Sunday, September 8, 2019

It was clear, calm, sunny and warm at Avila Beach at 10:30. I measured a water temperature of 59.5 off of the pier.

Notice how nice and flat the water is? This was going to change.

Swimming today were Niel, Louis, Agustin, Heidi, Amy, John, Brenda and Tom.
Niel, Louis, Agustin and Tom swam to the end  of the Avila Pier, over to the Cal Poly Pier and back to our starting point.
Amy, John, Brenda and Heidi swam to the first buoy, out to the anchored boat in the second photo, to the second buoy, to the 4th buoy, to the end of the Avila Pier and in. 

The standard photo of Tom, waiting for the rest of us to get our acts together and to get in and start swimming.
Shortly after both groups began swimming a west wind began and within a few minutes built to the point of pushing breaking whitecaps.
The the route of the swim from the end of the Avila Pier to the Cal Poly Pier was about 20 degrees off of the direction of the wind so we had a fun time of it pushing through the waves and current.

Agustin and Louis at the Cal Poly Pier. Louis has done a half Ironman and is 

really game but this was his first ocean swim!  It was quite a day for your first try at ocean swimming. He was smiling when we got out and will be back.

The back and forth loop at the Cal Poly Pier was Agustin and I. The first swimmers to a waypoint along the swim usually swim back along the route to the last swimmer and then back to the waypoint. The faster swimmers get some extra distance and they don't get cold waiting. 

The swim back to the beach had following swells with an occasional large long period swell that were almost large enough to get a short ride on.

The Group 2 route.

niel