New Year's Day Celebrity Swim

There will be a swim tomorrow. In the water at 10 ahead of the crowds for the noon Polar Bear Swim. Rob Dumouchel will be joining us southerners for some sunshine and warmish water.
I hope that you can join us.


niel

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Niel, Pete, Amy, Tom and John Hampsey swam today. I got a temperature of 54.4 in the ankle deep surf. There were some nice sized sets and smooth water outside. Tom and I went in first. We swam to the end of the pier, over to the buoy on the reef and back to the pier. Amy swam with John. I think they swam directly to the buoy on the reef and back. Peter did his own thing. 

 Tom getting in 

Peter (The Walrus) in his element 

 Niel and Peter

 An underwater shot of Peter. 

 Tom was a little late to ride this one. 

Can you see Tom?

I'll won't be swimming next Sunday but Tom and Peter will be there.

niel

Sunday, December 20. 2015

Sunday, December 13, 2015

This Sunday Avila Beach was gray and windy and I could feel the rain coming. The water was 57.5 degrees at the Avila Pier pier. The ocean was a mess; the smaller 2 -3 foot waves were coming out of the SE while the 3 - 4 foot waves were from the SW with a wind chop on top of it all.   

It was just after high tide and the surf and tide had pushed a lot of trash up onto the beach near the sea wall.  This is half of the plastic that I picked up just around where we sit. I would personally support a ban on detachable lids for disposable plastic bottles.  

It was just Tom and I today. Leslie thought that we looked very impressive getting in.

The bacteria count in the estuary and creek had been high on Thursday ( http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/34 ) so I wanted to avoid swimming near the creek mouth.  To avoid the surfers Tom and I swam out along the west side of the pier to the end, then over to the lone buoy on the east side that is anchored on a reef and from there back to the beach. We covered .88 miles and gave ourselves credit for 1 mile + because of the conditions. 

 Simon says 'get in the water'.

Here we are at the end of the pier. 

Swimming out along the pier we were pushing into a lot of water and during the leg to the buoy I never did figure out which stroke and breathing scheme worked best with the conditions.

When Tom and I arrived at the buoy we meet up with a couple of locals who were hanging out having a very relaxed shell fish lunch. It wasn't easy to get their picture with the swell but that is two otters.

Tom and I doing out otter imitations.
We had the swell behind us on the way back to the beach so the last leg was the easiest and fastest. 

It started raining just as I got to my car. 

niel 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

That's Rick, John and Amy. We swam for about 30 minutes. I took a shallow water temperature from the pier and got a reading of 57, which felt about right. The water was very clean and flat with occasional waist to chest high waves. 

niel

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Avila Beach was a great place to on Sunday. It was sunny with an air temperature in the high 50's, no wind, and an ocean that was providing some waist high waves, mild swells and a water temperature that felt like the mid 50's. The buoys are gone so we are all navigating without their assistance with 'the end of the buoy line' now being an approximate spot in the ocean that is agreed upon while we are swimming.  We got off in waves today. Peter did his usual solo swim. Niel, Tom, Leslie started and were joined by Amy, Rick and John. With the staggered start the early starters wound up treading water while the second group joined up.  When we reached the end of the pier everyone was cold enough to head in. We completed .85 of a mile.

niel

Sunday, November 22, 2015

It was beautiful at Avila Beach today, both in and out of the water. Duke was up for some distance which was good with most of us so we plotted a one and a half mile route. It was comfortably warm on the sand with no wind and a flat ocean. The water temperature (over at the port) was 58 degrees. Swimming today we're Duke, Niel, Tom, Leslie, Sue and Danielle. Sue is from London, England and is visiting her lad who is attending Cal Poly.  She swims year round, without a wetsuit, at Hyde Park in a body of water called The Long Water/The Serpentine that is about 1.3K long.

 Our route was to swim to enter at the pier, swim to the left end of the buoy line, to the end of the Avila Pier, over to the third crossbars on the Cal Poly Pier, in along the pier to the second crossbars, and finally back to our starting point at the Avila Pier and in.

 Duke, Sue and Danielle as we're forming up at the first buoy.

Tom, Sue, Duke and Leslie and Danielle at the left end of the buoy line. 

 The water was nice and clear.

Duke, Sue Tom and Leslie at the Cal Poly Pier. 

The water temperature was all over the place today, warm near the shore, cold at the buoy line and then all over the place. On the leg to the Avila Pier and over to the Cal Poly Pier we were moving in and out of relatively warm and cold spots almost continually. I'm estimating that the total swing was 4 to 5 degrees.   

When we finished up I had 1.67 miles and Duke had 1.5. I don't know what happened there. I also had 9 minutes more than Duke but I record my total time in the water and he records swimming time.

Sue, if you are going to join us next Sunday I'll bring my kayak. If the conditions are favorable and you want to do a single Martini I'll accompany you. We can also just go for a swim. Post a comment to the blog and let me know.

Note, since the Avila pier has been closed I cannot get out to take an accurate water temperature at Avila Beach so I'm quoting the water temperature that is reported by the NOAA station in Port Harford, about 1 mile to the west.

niel

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Stormy conditions at Avila Beach today. Tom ahd texted me Saturday night to check if I was up for a swim in the rain. I was so so about going but once I got his invite I had to show. I'm glad I did. We swam in stormy conditions and had a lot of fun. The air temperature was about 60 degrees and the water was 58 to 59.  There was not much wind but a choppy swell and a flooding tide made a solid push towards the beach, which combined with some waste to chest high waves made things interesting. 

With the end of our warm water and a return of more 'normal' water temperatures I try and not feel like this guy and remember how one we once greeted water temperatures in the high 50's as a treat.

The lifeguard stations have been shut down but the buoys are still in place. We swam out to the end of the pier, down to the end of the buoy line and back to our starting point, for .86 of a mile in 31 minutes from in to out including photos.  With the swell, chop and tide the pier seemed to have grown longer. 

Attempted underwater group shot. 

I'm on the left, having already popped back up.

So we had fun and got to start relearning some real rough water skills.   

The first picture may have given you a false impression that the fellows in the new Patagonia catalogue were just up to staging some funny photos, however, take a close look at this one that was on the next page. I don't see any wetsuits.   
 

niel

Sunday, November 8, 2015

We swam 1.23 miles today in nice conditions. The water was 59 degrees with waist high waves and a swell that was spaced far apart. There was no wind and the visibility was good. Sylvia and Pete swam the buoy line. Niel, Duke, Marcus, Rick, Damion and Tom did a modified triangle; down the buoy line to the left, out and around an anchored catamaran, to the end of the Avila Pier, on to the last buoy at the creek and back to our starting place. 

Tom is always thinking of fun things to do and he has a proposal for a 2.27 mile point to point adventure swim. The route is out to the end of the Avila Pier, to the end of the Cal Poly Pier, over to and around historic Smith Island and to the beach at the base of the Harford Pier. We'd do this sometime in the next few months.,We are polling interest from swimmers, support paddlers and help with shuttling cars if necessary. Indicate your interest by responding to the blog or catch Tom or myself at the beach.  
                           

I found this with a bunch of other old postcards and stuff.  That is Pete Kelley and his original restaurant on Front Street in the Old Avila. This is probably the late 70's or early 80s', after he did his successful Catalina Channel Crossing. What a handsome studly dude and the food was great and you could go next door to the original Barbara's By the Sea, sit at the the longest bar in SLO County, order a beer and Pete would bring you your food.

The Old Avila was funky but very special.

And, a big Thank You to Rhonda for donating the swim safety device and dry bag to the Avila Dolphins. This is a dry bag that is designed to be towed by a swimmer. It is intended to serve two functions; it is big and bright so it increases your visibility to boaters etc., and you can place food, clothes or whatever you want to take along but keep dry on a open water swim. Though not designed to, it can also provide some flotation in an emergency. 

niel

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The start of November at Avila Beach greeted us with friendly conditions; clear sunny skys with an air temperature in the 70's and a water temperature of 61 degrees. The water was very clean with good visibility and 3 foot waves.  Today's swimmers with wetsuits were Rick, Niel. Tom and Nicole with Pete and Sylvia holding up the honor of the traditional faction. Pete and Sylvia did their own swim. Niel, Tom, Rick and Nicole did the triangle clockwise covering 1.08 miles in 39 minutes from in to out. 

Rick and a non swimmer at the east end of the buoy line.

Tom and Rick, at the same spot

Attempted group photos, Nicole's fingers, Niel's hand and Rick's arm.

It is really hard to stay submerged in a wetsuit with no weight belt.

niel

Sunday, October 25, 2015

There was no sun at the beach this morning, just thick high clouds. The ocean was flat with some 3 to 4 foot sets of waves that were spaced well apart. There was no sign of any wind.
Getting in today were Niel, Duke, Rick, Amy, John, Sylvia and Gerry. The water temperature was down to 'only' 62 degrees or so, colder than we have been used to but still 8 degrees above the temperatures for October 2013. We swam out to the first buoy, went under the pier and along the buoy line to the last buoy at the creek. From here Amy and John returned along the buoy line and to the third buoy on the left side of the pier while Niel, Duke and Rick swam to the end of the pier and in to the beach from there.  We covered .81 miles.

niel

Sunday, October 18, 2015

A beautiful fall day at Avila before we got in. 65 degree water, air temp in the upper 70's, 2 to 3 foot waves and a slight gusty breeze. More like summer than fall conditions, another day of unseasonably warm air and water.
Swimming Sunday were Sylvia, Niel, Rick, Duke, Dale, Tom, Marcus, John, Pete and Damion.  The plan was to go out to the buoy line on the left side of the pier, to swim along   the buoys, past the last one and on down to Fossil Point. From there we would return back along our route.

The swim started out smoothly but once we passed the last buoy I began wondering if there was a powerboat maneuvering in the area because small waves were starting to break over my head from behind. When we grouped up near the point we all realized that a strong WSW wind had come up and pushed up a strong current with an 18" wind chop which coming towards us almost directly from where we began the swim. The swim back was the roughest conditions that we have had since last winter.  I normally alternate breath but I found that breathing every other stroke put me in better sync with the chop, but the conditions were so comfortable getting back to the pier was just a matter of doing the work. 

Some of the group near the point. The rest are there somwhere.

Tom 

Tom got this one of me

And this one!

The water was a bit messier when we were getting out.

So we did .9 miles that felt like 1.4.

niel