Saturday, April 26th, 2025

 Tom and Niel Swim In The Rain -  

Tom and Niel at the end of the Poly Pier 

At 7:30 it was 47° in Avila Beach with a steady light rain. The surface of the water was a stormy mix of chop and swell. There was not much wind and the surf was 2 to 3 foot. Yesterday Tom Lorish had estimated the water temperature at 52° so we decided to swim to the end of the Avila Pier, see what we thought of the conditions and then make a swim plan.

At the end of the pier 52° water seemed about right. We decided to swim to the end of the Poly Pier and then decide on our way back. 

On the way to the Poly Pier we were pushing into the swell and chop so it was uphill all of the way.  At the  end of the P Pier the water had warmed up a degree or so and encouraged us to take a longer route back by going in along the length of the pier to the the first crossbars and then east to the buoy line and the Avila Pier.

Before we were a quarter of the way in along the pier the water temp dropped to about 50° so so much for out plan. We pushed on to the first crossbars where the water was even colder and we had 700 M to swim to the Avila Pier. There was a very welcome warm(er) spot near the creek mouth which felt nice but it was just a tease. We soon swam out of it and pushed on to the first buoy on the east side of the Avila Pier. At that point I came in. Tom wanted to do 3200M so he continued on to the second buoy and back.

When we were getting out the sun was breaking through and the chop and swell had flattened to almost glassy conditions.  

At the showers I was feeling chilled and hurried into my wool and fleece. On occasions like today emptying my jug of hot water over me can seem like the best part of the swim.  However, today there were Morning Bums for the Bread Bike to help with our recovery. Since Jodi couldn't join us today Tom and I had to split her treat between us. Thanks Jodi!

I will not swim tomorrow because I have guys coming to trim out trees so my next swim will be Tuesday at 7. 

niel