Sunday, October 28th, 2018

It was foggy and calm when I arrived at the beach. The water temperature was 58 degrees. The water was flat. The buoys were pretty much visible from the back of the beach so a buoy to buoy swim along the line was possible. Today's group was Niel, Heidi, Tom, Teresia, Jon, Jonny and Maria. This was Teresa's first swim with us and we have not seen Jonny in a couple of months. 

When we arrived at the east end of the buoy line it had cleared sufficiently to see the end of the Avila Pier so we swam there planning to either go to the last buoy at the west end of the line or if the fog came back in to come in along the pier. Sunny skys held so we completed the triangle.

This is the last Sunday that we will have lifeguards and buoys, the guards are done for the season and the buoys are taken out in the winter to protect them from damage from storm surf. 

John, Jonny, Maria, Heidi and maybe some others will be doing the Morro Bay Tri next Sunday and I'll be out of town so I'm not sure how many people will show up on the 4th.

niel

Sunday, October 21, 2018

We had superb fall conditions today; it was sunny except for some fog that rolled in and out, calm, friendly waves and 60 degree water. Looking back in my notes to one year ago I have a water temperature of 55 degrees in mid-October. We still have some red tide junk hanging around in the depths in some places but it was not heavy on the surface.

We had 10 swimmers today: Niel, Duke, Anne, Savanna, Heidi, Sydney, Tom, Emily, Geneane and Eric.

We swam the buoys towards Fossil Point and then back along the buoys, under the pier, and to the last buoy at the mouth of the San Luis Obispo Creek. From there over to the CAl Poly Pier and back to our starting point and in to the beach.

I lost my Garmin 910XT so I have been using a 310XT for the swim plots. Compared to the 910XT the 310XT produces a much more ragged plot and somewhat optimistic estimates of our distance. I have located a factory reconditioned 910XT so I'd like to do this same swim with the 910 and see if if estimates a different distance. 

I've no photos this week. Last Sunday my 5 month old Ricoh WG-30W underwater camera flooded. (Yes, I've been on a run of bad equipments luck).  The camera is now in the hands of the Ricoh warranty people and I'll soon know if this is a warranty repair. 

niel

Sunday, October 14, 2018

We had a nice group and good conditions and had a great swim today.  Avila was sunny with a light wind and a surprisingly warm water temperature of 60.5 degrees. We had seven swimmers today; Niel, Amy, Karen, Maria, John, Jaenene and Emily. We decided to swim down the beach to Fossil Point and then to the end of the Avila Pier and in to the beach  which would be about a mile and a quarter.

The water was clean and clear except for a reddish cast in the deep water in some spots. There was a current and chop out of the SW which made the leg from the point to the end of the Avila Pier a nice challenge.

John, Amy, Jeneane, Emily (in front of the buoy), Maria and Karen

at the first buoy. 

I'll have no more photo for a while because my newish (May 1, 2018) Ricoh WG-30 leaked today and is done for. Fortunately it has a one year warranty.

niel

Sunday, October 7th, 2018

Today's Blog post is by Tom

Tom's Blog Report:  A tale of two swims...  a beautiful day at Avila -
crisp, clear, and blue.  High tide, and a nice little swell kicking up a bit
of wave.  This was a swim with two starts - the first group was Tom & Sue,
followed by group 2 made up of Duke, Heidi, Amy, John, Emily, & Karen. 

Group 1 swam out to buoy #1 and headed west doing the buoy line.  By the
time group 1 was back at buoy #1 on the eastside, group #2 was also there,
and the both groups swam the buoy line east.  At buoy #4 on the eastside,
group #1 along with Emily, returned to buoy #1 and then headed out to the
end of Avila Pier.  Group #2 departed buoy #4 going straight to the end of
Avila Pier.  Both groups again met up at the end of the pier.  At this
point, Tom went in, Sue and Emily joined Group #2 to buoy #4 on the
westside, before returning along the buoy line. 

Water: Nice, guessing 59-60.

Red Funk: Yes, some.  Mainly eastside around buoy #4, and end of pier. 

All in all, a good day for a swim.