Sunday, September 30th, 2018

The end of September gave us a nice sunny day for our swim. It was comfortably warm and  sunny with a light breeze. I measured a water temperature from the pier of 58 degrees in the surf.  The water had cleaned up a lot from the red tide muck of last Sunday. The water was clear and a nice green. 

Swimming today were Niel, Karen, Tom, Heidi, Emily (her first swim with us), John and Brenda.  

I suggested that we swim out to the end of the Avila Pier, over to the end of the Cal Poly Pier, in along the CPP to our usual spot at the second set of crossbars and from there back to our starting point. I didn't have my cheat sheet of swim distances with me so I guessed this route would be under 1.5 miles. Oupps, well 1.75 is close.

Tom, Emily, John and Brenda getting in. 

I think John was doing a little lobster fishing.

Emily and Tom at the end of the Cal Poly Pier. 

The leg between the two piers turned out to be an unexpected

challenge pushing into a chop and current.  

Niel and Emily at the end of the Cal Poly Pier

Art by Tom.

 

Heading off along the Cal Poly Pier to our waypoint at the second crossbars.

We had the chop and current on our rear or left quarter for the rest of the swim.

Some dolphins did a drive by of Heidi near the end of the pier. 

Tom and Emily are in there between the water drops on the lense.

Brenda, Karen and Heidi at our waypoint.

It was much flatter closer to shore and on the lee side of the pier.

John, Brenda and Karen

There were 6 - 8 Otters in the kelp bed we passed on the last leg to the Avila Pier. 

This was a great swim, starting off harder and more changeling than expected but finishing up with a 'downhill' swim. 

niel

Sunday, September 22, 2018

It was cold today with thick gray overcast, a 55 degree air temperature and 57 degree water.

There was no wind and the water was flat, so except for the red tide the swimming conditions were great. ;-(  The water looked fairly clean but had a taste like licking a car tire, a rubbery/chemical smell/taste.  The lifeguard told us that yesterday the red tide was really bad so I guess we were lucky that it cleared up for us today.

Swimming today were Niel, Amy, Karen, Erc, Tom, Phil, Maria and John.

Thanks to Maria for sharing her plot of the swim after my

Garmin 310XT had a seizure and wouldn't download any data.

We swam a modified clockwise triangle which had a jog around an anchored sailboat. I had 1.72 km

That is Karen, Phil and Eric leaving the first buoy and in the background 

is the sailboat that we would swim past on the second leg. 

The group on the first leg heading down the buoy line 

Phil, Tom, Maria and Eric at the end of the first leg.

The sun began to peek out while we were swimming. It came out enough to warm us up after the swim and then slid back behind the clouds.

niel

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Tom's Three Buoys then Three Boats Swim

Tom's idea for today was to swim east along the buoy line for 3 buoys, then to the end of the Avila Pier and to then do a counterclockwise circle around three boats that were anchored on the west side of the pier, come back to the end of the Avila Pier and go in.

It sounded like fun so Niel, Heidi, Craig, Tom, Brenda and Eric headed out. Peter started with us but did his own swim. 

The water was 59 degrees and very clear but full of loose kelp, pretty flat, with a current out of the SW. The route was 1.52 miles and a great swim.

If you look really close you might be able to see the boats in the plot

;-)

At the start, Craig in his new wetsuit, ready for the holidays.

 

Tom at the third buoy

 

Niel at the same spot in nice clear water.

Tom, Craig and Heidi at the third buoy

Brenda at the third buoy

At the end of the Avila Pier, Tom is providing directions.

Our first boat is to the right of his head, the second to the left and the 

third (the closest to us) must be out of sight behind his head.

 

Underwater shots by Tom. Posing by Niel 

A blurry shot of Tom, Eric and Craig at the second boat. 

Heidi at the second boat.

niel

Sunday, September 9th, 2018

Swim report from Tom.  September 9, 2018

A beautiful September day at Avila - clear and sunny, mid-seventies; a taste
of fall in the air.  Swimming today was Duke, Heidi, Amy, Karen, Brenda,
Maria, & Tom.  Once in the water, we hit the first buoy and went west to
crossbar #2 of the Poly Pier (with a brief stop at the 4th buoy to group
discuss the route).  At crossbar #2, the group dispersed, with some
returning the way they came, and some going long to the end of the Poly
Pier.  All in all, it was a beautiful day for swimming.  

Water temp: Whatever it felt like to you.  Me?  I'd call it about 59 - 60.

Quote of the day:  "I'm going to make Avila great again."  ~ Duke

No one was quite sure what Duke meant, but it was a concern.  The good folks
of Avila Beach might want to keep an eye on this.  Perhaps, even get an
independent investigator in place.  Just a thought.

Thanks Tom.

niel

Wednesday swims?

Brenda McAlice	1:29 PM (20 minutes ago)
to me, duke@kw.com

Hi Niel and Duke- I'm training for the Morro Bay tri Nov 4th. If today was any indication, 

I need some serious time in the water. Can you use your communication prowess to see 

if anyone is up for a Weds swim weekly now through November? Maybe a 545 meet and 6pm in water?

brendabmcalice@gmail.com

Labor Day Swim, September 3rd, 2018

Niel, Craig and Heidi got in at 9:30 and swam over to the Cal Poly Pier for a 1+ mile wake up swim before the holiday crowds arrived. Conditions were overcast with flat clean water (no wind this early). We are encountering a lot of loose kelp in the water which is normal for this time of the year. Once we got our past the surf line the water temperature dropped and felt like 55 degrees +/-. I had measured a temperature of 58 degrees from the pier (in the surf) and Heidi's watch was reading 56 during the swim.  Once we got used to the water the swimming conditions were wonderful. 

Heid , Niel and Craig at the start

Craig and Heidi at the Cal Poly Pier.

niel

Sunday, September 2nd, 2018

A Change In The Weather -

Avila Beach was cool, gray and still with solid high clouds, no wind and clean and colder(er) water. After quite a few weeks of water temperatures in the low 60's I measured 57 degrees off of the Avila Pier. Post swim opinions were that the average water temperature was closer to 55, with the lack of sun helping to make the water feel cool. We decided to do a simple clockwise triangle with the option of changing the route for more distance if the desire reached critical mass at some point during the swim. That didn't happen and we stuck to the original plan. Swimming conditions were great except for the gray skies and the cool water. 

Swimming today were Niel, Heidi, Duke, Phil, Eric, Karen, Jeff, Amy, Tom, Dave and Don.

 Tom, Duke, Jeff, Eric, Phil, Don and Dave 

forming up at the first buoy

Eric, Dave, Jeff, Duke, Tom, and another green cap.

At the last buoy near Fossil Point. 

At this point we spotted a bloated seal carcass that was floating 

about 50 M inshore of us, so we decided to boogie 

out'a there and get to the end of the Avila Pier. 

Jeff, Eric, Don and Duke at the end of the Avila Pier.

Dave and Phil at the end of the Avila Pier discussing race strategies 

for the Santa Cruz half Ironman next weekend.

Labor Day Swim - There will be a swim tomorrow morning, in the water at 9:30 and out'a there before the crowds. Route to be determined before we get in.
So far Niel, Heidi and Craig are swimming. 

niel