Sunday. January 28, 2018

I was out of town so today's post is by John Hampsey and Duke.

Avila blog   January 28, 2018

We had a solid swim group today for January, perhaps because of the unusually warm air and dazzling sun. The beach had the crowds of a June day and the air temperature was 80 degrees!

Swimming on this Sunday were Karen, Phil, Curtis, Amy, Sam, Sidney, Jonny, Heidi, Duke, and myself. The tides were extreme, as noted by the rock-strewn high water mark. And as we entered the sea at just after low tide we walked for quite a distance across a magically-extended sandbar. There were 1-2 foot waves and the water was clean and clear. The big surprise was the water temp of 50 degrees. This was the coldest water we have experienced in almost a year.

 Everyone swam east heading for the reef buoy, which made sighting easy but which also meant several swimmers had to wrestle with Proteus the ancient sea-god who was napping amidst the tangle of spiraling kelp. At that point, because of the unusually cold water, Amy and Sam decided to head back and the rest of us continued swimming east to Fossil Point. From there we divided into two groups—one headed to the end of the pier and the other swam to the middle of the pier. The wind had picked up a bit and there was some strong chop in the water during the latter part of our swim. Total swim distance was 1.1 to 1.2 miles. Unlike last Sunday, everyone warmed up quickly back on the beach and enjoyed the exceptional moment of heat, bright sun, and gorgeous cerulean-blue sky.

 --John Hampsey

Sunday, January 21, 2018

The large swell that was hitting the west facing beaches managed to push up some 4'+ waves at south facing Avila but the lulls between the largest waves was sufficient to allow us an easy in and out.  The water quality in the San Luis Obispo Creek is clearing up but the creek estuary is still loaded with bacteria, so we continued to stay away from the west side of the pier and the mouth of the creek. 

We swam down to Fossil Point and back for a distance of 1.1 miles. The water temperature was 54 degrees. There was a gusty wind that would die completely and fast moving high clouds which which would click off the sun and quickly turn things from comfortable to cold. Today's group consisted of Duke, Niel, Heidi, Kurtis, Karen, Jonny and John.  The swimming conditions were very nice; flat smooth, clean water with enough swell moving through to make it feel like the ocean. 

I forgot to recharge the camera battery last week so there are only a few photos today.

 

Duke, Niel and Karen (sorry) at Fossil Point.

niel

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Conditions today were very much like last Sunday, except better. Like last week, runoff from rain earlier in the week had the bacteria count at the mouth of San Luis Obispo Creek at 7 times the safe level for contact so we stayed well ayay on the east side of the pier. The better part was that there was more sun and it was warmer. The water temperature was 55 degrees with occasional 3 to 4 foot waves that went down while we swam.  We swam out to the end of the Avila Pier, to Fossil Point and back parallel to the beach for a swim that was 1.22 miles. 

We had nine swimmers today; Niel, Heidi, Kurtis, Karen, Sara, with husband Ben who stayed with Mckinsey (5) while we swam, Tom, Jim, Phil and Jonny. Kurtis was back to swim with us after a two year beak. I think that we will be seeing more of him again. Outside the surfline the water was smooth and glassy with really nice swimming conditions.

Tom, Jim and Karen at the end of the pier. 

Phil at the Avila Pier

Phil and Karen at Fossil Point

Jonny, Kurtis, Heidi and Karen at Fossil Point. 

There was a bit of a swell near the point.

niel

Sunday, January 7th, 2018

We had beautiful swimming conditions today except for the fog. The visibility kept changing, promising to clear and then closing back in.  The best plan was to swim parallel to the beach in case the fog closed in or we were separated. The water temperature was 57 degrees with small waves and no wind. 

In the water were Niel, Heidi, Duke, Karen, Sydney, Sam, Jim, Jonny, Tom, Phil and John.  We started out thinking that we were going to do a lap of the beach along the nonexistent buoy line, but this was reconsidered on the first leg. After Wednesday's rain the creek was very dirty, (http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/34), with readings that were three to 140 times the state standard for safe contact, so we decided to stay of the east side of the pier away from the creek.  A swim parallel to the beach down to Fossil Point and back was a nice mile. The water was very clean except for near the point where there was some mild red tide, which is very unusual for this time of the year. 

I think that that is John who is trying to boot up his x-ray 

vision in order to see through the fog to Fossil Point.

Duke explaining to Sydney and Sam how it makes him feel when they blow past him,

 with Tom in the background backstroking to the beach.

niel