Sunday, March 27, 2016

 Today's route was the same as last weeks, out to the end of the Avila pier, to the mouth of San Luis Obispo Creek and back along the same route for 1.13 miles in a total time of 34:24.  Swimming today were Rick, Duke, Amy, John Hampsey, Niel, Tom Lorish and Alex Mark who joined us from the bay area and will be doing his first tri (the HITS in Napa) in two weeks.

 The fog cleared earlier today and made our route easier. 

 Duke and Rick at the end of the pier. 

 Alex, John and Tom

Tom, Duke, Rick and Alex at the mouth of the creek

niel

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Avila Beach was foggy and cool. There was no wind and 2 to 4 foot surf. I could not get a water temperature from the pier. The water temperature over at the port was 57, however, the lifeguard said that she had taken the water temperature that morning at 10 out beyond the surf line and got a reading of 53.  I thought it felt like 55 but it was colder on the east side of the pier. Cal Fire was on the beach and in the water doing some training and the lifeguards are back. The guards started earlier this year in order to have the beach covered during spring break. 
Swimming today were Niel, Jim, Amy and John Hampsey.  We were going to swim down the beach to the left but as we were getting in the Cal Fire guys showed up with jet skis, so they went left down the beach and we changed our route to the right. We all swam out to the end of the pier and down to the mouth of the creek. From there John and Amy swam along the beach and under the pier to our starting point while Jim and I doubled back along our route. We covered 1.25 miles. 

John, Jim and Amy

niel

The Avila Dolphins are partners with GH Sports, so there is an opportunity This Sunday morning for special discounts and door prizes. 

I'm sure that you need more swim stuff.

niel

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Duke and Levi swam today.  This is Duke's plot of their 1,049 yard swim.

niel

Sunday, March 6, 2016

I'm not swimming today. After the recent heavy rain I'm staying out of the ocean to give the bacteria count a chance to come down.

I'll also miss next weekend. I'll be at the Surfrider West Coast conference meeting people from the California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii chapters who are interested in clean oceans, clean waves and clean beaches.

ALSO, Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday, March 13th, which means Wednesday evening swims could start on the 16th. If anyone is interested respond to this blog and we'll link you up.


niel  

Sunday, February, 28, 2016

We had a nice day at Avila Beach today; about 75 degrees with an offshore wind. I read  a water temperature of 57 degrees in the shallows. The water felt colder outside of the surf line. 

Every 7 to 9th wave was 4 ft plus.

Rick, Duke John and Amy getting in. Tom was already in. John Harmse got in after we had shoved off and was somewhere unseen behind us.  

We met up with Folicle (?, sorry I didn't get the spelling) when we grouped up at the mouth of the creek. He completed the swim with us.

Rick, Duke and Folicle at the end of the Avila Pier 

 Duke at the reef buoy

Rick, Folicle and Tom at the reef buoy.

I had 1.12 miles in a total time of 41 minutes.

niel

Sunday, February 21, 2016

I was out of town but Tom showed up and swam by himself.  He sent this swim report:

It was another 'summer day' in Avila: air temps in the 70s, crowds, and tight parking.  El Nino continues to behave like El Nada, and February is our new summer season.  There was a bit of a wave, maybe 3-4 foot, and the water was a nice 56-57.  Swimming today was Tom. He swam out, messed around in the waves, swam around kelp strand #38 (not to be confused with kelp strand #54 out by the reef buoy), and back to the waves where he messed around some more.  He's not sure how far he swam or how long it took.  He did report it was a good day, though.

Thanks Tom.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

 It was a super summer day at Avila Beach today. It was warm and sunny with an offshore breeze that was holding up the faces of the waves. It was low tide so I could not get an 'official' water temperature. The port was reporting 58 but our consisus was that it was 54 or 55 degrees at Avila. Niel, Duke, Tom, Leslie, Amy, John and Rick swam today. John and Amy went straight out to the end of the pier and over to the creek mouth and back. Niel, Duke, Rick, Tom and Leslie swam left to the reef buoy, to the end of the pier, to the creek mouth and back along the beach, under the pier and in. That was one mile.

Niel and Tom agreeing on the water temperature and route.

Tom and Leslie at the reef buoy.

 Duke, Rick, Tom and Leslie at the creek mouth

A Valentine's Day warm up for Tom from Leslie

No route map today. My main computer crashed and the laptop does not have the software. 

niel

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Avila Beach was beautiful and crowded for a Sunday in February. It was clear, warm and sunny with no breeze and 53 degree water. The water from the  creek is still dirty so we stayed on the other side of the pier. Tom, Rick, Niel, Duke, Amy and John swam out to the end of the pier then over to the buoy on the little reef and back to the pier. I had that route at .94 mile.  Afterwards it was very pleasant on the beach which made it hard to do something more useful with the rest of the afternoon.

Tom pointing out the patch of kelp that was to be our turn around point.

niel

Sunday, January 24, 2016

It was sunny and comfortable at Avila with some offshore wind and the most surfable waves that I have seen there in many years.  It was just Tom and I today. The water temperature over at the post was 57 but my toes said 55 or less.  We swam out past the line of surfers and swam down towards the point and back. 

Tom

Niel

Tom as submarine man.

There is no rain predicted for this coming week so the water quality of the creek may clean up. Thursday's samples will tell.

niel

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Low tide was at 11 AM. The surf was 6' to 8' and the bacteria levels in the creek were very high on Thursday, so the stinky creek water would be held against the beach until sometime after high tide. This was a good time of day to stay out of the water away from the bugs. 
I saw Rick and Amy but nobody was going to swim. I had lunch on the beach and enjoyed the view.
We'll see how it is next Sunday. 

niel

Swimming This Sunday

I'm not sure about swimming this Sunday. Thursdays samples had a bacteria count at Avila Beach that was low, but the numbers from the creek mouth and up to the weir were quite high. Low tide on Sunday is at 10:59, so the ocean will just be just starting to push the bugs back towards the creek at our usual jump in time. There will also be a huge swell late Saturday, 12 to 15+ feet on the west facing beaches.  I'm leaning toward not but could change my mind if the swell lays down quickly. 

niel

Lots'a Bugs

My Blue Water Task Force volunteers and I went out early Thursday morning to collect water samples. At Avila Beach the combination of 8' to 10' waves and high tide had the wash from the waves carrying over the sand spit and into the estuary.

Every place along the creek and at the beach was over the state limit of 104 organisms/100ml. for enterococcus bacteria, which means human poop in the water. Some samples were in the 2000 to 3000+ range.  You can see the results at http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/34.

There will be more rain Saturday. I'm not going in the water Sunday. If the surf is still up I may come down to watch the show. Maybe I'll see you there.

niel

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Today's post is written by John Hampsey

There were four swimmers today—Niel, Tom, Amy, and myself. The sky was gray and the water chaotic-looking. The predominantly north-east wind of the past 5 or 6 days was reluctantly giving in to a shifting south-east wind that was promising to bring rain. The breaking waves were large at times but tumultuous rather than linear. The four of us entered the sea slowly and eventually swam 1/3 of the way along the pier then turned left to head to the reef buoy. The rock and roll of the water, and the large swells, made for a challenging swim. At times it was hard to site. Next to the buoy I could feel the push and pull of the cross currents.

We decided to head for the end of the pier, which I thought would take us beyond the high swells. But it was Proteus’s day and the swells were rising and rolling even out past the pier, a rare condition. At that point we decided to head back to shore for what proved to be the most interesting leg of the swim because, even though we were moving in the same direction as the waves, the currents underneath were pulling back against us.

We were in the water for an invigorating 46 minutes. The water temperature was 54 degrees by the shore and probably 52 farther out. We swam about 4/5 of a mile and earned every inch of it.

New Year's Day, January 1, 2016

Rob and Allison were in town so Rob joined us for a nap on the beach and a short swim. Dave, with his cold, Kris and Sylvia (not in the picture) stayed on the beach while Rob and I went in. It was sunny and calm and the water was very clear but 52 degrees. 

 Nobody has seen this dance at Avila Beach in a while. 

 I got cold watching.

 We swam out to the end of the pier and came back in. 

Rob said that he was OK after he acclimated, my feet were freezing.

niel