Sunday, May 28, 2017

We had a great swim on Sunday. The water was 55 degrees, flat and clear with small waves. Niel, Heidi, John and Jonny were joined by Kris, Joe, Sue, Archy and three other new swimmers who were new to the group and I never got their names.  We swam out to the buoy line and to the left to the las buoy. At this point Sue and Archy, who swim without wetsuits, kept going in order to keep warm. Two swimmers joined them back down the buoy line. One reformed, the rest of the group returned to where we started. Some additional people dropped off leaving Niel, Joe, Jonny, John and Heidi to swim to the creek and back with an extra buoy addin in at the end. That made it just over a mile for the group. 

Something was sticking to the lense of the camera, making the photos kind of a mess. Sorry about that and the lack of a plot. I'll try and not repeat the technical problems next Sunday.   

niel

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Whitie Is Back In Town

On Thursday there was what the lifeguards termed a 'credible' sighting of a white shark near the end of the Avila Pier.  No other sightings had occurred by Sunday and the beach wasn't closed so Niel, Jonny, Heidi and Duke got in and enjoyed the warmest water we have had this year. Since New Year's Day the water temperature had been between 49 and 53 and today I measured 55 degrees off of the Avila Pier. Spring conditions may be behind us!

It was warm in San Luis Obispo but surprisingly cool and foggy at Avila Beach. There were holes in the gray and a hint of wind so chances were that the wind would come up enough to clear off the fog.  

There were a lot of seals on the rocks to the west of the creek mouth so we decided to do a mile on the left side of the pier. 

Heidi, Duke and Jonny wading in. 

Heidi, Jonny, doing his shark imitation and Duke

What a difference a few degrees and sunshine makes!  We had wonderful swimming conditions with no sense of urgency to keep moving or to get out of the water. The wind did come up out of the SW, cleared out the fog and pushed up a 12" wind swell that was running towards the beach across our line, making things interesting.

We covered 1.01 miles and had a great time. 

niel

Sunday, May 14th, 2017

Blown Out

Jonny, Heidi, Christina, Maria and Niel swam today and we had real ocean conditions for our swim.  The air temperature was about 60 degrees with thin high clouds cutting down on sunshine.  There was a strong and steady wind out of the NW that was making flags standing straight out and umbrellas take off down the beach.  When we were getting in there was 6 to 12 inch chop but not yet any whitecaps. I had recorded a water temperature of 52 degrees from our pier. 

The water temperature took 1 to 2 degree drop when we cleared the surf line. We swam under the pier and down the beach towards the last buoy at the creek mouth.  In the water the chop was more like a foot plus with a strong current making it a lot of work to make headway and to try and not swallow too much water. The was Christina's first time in rough conditions. It was cold, windy and she was trying a new top that was opening up in the water, so she headed for the beach. Jonny went with her. The rest of us went to the last buoy and came back along the buoy line and picked up Jonny.  We swam to the end of the pier and then in along the lee side of the pier.  We all had a great swim but .75 miles was enough. 

The leg down to the buoy at the creek mouth was almost into the wind and if you could figure out the chop it was just work. The leg out to the end of the pier was across the chop and was rough. I was doing best by breathing on my right so I could see when the chop was going to break over my head and catch a breathe on the left side. Coming in along the lee of the pier was the easiest leg as we had a bit of a push.

Heidi, Christina, Maria and Jonny before heading under the pier. 

Heidi at the creek mouth

Maria and Heidi at the same spot. The swell was messing with my photography 

 

Jonny, Heidi and Maria arriving at the end of the pier. The chop was starting to whitecap now.

Heidi and Maria.

In June of last year we were enjoying water temperatures in the upper 50's.  If we see that again this year it will be time to start planning some longer swims.

niel

A Rainy Sunday in May

I didn't go to the beach today. Maybe it was just the strangeness of going from 85 degrees to cool and gray in 2 day just put me off. It began raining around midnight Saturday and was still raining at mid-morning. While the water would have been warmer and the swimming nice I had been looking forward to sitting on the beach and relaxing, so, no beach for me today.

Next week for sure.

niel