seals, took a close look at Smith Island, I looked for contraband on the beach at the base of the breakwater and we returned to the dock.  Not swimming but a nice bit of being on the water.

Santa brought Rob a new GoPro

Smith Island.  There are historic photos that show the house that used to be on the island.  What a place for a swimmer to live! 

NEW YEARS DAY SWIM

We will gather at our usual spot in Avila on Tuesday morning and celebrate by jumping in at 11 and taking a short swim.  We will have a pot luck lunch on the beach afterwards.  It should be sunny, about 60 degrees and the water will be about 55.  Swim in whatever you bring, wetsuit or not.  Hope to see you there.

niel  

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Rob was out of town, it was raining lightly at my house so I figured that if I went to the beach I would probably be swimming alone and the water quality would be questionable, so, I stayed home.
I will be out of town next weekend but as far as I know Rob will be around.  Watch the Central Coast Open Water Google Group for updates.  I expect to be swimming the 30th.
  
I have joined the San Luis Obispo chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.  I will be joining their Bluewater Taskforce and participating in their water quality testing program in Avila Beach.  Anyone that is interested in this program or any of the other water quality related activities that Surfriders supports can either check with me or read about what they are doing at www.surfrider.org.

niel

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rob Dumouchel's Triple Martini 10k Swim

Today Rob became the third person to officially complete a Triple Martini Swim at Avila Beach.   This is a 10k swim that gets its' name from the shape of the course; starting on the beach and swimming out along the Avila Pier (the stem) and then at 2 mile triangular loop (the glass).  Do three laps around the glass plus the in and out equals 10k.
We formed up on the beach at 8 AMish.  Rob was going to be accompanied by a entire flotilla of kayaks; Beth, Niel, Allison and Kris.  Beth was in charge of feedings, Niel; navigation with Kris and Allison to lend support as needed. There was the possibility that Rob would be joined by some additional swimmers for part of the swim.  It was sunny and warmish with thin high clouds, a water temperature of 56 degrees and a gusty offshore breeze that would become a major factor.  
Rob began swimming at 8:48, turned right at the end of the Avila pier, doing his first triangle in a counter-clockwise direction.  The wind was gusting and we had some trouble keeping on course on the long (.92 mile) leg from the Poly Pier to the Avila Rock, plus with the low sun and  thin clouds cut down on contract and it was surprisingly difficult to see the Avila Rock.  When we returned to the Avila Pier, completing the first lap, Rob decided to try and improve his luck with the wind by switching to the opposite direction so we headed back to the Avila Rock.  When we approached the rock the wind really kicked up and pushed us seaward of the rock.  The wind gods apparently didn't think too much of Rob trying to outsmart them.  On the leg to the Poly Pier I had to keep my boat pointed 30 to 40 degrees to the right of our course in order to stay on line.  We did pick up several pods of dolphins all around us which we saw for the rest of the swim.  The leg from the Poly Pier back to the Avila Pier was the toughest by far.  The wind kicked up and stayed there, blowing almost directly off the shore across out route and white-capping the chop.  Being up in the wind Beth and I had to work hard to keep up with Rob!  We did better on the first leg of the last lap, though I had to keep my boat pointed towards Pirates Cove in order to keep on course to Avila Rock, and we made a good landfall.  The wind played with us on the second leg, first blowing hard offshore, then dying away completely so we had to compensate for the SW swell that was pushing us towards the shore, and then switching back to offshore about 2/3's of the way to the Poly Pier.  Shortly after starting this leg Allison spotted two swimmers that seemed to be heading out towards us and it turned out to be Duke and Brad.  They caught up with us about 2/3's of the way to the Poly Pier and paced Rob for the rest of the swim.  The last leg back to the Avila Pier was calm.  
Rob started swimming at 8:48 and finished at 12:24 for a time of 3H 36M.  His splits for the three triangles were 1:04, 1:08 & 1:07.  His stroke count was between 47 and 50 for the entire swim.

Rob, wear your Three Martini hat proudly!  You earned it big time today!

niel  

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Avila Beach was sunny, calm and warm this morning.  There had been some pretty good sized swells lining up when we arrived but they were laying down as we got ready.  The water temperature was 56.  Niel, Rob and John were swimming today.  Kris would accompany us in her kayak.  Rick, Dale and Sylvia were happy to enjoy our Californian winter weather soaking up the sun on the beach.  I was feeling kind'a creaky from too much driving for the holiday so I was interested in doing some distance to stretch me out.  Rob, as usual, was interested in just about anything.  John was going to swim the buoy line.  So, Rob and I went out to Avila Rock and back.  This is a 1.5 mile swim.  The water felt warmer once we got outside of the surf zone and the swimming conditions we great.  When we were close to the rock we slid through a gap in the kelp and swam up close the the rock before turning back.  The swell was coming back up  but we did not really notice it while swimming.  John swam the length of the buoy line and got out 5 minutes before we did.  With our stops along the way Rob and I were in the water for 52 minutes.
The weather this coming week could be very wet so Sunday's swim may be canceled.  Keep an eye on the group e-mail for updates.

niel

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Swimming was rained out today.  Too much uncertainty abut how the storm flows coming out of the creek would degrade the water quality at Avila. 
There is a big group planning on joining rob for a Black Friday swim at Lopez Lake.  Distances will be up to 6K. to join in contact Rob at Google Groups CentralCoastOpenWater or  https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/centralcoastopenwater/aXbY3f0KgjU
There will be no deck entries.

niel

Sunday, November 11, 2012

At Avila today it was sunny, very clear and as long as you stayed out of the breeze, warm. There was a light offshore breeze that had a nip to it that would get your attention.  The water was clean and empty except for one or two pelicans, a small pod of dolphins and one seal.  The water temperature was 55.5 degrees, 3 degrees lower than the reading over at the port.   We had seven swimmers and two paddlers today; Allison and Kris were out in their kayaks with Duke, Casey, Lee, Sylvia, Rob, Amy and Niel swimming.  We agreed to head out to the first buoy on the left of the pier, turn left and to make up our route as we went along.  We wound up doing what could be called the Big Triangle; we swam the last buoy in the line and continued to Fossil Point.  From there we swam to the end of the Poly Pier.  Amy turned in along the pier and the rest of us continued to the end of the buoy line at the creek.  We swam back along the line, under the pier and in to the beach.  As we left the end of the pier the breeze had turned in to a wind that was coming directly off of the shore and pushing up a small close chop which required a bit of extra work on the swim to the creek and turned out to be surprisingly troublesome to swim across on the way back to the pier.   The complete route was about 1.5 miles and we were in the water for 51 minutes.
After the swim it was nice and warm up against the wall, in the sun and out of the wind.  

niel 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

We swam at Lopez Lake on Sunday . There had been a raw sewage spill into Avila Creek in San Luis Obispo on Friday and the Health Dept. had advised that there be no contact with either the water or wet sand  between the pier and the mouth of the creek.  Not knowing how the bugs would know to stay on that side of the pier we decided to do a swim at Lopez Lake instead.  We met a Mallard Cove at 10:30.  It was hot but there was no wind.  Allison and Kris were there with their kayaks to keep us safe.  Swimming were Niel, Rob, Jason, Ruta and Ed.  The top surface of the water was in the high 60's but it was 6 inches down it was in the low 60's or high 50's.  We swam out to the mouth of the cove, turned right and swam to the far end of the next cove which is a nice swimming beach.  Hey, fresh water tastes better!  We retraced our route back to the mouth of Mallard Cove . Ruta and Ed headed in with Niel, Rob and Jason intending to swim into the next cove to the south before heading back.  Our plan was modified when a group of jet skies that launched and started playing off of the point the we had intended to swim around.  We were in a no wake zone but it was just more traffic than we wanted to get involved with so we headed back to the beach.  We covered a little over a mile in 40 minutes having spent a lot of time in the water
conferencing about  the route.
Lopez would be an even greater place to swim on a weekday so we will be looking for an opportunity to come back.  Rob is planning a swim here on Black Friday with distances up to 6k so watch his blog and the Central Coast Open Water email group for more information.  


You can see all of Rob's photos from this swim at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=483931974980828&set=a.483931421647550.112847.117753191598710&type=1

niel

Wednesday Evening, October, 24, 2012

I got down to the beach but did not swim.  The water looked OK, which doesn't tell you if it is full of bad bugs, was 58 degrees and looked very swimable.  Rob was sitting out tonight so I was on my own.  I wasn't too worried about sharks, was a bit concerned about the water quality, but it had been a full day and I just didn't have the energy to get in and swim without someone else to push me a bit. 
I have a call in to Adan Hill's office to see if I can reach someone who can explain why the County tests the water at the beaches on Monday's, and if the testing could be done on Thursday instead so results would be available on Friday afternoon.

niel

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Today started out all overcast, gray and wintery but became sunny and beautiful.  There was no sun when we got in the water.  Allison and Beth were with us again today (thank you!), they had gone out at 9, paddling over to the port, and swung back to the Avila Pier at 11 to pick us up.   and early and headed out to the end of the pier.  There had been a pod of dolphins playing along the surf line before I arrived and they were still around during our swim.  While I was taking the temperature the only other life in the water was one otter, one seal and a half a dozen pelicans casually looking for a meal.  The water temperature was 59 and the water looked cleaner than it had the past week.  Never the less, we weren't sure abut the water quality down near the creek and decided to stay on the east side of the pier.  We will have to wait until Tuesday afternoon when Monday's water quality test results are posted to know if this was necessary or just cautious.  Sylvia and Yvonne, with Allison in the kayak did two laps of the east side of the buoy line.  Niel, Rob, Beth, Loren, Brad, John, Amy and Dale swam out of the end of the pier and from there swam to the cave on Fossil Point that is in line with the buoy line.  From there we came back parallel to the beach, picked up the buoys and continued to our starting point at the pier.  It had been calm when we got in but the wind and swell picked up during the leg from the end of the Avila Pier to the point and the swim from the point back to the pier was across a quartering chop and building swell.  We covered a little over a mile in 40 minutes. 

niel 

Wednesday Evening, October 17, 2012

It was summer just before Halloween and Avila Beach, I really love living here.
At 5:30 the air temperature was in the 80's, the water temperature was 60 degrees and there were still quite a few people on the beach and in the water.  It had been still but an offshore breeze was picking up, blowing left to right along the beach and making some small chop.  We were late getting started again.  Rob and Beth were doing a toe test when I arrived.  Ryan and Liz were getting their wetsuits on so I got ready and we waded in planning to swim down the buoys towards the point while Beth was going to play in the surf.  Working into the chop and current on the  swim down buoy line got me warmed up real fast.  When we regrouped at the last buoy the sun was starting to slip behind the hills.  It was beautiful floating in the water at the buoy but the gas went out of our desire to swim and shifted to playing so we returned along the buoys the way we had come, came in and did some boogie boarding in the fading light. Rob got some great photos of me in the water with his GoPro camera and I got decent one of the end of the day with my phone.

I want to add a follow up to Sunday's blog;  I had written about the foul water quality that we experienced on our Sunday swim and my disappointment that the County Health Department's sea water quality monitoring prototcals do not do an adequate job of protecting weekend ocean users. On Tuesday the County posted advisories for unhealthful conditions for almost all of the San Luis Obispo County beaches based on samples taken on Monday.  Avila also failed Tuesdays retest.  No retest was posted on Wednesday. We stayed away from the creek mouth on Wednesday evening but there were a lot of families in the water on that side.

niel 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Avila Beach was sunny and warm with not a hint of fall anywhere, except maybe in the 57 degree water temperature.  There was no wind or swell with 2 to 3 foot surf.  We did two swims today.  We all started out by swimming straight out to the end of the Avila Pier. At this point Sylvia, Yvonne,Bonnie and Dale headed for the last buoy at the creek while Niel, Rob and Duke, with Allison in her kayak, headed for the Poly Pier.  We have not been over to the Poly Pier in a while and it was nice to visit again.  The leg from the end of the Avila Pier over to the 1/3 point on the Poly Pier is about 1/2 of a mile so it is an opportunity to stretch out and focus on your stroke.  From the Poly Pier we swam back to the buoy at the creek and along the line of buoys to the Avila Pier, under the pier and in to the beach.  When we approached the buoy at the creek we swam into a horrible patch of water that tasted and smelled foul.  I wnated out of this right now but there was nothing to do but keep swimming towards the pier. This must be water flowing out of the creek that had been stagnant in the tidal zone for some time before making it out to the ocean.  The Health Department's test on Monday didn't flag anything but I sure would not want kids or anyone splashing around in kind of water.  We covered about 1-1/4 miles in 40 minutes.
Rob and Allison went back out to play in the surf and Rob brought in a nice crab that was amongst some kelp.

After enjoying this little guy for a few minutes Rob set him back on a pier piling.

Mid 80's to low 90's and offshore breezes are predicted for this week in San Luis Obispo so Wednesday nights swim should have beautiful conditions.

niel

Wednesday Evening, October 10, 2012

Rob and I had a great swim; the water was 60 degrees, calm, flat and clean.  The waves were knee high with an occasional 3 footer.  We planned to go out along the pier, over to the Poly Pier and back along the buoy line on the creek side.  Our start was delayed while we waited for a guy in a powered skiff to finish messing around near the end of the pier, neither of us wanting to become involved with seemingly random  movement by a power boat.  When we reached the end of the Avila Pier the sun was getting close to dropping behind the hills so we changed our route and headed to the last buoy at the creek and finished a half triangle.  
Last year we continued to swim on Wednesday evening through October, and will this year, the only limit being the amount of remaining daylight.

There is going to be a long swim option this Sunday's, for those who are interested in putting in some additional distance and are comfortable with being farther offshore.

Alan Freeman will be joining us on Sunday the 21st.  Alan has lived in Hawaii for many years but when he lived here he coached Masters and swam with the us.  He has a successful Catalina Channel crossing and a swim down the length of the Na Pali coast in Kaua'i among his open water adventures.  Alan wants to organize a Maui Channel Relay for 2013 so check your frequent flyer miles.

niel

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Fall was no where to be seen at Avila Beach on Sunday.  It was warm, clear and there was very little wind.  The water was 59 degrees,, green and had some occasional set of 3 to 4 foot waves.  The water had been retested on Wednesday and was safe to swim in.  We had a nice group of swimmers; Duke, Niel, Rob, Amy, Sylvia, Yvonne, Loren, Rob #2, Brad, Chad, John and Dale, and three paddlers; Brittany, Allison and Beth!  There was a regatta forming up off of the end of the Avila Pier so we decided on a route that would give the boats a chance to start their race while we were close to shore.  We swam out and formed up at the first buoy on the left side of the pier, and then swam under the pier and down to the last buoy in the line near the mouth of the creek.  With so little wind and no current the swimming conditions were great.  By the time that the group had reformed at the last buoy the boats in the regatta were down off of Port San Luis, so we were free to swim to the end of the Avila Pier and do a complete triangle.  We had a wide range of swimming abilities and speeds in this group so having the three kayaks with us was great.  Allison was able to hang back with the slower swimmers while Beth and Brittany took the front and back of the main body.  Besides the safety of having an escort the kayaks help other boat traffic realize that we are in the water and provide guidance to those swimmers who are still honing their open water navigation skills.  We swam to the last buoy on the east side of the pier and back along the line to our starting point covering about 1.15 miles.   With such a large group we spent a lot of time forming up and chatting at the turning points so this swim was more of a series of sprints over 44 minutes. For pictures from the swim check out our facebook page.

Don't miss Dave VanMouwerik slide show this coming Saturday about his successful Catalina Channel crossing;

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

There were three good reasons not to swim at Avila this evening:
A concert scheduled for 5 PM would have the the access road jammed.
The presidential debates were on at 6.
The county closed the beach after Monday's testing showed excessive levels of enterococcus (poo by another name) at both sides of the pier and in Shell Beach.  Wednesday's test results were not available by Wednesday evening.  No sewage spills had been reported.  (Does this sound like the OCSD to anyone?)
So we would not have been swimming anyway.
The water was 62 degrees over at the Harford Pier so Sunday should nice.  

Sunday, September 30, 2012

I was off in the southland attending a wedding and reminding myself why I live on the Central Coast.  John covered my but by writing up the following swim report;

Niel-- we missed you this past Sunday Sept 30th! There were 8 or 9 of us there--Sylvia, Brad, Bonnie, Britta, Lauren, Dale, Jeff, Robin and myself,  But gorgeous light, like you imagine the Mediterranean sometimes--bright fog drifting in and out, half there and then gone and drifting back, light fog, but enough fog to keep us from going out to the end of the pier, we also had no kayaks to accompany us. We entered the water around 11:10 and guessed it to be about 59 degrees, and swam to first buoy, there were huge rolling waves breaking onto the shore that made it great fun heading seaward, the largest I've seen at Avila in some time, and good sized rising swells farther out. We headed south to the last buoy, then waited to gather, then headed back towards the pier. Some were finished at that point and headed in, the rest of us were a bit concerned about going under the pier with the swells, but it ended up being no problem. We swam north to the last buoy before the creek, then we turned back, went back under the pier, and Brad and the Camarillo guy headed in, and Lauren and I decided to do a sprint to the next buoy, then we finally headed in. It was a gorgeous exit with the Sun fully out by then and the huge swells carrying us toward shore, and then the waves breaking over us as we exited. A wonderful exhilarating swim overall!
--John Hampsey

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Rob and I met up at the beach at about 5:15.  There was enough of a breeze out of the NW to put a chop on the water but no white caps.  The water temperature was 59.  AS we were getting ready Dave VanMouwerik stopped by to say hi.  We started talking about the channel swimming season, the recent successful attempts and failures, and wound up talking right through our swim window.  I was great to get caught up. 

I'll be in San Diego this Sunday and Rob has another (his last of this season) assist on a channel crossing attempt so he is a maybe for out swim on Sunday.   Conditions should be nice  so you all should show up and get in.  If I'm lucky there will be time for me to get in the water at Mission Beach on Sunday.

There is a concert at the Avila Resort at 5PM next Wednesday, 10/3.  The last time this occurred the traffic was horrible for those of us just trying to get to the beach to swim so rob and I are going to give next week's Wednesday evening swim a pass.

niel

Sunday, September 23, 2012

We had a nice crowd at the beach today; Chad, Duke, Ruta, Ed, Sylvia, Yvonne, Loren, Amy, Dale, John, Niel and Lee.  Rob's was feeling used up by his recent adventures and was going to nap on the beach.  We also had Beth and Allison with us on their kayaks.  There was a slight breeze from left to right, a small chop and a water temperature of 58.5 degrees.  A small pod of dolphins was working along the buoy line while we were getting ready but we did not see them once we got in.  With a group of this size and with some new swimmers we decided to start simply and make it up from there.  We went out and down the buoy line to the left and regrouped at the end.  Everybody was happy so we decided to head to the end of the pier.  Allison hung with Sylvia and Yvonne and Beth stayed with the main group.  At the end of the pier Dale and Loren headed in along the pier while the rest of us went to the end of the buoy line at the creek.  The water from the creek was much warmer making the top foot very comfortable.  We came back, under the pier and to the first buoy on the left where we had started.  We were in the water for 42 minutes.

niel

Wednesday Evening, September 19, 2012

It was just Andrew and I this evening.  Andrew has swum with us before but lives and swims in the bay area. Work brought him to the Central Coast so he dropped in.  It was warm at Avila Beach, warmer than in San Luis Obispo, with a very slight offshore breeze.  The water was flat, calm, empty and 62 degrees.  It was also kind'a green and cloudy.   We did a big triangle counter clockwise; starting out to the buoy line and down to the creek, to the end of the Avila Pier, from there we swam to Fossil Point before coming back parallel to the beach until we picked up the east end of the buoys.  We continued along the buoys to the pier and came in.  We were in the water for 52 minutes and swam about 1-1/2 miles. 

niel

Sunday, September 15, 2012

Avila Beach was a surprise this morning with dense fog hanging over the water.  It was dead calm and the water was almost perfectly flat and 59 degrees.  From the beach the buoy line would come in and out of view as the fog shifted.  The fog was thinning but still coming and going  when Sylvia, Yvonne and Haley got in about 10:45.  This was Haley's first time with us.  She lives in Santa Barbara and was in town visiting family.  They swam left (east) along the buoy line and came back and went under the pier to swim the line on the west  side. The fog was thinning at 11:15 when Rick, Dale and I got in.  We took the same route and swam to the last buoy on the left.  When we stopped at the end of the line the sun was out and Avila Beach was sitting in a huge hole in the fog.  It was beautiful with bright sunshine and perfect swimming conditions.  We decided to do the triangle route and headed to the end of the pier.  On the leg from the end of the pier to the creek we picked up a following swell.  A breeze out of the east had come up so the last leg along the buoys back to the pier was into a small chop.  
We were in the water for a total of 34 minutes and covered about a mile.

niel

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Avila Beach Was Dirty So We Played At The Pismo Pier

Monday's water quality sample for the west side of the Avila Pier was really bad for enteococcus and fecal coliforms , http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/health/publichealth/ehs/beach.htm,  so we decided to play in the surf at the Pismo Pier instead of swimming at Avila Beach.  The County retested at Avila on Tuesday and the numbers were back below the red zone but the new results were not posted on Wednesday by the time we made the call to switch venues.  Rob, Allison Danilu and I just messed around in the mushy surf having fun in the water.  Danilu had her surfboard and Rob, Allison and I shared Rob's two boogie boards.  It was fun to just mess around in the water with no real goal or plan.

Rob has a mount on his boogie board for his GoPro camera got some really cool shots. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

We had 10 swimmers today; Sylvia, Niel, Monte, Jennifer, Dale, Amy, Duke, Dave, John and Gerry.   The water was flat and 59 degrees.  There was an occasional 3' wave and very little wind.  While I was taking the water temperature there was a small pod of dolphins along the east end of the buoy line, but they moved off by the time I got back to the beach.  There were a lot of sail boats maneuvering off of the end of the pier, a race forming up, so we decided to not argue about right of way issues with them and stayed to the buoy line.  We swam the the ease end of the line and then continued straight on to just off of the rocks of Fossil Point.  We returned back to the buoys and along the line to the pier, under the pier and to the last buoy at the creek.  Then back to the pier, under, to our starting point and in to the beach.  This was a 1.5 mile swim.  With all of the regrouping, visiting and joking (the water was very pleasant) I had us in the water for a total of 52 minutes. 

niel

Wednesday Evening, September 5, 2012

Kind'a strange conditions due to a tropical storm to the south; scattered clouds, cool or warm depending if the sun was out, humid, a steady breeze blowing from left to right and the water had the liquid metal look it gets when it is bright but cloudy, greenish and shinny.  The water temperature was 60 degrees, sort of.  There was a pod of 5 or so dolphins swimming back and forth between the buoy line and the shore on the left side of the pier.  Rob and I decided to stay on the other side just to avoid and territorial misunderstandings.  We did half of the large triangle, swimming out along the length of the pier to the end, then to the end of the buoy line at the creek and back to the pier.  The water temperature played some serious games with us.  It felt real warm until we reached the buoy line, where the temp. dropped 5+ degrees.  About 200 M short of the buoy at the creek the temperature shot back up and the water tasted more fresh and metallic.  There was another cold spot in the middle of the buoy line just to keep us guessing.  

niel

     

Monday, September 3rd, 2012 Labor Day

This was not the last swim of the summer for us!

We had a nice crowd today and conditions that were a lot like yesterday.  the water was 1 degree warmer at 57.5, still nice and clean but with a wind chop out of the SW.  The surf was larger, with sets of 3 to 4 foot waves.  Swimming today were Niel, Rob, Dale, Sylvia, Susan and her friend Marta, Bonnie and Duke!  Allison was paddling her kayak and Danilu was with us on her SUP.  There were a lot of people fishing from the pier so we decided to begin like yesterday; out to the buoy line and down to its' left end, where we would decide what to do further.  Sylvia and Bonnie decided to head to the end of the pier while the rest of the group went back along the buoy line.  Danilu and Allison stayed with the largest group.  At the pier Duke and Rob went in while Niel, Dale, Susan and Marta swam to the west end of the buoys at the creek.  When we regrouped at the creek Allison headed for the end of the pier to pick up Sylvia and Bonnie while Danilu accompanied us back along the buoys.  We stopped short of the pier and came in.  
While we were setting up the pot luck Al McVey and Duane and Linda Leib dropped by.  Duane has not been swimming with us since a shoulder injury that he is still dealing with.

We will see Wednesday evening if the water warms up even more.......

niel

Sunday, September 2, 2012

We had 11 swimmers today.  It was overcast, cool and calm while we were getting ready.  The water temperature had fallen to 56.5, which is over 10 degrees below what it was last Wednesday evening and but only a bit below normal for this time of year.  Nobody was too excited about getting in after all of the warm water we had enjoyed in August.  We decided to go down the buoy line to the left end, see how people were feeling and plan the rest of the route from there.  At the buoy Sylvia, Bonnie, Rick, John and Dale decided to swim back along the buoy line while Niel, Rob, Brad, Bo and Amy headed towards the end of the pier.  Allison was accompanying the group and went with the group that went to the end of the pier.  Before we got in the water there had been a very slight breeze out of the east which was now changing to a strengthening wind from the SW, so those of us heading to the end of the pier were working directly into an increasing chop and current.  While we were regrouping at the end of the pier swimmers were drifting east at a pretty good pace.  We continued to the last buoy on the west side of the pier near the mouth of the creek where we met up with John who had swum the length of the buoy line.  We swam back along the buoys, passing Sylvia and Bonnie where heading west to the creek, under the pier and to the buoy on the east side where we had started.  Rob and I came in while Brad, Amy, Bo and John continued to the last buoy on the east side before returning to the pier.  I was swimming for 44 minutes.

Hey, what happened to the 11th swimmer?  After we were back on the beach, Jerry Gross returned form his run and then swam the buoy line for 30+ minutes on his own. 

We will swim tomorrow at 11 with a pot luck lunch afterwards.

niel 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

This was the best swimming day of the year.

Rob and I scored huge on the conditions Wednesday evening; the water was 67 degrees (I had to check it twice to be sure), the ocean was flat and windless with no swell, the water was amazingly clear (when I was taking the water temperature I could see the bottom under the pier) and empty of critters except for a few gulls.  I did a toe test and it felt so nice that I decided to go without my wetsuit for the first time in a year.  Allison was along to paddle with us.   We swam the buoy line, starting left and then back under the pier to the creek and back to where we got in.  The top 18" of water didn't have any 'bite' to it, so my legs and chest were comfortable, but with each stroke my hands would pull up some deeper water that was a more normal temperature.  Maybe if I had switched to breast stroke I could have stayed completely in the toasty layer.  There were also some spots where the temperature dropped but they weren't large.  Rob wasn't real happy with the increased visibility, he doesn't want to know what is down there, but it was strange and fun for me to be able to see the bottom moving along under us all of the way out at the buoy line.  I was in for 28 minutes and got a little cold after I got out, I'm such a clod water wimp, but this was a rare and special opportunity to experience conditions like this at Avila Beach.  I'll have to try and remember this if we see some sub 50 degree water temperatures this winter.



Byron was sitting on the beach when I came back from taking the temperature, so we got to visit with him both before and after we swam.  He experienced a bad bike crash on the 17-Mile Drive in Carmel about a week ago.  He still looks pretty rough but a lot better than the day after photo.  He came up on a car that had parked in the bike lane (to take pictures of some deer) and with traffic on his left, forest on the right and not enough space to stop he hit the pavement rather than the back of the car.  Besides the abrasions to his back, arms, hands and chest he experienced some serious injuries to his face, exposing his jaw.  He was treated in the ER in Monterrey by an excellent plastic surgeon and looks like he will have a complete recovery.  
I'm sure that he would enjoy hearing from those of you who know him.  
We will have to add him to the Injured Reserve list along with Duke and set up a special spot for the walking wounded. 

niel

Sunday, August 26, 2012

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

Wednesday Evening, August 22, 2012

In the water this evening were Rob, John, Niel and about 10,000 sooty shearwaters.  While we were getting ready and talking about where to swim the birds showed up and began feeding on a concentration of bait fish that was about a mile offshore.  We walked down to the water and stood there trying to determine if and where the bait ball was moving towards so we could be somewhere else and if we wanted to go ahead and get in.   The birds didn't come any closer to shore but did move east and west.  After about 20 minutes of watching we decided to do a short swim on the west side of the pier.   The water temperature was 60 degrees and much cleaner than last Sunday with a slight breeze from the east, so the conditions were inviting, we just didn't want to find ourselves too close to the feeding frenzy.  We got started, swam under the pier and headed west staying farther inside the buoy line towards shore than usual.  We stopped frequently to keep an eye on the location of the birds.  The water temperature went way up as entered the outflow from the creek near the last buoy.   It was so warm that swimming out of it on the way back felt like I was just getting in.  We crossed back under the pier and just hung out in the water for a while, it was so comfortable bobbing around in the swell.  By the time that we had dried off the birds had dispersed.  There were whales around Avila earlier in the day but they were not to be seen this evening.  

niel

Sunday, August 19, 2012

It was sunny and warm in and out of the water today.   The water was 60 degrees and much cleaner looking than it has been recently.  There were almost no sea birds to be seen, only one seal cruising the shore break and no sign of the bait fish we saw on last Wednesday evening.   Swimming today were Monte, Jennifer, Rick, Niel, Rob, Amy, Adrian and Gerry.  This was Adrian's first time swimming with us.  We did the triangle route clockwise and kept well away from the pier today, as there were a lot of fishermen with lines in the water.  There was only a slight breeze so the water was flat except for near the end of the pier where we were more exposed to a small swell from the SW.  With both 60 degree water and plenty of sunshine it was very comfortable out there today.  After we were back on the beach I could see a series of large splashes in the water that were probably 2 miles +/- off shore.  Even with my binoculars I could not tell what was making motor home size fountains in the water but it had to be either whales breaching, or a Russian submarines......  I wish that they had been just a bit closer.

Rob and I will be swimming Wednesday evening at 5:30. 

niel

Wednesday Evening, August 15, 2012

It was sunny with a slight offshore breeze.  The water was 59 degrees and has become cloudy with plankton.  There were a few pelicans diving on the east side of the pier but there was no organized feeding going on.  There were 2 or 3 Humpback whales in pretty close, between the Avila Rock and the buoy line.  Rob's friend Cliff was going to join us.  Cliff has multiple channel crossings (Catalina 2X, English Channel once) and was interested in seeing what swimming is like here.  Dave had come by to relax on the beach so he and Cliff had lots of channel swim stuff to talk about.  We decided to go in on the east side of the pier, cross under, do the west half of the triangle and decide if we wanted more when we were at the end of the pier.  Allison would accompany us in her kayak.  When we grouped up at the end of the pier Allison pointed out a whale that was close by, off of the end of the pier.  This is the first time I have seen a whale while swimming!  We decided to head in towards the middle of the buoy line on the east side, swinging wide to avoid the fishing lines from the pier.  While we were drying off a large flock of birds came around the end of the pier from the west.  they just kept coming and began feeding on some bait fish near the buoy line.  The birds just kept arriving until this was the largest bait boil I have seen, covering almost the length of the buoy line and from the buoys in to the sand.  I could see a dozen or more seals and a whale working the fringes of the bait ball.  We were able to walk down to the water and pick up small fish, 4" or 5" long (sardines, smelt?) that were being washed up on the shore.  People were lining the railing along Front Street to watch the spectacle.  I'm very glad that we were already out of the water. 
I'll be back on Sunday.  Rob will be in Long Beach for the Naples Island Swim this weekend.

Cliff's wife, Cliff, Rob, Allison and Niel just before the birds arrived.