Sunday, May 27th, 2018

We had beautiful conditions today; sunny skys, light wind, a small chop, very clear 55 degree water and 10 swimmers; Jim, Niel, Duke, Heidi, Karen, Tom, Leslie, Jonny, John and Maria. The big plan was to go out to the first buoy by the pier and east to Fossil Point, back to the fourth (last) buoy on the east side, diagonally to the end of the Avila Pier and from there either in to the beach for about 1.2 miles, to the last buoy on the westside of the pier at the mouth of San Luis Creek and back along the buoy line to our starting point and in for about 1.5 miles or over to the Cal Poly Pier, back to the mouth of the creek, along the buoy line to the start and in for about 2 miles. 

Grouping up at the first buoy, Jim, Maria, Jonny, Karen, Duke's arm, 

Tom, Leslie, John and either Heidi's or Maria's hand

After last weeks not so successful underwater photos Tome suggested that if Jim and I held onto the buoy's anchor chain he could get a good underwater shot. 
Photographer buoyancy seems to be just as much of a problem.  The water was sure clear for Avila Beach. 

Niel

Tom and Niel

Jim

Niel, Maria, Duke, Leslie and Heidi

Leslie, Tom, Karen, Maria, Heidi and Duke.

I won't be swimming next Sunday so Duke and Tom will orchestrate the swim and John will write the blog.

niel

Sunday May 20th, 2018

The wind was up early today so it was already blowing hard and steady when I arrived at the beach. I got a reading off of the pier of 54 degrees in very shallow water. There were thin high clouds and a weak sun. There had been no further shark sightings since last weekend so the caution signs were down. With the wind out of the SW I decided that a counter clockwise triangle course would be good because the first leg would be into the chop, the second across the chop, the third would have it following us and the last would start hard but the chop would diminish as we neared the pier.
Swimming today were Niel, Heidi, Jonny, John, Amy, Maria, Tom and dropping in with us form the bay area was Meredith.
We all swam out, turned right and swam to the buoy at the creek mouth. Niel, Maria, Tom and Meredith headed to the end of the pier while John, Jonny, Amy and Heidi headed back along the buoy line. We met up at the last buoy on the east side of the pier and returned to our starting place. The water was extremely clear for Avila and the chop kept me pushing the whole time.

Amy, MAria, Jomnny, Heidi and John getting in.

Niel at the end of the Avila Pier.

We attempted some underwater shots but websites don't make it easy. 

 

Niel and Meredith at the end of the Avila Pier

Self portrait by Tom.

niel

Sunday, May 13th, 2018

The Landlord Drops By -

There was news of a dozen or so sharks of unknown species off of Pismo Beach but this is a normal spring occurrence and would not have kept us out of the water. However, Duke copied me on a text that he had received from Vince, who owns the kayak and paddleboard shop at Port San Luis, to let him, and us, know that beginning on Friday he had been seeing an 8' white shark feeding on sea otters around the Avila and Cal Poly Piers and over near his shop. The Avila and CAl Poly Piers are where we swim. Sunday morning the harbor patrol reported their own similar sighting. The lifeguards were advising people who entered the water to stay close to the shore so getting in the water was totally optional today.

I chose to stay on the beach while Sara, Ben, Jonny and Tom swam in the surfline on the east side of the pier.  I did a toe test and got a water temperature of 54ish degrees under gray skies with no wind, flat conditions and clean water, so it would swim like 52 and be very nice except for the pucker factor. Sara said that if you flipped a shark on its back it would pass out, so that was her plan. I she could do that to several hundred pounds of muscle and teeth I would have gone in and stuck real close to her. Nobody else mentioned a backup plan.

I don't see nuthing out there.......

Tom

Jonny

So a big thanks to Vince for thinking of us. We'll be back next week and hope that the the owner has moved on to another diner.

niel

Sunday. May 6th, 2018

It was a very nice day for a swim today. Avila was sunnyish with high, thin clouds but warm enough to be comfortable. There was no wind, very good visibility, a very small push/swell out of the SW, no waves to speak of and a water temperature that was up to 54 degrees, except for the cold spots. 

Swimming today were John, Jonny, Amy, Heidi, Niel, Duke, Jim and Tom. The warmer water made a 1.5 mile swim possible so we went west along the buoys to the creek, over to the Cal Poly Pier, to the end of the Avila Pier, to the last buoy on the east and back along the buoy line to the start. 

Heidi, Duke, Jonny and Amy getting in

Tom and Jim getting that last goggle adjustment right.

Duke at the last buoy at the creek mouth

 

 Tom asked us to all point towards Reno to see if he could 

get us to do something silly. The answer is definitly!

Heidi, Jim, Duke, Niel, Jonny and John

I caught up with the group off the front at the Cal Poly Pier,

Duke, Jim and Tom

Heidi checking the water temperature 

at the end of the Avila Pier

Me at the last buoy on the east end of the line.