Sunday, June 26, 2016

It was clear and sunny and crowded at Avila Beach today. It was comfortable on the sand but hot a few blocks inland. There was no wind, the water was nice and clear and about 57 degrees. There were numerous personal watercraft and boats offshore.  

Swimming today were Leslie, Tom, Stephanie, Duke, Rick, Johnny, Amy, John and Peter. Mark joined us on his SUP. I was at the beach but just messed around in the waves, so there are no photos or swim log today.  Everyone did a lap along the buoy line for about a mile.

Sunday, July 3rd. - We will swim as usual.
Monday, July 4th -  We will swim at 9AM and be gone before the crowds get too crazy. The Pirate's Cove swim is scrubbed and there is no set route. We may have enough support people to allow a longer swim if the number of interested swimmers and support people works out. Or, we can just do the buoy line, have some fun and start the day off right.


It is the time of the year when we hear more about sharks; sightings, warnings, talk on the beach.  There is a large amount of well researched information about sharks and what danger that they represent to people in the water at this webiste http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/isaf/home
Such as:
There are seven times more shark attacks in Florida than California.
There have been 11 confirmed shark attacks on humans in California since 1926.
and so much more.

There is no data on how Sherman's there are out there. 


niel

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Avila was the place to be today. It was warm and sunny with a nice breeze to make it comfortable. The water temperature was 56 with some chop building up from the wind. The lifeguards told us that there was a pod of dolphins not far from where we were swimming but nobody saw them. 
Jeff and Robin got in early and swam about a mile along the buoy line. Sylvia and Peter did their own swims.  Niel, Doug, Duke, Rick, Tom, Damon and Micah swam over to the Cal Poly Pier and back to the end of the Avila Pier, where Rick, Doug and Damon came in along the pier while Niel, Tom, Duke and Micah swam to the last buoy on the Pismo side and in along the buoys to our starting point and in.  That was just a few strokes short of 1.5 miles. 

Tom, Damon, Micah and Doug at the Cal Poly Pier

                                   

Doug and Nie at the Cal Poly Pier

Duke, Doug, Tom and Damon (?) at the end of the Avila Pier.

We are still looking for additional paddlers, specifically for the 4th of July swim to Pirate's Cove, and for other 'adventure' swims during the summer. Respond to this blog if you are interested. 

niel

Sunday, July 12, 2016

A Better Sombrero Swim -

We did this route for the first time a few weeks ago. This time we modified the route to make the 'crown' wider to improve the outline.

In the water today were Nicole, Duke, Rick, Doug Parrish (welcome back!, we have not seen Doug in a long time), Peter, Tom, Niel and Sylvia AND Mark and his SUP to keep us company and visible to errant personal watercraft.

Sylvia and Peter did their own swims while the rest of the group attempted to be graphically creative.  The conditions were gray skies, no wind, 57 degree water, small surf and flat water.

Getting In: Peter, Nicole, Duke, Doug, Rick and Sylvia (behind Rick)

Nicole, Tom and Mark at the last buoy on the left of the pier.

Doug on the left side of the pier.

Duke and Tom discussing Warriors vs Cavs while in the far background everyone else heads in.

Proposed 4th of July Swim - 

The 4th is on a Monday. If we can find sufficient support we will do the 3 mile swim from Avila Beach to Pirate's Cove and back. Here is the plot from the  last time we did this swim, on July 4, 2013.

Mark and his SUP should be available. We need at least two more support people. Kayaks, paddleboard or SUP. If you are interested in supporting this swim contact Duke or myself or respond to the blog.

niel

Sunday, June 5, 2016

It was cold and grey at Avila Beach this morning. The up side of the 'June Gloom' is less wind and warmer water. The water temperature in the shallows at the Avila Pier was 58 degrees, up 5 degrees in the last week, so we had warm(er), flat and grey swimming conditions. Swimming today were Peter, Niel, Tom, Rick, Amy, John, Marcus, Duke and Nicole.  The main group swam to the end of the Avila Pier, over to the third crossbars on the Cal Poly Pier (about mid way along its length), back to the buoy line at the Avila Pier, under to the first buoy and in. This was 1.24 miles.  I like this swim because the legs from the end of the Avila Pier to the Cal Poly Pier and back to the Avila Pier are 600 and 700 meters respectively. They are a nice chance for me to just swim and think about my stroke or whatever floats into my mind.  The sun came out when we were on the leg back to the Avila Pier and made the post swim hang out on the beach pleasant.

Amy and John swam to the end of the Avila Pier, down to the end of the buoy line at the creek and back to the Avila Pier. Peter always does his own thing. Marcus swam to the end of the Avila Pier with the main group and came back in. 

We need some (3?)  paddlers to support swimmers on some 1.5 to 3 mile swims this summer. The swims would be in along various routes in Avila Beach. A paddler can be a kayak, SUP, paddleboard. The paddlers support the swimmers by aiding in navigation and by providing a visual aid to boaters that there are swimmers in the water. If you are interested post a comment to this blog.   Thanks

Tom, getting in

Nicole, Rick, Duke, John, Amy and Marcus

Duke, Nicole, Tom and Rick at the Cal Poly Pier.
That is the third set of cross bars in the background.
They give us something to navigate towards along the length of a pier that is 900 meters long.