Sunday, June 29, 2025

Sunday, June 29th, 2025

Bumpy Swimming - 

At 11 o'clock it was gray, 59° and breezy in Avila Beach. There was a tall fogbank that was thinner on the west and hanging onto the hills beyond the Harford Pier and on the east it was thick, rolling over Fossil Point and making like it would move into Avila Beach. The water was up to 57°, the surf was minimal and there was already a chop on the water all of the way in to the buoy line. 
I saw Tom Lorish as he was getting in and headed east on the buoy line. I didn't see him in the water. 
Jim, David and I planned to swim two or three triangles.  

The tide was low and it seemed like we could walk to the first buoy.  Swimming down the buoy line was quite bumpy. The chop was out of the SW and swimming to the end of the Avila Pier was a push against the current and through the chop. At the first buoy on the west side Jim went in, shed his wetsuit, and got back in. He is planning on doing the 5K in Santa Barbara next weekend and wanted to see how the water would feel bareback. 
David and I came back along our route for our second triangle. The chop was now larger but our path relative to it was more favorable and it was flatter on the east, lee, side of the Avila Pier. Arriving at the first buoy I had lost my interest in doing a third triangle in today's conditions and came in with David. 


I'll swim at 8 on Tuesday, 7 on Thursday and there is a 4th of July swim at 7 on Friday. You can join us, beat the crowds and justify eating a second piece of pie. Extra points will be awarded to anyone who swims in a colonial, wool, swimming costume. 

We'll swim at 7 on Saturday and I'll skip Sunday to do a beach cleanup at 10 at Avila with my friends from the Surfrider Chapter. 

niel


Saturday, June 28, 2025

Saturday, June 28th, 2025

 Saturday Morning --

 



Jodi, Paula and Niel got in the water a bit after 7.  The conditions at Avila Beach were 52° air, gray and calm, with 1 to 2 foot surf, a slight swell and nice clean 55° water. We swam a route Jodi suggested. It involved swimming the buoy line from the 1st to the 4th buoy on the east side , to the end of the Avila Pier, to the 4th buoy on the west side, in along the buoy line to buoy #3, to the end of the pier, to #3 on the east side and continuing until we have been to all of the buoys on both sides of the pier ending at #1 on the east side where we began. That would have been a 3500M swim but we decided to add the buoy line to the 4th buoy and back to #1 for 4K.

I'll swim tomorrow at 11


niel

Friday, June 27, 2025

Friday, June 27th, 2025

Tom Lorish's Friday Swim - 

Similar to Wednesday, but different. There was a partial cloud cover, some blue skies, and a breeze blowing from the west to the east. There was a pretty good wind chop on the water and the water clarity was good. My toes tell me the water temperature was about 55°. Excellent Friday morning vitamin. 



Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Tom's Lorish Swims - 

Partial cloud cover, low tide and flat glassy water. In short, a typical Avila  summer day. The water temperature felt about 53° and the water clarity was excellent. Excellent morning Swim. 

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Tuesday, June 24th, 2025

The wind keeps pushing the water temperature down and making it hard to think of June as summer. This morning the water temperature was 53°- 54° and with the gray sky it was a winter swim.  Otherwise the swimming conditions were perfect: small surf, no wind, an air temperature of 52° and glassy water.   
I had an appointment at 9 so I did just one triangle. 

I checked my records and last year the water temperature was in the mid 50's, more or less, well into July and not consistently above 55° until August. The highest water temp I recorded last year was 59°. 
I'll be wearing my winter weight wetsuit for another month or so. 

I'll swim at 8 on Thursday and at 7 on Saturday. I have a conflict on Sunday so I may not swim that day.

niel    


Sunday, June 22, 2025

Sunday, June 22nd, 2025

Tom Israel and Niel's Sunday Swim - 

Our plan was to swim west along the buoy line and on to the first crossbars on the Poly Pier, to the end of the pier, to and around the reef buoy on the east side of the Avila Pier and back along the buoys to the Avila Pier, with possibly some extra distance added at the end.  The air temperature was 68°, the water temp was up to 56°, the surf was 2 to 3 foot and there was a light wind and small swell out of the SE.  
Tom and I swam out to the buoy line, dodged some fishing lines, swam under the pier and to the Poly Pier. The water was warmer than yesterday but there were still a lot of areas of colder water. We swam out along the P Pier and picked up some chop from the SW when we passed the third crossbars. There was a day charter fishing boat off of the end of the P. Pier that was idling while they cleaned their catch. We didn't want anything to do with them so we changed our plans and swam back in along the P. Pier to the second crossbars. From there we decided to swim to the end of the Avila Pier. The chop had come up quickly to 1 foot plus and we were swimming across it.  It was a slog getting to the Avila Pier with a lot of course corrections.  To the reef buoy the chop was quartering behind us so it was downhill. The return to the Avila Pier was again across the chop for a hard finish.         

Tom and I agreed that neither of us would have done 4K in today's conditions by ourselves.  
At the showers it was nice and warm in the sun while the wind was blowing umbrellas down the beach.  

I'll swim short at 7 on Tuesday, at 7 on Thursday and Saturday and at 11 next Sunday.

Duke shared this link of the Alki Beach Open Water Swim group in Seattle.



niel

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Saturday, June 21st, 2025

This morning's swimming conditions were both wonderful and surprising; it was 47°, sunny with glassy water and a small swell, 😊and the water was 52° to 54° 😱.  The wind that began yesterday afternoon had pushed the water temper back down to winter numbers.   


Niel and Jodi at the end of the Poly Pier.

Jodi suggested that we do a big circle; down the east buoy line to the 4th buoy, around the reef buoy, to the end of the Poly Pier, back in along the pier and to return along the west buoy line to the Avila Pier. That route would be about 3200M. 
I'm already out of practice for sub 55° water so getting in was a wake up call. It took me until I was around the reef and headed towards the Poly Pier until I was evened out with the water temperature. I was grateful that I had decided on wearing my winter weight wetsuit before heading to the beach. Being evened out lasted until we were even with the end of the Avila Pier where the water temp dropped another degree or two. I was looking for warmer water the rest of the way to the end of the Poly Pier where it warmed up a bit. We swam in along the pier to the second crossbars. We decided to not swim to the first crossbars to avoid the kelp near the shore and instead swam to the end of the Avila Pier. 
We had not thought about what the swim to the P Pier had been like and 150M from the pier we swam back into the icebox.  It warmed up some near the Avila Pier. From the end of the pier we swam back the way we had come, to the #4 buoy on the east side and back along the buoys to #1 and in.  We had a nice finish for 4,087M in 1:35.
Having sunshine at the showers was nice and we felt good going home. 

I'll swim tomorrow at 11. 

niel                  

Friday, June 20, 2025

Friday, June 20th, 2025

Tom Lorish's Friday Swim - 

The conditions at Avila were pretty much the same as they have been for the last few days. Flat, glassy, and blue skies. The water temperature was about 56°. It was a nice morning swim. 




Thursday, June 19, 2025

Thursday, June 19th, 2025

The swimming was excellent today. 
The air temp was 54°, the water was 57° but felt colder, the surf was 1 to 2 foot and Avila was in a hole in the fog so the sun was shining.  

At 7 the ocean was glassy with a mild SE swell. About half way through my swim the swell became a chop that grew to be a hand slapper that had to be pushed into.  The water temperature varied a lot depending which side of the pier I was on and how far offshore I was.                               


I'll swim Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 11.

niel

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Wednesday, June 18th, 2025

Tom's Wednesday Swim - 


Low tide, flat and glassy. Toes in the water at 9 AM. Blue skies and sunny and the water felt about 55° to me so I am thinking it was probably 57.  Still getting recalibrated from the warm water. Excellent swimming conditions. 

Monday, June 16, 2025

Monday, June 16th, 2025

 Tom Lorish's Water Polo Tournament in Spain -

At the 2025 Masters Barcelona cup for water polo, we won gold in the 40s and silver in the 50s.  It was a very competitive and fun tournament!  Teams from Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey and us.  Super cool.  

And Tom's Avila Swim Report - 

Foggy, flat, and glassy.  After two weeks in Spain, I am back and happy to see the Pacific Ocean again.  The Balearic Sea was beautiful and warm and I love swimming there, and it's always good to get back to the good old pacific.  All I know about today's Swim is the water was colder than it was in Menorca! I will guess it was 57°, but that is just a ballpark guess. It was a good morning Swim. 



Sunday, June 15, 2025

Sunday, June 15th,

A Beautiful Day for a Swim at Avila Beach and a Bit of Drama -


At 10:30 it was 60° in Avila Beach and there was a wall of fog that started at the boardwalk and hid the buoy line. There was a slight SE wind and swell. The water temperature was 57°. David Cheney and I would swim while his wife Alex would play in the waves. 
I wanted to do another 4K swim and David wanted to go a bit shorter so we took my three triangles route and David would come in before I did. 

Niel and David

The fog began to clear when we were suiting up and we swam in sunshine. The swimming conditions were glassy until noon when the regular west wind came up and pushed up a small SW swell.
While swimming the west on the west buoy line we encounter a swimmer in trouble. A man was hanging onto the third buoy and was a picture of exhaustion. His arms were wrapped around the buoy and his head was down on his arm. He was wearing a wetsuit but no goggles or cap. David spoke to him and he waved us off. Neither of us liked the idea of dealing with a panicked swimmer so we continued to the 4th buoy and watched him from there. We could not see the #2 lifeguard tower well enough to know what the guard was doing. The guy left the buoy and headed for shore, swimming hard for about 50M and then stopping to tread water. We watched him do this five times until he reached shallow water and then we continued our swim.
On the third lap David went in from the end of the pier and I completed the third triangle. 

This coming week I'll will swim on Thursday and Saturday at 7 and on Sunday at 11. 

niel                


Saturday, June 14, 2025

Saturday, June 14th, 2025

Niel, Iliene, Jodi, Tom Israel and Paula swam a 7 AM this morning. It was 55°, sunny and clam in Avila Beach. There was fog hanging on the hills to the west. The water temperature was 58°.   

We swam the west buoy line and over to the second crossbars. I was going short so I swam from there to the end of the Avila Pier and in. The group swam to the end of the Poly Pier, back to the third crossbars on the P Pier and over to the end of the Avila Pier for about 3,000M. The fog had come in and once they lost sight of the Avila Pier during the crossing.   

That's Ilene, Tom, Jodi and Paula starting towards the Poly Pier.

I'll swim tomorrow at 11

niel 

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Thursday, June 12th, 2025

I got in the water closer to 8AM today. It was still June Gloom but the clouds would start burning off while I was in the water. The air temp was 53° and the water temp. was 56°.  It was nice swimming in calm and glassy water. On my third lap the wind and a SW swell picked up and the sun began to come out.       

I swam three triangles for 4,257M in 1:47 which is about my limit without some supplemental nutrition onboard. 
Saturdays swim will be at 7. Paula and I will go short for an hour or so. 
I'll swim Sunday at 11. 

niel  

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Tuesday, June 10th, 2025

Swimming Longer and Relearning an Old Lesson - 


I had unlearned an old ocean swimming lesson about never being cold when you get in the water. I'd never put shoes or slippers on when I got up and gone barefoot when I drove to the beach. My feet were cold when I got out of the car. They felt cold when I walked into the 57° water and were the one cold part of my body for the entire swim.  Lesson relearned.  
At 6:50 it was June Gloom, 57° and calm. The water was glassy. I measured the water at 57° but my cold feet made it feel like 55°. The water temp varied 1,° colder close in along the buoys and warmer closer to the end of the pier. 

It looks like the water will stay above 55° so I'm starting to push my distance to prep for this year's birthday swim.  Today's 4K went fine. If the next 3 or 4 4K swims feel good I'll move to 5K, and if I feel good at that distance I'll go for this years goal of 7,500M. 

I'll swim Thursday and Saturday at 7. Paula and I will swim short on Saturday so we will have time to change and won't need to wear out wetsuits to the No King's March, I don't know what plans Tom Israel and Jodi have. 

niel


Received this from Tom Lorish. He is in Menorca, Spain for a water polo tournament, air and water in the low 70's. Next he is on to Croatia for a swim vacation. Everyone I have spoken to that has been there said it is very beautiful with great swimming.    


      

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Sunday, June 8th, 2025

 A New Route and Warm Water - 


David, Paula, Kelce and Niel walked into the 59° water at 11 AM. It was overcast and 61° and the water felt colder than my thermometer had read, but once the sun came out the water was very pleasant.  We swam a new route of four triangles between the swim zone buoys and the end of the Avila Pier. The route was to swim from the #1 buoy to #4, to the end of the pier and back along the pier to #1. Then from #1 to #3 to the end of the pier and to #1, etc. 
This route seems to have been a bit challenging for Garmin.to follow.    
The water was flat with a slight swell and no wind. The sun came out half way. It is always nice and surprising that you can feel the warmth of the sunshine on your wetsuit.   

Niel, Kelce, Paula and David. 

Afterwards it was 75° and calm on the beach and we were all sliding towards napping in the sunshine. 

I'll swim Tuesday and Thursday at 7.

niel 

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Saturday, June 7th, 2025

Tom Israel, Jodi, Paula and Niel swam at 7AM. It was Jodi's pick today to do a Yo-yo on the east side. It was overcast and gray, 51° and calm with flat water.  The surf was small with an occasional 3 footer. The water was 56° and clean with good visibility, for Avila Beach.  


We swam out along the pier to its end and from there to and back to each of the buoys starting with the fourth one. I like doing it longest leg first. 
That's Tom, Jodi and Paula idling at a buoy.  

Paula, Tom, Jodi and Niel 

After the swim I met Duke at the beach and we had a long visit catching up on what's been happening with ourselves. 

I'll swim tomorrow at 11.


niel

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Thursday, June 5th, 2025

The air and water were both 55°. There were thick high clouds but no fog, rain or wind. There was a bit of a swell that was larger towards the end of the Poly Pier.  Very nice swimming conditions.  


That small white dot over my left shoulder is the kelp buoy and further right is an egret walking on the kelp looking for a meal.  

I'm swimming Saturday morning at 7 and Sunday at 11.

niel

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025

 Smooth With Rain Showers -


This morning felt like winter; it was 57° with thick gray clouds, no wind and it felt like it could rain. The water was still and glassy except the surf was up with an occasional sneaky 5 foot set amongst the 3 footers. The tide was half way out and there was a lot of beach. The water was 55° and colder near the pier.     

I began with a counterclockwise triangle and reversed my path for number 2 and 3445M.  I was treated to a rain shower for a few minutes as I was finishing up.  That water was cold and felt like sleet when it hit bare skin.

I'm swimming Thursday and Saturday mornings at 7. Yes Tom, Jodi and I agreed to move the starting time up a half hour, and Sunday at 11.

There will be no Tom Lorish swim reports for a while. Tom is in Barcelona, Spain, to participate in a water polo tournament and then to the Croatian coast for some beautiful swimming.

niel  

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Sunday, June 1st, 2025

Just Me and Warm Water Today -  


At swim time in Avila Beach it was 57° under heavy overcast and there was a breeze from the SE.  The water was getting choppy. Thanks to two hot days I measured a water temperature of 58° from the pier. A lifeguard stopped by and made sure that I had noticed that there was a regatta under way so I might find sail boats that were racing just about anywhere in the bay. I've been there and had boats that were focused on the racing get closer to me than I was comfortable with so I decided to swim over to the Poly Pier and swim out and back along its length.    
This turned out to be a great route. The chop was coming from the south. It wasn't much to swim across but once I started out along the Poly Pier the chop and push grew steadily. I decided to put that away and just do the swim and think about how it would be surfing the chop and current on the way back.  It worked out great. The pilings flew by and it felt like it took me half as much time to get back to the first crossbars.  

The sun started breaking through when I began swimming out along the P Pier. By 1 the SE wind had picked up and was blowing clouds back into the hole that had opened up over Avia.     

Starting tonight the weather will cool off and I'm expecting the water temperature to be back below 55° on Tuesday. I'll swim at 7 


niel