Tuesday, June 28th, 2022

 At 7AM the June Gloom had gone to full fog mode with limited visibility. There didn't seem to be much chance of clearing so I decided to swim to the east end of the buoy line and see what the view was like from there.  If I could see the end of the pier I'd head for there and do some triangles. If the end of the pier wasn't visible, I could do laps along the buoy line.   

The air temperature was 55° and the water was 61° and with no sun it would swim more like 59°.

Between the end of the pier and the last buoy at the mouth of the creek.

Yes, that is a new wetsuit. I'm a cold temp wimp and after 100 swims my Patagonia R3 has gotten leaky and is now not much warmer than my Xterra tri suit and neither is as comfortable as I'd like, so that is an Orca RS1 Thermal Openwater.

After one swim my impression is: I like the day-glow graphics. They should be very visible. This suit is not (yet, keep reading) as warm as the R3 so I may need another R3 for sub 55 water. The suit is very lightweight, extremely comfortable and great to swim in but I had trouble with the collar. It has an inner collar to help seal the neck area (like the R3) but every time I raised my head to take a sighting my shoulders were flooded with cold water. Perhaps I had gotten something wrong putting it on because that can't be right. We'll see on Thursday. I also bought Orca's 1.4mm long sleeve 't-shirt' to extend the temperature range of the suit  You can wear the t-shirt by itself or inside the wetsuit in cold conditions. Once I understand what is going on with the collar I'll try out the t-shirt and make sure it is comfortable. If the collar doesn't leak and the t-shirt adds enough warmth to my arms this suit could work into the lower 50's.

I'll be getting in at 9 on Thursday.

niel

Sunday, June 26th, 2022

When I arrived at Avila Beach at 10:15 the overcast/fog was just starting to clear, there was plenty of parking and there weren't many people on the beach. There wasn't any wind and it was a cool feeling 58° with a water temperature of 60°  

I saw Tom swimming when I was on the pier getting the water temp and caught up with him as he was getting out of the water.  

Pat, David and I swam back and forth between the Avila and CP Piers looking for 3 to 4000K.

The wind got up while we were swimming and while it never looked too rough there was a lot of push out of the SSW. 

David, Pat and Niel

Having it sunny and with 60° water made it very comfortable and easy to relax.

By the time I left at 1:15 the beach was as crowded as I have ever seen it complemented by a busload of Poly students. The lot was full and parked cars had streets down to one lane in places. 

 

I'll swim on Tuesday morning at 7.

niel

Saturday, July 25th, 2022

 At 8AM Avila was gray from the near horizon to up over your head. It was calm and 55° with  small surf and a water temperature of 59°.  

Niel and Tiki were joined by Don Margolis, a member of the South End Rowing Club who was in town for a wedding and looking for a chance to get in the water.  Don swims bareback.

We decided to do triangles so people could easily do the distance they wanted. Don got our after one lap, he might of stayed in longer if we could have provided hot showers and a hot tub like they do at their clubhouse at the Aquatic Park in San Francisco. Tiki did one and a half laps, coming in from the end of the Avila Pier and I completed the second lap.      

 

I shot a short video of us at the end of the buoy line. In the opening still shot that is me in the front, Don on the left and Tiki on the right.

I spoke with Tom at the end of the Avila Pier. He is back from a international Masters water polo tournament in Spain where his team won the bronze medal.

Awesome and Studly!

I'll be back tomorrow for more of that 59° water. Swimming at 11.

niel 

Thursday, June 23rd, 2022

 

There was full June gloom in Avila Beach this morning; grey cloud/fog, no sun, no wind, flat water with a 57° air temp and a 57° water temp.  I got in just after 7.

I did a out and back lap down the west buoys, over to the CP Pier, out ot the end and back the way I had come.  The water temperature was very even except for the east side of the Avila Pier where it was several degrees colder. 

A bit too much of a wide angle view from near the kelp beds on my way back to the Avila Pier.

The wind did not come up and it was really flat out there. 

I spoke to Tiki while I was at the showers.  She is working with Jr. Guards and was on her way to get them started.

I'll swim at 8 on Saturday morning. Don, a S.F. Dolphin swimmer, will be joining us for a swim before attending a wedding later. Glad we can get him all stretched out and relaxed before the event.

niel   

Tuesday, June 21st, 2022

 

At 7AM Avila Beach was 56°, calm and felt like it was going to get warm. The water was 57°, and flat with nice swimming conditions. The waves were small and the water's surface was almost flat.     

A couple of triangles around the buoys and the end of the pier got me my 2 miles and one hour.   

The swimming has been really nice at 7, just that much more ahead of the wind. 

John Lindsey had a nice article in the Tribune this morning about how windy it has been this spring. He checked the records at Diablo and there have been more wind gusts over 40 MPH this spring than at any time since record keeping began at the power plant in 1976. That fits with my experience, especially how bad my hay fever has been this year.

I'll be back Thursday at 7 for another go.

niel

Saturday, June 18th, 2022

 

It had been almost a week since I had been in the water so I was looking forward to getting in this morning.  It was 58° at Avila at 8:30 and the water was back down to 55°, so I guess that the recent cool weather was responsible for the water dropping back to the mid-fifties. Bummer...

I ping ponged between the two piers. It was pretty flat when I got in but the wind came up around 9:30 and was guesting really well when I got out.

I've got family from out of town coming by tomorrow so I won't swim until Tuesday at 7.

niel   

 

Sunday, June 12th, 2022

 1 + 1 = 0

That's how things started out for me today. I was going to bring both of my wetsuits and decide if it was nice enough to wear my tri suit. When I was 1/2 mile from turning off 101 at San Luis Bay Drive I realized that I had zero wetsuits in the car, so planning on bringing two wetsuits equaled zero. I returned home and got my tri suit and got to the beach in enough time.

Hillary and David were there so we'd have a nice group. The air temperature was 62° and thanks to a warm couple of days the water temperature was up to 61.5°. There was enough fog to make the end of the pier hazy so we decided to not go over to the Cal Poly Pier, which we couldn't see from Avila, and to do two big circles around the buoys and the end of the Avila Pier. We swam out and started clockwise. When we reached the fourth buoy near the creek on the west side a SE wind was starting to pick up and blow off the fog. When we reached #4 on the opposite end it had gotten sunny and really bumpy. On the second swim to the end of the Avila Pier it was tough to find a rhythm that would work with the combination of chop and swell. When we grouped up at the end of the pier Hillary spotted a mylar balloon being blown along the chop towards the beach. We decided to chase it down but it was moving as fast as the wind and we wouldn't have caught it if El Speedy David had not been with us. Feeling virtuous powered us back to the end of the pier.  The cross chop swim to the #4 buoy was not as difficult but more messy than swimming into the chop on the way to the pier.  

I was definitly ready to sit down and have lunch when we got out.  

Hillary, David and Niel at #4 buoy on the east for the first time

Plastic ocean trash collected.

I'll not be swimming on Tuesday but probably Thursday.  I'll know for sure about Thursday on Wednesday. 

niel

Saturday, June 11th, 2022

This was the only sunshine and blue sky I saw at Avila this morning. At 8 o'clock there was a bank of clouds/fog offshore with clouds and sunshine at Avila Beach. As the day warmed up the fog moved onshore. By 10:30 Avila was like the inside of a grey sock. 

The air temperature was 55° and the water 59°. Hello summer. There was a combo swell out of the SW with enough lift to it to make it real ocean swimming.  The sharky signs were up. A guard told me that a 5 to 6 foot white shark was seen near the end of the Cal Poly Pier on Thursday and that today was the last day for the warning. 
 

I wasn't feeling too adventurous this morning so a couple of big triangles were on the menu.

I was by myself. Tiki graduated from SLO High yesterday and her appearance was not expected.

Unfortunately, Jodi needs an MRI on her shoulder to determine why it is so painful.  Keep her in you thoughts.

I'll swim tomorrow at 11.

niel

Thursday, June 9th, 2022

 

This morning began with a beautiful day in Avila Beach. It was sunny and 54° and I could feel that it was going to warm up nicely. There was a light wind, the water was 59° and glassy with areas of ripples from the breeze.

I was looking for something different this morning. I don't know if I have swum this route before. I didn't check but it seemed likely to be longer than my usual swim but I figured that once I got back to the end of the CP Pier it would be all downhill from there so why not?     

The distance was 154M short of 3 miles. The swimming was really nice today with warm water  and a slight swell out of the SW, just enough to make the conditions different on each leg. You can't even see the swell in my photos but the leg from the end of the Avila Pier to the CP Pier had some pushback to it. About half way along some tight spots in my back finally let go so I felt better and swam stronger to the finish!  

I will be back to swim on Saturday at 8.

niel

I recently emailed Theresa to see how she was doing and got this response:

Hi Neil,

Good to hear from you, I miss you all too! Im doing okay, life got pretty crazy for a few months and unfortunately I had to put swimming on the back burner for a bit. I’ve actually never been beached for this long in my life, but am hoping to jump back in soon!

 I currently just headed up to the Pacific Northwest to work on a project for the month (missing the central coast summer weather and the waves though haha). Puget sound is pretty cold, but some people here swim without wetsuits, so hoping to give that a try if I get some time off. Hope to get back to Avila for a swim soon!

Theresa 

Tuesday, June 7th, 2022

I swam a simple hour by myself this morning. There had been a lot of dense fog in the Los Osos Valley but it was clear and sunny at Avila Beach. At 7 it was 52° and the water was 55°. The water was 59° midday on Sunday but lately the water seems to be yo-yoing 3 to 4 degrees between Sunday and Tuesday morning as if it too is trying to decide if it is spring or summer.

There was no wind and the water was glassy and a bit lumpy because of groups of swells with a really short period.

I did not see Tom's car at 8:45 so he must not have been swimming. He is leaving Thursday for a old guys water polo tournament in Spain.

I'll swim Thursday morning at 7.

niel 

Sunday, June 5th, 2022

 At 10:30 it was still pretty quiet at Avila, the crowds don't show up until between noon and one. It was 75° and breezy but not blowing yet. 

Conditions looked really nice when I was taking the water temperature from the pier, which was 59°!

David and I got in at 11. We planned on starting left and doing a couple of triangles or more if that felt too short. The wind had come up and was blowing out of the SE. It was hard enough to make a pushy chop for us to swim into. 

Pat caught up with us when we arrived at the end of the Avila Pier. There was some miscommunication and Pat kept going when we arrived at the Avila Pier while David and I doubled back on our course. Between the last buoy on the west side and the end of the Avila Pier the wind moved into the NW, really started to blow and put a serious chop on the water. pat was swimming very uphill to us at the end of the pier so we got going and picked him up on our way to the reef buoy. It was fun swimming 'downhill' to the reef buoy but not the same kind of fun as swimming back to the Avila Pier. 

Here was to be my first Dolphins showing the conditions at the last buoy on the left of the pier, but due to technical difficulties I have not figured out why will let me upload this video but it will not 'be available', so the best I can do is a snip from the video.  😒 

I'll be back Tuesday morning at 7, well before the wind and the crowds show up.

niel

A Half Full Yo-Yo

At 7:30 Avila wa looking nice, 56°, sunny, no wind yet, the ocean still pretty glassy and 55°. There were some nice long period swells and the surf was two foot.

I asked Tom to come up with a name for our new course that is made up of legs back and forth between a buoy and the end of the Avila Pier, now to be called the Yo-Yo Swim, with east and west legs of 4 buoys and a Full Yo-Yo hitting all 8 buoys. Tiki and I have done halfs. No one has done a full Yo-Yo yet. The full route would be about 7500 to 8000M. 

Tiki, Jodi and Niel got in at 8 AM. Jodi had proposed a Half Full Yo-Yo by swimming out to the end of the Avila Pier, then back and forth to the second and fourth buoys on each side of the pier and not swimming along the buoy line.

 

Niel, Tiki and Jodi

With fins

I didn't see Tom Ibut I expect that he was out there.

I'm swimming tomorrow at 11.

niel

 

Thursday, June 2ed, 2022

Tom and I had another round of nice morning swims this morning. I got in at 7 and Tom at 9. The water was still 56° but with the high thin clouds and weak sun it swam a bit colder. The air temperature was 52°. There was a pushy, small swell or chop out of the SE.  

I did the western half of a swim Tiki and I did on 5/23; out to the end of the pier, back to the first buoy, along the buoy line to the second buoy then out and back to the end of the pier again, repeat for buoys #3 & 4. Either I was drunk swimming or Garmin had a lot more trouble tracking my swim on the west side of the pier than it did on the east side.

I thought the west side would be shorter but the two routes were actually close. I did an extra length of the pier today to 'make up' for the shorter route and came out longer.

Doing both sides would be about 8000M. That could be a official Dolphin Route if Tom thinks up a good name for it.

Tom came through and this will be the Yo-Yo Route. The route is made up of Yo-Yo East and Yo -Yo West with the Full Yo-Yo being 8000M.

Whoever completes the first full Yo-Yo will receive a commemorative t-shirt. 

 

I'll be back Saturday at 7 unless Jodi and Tiki want to do or 8.

niel 

Tuesday, May 31st, 2022

It was sunny, clear and 45° at Avila Beach this morning. There was no wind, the water was 56° and had a nce SW swell running, the surf was small and the water not as clear as it had been over the weekend.

I got in at 7 and just cruised around the swim buoys and the end of the Avila Pier. 56° and early in the day was cooler than mid-day Sunday's 58° but it was still comfortable enough to not have a shock factor when my face hit the water. The swimming was easy but the swell was enough to make each leg different and occasionally bring me back from the far corners of my head to the swimming.

Tom did his solo swim at 9 and texted that he also had a great swim.

My early Thursday morning in person meeting is scrubbed due to too much COVID so unless they switch to ZOOM I'll be getting in at 7.

niel

 

Sunday, May 29th, 2022

Sunday was a wonderful day at the beach. When I arrived at 10:15 it was more crowded than a non-holiday Sunday but not like it would be at 1 PM. It was 70°, heading for 80°, clear with a light but gusty wind. The water temperature was 58°!

David, Tiki and I got in a bit after 11. Tiki and I went without our neoprene caps.  The water felt really nice, pretty smooth and relaxing. 

At the end of the CP Pier the wind was picking up and we had a chop to ride back to the Avila Pier. Tiki went in to do a workout with the lifeguards while David and I continued to the last buoy on the east side and back along the buoys to our starting point.  

Tiki, David and Niel at the end of the CP Pier.

The water was nice and clean today.

By 1 the ocean was white capped all of the way into the surf.  Then a whirlwind came down the beach picking up umbrellas and pop ups and scattering them across the beach.

I left a bit after 1 and had people following me to snag my parking spot completing my summer experience today

I'll be back at 7 on Tuesday.

niel  

Saturday, May 28th, 2022

The numbers lined up nicely this morning, the air was 56° and the water 56.5°. It was still except for a random quick gust which had me thinking that it was going to be windy by noon. There were patches of blue in the clouds and it felt cool but I couldn't tell if it was going to clear or cloud up.  It was clear and windy and choppy at noon. 

Niel, Jodi and Tiki got in just after 8 o'clock. After a fall from tripping over her cat Jodi's shoulder is bothering her but she planned on swimming today using a hand paddle on her good side and 1/2 strokes on the other.  We started out and left down the buoy line, then to the end of the Avila Pier, to the last buoy on the opposite side and back to the end of the Avila Pier.Jodi and tiki went in from there and I swam to the end of the CP Pier, in to the second crossbars, over to and along the swim zone buoys and in.    

Jodi's bum shoulder didn't slow her down a bit. She was even off the front a few times.

Tiki, Jodi with her hand paddle and Niel just getting started at the first buoy on the left.  

Niel, Tiki and Jodi at the last buoy on the right.

I didn't see Tom but he was probably out there.

I'll swim at 11 tomorrow. Neither Jodi or Tiki will be joining me. We'll see who else shows.

niel 

Thursday, May 26th, 2022

It was gray and spitting at Avila Beach this morning but the swimming conditions were great. There was no wind and the ocean's surface was glassy with a slight swell. The air temperature was 58° and the water temperature was holding up at 56.5°. 

I got in at 7ish and swam an out and back course that started with the end of the Avila Pier, then the end of the Cal Poly Pier, where the water was noticeably colder, and in all of the way to the rocks at the base of the pier and then back the way I came.

It was a bad day for technology for me. 

I didn't shoot any still photos this morning and experimented with shooting two videos, but my inexperience with the GoPro software resulted in the videos being deleted from the camera instead of transfered to the blog.  😖

and getting the plot of the swim uploaded required going into Garmin Express and updating that software, but I got that done so here it is. 

I spoke with Tom before he got in.

I'll swim at 8 on Saturday morning.

niel

Tuesday, May 24th, 2022

 

Mr. Lindsay predicted that we would be having June Gloom and he was correct. It was solid overcast at Avila Beach, 52° with a slight wind and a short period swell that would make for some messy swimming conditions. The best news was that the water was 57°, a number that I have not recorded in over 6 months. Even with the gloom today would be a nice swim.      

I switched up my schedule today and got in the water at 7 and was able to get home and start work an hour earlier.  Hummm, there might be something wrong with my plan. I was able to beat the wind. Tom got in at 9 and said that it was really blowing for his swim. 

At the reef buoy. 

Today was my first time with my GoPro camera. It defaults to a wider angle view and a more square format than my recently departed Ricoh, so the blog will have a different look.

The quality of the pictures is very nice.   

I've no meeting this Thursday so I'll try getting in at 7 again. 

niel