Sunday, November 17, 2013

Details of today's Grumpy Old Men Swim;

We had beautiful fall weather at Avila today.   It was sunny, warm and it started out calm.  The water was clear, 56 degrees and there was 1+ foot surf.  Sylvia and Yevonne got in early by themselves and swam left down the buoy line, on towards Fossil Point and back.  I was on the pier taking the water temperature when Sylvia and Yvonne were wading in and I could clearly hear their comments on the water temperature, but they get a pass on the grumpy thing because Sylvia doesn't wear a wetsuit and Yvonne goes with just a shortie.  The grumpiness was from the second group.   Ali, Niel, Rick and Duke did almost the same route.   Ali was extremely happy because she was getting reaquainted with her wetsuit after swimming without it up to now.  Niel was grumpy because his lower back was bothering him.  Duke was grumpy because he rode from Orcutt to Halama and back yesterday which was 80 miles with a lot of climbing.  Rick was grumpy because he had run for 2 hours yesterday in new (second time) shoes and blistered his feet.  So, the three guys dragged out butts into the water and swam to catch up with Ali.  When we got to the point the swimming was doing me enough good that I decided to stay out longer, so I swam to the end of the pier.  Duke, Ali and Rick headed back along the buoy line.   I finished up in 42m 30s and covered 1878 meters.
While we were relaxing and warming up on the beach a large pod of dolphins came along the beach. Some came in as close as the surf line while others were 50 to 100 meters beyond the buoy line.  They were numerous and very active with lots of splashing and jumping.  I don't know if they were playing or chasing lunch but it was fun to watch. 

Rob threw out the idea of an Avila Dolphins holiday party.  We have not had one in a while but they always used to be a lot of fun so let's get one planned.  So, Rob, Allison, who is doing the organizing?

niel