The Dawn Patrol In Ventura

I was in Ventura this weekend for the West Coast Conference of the Surfrider Foundation.  I got out at about 6AM on Saturday and Sunday and swam in water that felt like the very high 60's.  Those of us from San Luis Obispo to Humboldt were loving it, while the members from Huntington Beach to San Diego and Hawaii were grousing about the cold conditions. A San Diego member told me they has seen 77 degree water earlier this summer.

Saturday morning my buddy Brad paddled with me so I headed out past the pier and down the beach. My navigation was all over the place.  There was a 3 foot long period swell and in the pre dawn light all I could see when I look up was water and dark sky. The pier is well lit, including an illuminated flag pole on the seaward end, so finding my way on the return leg was easy.  I had not been swimming at this time of day in many years and I had forgotten how beautiful it can be. 

I was on my own Sunday so I did a loop around the pier. I floated for a while at the end of the pier. The sky was lightening and getting red in the east and there was enough light to see the outlines of the early surfers on the break at the point. 

niel