It was beautiful in Avila Beach this morning with excellent swimming conditions. Last night the wind was howling in San Luis Obispo so I was was a surprised to find Avila Beach calm and sunny. The surf was small and the water was glassy with a hint of a SE swell further out. Tom Lorish swam yesterday and thought the water temperature was 51°- 52° so I was expecting a cold swim. It was quite cold at the start, 51° or so, but it was enough 'warmer' between the piers that I kept going and completed my planned route.
The weird part was how much warmer the water along the buoy line felt on the return. I don't usually measure the water temperature until the end of my swim because I want to maintain some deniability about how cold the water was. I measured the water's temp before I came in from the first buoy and it was 54°. There is no way it was that temp at the start 90 minutes earlier and I haven't an explanation for how the water warmed up that much.
At the showers the sunshine felt nice.
I'll swim Thursday morning at 7, Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 11.
Blue skies and sunny. Beautiful sunny day at when I arrived at 10 00a.m. The water was calm with a slight bump to it and almost no waves to speak of. They were very clear micro climates in the water. The buoy line was about 51, 52 and a little bit out further out was 54–55. Beautiful Monday morning vitamin.
Kurtis, David Cheney and Niel swam at 11. Swimming conditions were wonderful. It was sunny and warm on the beach with a west breeze that strengthened to a steady blow. It was 60° when I arrived at 10:15 and 80° when I returned to my car. The water was 53° but with the sunshine it felt a felt a degree or two warmer. The surf was small and the lifeguards were doing water rescue training on the east side of the pier. I was more comfortable in the water than I should be in 53° water.
Kurtis, Niel and David at the Avila Pier
Today's plan was to start by swimming the west buoy line and beyond to the first crossbars on the Poly Pier, to swim back to the Avila Pier and to continue on along the east buoy line and beyond to Fossil Point before returning.
The first leg heading west was a rough swim because we were headed into the chop and current. The chop one foot and would slap my head every few seconds. Heading back was like running downhill. We were pushed all of the way to Fossil Point. The east side of the Avila Pier was more sheltered from the wind and chop so swimming from the point to the pier was not as physical of a swim.
It was so nice at the showers that I didn't think to use my hot water.
I'll swim Tuesday and Thursday at 7 and Saturday at 7:30.
The group got in at 7:35. It was 53°, gray and drizzly, with a breeze out of the SE that had pushed up a bit of chop. The water was 52° but would feel a degree or two colder due to the wind and the lack of any sunshine. The surf was small and the water was nice and clean. We decided to do a triangle or two. After last weekend's water temperatures in the high 50's we were all a bit startled when we grouped up at the first buoy. We swam east along the buoy line and completed a triangle. There was a sailboat moored near the mouth of the creek. We swam past it on the west side, spoke to the owner, he was from Alaska, to the 4th buoy on the west side and back to the pier. At that point Paula went in and the three of us continued to the 4th buoy on the east side, to the end of the Avila Pier and in. The cold water emersion group was getting out at the same time we did. The sun was peaking out when we were at the showers.
Looking at my notes, last year it was late June when we saw water temperatures stick above 55°, so we will have another month of cold water swimming until summer conditions arrive.
Paula, Jodi, Tom I., and Niel at the 4th buoy
on the east side of the Avila Pier
The lifeguards were training the new recruits. They all ran down the beach until they were even with the 4th buoy on the west side, swam out to the buoy and back to the beach, ran up the beach to touch the seawall, ran back to the water, turned left and ran down the beach until even with the third buoy and did it again, and continued for all of the 8 buoys.
I'm planning on swimming tomorrow at 11. It will be nice is there is some sun.
The swimming conditions are back to our new 'normal' and last weekend's 'tropical' conditions are a vague memory. This morning it was 48°, gray and foggy with one mile visibility. At 6:40 there was no wind, the surf was 2 foot and the tide was very low. At 8:30 the fog had moved off and the clouds were starting to break up. Tom Lorish was going to swim later this morning and he should have gotten some sunshine.
I measured a water temperature of 53° but while I was swimming I was thinking it was 51°. After last weekends water temps in the high 50's I'm still working on accepting 52° water as normal.
I did a Yo-Yo on the west side. The water was smooth and flat but seemed to have dirtied up some. With no sunlight it was hard to tell for sure.
I'll swim with Jodi, Tom Israel and Paula at 7:30 on Saturday and at 11 on Sunday.
Similar, but different. I arrived at Avila at 900 AM. Like Monday there was a breeze blowing from the east to the west, clear skies and dimpled water. The difference was instead of Mondays 55°, the water was down to 52. A big drop but not unexpected with the cold winds that were blowing overnight. Excellent swimming.
Looking west from Fossil Point towards the Avila Pier
It was a beautiful morning in Avila Beach today. It was clear and sunny, 52°, with no wind, clean water and small waves. I swam from the end of the Avila Pier to the Poly Pier and back, then over to Fossil Point and back.
With the cooler weather I was expecting the water temperature to be below the 55° that Tom Lorish reported yesterday morning. Wading in was OK but my hands and face told me the water temp was in the low 50's. A quarter of the way to the Poly Pier the temp dropped one to two degrees and I began thinking that this would be a shorter swim than I had planned. I was more comfortable when I turned around at the P Pier. Coming back I was anticipating the temperature drop but it never happened. The water felt more like the mid 50's on the east side of the Avila Pier. On my way in I measured 55° at the buoy line. I don't know were the colder water was for the second half of my swim. 55° was fine by me.
Off of Fossil Point
The water was glassy the whole way except for some swell bouncing off of Fossil Point.
And it was sunny and warm at the showers.
I'll swim Thursday at 7 and Saturday at 7:30 with Tom Israel, Jodi and Paula.
Blue skies and breezy. There was a cool breeze blowing from east to west. The dimpled water was flat with no swell to speak of. The water temperature cooled off from yesterday to about 56°. It was a lovely Monday morning vitamin.
I took the water temperature from the Avila Pier and read 58.5°. It was sunny and in the low 70's with a light SE breeze with 2 to 3 foot surf.
Tom Lorish texted that he had taken some of the CP women from the water polo team for a swim.
Before Kurtis and I got in we were treated to a surprise visit from Jackie Bloom and her husband. Jackie was a regular swimmer with the Avila Dolphins back in the day and I have not seen her in many years.
I wanted to do a Poly Pier loop. Kurtis was looking for a mile plus so we decided to swim the west buoy line to the Poly Pier and out along the pier to a point where Kurtis felt it was his point to head back and I'd continue on for the rest of the loop.
Kurtis swam to the third crossbars on the Poly Pier and from there headed for the beach at the yacht club. I swam to the end of the pier, to and around the reef buoy and back along the east buoy line to our starting point.
Kurtis and Niel at the 4th buoy on the west side, near the mouth of the creek.
It was so comfortable and relaxing in the water today, I enjoyed swimming today in a way that I have not since last summer. Starting tomorrow the air temperature will drop back down to a seasonal level and I expect that the water temperature to drop as well.
I'll swim Tuesday at 7AM but I'm expecting a water temperature below 55°
A couple of sunny days with temperatures in the upper 80's and the ocean warmed up to a nice swimming temperature. Jodi, Niel and Paula got in at about 7:40. It was sunny and calm with 2 foot + surf and clean water. There was a wind chop offshore that would soon reach Avila.
The water felt cool but not shocky and was very relaxing.
Paula had not been in the ocean since January and Jodi was just over a cold that was COVID, so we planned a triangle route to let people drop off when it seemed like a good idea. We all swam the same route doing a triangle and a half.
Clear skies, sunny and warm. It was already 67° air temperature when I arrived at Avila at 920 AM. There were clear wind and lines dividing the dimpled water from the glassy calm water. I could feel the difference when I was swimming as well. The water temperature was 54° and the swimming was excellent.
People were flocking in when I arrived and even more when I left.
The air temperature was up to 62° at 7:30, compared to 47° on Tuesday, but all of the other conditions were the same. The warmer air temperature was not enough to outweigh the gray sky and 52° water temperature, so it was still a chilly swim.
Saturday Jodi, Paula and I will swim at 7:30 and and with the temperature in the upper 80's on Friday and Saturday we have a shot at more summer like conditions.
Heavy marine layer, flat dimple water and 2 to 3 foot waves rolling in. The water quality was improved from Monday and the temperature was about 52°. It was a nice morning Swim.
Avila was a nice place to swim this morning. The water was flat and clean with a small swell running. About one wave in 8 required some attention. There was a solid ceiling of fog or low clouds so it was all grey down to where the horizon should be. The air temp was 47° and I measured a water temp of 53°, but with the lack of sun it felt more like 51° or 52°. I got in on the west side of the pier and did a couple of simple triangles. When I got out I felt a bit chilled, hustled into my wool and fleece and headed home for breakfast.
I'll swim Thursday at about 7 and Saturday at 7:30.
Clear but hazy skies, a cool breeze, and a little bit of rock 'n' roll. The ocean was moving, rolling, rocking, but it didn't translate into much of a wave. The water was about 51° and colder in some spots. The amazing water clarity we had last week was gone by yesterday and still cloudy today. The swim was a good Monday morning vitamin.
There was partial sun and it was very windy in Avila Beach. The air temperature was 59° and the water was 51.5°. The wind was strong, constant and from the west. There were one to two foot whitecaps in to the surf line. The surf was up with the usual 2 to 3 footers bookended by 5 foot plus breakers.
There was 'sunshine' but it was a tease. Avila was in the shadow of a huge single high thin cloud that covered almost half of the sky, so there was blue sky to the east and west but not at the beach.
The lifeguard academy is under way so the candidates had plenty of water conditions to augment their training.
Kurtis joined me today which was a nice surprise. He lives in Morro Bay and it has been several years since he swam with us. Recently he had been swimming in tropical waters. He brought a farmer john wetsuit and wasn't sure he would be warm enough.
The lifeguards were in the water on the left side of the pier so we got in on the right side at 11 o'clock. The water was very rough so I planned on doing a triangle or so depending on how the swimming was. Kurtis and I discussed that with his lack of recent cold water experience he should get out as soon as he was not having fun. We waded in and met up at the #1 buoy.
At the #1 buoy Kurtis was really feeling the cold so he headed back to the beach. I spoke with him afterwards., going in wads the right call and he will be back next Sunday with a full surfing wetsuit.
Swimming was all about timing and getting banged around. Starting out going west into the chop and then SE across the chop was a full tilt way to begin but I quickly found the right rhythm and settled in. From the end of the pier to the 4th buoy on the east side was down hill and from #4 to #1 the water was in the shadow of the pier so the chop was smaller. I had a nice swim.
When I arrived back at the #1 buoy the lifeguards were at the pier learning how to peel a panicked swimmer off of a piling and to then deal with the flailing swimmer who, now that they no longer had the piling to hang onto, now wanted to climb up on you.
I'll swim Tuesday and Thursday at 7, Saturday at 7:30 and next Sunday at 11.
Tom Lorish swam earlier this morning and had the same conditions.
Saturday morning the air temperature in Avila Beach was 55° with solid overcast, no sun, no horizon and a light wind. I measured a water temperature of 53° off of the pier.
This big boy was steadily working the Avila Pier Mussel Buffet. He'd pull one off of a piling, swim out from under the pier, crack the shell with a bite, chow down and go back for another.
Tom Israel and I got in at 7:30. The surf was small, we swam to the end of the pier and decided to go to the Avila Rock.
The water felt like it was 52° - 53°, it is still very clean and the swimming conditions are excellent. The water warmed up a bit about half way to the rock. We swam to the south of the rock to miss the kelp and hung out for a bit watching an otter cracking clams. A west wind had come up and the swim back was into a medium chop. From the end of the Avila Pier we swam to the 4th buoy on the east side and back along the buoy line to make our distance.
Tom and Niel at the Avila Rock
The clean water encouraged some fun.
After 90 minutes swimming in cold water Tom and I enjoyed some calorie replenishment.
King Arthur's Gluten Free Brownies are the best brownies ever. There is magic in the box.
I'll swim tomorrow at 11. It would be nice if there was some sun.
Glassy, flat, and calm. That was the water at Avila this morning. Another super low tide and heavy marine layer. My toes tell me the water temperature was 53°. That, of course, does not match up well with Niel's 56 from yesterday, and my 52 from Wednesday. Hard to imagine the temperature is swinging like that. One of us is out of calibration… regardless of the temperature, it was excellent swimming conditions.
I was very comfortable in the water Thursday. My thermometer measured 56°. Tom Israel swam later in the day and estimated the water temp at 55°.
We'll see what it is like tomorrow morning. My guess is we are back in the low 50's.
I enjoyed a great swim today. The water was flat and 56°, clean and the swimming was easy. In October 2024 was the last time since I felt as comfortable in the water as I was today. I expect the water temperature to drop back down before it settles into the upper 50's for summer.
Today was totally grey with no wind with the largest waves in the 3+ foot range. The tide was very low and getting in and out was a walk.
With no sunshine and fogged up goggles finding my line to the reef buoy was more approximate than usual and I wound up further offshore than usual. If you can find the end of the Avila Pier in the photo you can see how far offshore I was.
With the water temp up it was fun and relaxing in the water today. I wasn't cold at the showers. I'm ready for more swimming like this please.
I'll swim with Jodi, Tom Israel and Paula (?) on Saturday at 7:30.
Super low tide, glassy flat water, and a slight drizzle falling from the sky. Toes in the water at 855 AM. The tide was so low I was in waist high water out to the fifth blue light on the pier. The water temperature was 52° and the water clarity was excellent. I could see to the bottom at the buoy line. Beautiful morning Swim.
I waded in at 6:45. The sun was already above Fossil Point and it was clear and sunny. There was a light wind and the water was rippled, the surf was 2 foot except for an occasional 3 footer. There had been a minus tide at 6:09 so there was acers of beach to cross before I got to the water and the waves were starting to break out at the buoy line. The air temperature was 47° and the water was 52°.
I swam a Yo-yo today. This variation began at the end of the Avila Pier. I began with the 4th buoy and swam from he end of the pier to the buoy and back and then did the the shorter legs for #3 to #1 and finished up swimming from the end of the pier in to the beach. I like swimming the longest leg first.
Returning to the end of the Avila Pier for the first time the haze on the horizon in the top photo had become a solid fog bank that was in close and moving onshore. It looked like I might finish my swim in the fog but it moved back out and over towards the port so I got to finish and shower in the sunshine.
Sunny, clear blue skies, and breezy. 945 AM toes in the water. There was a consistent breeze blowing from east to west that was hollowing out the 2-3 foot waves. The dimpled water was 53 degrees. Beautiful day and an excellent Monday morning vitamin.
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.
Glassy water, a little bit of rain, and a good morning Swim. There was a heavy marine layer and some rain filled clouds at Avila when I arrived at 9 am. About 20 minutes into my swim the rain clouds opened up and it rained for about 20 minutes before giving way to a few spots of blue sky. The water temperature was about 52°.
This morning I did a clockwise lap around the reef buoy and the end of the Poly Pier. I came in along the P Pier to the first crossbars before turning to the Avila Pier because I could not remember if I had ever gone that way in that direction. I got in the water at 7:15. The conditions were grey and overcast which made navigation difficult. The kink in by leg to the end of the Poly Pier is because it was difficult to see the pier against the hills beyond. The air and water were 54°, it was calm, the surf small and the water glassy and clean except for some wind chop near the mouth of San Luis Obispo Creek.
I'll swim with Jodi and Tom Israel on Saturday at 7:30AM., rain or shine.
Glassy calm water, heavy marine layer and excellent swimming. Toes in the water at 9 AM. The water temperature was 53°. There were 2 to 3 foot waves rolling in slowly and the water clarity was crystal.
I enjoyed a really nice swim this morning. The water was in the mid 50's, there was solid overcast and a light wind out of the south. The surf was 2 feet +/- and the water was glassy with a small ripple.
I got in at about 7:10 AM and planned to do a couple of triangles. I'd picked up a mild cold and wanted a route that would give me opportunities to bail out if I hit my limit before I was done.
The swimming went really well. I said quick hi to a couple of other swimmers near the #4 buoy on the west side. The water did feel colder than 55° but that may have been my virus.
Other than two egrets who were stalking the kelp at the reef buoy I saw no other birds, seals, otters or other sea life.
I'll swim Thursday morning at 7 and Saturday at 7:30.
Sunday Tom Lorish took 6 members of the CP woman's water polo team out to the Avila Rock.
That sounds like great fun!
For Monday
Overcast, gray, and incredibly glassy flat water. I arrived at Avila at 845 AM to gray skies and mirror like glassy water. The water temperature was 54°. It was a lovely morning Swim.
Jodi, Tom Israel and Niel didn't plan on doing a Martini Swim today but the swimming conditions were so nice we changed our route after we were at the Avila Rock.
At 7:30 the air and water temperatures were 54°. It was overcast and very calm with a glassy ocean, a small swell and small waves. Outside the buoy line the water was 54°, it was colder near the beach and 52° +/- between the Avila and Poly Piers. Clean water everywhere. I didn't see any seals and few birds.
The swim out to the Avila Rock was so nice that when we grouped up at the rock we were all thinking of doing a Martini Swim instead of heading back to the Avila Pier.
The water has been unusually clear
Tom and Jodi at the Avila Rock
Jodi Tom and Niel at the Avila Rock
Niel, Jodi and Tom at the end of the Poly Pier.
After 1:49 in the water we're back on the beach.
Some sunshine would have been nice to help us warm up at the showers but the swimming was wonderful.
It is Kris's birthday tomorrow so I'll not be swimming until Tuesday.
