Sunday, February 23, 2014

It was thick today.  The large catamaran that has been anchored in Avila the last few weeks is out there, just left of center in this picture and only a short distance off of the beach.   

This was definitely not the view at Avila Beach today.  An unusual and  thick wall of fog was laying right along the coast leaving the beach looking like a flannel pocket.  It was cool with no breeze and very flat 51 degree water, all of the makings for a chilly swim.  We had five regulars and two new friends.  Niel, Duke and John Hampsey were joined by Shawn and Emily from Cal Poly. Sylvia and Yvonne stayed on the beach.  The fog was very thick and didn't show any signs of lifting which made plotting a route a challenge.  For those of us who are familiar with this beach a swim parallel to the beach was possible but with two swimmers who were new to us and were unfamiliar with this area a route out and back swim along the pier would be safer.   The combination of 51 degree water and no sun made the swim out along the pier really cold. Emily and Shawn did pretty well.  They had to get comfortable with both the cold water, the fog and the neoprene caps we had loaned them but they did OK.  Everybody was cold when we got out, I'm not sure if this swim was too long or too short.  It took me longer than usual to get to a degree of comfort and when I was getting out I was wondering if this short of a swim was just a chance to get cold and not long enough to really warm up.  It was safe and we had fun, which is what counts.
We are supposed to get some rain or showers late in the week.  At this point I'm planning on being back here next Sunday.

niel 

Monday, February 17, 2014

This morning Avila had clearing fog and a breeze that kept changing direction. The surf was larger, chest high and the water colder at 53 degrees.  At 11 it was sunny and clear.  No one else showed.  I swam yesterdays route the opposite way.  For most of my swim the wind was out of the SW so I got a nice push towards Fossil Point and worked my way into the current and small chop on the way back along the beach.  We have had mostly flat conditions so it was nice to have some real ocean conditions.
I'll be back for more Sunday.

niel

Sunday,February 16, 2014

Sunday was a beautiful day for a swim at Avila Beach.  It was sunny, warm and calm with the typical small surf, clear water and flat swimming conditions.  The water temperature was 54.5 degrees.  We had 10 swimmers today and broke up into three different swims.  Sylvia and Yvonne swam out around a large catamaran that was moored on the east side of the pier and swung down to the seawall and came back.  John Hampsey and Ali swam out and back along the beach on the the east side of the pier.  Niel, Sam, Katy, Duke, Brad and Tom Lorish swam down to Fossil Point, to the end of the Avila Pier and in along the pier.  Our group covered about 1.2 miles in 40 minutes and had a great swim.

We are swimming tomorrow!

Today was so nice that I want to celebrate Lincoln's birthday by swimming on Monday.  Same time and place.  We'll get in the water at 11.  Hope to see you there.

Today is the last day that we will have the pleasure of swimming with Brad Matsushita, a.k.a. Fast Brad.  Brad is moving up to Santa Clara as part of his career reboot.  Brad was always off the front of the group so we will miss the pleasure of catching up to him at the end of each leg of a swim.  I hope that you find great success and we will look forward to seeing you at the beach when you are in town. 

niel

  

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Yahoo! Our swim was rained out today!
It was spitting when I arrived.  By the time I had finished taking the water temperature (54 degrees) it was light rain.  I waited around for a bit (10:35) until it was actually raining.  I figured that anyone who, unlike me, had checked the weather wouldn't be coming so I bailed. 
We have not had any rough water swimming in a while so today's conditions would have been fun; a steady wind out of the SE pushing wind waves with 1+ foot chop on top.  Kind'a like the water conditions on the first swim leg of a tri minus the bumping.

niel

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Thanks to Leslie for the photo

Ali, Niel, Duke and Tom took a short swim today.  The conditions were nice; the water was up to 55.5 degrees, this warmest it has been since December 1, 2013, it was overcast, windless and flat except for some 3+ foot waves.  After the too close encounters with boats the last two Sundays we decided to stick close to the pier.  We did an simple 1/2 mile out and back along the pier, got wet and had fun.  It wasn't cold on the beach but the lack of sun didn't encourage anyone to linger, so we scattered to our various other tasks after changing and getting warmed up.

We have a swimmer who is on the mend after a bad bike crash on Monday.  Rick Marina was riding on Highway 1 near Cuesta College with a group that included Duke and John Hanse (Fast John to those who try and keep up with him in the water).  Rick went down hard, fracturing his pelvis and breaking his collarbone.  He is home and beginning his recovery.  Send him your thoughts.

niel 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

This was another Sunday just like so many others this year; sunny, warm, 53 degree water, very little wind and great swimming conditions with one exception (more on that later).  Sylvia, Niel, Sam and Katie swam, Rob body surfed while Allison, Rick and Rhonda held down the beach. Sylvia went left down the beach and back.  Niel, Katie and Sam went over to the Cal Poly Pier, came back to the end of the Avila Pier and in along the pier.  There were some 4'+ breakers so getting out was a bit more fun than it has been.  There were a lot of seals over near the Cal Poly Pier. One small one picked us up and followed Sam all of the way to the beach.  The only downside with this swim was another boat problem much like the one last week.  This time the boat came in from the east and ran parallel to the beach at high speed while well inside the length of the Avila Pier.  I'd like to see our buoys back.

niel

Sunday, January 12. 2014

We had another unseasonably beautiful day at Avila Beach. It was in the 60's with a water temperature of 53.  There were gusty offshore winds but on the beach close to the seawall it was warm.  Since it was blowing directly offshore the wind put only a small chop on the water close to the beach.  There were occasional 3 to 4' waves, seals playing in close and dolphins out past the end of the pier.  Niel, Amy, Ron and Brad swam.  Rick, Rhonda, Byron, Sharley and Dave Van Mouwerik traded stories and soaked up the sun on the beach.  We swam down to Fossil Point and back covering just over a mile.  The tide was quite low so we stayed farther off the beach than usual in order to avoid the surf that was breaking neat the point.  Just as we grouped up near the pier a guy in a small Zodiac came through the Avila pier about mid way, He headed out along the pier and then turned left towards us.  He completed a full circle , messed around a bit and then crossed back under the pier.  I don't believe that he ever saw us. There was no harm done but I felt more threatened by this guy than most any other animal that I have come across in the water.

niel 

Sunday, January 5, 2014

It was a beautiful day for a swim; sunny, calm and a flat ocean.  The water temperature was up (!) to 54 degrees.  Niel, Amy, Sam and Katy made up a route that was a bit over a mile, swimming up and down along the beach and then out to the end of the pier and in.  The water was very clear.  There were quite a few seals around and one strafed Amy and then popped up in front of her which gave her quite a start.  We finished up and enjoyed the warm sun up next to the wall.  Rob got in and splashed around and Rick and Rhonda soaked up some sun.

niel

2014 New Year's Day Swim

Sylvia, Amy and I did a 9AM New Year's Day swim along the Avila Pier.  The water was 53.5 degrees which was a bit warmer than the air temperature.  It was sunny and beautiful with some head high sets and a very high tide just when we got in.  This was the first time Amy had attempted this swim but once Sylvia got in the peer pressure was on and she made the plunge.  

            Sylvia checking out the drop.                                                                      Amy

                                                    In and heading to the beach.

Afterwards we had hot coffee and enough treats for a dozen swimmers.  We got to watch a pod of dolphins that were feeding around the reef that is towards Fossil Point. 

The route map doesn't look like much but the detail of my start is interesting.

I was curious how the gps would record my start.  I seem to have gone in a direct manner but then ascended back onto the pier and made a rather messy re-entry.  The gps has always been much less accurate with elevation than location.  In this case it has me beginning at +9M, dropping directly to -16M and then descending to -64M (!) before regaining the surface.

I'll be back Sunday for a longer swim.

niel

Sunday, December 29, 2013

For the last swim of 2013 Avila put on a great show.  It was clear, sunny, and very warm on the beach with no wind and 53 degree water.  There was a swell out of the SE that produced an occasional 3+ foot set of waves and put some real roll on the water's surface.  Rob, Niel, Tom Lorish, Amy and John Hampsey were joined by Loren and Kelly, a couple of Rob's friends from out of town.  Loren and Kelly were reacquiring their open water swimming chops so we started out with a loose plan to swim a shortened triangle that would give them a chance to ease into things.  Rob stayed with Kelly who was going without a wetsuit and was having trouble getting in.  John accompanied Loren who decided to head back to the beach rather than swim too far out from shore.  If you have not been in cold water in a while caution is always the best course. Tom, Niel and Amy worked around the end of the pier and back towards the 'buoy' line.  John had dropped off Loren and swam east parallel to the beach to reconnect with us.  We swam back to the pier and came in.  

NEW YEAR'S DAY SWIM

We are going to swim (in the water) at 9 AM on New Year's Day.  We will walk out to the end of the Avila Pier and swim back to shore.  Wear whatever you are comfortable in.  The water will be about 53 degrees.  If you want to start from the beach and swim out and back that is fine too. POTLUCK afterwards. 
The 9 AM start time will give us a chance to get in and out of town before the people attending the Avila Beach Polar Bear Plunge arrive, or, you will have a prime parking spot if you want to stay and do the plunge at noon.

niel

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Niel, Rob, Amy and John Hampsey swam today.  The water was 53 degrees. It was calm with on a small swell and an occasional set of 2 to 3 foot waves.  There seemed to be a lot of gulls around but not much other wildlife.  We swam out and left, down to the end of the sea wall which is about where the buoy line ends.  We turned and swam to the end of the Avila Pier and came in along the pier to our starting point.  We covered a little over .6 of a mile.  
My gps didn't start when we did so there is no route map today.

Rob and I ran into Alan Raul and Cary Geihs out on the pier.  They have organized a Avila Beach New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim.  Check out the flyer.
We'll talk next Sunday about what we want to do for a New Year's Day swim.

niel

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Niel, Brad, Jon and Ron swam today.  Allison paddled for us.  Rob decided to soak up some sun on the beach.  Ron is from Bend, Oregon, in town for a few days and found us through someone he spoke to at Kennedy.  He has done some tri's, including the beyond Ironman distance one in Bend.  They do their open water swimming in lakes so this was a treat for him. The water was 53 degrees, it was mostly sunny with no wind and small waves.  Except for the water temperature the swimming conditions were great.  Ron turned out to be a strong swimmer, keeping up with Jon and Brad.  Jon and Brad were tired/recovering and this was going to be new for Ron so we stayed close to the shore incase anyone decided to bail out. This swim was 1603 meters and I was in the water for 34 minutes.  After we got out there were several pods of dolphins close to shore.  The water did not feel much warmer to me than yesterday's mile in 50 minus temperatures but I was not nearly as cold after I got out. 

niel

Will Swim For Food, Saturday December 14, 2013

The 4th Annual Santa Cruz Will Swim For Food Fundraiser

Rob Dumouchel, Ali Beug, Leslie Tappin Lorish and I had a wonderful experience Saturday at the Will Swim For Food Fundraiser in Santa Cruz. There were more than 70 swimmers that raised a total of $70,640.00 (so far, donations are still being accepted!) for food banks from San Diego to Oregon as well as Virginia and Louisiana.  

It was sunny with an air temperature of about 40 degrees at the start.  The water temperature was cold for this time of the year at 48 to 50 degrees.  

I had a great swim and thanks to our donors the Avila Dolphins raised $2120.00 for the SLO Food Bank!

Deserving special comment are Rob, who swim without a wetsuit, Leslie, who swam in spite of a bad cold and Ali for whom this was the longest, roughest and coldest ocean swim that she had yet done.

About 15% of the swimmers went without wetsutis.

It's 40 degrees out, let's go swimming!

That's me , Rob, Ali, Leslie and someone in pink wading in.  It actually didn't feel super cold at this point but towards the end of the pier I could tell that the freezing feeling was not going to even out.

Leslie and Rob towing their ducks.  For a $150 donation you get a wood duck decoy that you can decorate and tow around the pier.

Down the other side of the pier and heading towards the finish.

 The finish.

The cool finishers medals are made out of blue glass.

niel

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Niel. Ali and Rob swam today.  It was 50 degrees and sunny when we got in with a mild offshore breeze, 1 to 2' surf, 53 degree water and flat swimming conditions. There were even some dolphins about halfway down the beach creating massive swim envy.   We decided to swim down to the point and back, covering about a mile in a tune up before next Saturday's 1 mile Will Swim For Food trip around the Santa Cruz Pier.  This Sunday's 50 degree air and 53 degree water was sure different than last weeks 80 degree air and 56 degree water.  I was most of the way to the point before I began to feel evened out with the water temperature. The return swim was into a small chop that had come up along with a line of high clouds that blocked out our sun.  When I got back to the pier I swam back to pick up Ali and we headed in to the beach together.  With no sun it was too cool to linger on the beach so once we showered and dried off everyone headed off.

At the Palm Springs Tri this weekend were  Rick and Rhonda Mareina (1/2 on Saturday) and Duke Parmley (Olympic on Sunday).  Rick had a time of 6:08:53.  I didn't find a time for Rhondia and results for the Olympic were not available as of this post.  If the weather conditions were anywhere near the cold and windy weekend that NOAA predicted they were going to have a Beyond Category experience.  Hope all went well.  Can't wait to hear all about it next Sunday.

niel

Sunday, December 1, 2013

What a day at Avila!  For me it began when I pulled into town and found Front Street from San Francisco St. to San Luis Street filled curb to curb with Harleys. Must'a been hundreds of bikes. Avila was the conclusion of a toys for tots run that attracts riders from as far away as San Diego and the central valley.  It was quite a site.  
The weather was just spectacular.  It was warm and windless, almost too warm on the beach, with no clouds, 1' surf and no swells. The water was 56 degrees.  Niel, Rob, Duke, Amy and Rick swam out and down to Fossil Point and back.  The swim out involved some regrouping, on the way back we swam without stopping. I covered .92 of a mile in a casual 38 minutes.  The water was clear enough that I could easily see the bottom when we were near the point.  

niel