Saturday, March 5th, 2011

The Saturday swim was excellent... we had 3 swimmers out, 2 swimming with us for the first time! The weather was great, the water was calm, and with all the sunshine you hardly noticed that it was only about 52 degrees. Natalie, Jen and myself started together and swam out to the end of the buoy line on the left side of the pier. Jen opted out of swimming over the top of the pier and swam it back in. Natalie and I did the rest of the triangle... or at least what's left of it since the creek buoy is still M.I.A.

I hope everybody has fun with the Sunday swim, I'll be off racing some 50's down in Pasadena for the day.

Rob D.

Anybody Interested in a 10am Saturday Swim?

Myself and one other swimmer are planning on getting in the water tomorrow at 10 if anyone wants to join us. We'll meet up in the regular spot and then make up a plan from there. Any questions let me know - rob@robaquatics.com

Rob D.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

It was sunny and surprisingly warm at Avila Beach today. There was a small but steady breeze out of the southwest that had put a small chop on the water. The water clarity looked OK, but was noticeably more silted up near the creek. Kris had come down to the beach with me and was walking along the shore and it was just Rob and I swimming. We decided to go in on the right side of the pier and do the triangle route counterclockwise. I measured a water temperature of 53.5 but I sure felt colder as we started to get in. I finally got started and Rob followed me out to the buoy line. We turned right and headed down the buoys to the creek. The chop was coming oner my right shoulder and was being kind of pesky. A ways past the third buoy the water get murky and I stopped. That is when I noticed that there was no longer a fourth buoy near the mouth of the creek. We decided to turn towards the end of the pier at that point. We were now headed almost perpendicular to the chop which was more changeling. Occasionally a larger wave would break right over my head. The swim from the end of the pier to the end of the sea wall was 'downhill', with the chop following behind us and the last leg along the buoys back to the pier was pretty easy. We were in the water for 30 minutes, entry to exit, and covered a mile. Since we have been swimming at 11 instead of 1PM the water conditions have been smoother and today was a nice challenge to relearn my bumpy water skills. After we got out Duke stopped by at the start of his bike ride to see how we were doing.

Rob will be at the CalTech pentathlon in Pasadena next Sunday but is interested if anyone wants to swim on Saturday. We also have a new swimmer who is interested in swimming on weekday mornings. You can post your interest on the Avila Swimming Facebook page or email Rob (rob@robaquatics.com).

niel

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Rob and I got to Avila early and picked up trash and other junk from the beach. On the east side of the pier I didn't find a lot of trash but I did pick up 8 patties of asphalt, a couple as big as a dinner plate. On the west side Rob found toys, shoes, sunglasses.

The weather was beautiful with big fleecy clouds and just a slight off shore breeze. The air was 55, the water 54. Rob and I discussed the probable cleanliness of the water for quite a while. The color of the water was hard to discern with all of the shadows from the clouds. With the recent rain we both had expected there to be a lot of silt from the creek in the water but it didn't look that bad. We decided that we would be cautious and pass on swimming today. The county does periodically test the water at Avila, but currently they sample on Wednesdays, so their information is not useful in determining if is safe to swim on Sunday.

Rob and I had a very long and relaxing lunch at the beach, long enough to see Duke and Angela pass by three times. By 1 the wind had come up and the water conditions had gone down the tubes. Rob and I tossed around the idea of moving some of our swims back to 1 PM so we would get to train in more changeling conditions. We both seem to pass more people as the water conditions get worse. Unless it is raining Rob and I will be back next Sunday.

niel

Sunday Swim and/or Beach Clean Up

I'm going to be on the beach Sunday morning (assuming it's not pouring rain) around 9:30am to do some beach clean up if anybody wants to join me! Bring gloves and closed toe shoes, I'll have bags and hand sanitizer if you need them. Email me if you want to come out or have questions: rob@robaquatics.com

It looks like the weather is going be ok on Sunday, but we're yet to see how much rain comes down on Saturday and what it might push into the ocean. Hopefully we can swim, but either way I want to go to the beach :)

Rob D.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

We got in a swim today before the weather turned to rain. It was in the mid 60's at Avila with thin high clouds and no wind. There was no current in the water and the surf was small. The water was 53.5. The water looked clean but was an odd color, either because of the cloud cover or possibly because of material churned up by a very low tide. Sylvia, Kim, Niel, Pete and Duke swam today. Niel, Pete and Duke did the buoy line/end of the pier triangle while Kim and Sylvia stuck to the buoy line. Sylvia goes without a wetsuit and Kim wears a farmer john so they spent less time in the water. I had not worn my neoprene cap or ear plugs in some time but today seemed like a good time to break them out, and they did make a big difference. I loaned my spare neoprene cap to Duke and could of done the same for Pete if I had had more. Except for the water temperature the swimming conditions were fabulous, really smooth and easy swimming.

niel

Sunday, February 6, 2011

We have had a lot of unseasonably nice Sundays so far this year and today was one more that made me consider calling my nephew in Boston from the beach, just to see what he was doing today. It was a very nice day for swimming today. It was cloudless with an air temperature in the low 70's and a water temperature of 55. The surf was 2 to 3 foot and there was just enough of a breeze to put a little ripple on the surface of the water. Today's group was Niel. Rob, Sylvia, Duke and Susan. Sylvia didn't feel like stretching out but the rest of us were interested in doing about a mile and a half. The solution was to do an extended buoy line swim, which would allow Sylvia to accompany us on a part of our route. The plan was to head out on the left side of the pier to the buoy line, turn left and follow the buoys to the end of the sea wall. Then to double back along the buoys, continue under the pier and on to the last buoy on the right of the pier at the creek. From there we would swim a leg at an angle over to the Cal Poly Pier and return back along our route to the buoy at the creek, along the buoy line, under the pier and in. I didn't get a chance to check with Rob about what his GPS unit said about our swim but our time in the water was about right for 1.5 miles.

The beach was a warm and comfortable spot for a post swim lunch, or in Duke's case, a nap.

niel

Sunday, January 30, 2011

No swim today. We had rain over night and at least at my place in Arroyo Grande the weather wasn't looking too good this morning. I went down to Avila anyways just in case somebody wanted to swim. Turns out it was pretty nice down at the beach. The water wasn't too rough where we swim, but you could see huge waves exploding out on the breakwater down by the port. I hung out at the beach until about 10 after 11 before splitting.

Our next swim will be this coming Sunday, we may sneak in a Thursday swim as well but that's not confirmed yet. Keep and eye here or on the Swim Avila Facebook page for updates on that.

Rob D.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Today was my birthday and it is like summer in January, so going to the beach to swim at lunch was just the thing to do. And fortunately, Rob is always ready for this kind of thing so I had someone to swim with. It was clear and sunny at Avila with an air temperature in the high 60's. There was a slight breeze from the SE that was just messing up the water's surface. The water temperature was 55. We decided to do Tuesday's route in reverse; out on the right side of the pier to the buoy line, down the line to the creek, from there to the 1/3 point along the Cal Poly pier, then to the end of the Avila Pier and along the pier to the beach. About 2000M in 38 minutes. The water temperature was the same as Tuesday but the water felt colder to both of us. I had a great swim, Rob was smiling and the beach was beautiful.

I won't be at the beach this Sunday so Rob will anchor the swim.

niel

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

It was so beautiful today that Rob and I conspired to sneak off to Avila for a noon swim. It was sunny, warm and calm with not much of anything in or on the water and only a few other hooky minded people on the beach. The water temperature was 55 with flat surface conditions and small waves. We decided to go someplace different today and headed straight out to the end of the pier. From there we turned towards the Cal Poly Pier, intending to swim to the second set of crossbars which are about a third of the way out along the pier from shore. The Cal Poly Pier is considerably longer than the Avila Pier so our route put was only slightly less than parallel to shore. About a third of the way there we swam into a sudden chop that was just less than head high and coming almost head on. It was not tough to swim into but it was pesky. Once at the Poly Pier we turned towards the buoy at the creek mouth and from there came in along the buoy line to the Avila Pier, and turned in to the beach. Rob's GPS said that we had covered 2K in 38 minutes. It was so beautiful on the sand that having some adult stuff to do is the only thing that got us off of the beach.

Rob and I are going to try and swim again on Thursday around mid-day. Anybody else want to come and play?

niel

Sunday, January 23. 2011

Avila was sunny and warm with big surf today. There were a lot of people enjoying the beach and about a dozen surfers or boogie boarders in the water. Being Avila, the quality of the waves was poor, but this wasn't keeping people from trying to get rides. The water temperature was 54 and the water was cloudy from the wave action. While I was taking the temperature the surge from the swells was moving the thermometer back and forth 20' to either side of me and would of taken it a lot farther if I had let more line out. High tide was at 11:37 and there were occasional sets of 6'+ waves while we were getting ready to get in. There was only a slight offshore breeze so there was very little chop, once we got outside of the surf zone the swimming conditions would be very favorable. Swimming today were Niel. Sylvia, Pete and Kim. Rob and his camera were in LA this weekend so we not only missed him but we don't have any pictures of today's swim. The swim plan was to get out through the waves and meet up at the first buoy, at which point we would decide on our route. We got split up by the timing of the sets so Pete and I waited out at the first buoy for Kim and Sylvia. I was lucky in my timing; after diving under two breaking waves I was able to swim up the face and through the lip of the next three and get out past the break. We decided to do the triangle route clockwise in stages, as Sylvia and Kim were not sure how long they were going to want to stay in. We went down the buoy line to the left to the big rock at the end of the sea wall, regrouped and turned towards the end of the Avila pier. Sylvia and Kim decided to go in along the pier while Pete and I decided to angle towards the end of buoy line at the creek and come back in along the buoys to the pier and in. With the surge from the waves nobody was going to swim under the pier today. The water on this side of the pier was several degrees colder. Again, Pete and I were lucky in our timing and we turned in to the beach just as a big set was rolling through. This allowed us to swim steadily in behind the big waves and have an easy time of getting into the beach. Getting in and out and keeping everyone together took some extra time today. I was in the water for over 50 minutes which is a long time to cover the mile or so of today's swim, but sometimes an ocean swim has a different concept of distance.

niel

Sunday, January 16, 2011

It was warm, almost hot, and sunny at the beach today. The town was crowded and there were a lot of families on the beach and a good number of people in the water. There was a steady offshore breeze but since the wind was coming straight off of the land there was only some small chop in the bay. I got a water temperature of 55. Occasionally there would be a good sized set but these were interspersed by longer periods of small waves. The wind was doing a nice job of holding up the faces of the waves but they were closing out. Swimming today were Rob, Niel, Sylvia, Kim and Lynn. While we were getting ready Rick Morena stopped by on his bike to see how we were getting along. It was warm enough today that nobody wanted to spend any time on the beach in a wetsuit so we headed right for the water before making a plan for the swim. The wade in felt OK but when I dived under the first wave the water below the surface felt a lot colder. We swam out and regrouped at the buoy line. The consensus was that it felt warmer than last Sunday's 52 but not 55. We decided to swim out to the end of the pier and then down to the creek. When Rob, Lynn and I got to the creek buoy we looked back and found three swimmers between ourselves and the end of the pier. I headed back to intercept the swimmer who was most off line and met up with Pete! He had arrived late and had come out along the west side of the pier to the end and followed after us towards the creek. The six of us came back along the buoy line to the pier and wanting to avoid a free barnacle dermabrasion courtesy of the swell we passed on swimming through the pier and came in on the west side. We swam 1600m and were in the water almost 45 minutes. While we were warming up Chad stopped by on his bike to day hi. We may be seeing him in a few weeks. Duke, he asked if you had been swimming.........

niel

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

With the water pollution from the rain and being out of town for the holidays, it had been three or four weeks since I have been in the water at Avila, but today made up for what I had been missing. It was sunny and pleasant at the beach. There was a gusty offshore wind and almost no surf. There were a few optimistic surfers, one seal, and a few gulls in the water. The water was clear with a temperature of 53. Swimming today were Rob, Sylvia, Pete, Niel, Kim and Susan, who had driven over from the valley to join us today. A swim of "about a mile" sounded good for everyone so we started out to do the buoy line end to end. Susan, Rob and I were starting to get wet while Sylvia, Pete and Kim were still getting down to the water. Susan and I decided to get going, figuring that Rob and the others would catch up at the buoy line. When we got to the buoy line the rest of the group had not started swimming out yet so rather than wait longer and get (more) chilled we started down the buoys to the left towards the end of the seawall. When Susan and I stopped to at the seawall we were still a ways ahead of the group, and rather than swim back along the buoy line through them we changed routes and headed towards the end of the pier. At the end of the pier we again elected not to wait and headed for the last buoy at the creek. The wind was picking up and we had some chop and current to deal with on our leg towards the creek. When Rob, Pete, Kim and Sylvia reached the end of the pier they decided to head back in along the length of the pier. When Susan and I came through the pier and turned towards the beach we met up with the group coming in along the pier. Susan and I swam just over a mile and finished in 34 minutes. Afterwards Rob mentioned that he had a tough time with todays swim and it had him thinking that he was not yet fully recovered from his New Year's Day 11k effort. I don't see anything wrong with that. I'd still be frozen solid if I had done a 4 hour swim in 53 degree water.

Right now next Sunday's forecast is for sunny weather and temperatures in the high 60's so I'm planning on being back for more.

niel

Sunday, January 2, 2011

After yesterday, (see my previous post), neither Rob or I was very excited about getting back in the water, so neither of us swam today. Also, with the heavy rain last night and this morning the water at Avila was almost certainly muddied up from the outflow from the creek which makes for unhealthy swimming conditions. Next weekend looks good, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60's.

This morning Rob updated his post on yesterday's swim with three video clips taken from the zodiac. If you have not seen them they really give you an idea of what he accomplished yesterday.

niel

New Years Day, January 1, 2011

Rob Dumouchel completed his Avila to Pismo, Pier to Pier Swim today!

I believe that this is the first time that this swim has been done in the winter and the conditions were very challenging. There was a storm coming into our area this morning that made this a very tough swim. I had a measured water temperature of 53 to 54 degrees for the entire route. There was a stiff and consistent wind out of the SE (from Pismo) that was pushing up a one foot chop that was occasionally breaking. The chop was riding over a 3 to 6 foot swell out of the SW. The wind and chop were coming straight at him for the entire swim. Rob started from the beach on the port side of the Avila Pier and completed his swim by walking out of the water on the south side of the Pismo a little over 4 hours later, the conditions having added about one hour to his time in the water. We picked up some light rain at about the third hour, which actually helped out as the wind dropped down a notch or two with the rain. Rob was accompanied by the Zodiac from Seaweed Express from Port San Luis maned by Captain Mike and his mate. I was paddling the kayak and providing feedings. Robs friend Chris was in the Zodaic putting up an experimental live streaming video feed. Rob even took the time to take some of his own pictures with the camera he carried tucked in his suit! Rob stopped every 25 minutes for a feeding. After one Gu packet at his second feeding Rob stayed with just liquids for the rest of the swim. Dave van Mouwerik and Chip Watkins were at the start to support Rob and I believe that Dave was the first one to greet him when he stepped out of the water at Pismo.

This was one tough swim and a great accomplishment. Keep an eye on Rob's website at www.robaquatics..com for Rob's own comments on his swim and the the photos!

niel