Niel, Tom Israel and Jodi had a great swim today. At 7AM it was overcast and spitting in true pre June-Gloom style but with no fog. I could see the breakwater at the port, which is about 2 miles away. The air temp was 54° and the water was 56.3°, bumpy from a SE chop and still very clean. We decided to do a counter clockwise Poly Pier and Reef Buoy loop. Jodi would drop off at the end of the Avila pier if her shoulder was suggesting it but she hung in for the full 3200 M. She has 4 more appointments with her PT and then she is good to go.
Tom, Jodi and Niel at the end of the CPP.
This is the time of the year when the 'wind sailors' or Vallela, show up. They have been washing up on the beach the last week and were plentiful in the water today. They are relatives of Portuguese Man-of- War. They have a flat blue body that is about he size of a silver dollar with a sail on top to move them along. They have short stinging tentacles for capturing plankton but the siting is too weak to bother us. In another month or so we may see dinner plate size sea jellies with white and purple domes.
With the water so clean and up to 'normal' wintertime temperatures today's swimming was more fun than it has been since December. I decided to pull the beard of the swim gods, ditch my 3.5/4.5 wintertime wetsuit, and wear my Orca wetsuit, daring the gods to make the water bounce back down to 51°. They were kind and I was very comfortable today.
Tom L's Saturday swim report: I got to Avila at 945. The hoards of people were here and were continuing to arrive despite the thick overcast and 57° temperature. The water was calm and glassy when I got in, but would get bumpy as a breeze picked up during my swim. Niel had already told me the water temperature was 57° before I got in... I would've called it 55, or 56. I guess that is the cloud cover bringing my toe-mometer down. In the wildlife category, there was a heavy presence of little jellyfish. For some reason, the name blue bottle comes to mind, but I may be mixing them up with some jellies I have seen in Australia. The ones today do not sting. They are nature's sailors. They have a blue ringed base, with a clear sail to travels the ocean. There were hundreds of them in today's regatta. The other wildlife was not indigenous to the ocean – it was a Homosapien on a paddleboard doing yoga. It was an excellent day of swimming, and I am glad to be getting out of here, because humans are overrunning the place!
It sounds like summer is going to be a challenge for Tom L.
Tom, there are no crowds at 7. You can join us anytime.
I'll swim tomorrow at 11.
niel
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