There was very dense fog in Avila Beach this morning. I could not see the buoys from the beach let alone the end of the Avila Pier. I decided to swim the west buoy line, over to the Poly Pier and swim out and back along the pier. The distance would be about right and the P Pier is the closest thing to lane lines that we have in the big pool.
The air temp was 53°. The water was 57° - 58°. There was no wind and a small swell from the SW. I could not even see a bright spot from the sun in the fog.
This is the wackiest plot I've every seen. I don't think the fog could confuse the GPS. I did make more than the usual stops and course corrections but I definitly did not do one and a half loops. On the way out I could not see the Poly Pier from the 4th buoy but I lined myself up with where the second crossbars should be, noted the direction of the swell and kept on that line. I was 150 M to the left of the second crossbars when they came into view. I got some help by skimming the seaward side of the kelp bed that is just inshore of the line from the 4th buoy to the second crossbars. On the way back I kept the kelp on my left and made a lot of stops to check my line and was to the right of the 4th buoy when it came into view.
Today's conditions gave me a real lesson in evening out my stroke. With no reference to the shore to keep me on line it was obvious that I was pulling harder with my stronger arm. Every time I stopped to check my course I was headed more to the south than I should be.
This morning's crowd at the second crossbars on the Poly Pier.
I'll swim Thursday at 7 and hope to swim Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 11.
niel
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