Wednesday, July 31St. 2024

 Tom's Swim Report - 

Heavy marine layer, 59° air temperature, with a decent breeze. That was Avila at 915 AM. See picture below. There was a pretty good chop on the water and a swell of about 3 feet. The water felt 53° again, which means Niel will tell me that it is 55. Those were the conditions on the last day of July. 

Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

Cold and Short -

The only constant this year seems to be change.

Yes, the fog and flat water were the same this morning but the water temperature was 54° - 55°, so we suddenly have winter swimming conditions.  

Tom and I are competing to see who can post the most photos of fog. 

Fog and cold combined to make a traditional buoy line swim sound like a good idea. I got out at the end of two laps because my feet were feeling cold.

There were two otters cursing the length of the beach in the surf line. They were probably checking to see if crab was part of the morning buffet.   

This past week two seals have washed up on Avila Beach. The Marine Life Rescue folks say these two had experienced an encounter with a shark. The lifeguards say there have not been any recent sightings of sharks. And, the rescue folks have been seeing an unusually high number of seals with symptoms of domoic acid poisoning, especially for this early in the summer.  The water at Avila does not have the red brown yucky cloudy appearance associated with a plankton bloom so there is or to learn about.

I'm planning on swimming on Thursday and Saturday at 7 AM and on Sunday at 11 when I will hopefully catch some sun.

niel    

Monday, July 29th, 2024

It was a similar day, but different. Air temperature was 60° when I arrived at 915 AM. There was a heavy marine layer, and there was a slight breeze that created a bump on the water. More of a bump than I have seen in weeks. The water temperature dropped 2° from yesterday, down to 53° if my toes are to be believed.  It was a good morning swim.  I spoke to one of my dog walking friends, who is here several times a week and is a reliable source… She said there has been two seals that have washed in the past week or so.  One down by fossil point that was decapitated and the other down by the creek mouth on the west side.  Definitely something going on out there. 

I don't know. At noon yesterday I was comfy in the water and measured 58°. Tom's toes are usually pretty accurate.....

and decapitated seals, but no sightings of the landlord......

niel

Sunday, July 28th, 2024

The beach was gray and cool when I arrived but with glassy, flattish seas but while I was swimming the sun came out, the wind came up and the water became very bumpy.  The air temp went from 61° t the upper 70°'s and umbrellas started flying down the beach. I spoke with Sue and Tom, they has swum out to the Avila Rock. They said that there was a seal next to the pilings at the end of the Avila Pier that was acting strangely and should be avoided. A lifeguard told me that in the past week seals had been rushing up onto the beach and generally acting unusual. I decided to stay a good distance from the end of the pier and any distressed wildlife.      

I decided that a clockwise loop to the Poly Pier and a swim in along the pier would be nice and not involve the end of the Avila Pier. What I did not consider was how this route swims in a building summer wind. I came around the kelp patch at the reef and realized that I would be swimming 1,200M into a building chop all of the way to the Poly Pier.  Ah, so meditative.  

The water ran warmer and colder but was generally 57° - 58°.

 

Two views from the end of the Poly Pier    

Even the last bit along the west buoy line was bumpy. When I got out there were whitecaps at the end of the Avila Pier.

Next week. I'll swim Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7AM and Sunday at 11AM

niel 

 

Saturday, July 27th, 2024

 

End to End With Friends -

                                                                                                                                                                      Jodi, Matt and Niel got in at 7. There were dense gray clouds but unlimited visibility. The air temp was 56°, the water was 58°, flat and glassy. What waves there were were 2 foot +/-.  A pod of dolphins swam along the east buoy line while we were getting into our gear.

Jodi and Matt were interested in duplication my Thursday route so we swam down the buoy line to the first crossbars, back to the Avila Pier and to the other end of the buoy line and out to the end of Fossil Point. There is a wide channel through the kelp to reach the first crossbars.  

Matt, Niel and Jodi at the first crossbars.

Paula and Ilene were going to get in at 11 and do 7,000M. It would be nice for them if the wind does not come up. They are training for a 10K in a reservoir near Ft. Collins, CO. in September (?).

I'll swim at 11 tomorrow.

niel

Friday, July 26th, 2024

 We call it fog….

... when the marine layer is thick and low. See picture. 

 The air temperature was 60° when I arrived at Avila at 9 AM. Once I got close enough to the ocean where I could see, it was glassy and calm. The water was 58° in most spots, with a few spots of 59.  The west side had an unpleasant scent to it, so I stayed east. By the time I got out at 10:30, the sun was starting to burn through.  It was a nice morning Swim. 

Thursday, July 25th, 2024

End to End - 

Today I swam an extended buoy line to the first crossbars on the Poly Pier on the west and to Fossil Point on the east. I'd never done this swim before. When I began I was thinking that I'd swim the west buoy line and continue past the 4th buoy past until I encountered too much kelp. It turned out that there were large gaps in the kelp and I swam all of the way to the first crossbars. I reversed course, swam to Fossil Point, and swam back to the Avila Pier.    

At the first crossbars

As much of a view as I had of the Avila Pier from the first crossbars.

Fossil Point. I was trying to catch the back of my head in the foreground.  

I got in at 7:30. The fog was coming and going. It was 59° with 58° water. Still smooth and flat with no surf.

I'll be at the group swim Saturday morning at 7 and swim at 11 on Sunday.

niel

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024

 Tom's Wednesday Swim Report -

Just when I thought the weather might never change, it has changed. The air temperature was 73° when I arrived at 9 AM. Clear blue skies and glassy flat water. The water temperature was mostly 58° with spots of 57 and 59 scattered around.  Beautiful swimming conditions. 

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024

 

I waited until the end of my swim to get a photo of the 

sunrise, but this was the best Avila had for me today. 

The swimming conditions were great and makes me wonder how we do this in the winter......In 4 months I'll know.

For today I had 56° air, 59° water, no wind, no sun, no waves, no boats, clean water. The only snag is the warm water is causing the Bull Kelp to begin dying so I would swim into drifting rafts of kelp that had broken loose from the bottom.  A small price to pay for not sharing a lane. 

I've a busy morning Thursday but I should get in around 7.

niel

Monday, July 22nd, 2024

Tom's Monday Morning Swim Report - 

What you see is what I got… conditions remain similar to what they have been for the last couple weeks. Heavy marine layer, 59° air, 58° water, flat calm and nice swimming. 

Sunday, July 21st, 2024

Summer Swimming Arrives in Avila Beach - 

At 11 o'clock it was 61° in Avila and the sun was just beginning to burn through the clouds. It would be around 80° at 1:00.

The water was 58° to 59° and smooth with the mid-day wind chop just starting to pick up. The 'surf' was an occasional 2+ footer.

Paula and Alan got in at 10:20 to do a 6,000M training swim.  Paula and Ilene are doing a 10K swim in a reservoir near Ft. Colling , Co. in September and need to be getting some distance in. 

Niel and Jeff got in at 11 and did a neighborhood tour for an hour and a half. With the sun out the water felt really friendly.   

This route was 1st buoy on the east, 4th buoy on the east, end of Avila Pier, 4th buoy on the west, 1st buoy on the west, end of Avila Pier, end of CP Pier, to the 2nd crossbars, to the 4th buoy on the west, to the 1st buoy on the east and in.

Jeff and family are flying to N.Z. on next Sunday so we'll see him again in another 11 months.

I'll be swimming at 7 on Tue., Thurs, and Sat and at 11 next Sun.

niel  

Saturday, July 20th, 2024

It was a fine morning for a swim. Avila was calm with dense low cloud cover with visibility of a half mile.  It was 55° and the water was clean and 56°- 57°. The surf amounted to an occasional 3 footer.   

NIel, Kelsie, Paula, Tom I., Jodi and Matt got in the water at a late 7 o'clock. The plan was to swim the east buoy line, to the end of the Avila Pier, to the last buoy on the west side, check out the visibility and make a plan. We swam to the second crossbars and to the end of the pier staying between the pilings, which is the closest it gets to having lane lines at Avila.  The tide was high enough that we could swim over through the third crossbars instead of having to go around.  Then to the end of the Avila pier where Paula, Kelsie and Matt went in and Jodi, Tom and Niel swam to the 4th buoy, to #1 and in.   I had 3,848 M in 1:31.       

The water was glassy for the entire swim.

Matt, Jodi, Tom I., Kelsie, Paula and Niel at the last buoy on the west side.  

Crabs for breakfast at the second crossbars

Jeff and I will swim at 11 tomorrow.

niel

Thursday, July 18th, 2024

 

Otter toes at Fossil Point.

When I headed to the beach I was thinking about Avila Rock but once there the visibility wasn't good enough to see the rock reliably so I swam to Fossil Point. The air temp was 57°, the water was 56° and felt cooler in spots. When I got in the water was choppy but before I reached at the point it had glassed off and stayed that way.   

Looking from Fossil Point at the Avila Pier melting into the murk. 

Not a ripple anywhere.

I spoke with Jim at the showers and spoke to him and his wife for a bit. We got in at about the same time but didn't cross paths.

  

The Saturday group will swim at 7 and Jeff and I and whoever else cares to join us will swim at 11 on Sunday.

niel

Wednesday, July 17th, 2024

 

Today was a make up day for a early morning meeting yesterday.  I could say that I swam on Wednesday this week just to see if Avila was a completely different place outside of my usual T, Th, S, Sun schedule but there were some of the same dogs and their people and the swimming was beautiful. 

Yesterday would have been nice. I was here at 9 for my meeting and it was sunny, calm and warm. Today it was cloudy and cool. The good part was the water was super clear and flat. The air temp was 51° and the water was 55°. The water was 59° Saturday and Sunday. This yo-yoing of the water temp is a new thing. Maybe the intent is to not let us get soft because of the warm summer water temperatures and to keep us tough for the big drop in the fall.  Thanks but no thanks.        

The gray made the water feel cooler but that glassy surface was a pleasure. 

The surf was up a bit with one of two 4 footers bracketed by 5 or 6 waves at 2+ 

Being off of my usual schedule I had a chance to speak to Tom Lorish before he got in.

I'll swim tomorrow at 7 just to feel more normal, then Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 11 with Jeff  and whoever else wants to drop in. 

Google Jeff Napier + swimming the Cooke Strait.

niel  

Monday, July 15th, 2024

Toms' Swim Report -

The Monday morning Avila report: the Texas storm continues to influence the conditions here at Avila. Almost identical to last Sunday, Friday and Wednesday, there was a heavy marine layer, 60° air temperature, and the water was glassy and calm. The water was 58 degrees with excellent clarity.  Beautiful morning swim.

On a different topic, and hopefully blog master Niel will include this in the report… I want to recognize and acknowledge the amazing ocean swimming that Niel has been doing over the years and more specifically in these recent months.  In case you missed it, he celebrated his 74th birthday by swimming 7400 meters. And has been regularly following that up with four and 5000 meter swims on a whim.  He is an ageless wonder.  And if he ever offers you one of his birthday brownies, except it! They are incredibly tasty. 

Thank you for the good words Tom. Not so sure about the ageless part, just keep moving and having fun. 

I'm happy to share the brownie recipe:

Get this box from Vons, Target, Amazon etc.

Follow the directions and add an appropriate amount of Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips.

Mind their advice about setting the oven temp based on what type of pan you are using.

Caution, these brownies enable the consumption of quantities of vanilla ice cream, which is, after all, gluten free.   

Sunday, July 14th, 2024

At 11 AM Avila was all gray overcast skies, a SW breeze and 61°. Not the best beach weather courtesy of the remains of hurricane Beryl pushing a lot of moisture up into our neighborhood. 

Niel, Jeff and Tom I. and Jim would swim a clockwise loop to the Poly Pier.    

The water temperature was 57° and felt pretty comfortable once the sun came out. The swim from the #4 buoy to the Poly Pier began with a head high chop out of the SW that was some work to push into. As we got closer to the Poly Pier and into the shadow of the breakwater at the port the chop laid down by about half.    

Jim, Jeff Tom I. and Niel

I'll swim Tuesday at 7, then either Wednesday or Thursday depending on a meeting's schedule, and Saturday and Sunday as usual.

Right after I got to the beach I spoke with Tom L. after his swim. He'd had a good time out there. 

niel

niel 

Saturday, July 13th, 2024

A Yo-Yo With Some Walking The Dog - 

That was Jodi's description of the route she proposed this morning, two Yo-Yo tricks combined. The concept was to swim out to the #1 buoy, to the #4 buoy, to the end of the Avila Pier and in to the #1 buoy. Then to the #4 buoy, back to the #3 buoy and to the end of the Avila Pier and in to #1. Repeat for buoys 2 and 1. 

Swimming today were Jim, Matt, Niel and Jodi. It was calm with nice clean and flat water. The water temperature was 54° to 55°. Jim and Matt went in after completing #4 and #3.        

Matt, Jim, Jodi and Niel

Jodi's toes with Niel, Matt and Jim near the 4th buoy.

A fishing boat was poking around off of the end of the Avila Pier. When Jodi and I were swimming from the second buoy to the end of the pier they motored past us and in to the buoy line.  The boat is in the left of this photo, near the pier. 

We did not swim in along the pier but back to the #2 buoy. At that point the boat had moved out to half way along the pier so we swam to #1, under the pier, and did out final out to the end and back in of the west side of the pier.

When I was arriving at the end of the Avila Pier Jodi passed me on her way in. We had been out longer than usual so I figured that she was rushing to get home. She wasn't at the buoy line or on the beach so I figured she was already headed to the showers. I got to the showers and there was no Jodi. She caught up in a few minutes. When I swam in past the #1 buoy on the west side she was waiting for me at the #1 buoy on the east side.  She was close to 5,000 yards so she swam to #2 and back, came in and made her 5K yds. to my 4855 yds/4467M. 

That was a bit more time (1:45)  and distance than planned but we had a great swim, except for having to dodge that boat. 

I'll swim tomorrow at 11.

niel  

Friday, July 12th, 2024

Tom's Swim Report - 

Similar conditions to Wednesday at Avila this morning. Thick marine layer, slight breeze, water was calm with a small bump on it. My toes tell me the water temperature was 54, 55.  The swimming was very nice. 

Which way do I swim?

Thursday, July 11th, 2024

The weather at Avila is such that I could use one of Tom's recent posts for my swim this morning;   

At 7AM this morning the fog in Avila was thick. I got in at 7:20 and planned on swimming buoy to buoy unless the end of the Avila Pier was visible.  The water felt much colder than last weekend. I measured a water temp of 55°, with the lack of sun it felt like 54°. 

I was just past the second buoy when I saw Jim swimming towards me. I have not seen him at the beach for several weeks. He was finishing up his swim. He had been expecting a water temp around 60°. He will join Jodi and I on Saturday. 

At the end of the Avila Pier I meet Edward. He was headed back the way I had come. There was nothing to see looking towards where the last buoy would be, so he would swim in that direction and correct his line when he got close enough to see the beach. 

I had to do the same on my way back to the 4th buoy which is how I wound up going around the kelp at the reef buoy.     

Jodi, Jim and I will swim at 7 on Saturday.

Jeff (Geoff?) and I will swim on Sunday at 11. I could use some fast swimmers to join us and keep pace with Geoff.

niel 

Wednesday, July 10th, 2024

Tom's Swim Report -

Heavy marine layer at Avila this morning. Or was it high fog?  Are they the same? I don't know. I do know the air temperature was 60° when I arrived at nine 9 AM.   It was low tide and the water was mostly flat with a slight bump to it. See the picture – looking out to the rock buoy and Avila rock.   The water temperature was 56° – and the clarity was excellent again after a weekend of murkiness.  It makes me think that the warmer water and the murkiness are linked together. But, that is just speculation.  The swimming was excellent, though. 

Monday, July 8th, 2024

Tom Lorish's Swim Report -

Fog, fog, and more fog, with a cool breeze blowing on shore.  Those were the conditions when I arrived at 9 AM. the water had a slight bump on it and was 56° on the east side, and 57 with some spots 58 on the west side. By the time I got out at 10:20, the fog was burning off. See before and after pictures.  Good way to start the week. 

Sunday, July 7th, 2024

Tom's Swim Report -

Heavy fog this morning at 9 AM. See picture. The water was glassy and calm and the swimming was beautiful. Water temperature was 59, 60. 

Niel's Swim Report -

At 10:30 Avila was a mixture of overcast and fog. I could see the Poly Pier from my chair but Fossil Point was coming and going with no promise of improvement. There was a light wind and a nice chop out of the SE.  The air temperature was about 70° and the crowd index was at full holiday.

Jeff from New Zealand was a surprise drop in.  He and his family come to the Central Coast every summer to see his in laws in Paso Robles and he joins us to enjoy some summer conditions before returning to the southern hemisphere. He is a strong swimmer, never wears a wetsuit and swims in the ocean year round. We swam to the Poly Pier then back and forth from the Avila and Poly Piers. The water was 59° - 60° and was still clean near the Avila pier but near the Poly Pier it had taken on its usual summer green brown color.     

This photo of us at the end of the Poly Pier didn't capture the magnitude of the wind chop. The swim from the end of the Avila Pier to the end of the Poly Pier took me 28 minutes. The swim back took 16 minutes.

Jeff will join us for two more Sunday swims before returning to New Zealand. 

Jeff showed me a photo that was taken yesterday at this in laws house. The dial reads 115.

 

I'll swim Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7 and next Sunday at 11. 

niel   

Saturday, July 6th, 2024

 We had a nice crowd this morning's 7 o'clock swim. Niel, Tom Israel, Jodi, Paula, Ilene, Alan and Matt waded in to 59° water. Not too long ago I was still wondering if the water was ever going to warm up this summer. Ilene and Alan went bareback. They were looking for a 30 minute acclamation swim.  They turned around at the 4th buoy. At the second crossbars on the Poly Pier Matt headed to the end of the Avila Pier while Jodi, Paula, Tom and Niel swam to the end of the Poly Pier, to the end of the Avila Pier, to the 4th buoy on the east side and back to buoy #1.        

The water was nice and clean and glassy with a bit of a bump.  

That's Ilene and Alan heading back towards the Avila Pier while Matt, Jodi, Paula, Tom and Niel are about to start towards the Poly Pier.  

We met up with Edward at the end of the Avila Pier. He swam the last leg with us back to the Avila Pier.

 
I'm swimming tomorrow at 11. 

niel