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

Friday, July 5th, 2024

 Tom's Swim Report -

Another gorgeous day at Avila this morning. Very similar to the 3rd of July. 60° air temperature when I arrived at 9 AM. The fog was just starting to burn off and the water was glassy and calm. The water temperature was about 57° and the water clarity was excellent.  In the "whoops, this might've been a bad idea" department, as I was getting out of the ocean, the Port Authority for reasons unclear to me decided to drive one of their big utility trucks out onto the beach, and promptly got it stuck in the sand.  After my shower, they were continuing to prove the notion that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. They kept spinning their wheels and getting sunk in deeper.  I'm guessing those two guys won't be allowed to drive onto the beach anytime soon. 

Final note; as I was driving off the tractor was out there trying to help extract the truck.

Thursday, July 4th, 2024

 A Foggy 4th of July Swim -

Niel, Jodi and Tom Israel got in at 7.  We could see the #1 buoy from the beach so we swam to it and then could swim buoy to buoy along the left side and back to the pier, stopping a lot to keep the next buoy in sight.  We swam out and around the pier, then out and back along the buoys on the right side, back around the pier and in. The sun was starting to poke through when we were getting out. The water temp was 55° close to shore and 56°+ near the end of the Avila Pier. The water was flat and glassy and the surf was small. 

Niel, Jodi and Tom

NOAA says there will be no morning fog Saturday or Sunday. Niel, Jodi, Tom, Ilene and Paula will swim at 6:45 on Saturday.  I'll swim at 11 on Sunday.

niel 

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024

Tom's Swim Report - 

Beautiful conditions all around at Avila this morning. I arrived at 915 AM. The air temperature was 63°, with fog but decent swimming visibility. See picture below.  The water was calm and glassy again, the clarity was excellent, and the temp was up to about 58°.  Excellent third of July Swim. 

Tuesday, July 2ed, 2024

 

The signs advising that swimmers should avoid annoying any big fish should come down later today.  I stayed on the Pismo side of the Avila Pier today because the sightings are mostly over towards the Poly Pier.  

This route is a reverse Yo-Yo, because I swam from a buoy (4, 3, 2, 1) to the end of the pier and back. A pure Yo-Yo is done from the end of the Avila Pier to each buoy.  The air and the water were 57° this morning. It was overcast with fog moving in and out. There was a gusty wind. At the beginning there was a chop on the water from the SE but it flattened out for the last third of my swim. The surf was 1 to 2 foot. 

Fourth of July Swim - We'll get in at 7 so we will have easy parking and get out of Avila before the crowd. Everyone is welcome. Jodi, Tom Israel, Paula, Kevin Watkins and I are confirmed. 

The #1 buoy at the end of my swim. The wind and chop had died down and the visibility had improved since I got in.

Thursday at 7. Saturday at 6:45 'cause Ilene needs to get out early and Sunday at 11. Clear sky's and high temps from 85 to 90 are predicted in Avila beginning Thursday and into early next week so the swimming conditions should be very fine.

niel