Thursday, December 30th, 2021

 Avila Beach was sunny and 45° at 8 o'clock. There was a light offshore breeze that wound up developing some legs as the morning progressed. The water temperature was 54°. I took a chance on the water quality so soon after a rain and hedged my betts by staying away from the mouth of SLO Creek at the west end of the beach.  I got in about 8:15.

The plot tells the story. Heading to the CP Pier the water wasn't flat but I had an pretty easy time of it.  Once I turned around I was swimming at about 45° to a head high chop. The chop was slapping my head and catching my hands and just messing with me. Things got tougher halfway to the Avila Pier and then laid down after I rounded the pier and got closer to shore.

A nice welcome back to the ocean.

I didn't see Tom but he said that he was running late and would be swimming.

No rain is predicted for the next week so I'll be back at 8 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday.

Saturday is New Year's Day so we should bring snacks for afterwards.

niel