Wednesday, September 4th, 2024

Tom's Toes Swim Report -

 

UFO, stealth Blackhawk helo, death star.....?

Foggy and a little funky on the west side… I arrived at 910 a.m. and it was foggy. The picture is looking out towards Avila Rock… Normally you could at least see the rock buoy and Avila rock but not today.  The water was noticeably more funky on the east side. In fact I could see a clear demarcation line out at the Avila pier. The water temperature was about 56° and there was a small swell. Good day of swimming 

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024

 

I had a nice swim in variable conditions today. When I was getting in there was a solid ceiling of overcast and unlimited visibility, I could see the horizon and a band of blue sky with the overcast above. Based on Tom's report from yesterday I was expecting fog and had decided to do his Three Peaks swim which is the buoy line with three passes around the Avila Pier. The tide was low and the water was flat and glassy and felt 55ish getting in. The water quality on the east side of the pier was yucky; cloudy and salty with a metallic taste.  The west side was much better. Half way into my swim a strange south swell came up. The swell was 1 to 1- 1/2 foot with a 4 second period, so at first I thought it was the wake of a boat. There was no wind. Swimming became more interesting and required extra work, especially into the swell. The good part was that when the swell arrived the water cleaned up and warmed up a degree or two to 57° so I had a nice finish.

I see what the water gods have for me on Thursday at 7.

niel

       

Monday, September 2nd, 2024

 Swimming With Tom's Toes - 

Heavy marine layer and foggy! 10 AM arrival at Avila and it was foggy and crowded. The air temperature is 64 and the water temperature was 57.  On days like this I swim the buoy line boogie and three peaks. It was a good morning vitamin. 

Sunday, September 1st, 2024

 

I had a BBQ to get to later in the day so I got in a bit after 9 this morning. It was 60° and already clearing, with the sun starting to poke through.  With the water staying clean on the east side of the Avila Pier it looked like a good day to swim to the Avila Rock. It was smooth swimming all of the way with no wind and a long period swell from the SW. 

It was almost high tide so there was enough space in the kelp for me to swim around the rock.  The water temperature was up to 58° which felt nice and comfortable.

On my way to the showers I ran into Tom L. at the top of the stairs to the beach. He had swum to Fossil Point and to the end of the Avila Pier.

Next week I plan on swimming at 7 on Tue., Thurs., and Sat and at 11 on Sunday.

niel          

Saturday, August 31st., 2024

Poly Pier Toes

Jodi and I had a very pleasant swim this morning. We swam 4K in 56° water. The air temp was also 56°, the morning overcast is a constant, but the water was flat, glassy and made for smooth swimming. 

Yesterday Tom had seen heavy red tide between Morro Bay and Cayucos and thought the water at Avila was getting funky. This morning the water was somewhat cloudy but not objectionable between the Avila and Poly Piers and very clean with great visibility on the east side of the Avila Pier.        

When we got out at 8:30 the beach was more crowded than usual and on its way to a full holiday weekend crowd. 

I'll swim tomorrow at 11 and plan to get away before the crowds get too crazy. 

niel

Friday, August 30th, 2024

Swim Tales From Tom's Toes - 

Heavy gray and an essence of funk… The air temperature was 58° when I arrived at 915 AM. The marine layer was thick and heavy. The water was calm, glassy in spots and 54°. That's what my toes tell me anyway.  The swimming was good although there was definitely was an essence of red funk. I was driving between Morro Bay and Cayucos yesterday and the red Funk was pretty heavy there. Hopefully the it'll will pass on by without getting too heavy. 

Thursday, August 29th, 2024

 

Fossil Point

Conditions today were much like Tuesday except the air and water were 2 degrees warmer. This morning's numbers were 57° and 57°.  The gray overcast is dull but the swimming conditions are wonderful. I encountered spots of water with a funny taste that I could not identify. The grayness makes if difficult to judge the clarity of the water. 

An egret at the Avila Pier breakfast bar. 

The Saturday group will swim at 7 and I'll try for some swimming in the sunshine on Sunday at 11.

niel  

Wednesday, August 28th, 2024

Tom's Toes Says - 

58° and heavy marine layer. That was Avila at 910 AM when I arrived. The water was glassy and calm with a very small swell.  The water temperature was about 56°, and the water clarity has gotten quite murky in the last few days.  By the time I finished swimming an hour later the sun was just starting to burn through and a breeze was picking up.  It was a good midweek swim. 

Tuesday, August 27th, 2024

Avila was back to its gray and cool summer self but the swimming conditions were still great.

The air and water temps were 55°. There was no wind and just a hint of a swell out at the end of the Poly Pier so it was nice and smooth the whole way. There was heavy overcast but no fog. 55° is the lower limit for me in my summer wetsuit so I was feeling the cold towards the end.  

Today's route was; the buoy line to the first crossbars, the second crossbars, 

the end of the Avila Pier, the mooring tripod thing on the Poly Pier, 

the end of the pier, back to the Avila Pier and in. 

I do not know what score the judges gave me on my swim. 

I'll be back on Thursday and Saturday at 7.

niel 

Monday, August 26th, 2024

Tom's Toes Tails - 

Another beautiful morning at Avila… 65° air temperature, blue skies, and a slight breeze.  The water was calm and glassy and about 56°.  There  was a little bit of the kelp stew that Niel talked about last week, but nothing to cause any grief while swimming.  it was such a good morning here today that there was a couple literally dancing on the beach, practicing their swing dance!  

Sunday, August 25th, 2024

A beautiful but windy say at Avila Beach. At 10:30 it was 80° and totally sunny with a light breeze. The surf was small and there was some small bumps on the 57° water. Jamie joined me today. She has been swimming 25 yds. at a time for too long and got back in the ocean today. It was bumpy and white capped towards the horizon, so I figured that the wind would pick up and the chop move in, so triangles was the route. Jamie wanted to do 3,000M but would have options for a shorter swim and the triangles would mean that we would be changing directions and not swimming the hard way the whole time.    

At the 4th buoy on the east side for the second time.

 Jamie was loving being back in the ocean.

At this point Jamie swam back to the #1 buoy and went in while I completed the clockwise triangle. The wind and chop quickly built up, before I was at the end of the pier I was meeting some that broke over my head. 

The water is still very clear and clean for late summer and even with sub 60 water temperatures Avila is a beautiful place to swim.

By 1:00 the wind was gusting and picking up clouds of dust along the beach. The water was whitecapped in to the surf line. 

I'm planning on swimming at 7 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and again at 11 on Sunday.

niel

I spoke with Tom Lorish before we got in. He was a happy swimmer.  

I also spoke with Pet Kelley for a bit. He is still swimming.

 

Josh, David and Matt

First Sharfkfest Swim

Matt swims with us on Saturdays. Josh is his wife's cousin, 

his partner David was the first swimmer out of the water.

Next Thursday Tom Israel leaves for Maui and the Maui Channel Relay with friends from San Diego. It looks like Hurricane Hone will have done its worst and gone by Tuesday so I hope the swim goes well.  

   

Saturday, August 24th, 2024

 

Swimming conditions this morning excellent; flat, glassy and windless. The water temperature varied from 57° to wake up 55°. The air temp was 50°. At 7 Avila was a hole in a wall of fog. The clouds were hanging onto Fossil Point but we could easily see Avila Rock and all of the Poly Pier. I suggested swimming to the rock but we decided not to because instead of burning off the fog could close down. We decided to swim to the first crossbars on the Poly Pier, to the end of the pier and to loop back via the end of the Avila Pier and the kelp patch at the end of the beach.  This route would give us lots of alternat routes if the fog closed in.     

Tom, Niel and Jodi at the first crossbars along the Poly Pier.  

The view looking the opposite direction back towards the Avila Pier.

When we stopped at the end of the Poly Pier the fog had closed in and all we could see of the Avila Pier was a darker smudge in the fog. The sun was obscured but bright so we headed towards the Avila Pier by keeping the sun on our right shoulders.

We found the end of the Avila Pier without trouble and continued on to round the reef and kelp patch, come back along the buoy line and in to shore.    

As we were getting out the navigation conditions had completely changed.

I'll swim tomorrow at 11. 

niel

Friday, August 23rd, 2024

Tom's Swim Report - 

The conditions were changing as I was swimming…  I arrived at 910 a.m. and Avila was thick in fog. See before picture.  The air temperature was about 65° and the water had a pretty good wind chop on it.  By the time I had swam out to the end of the Avila pier I could tell the fog was starting to burn off.  The water temperature dropped off to about 56° from Wednesdays 60.  I didn't get any of Niel's kelp stew, instead, staying with the analogy, it was a very clear broth.  By the time I finished my swim the fog was completely burned off (see after picture) and the water was getting glassy.  A good morning swim.

 

Thursday, August 22nd, 2024

 Swimming In Kelp Stew - 

The morning overcast was back but there was no fog and the sharky signs are not up so the whole ocean was available.

It was a warm 60° and calm. The water was 58° +/- depending on where I was. Further out there was a bump on the water.  The big yuck was the almost constant presence of chopped up kelp. I was almost constantly hitting the stuff with my hands or head or having it hang up on my goggles.  Very annoying.     

The Harbor District's crew have worked their way out to the buoy line and are placing new pilings. I've begun to detour seaward.

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

niel

Wednesday, August 21st. 2024

Tom's Wednesday Swim Report -

Gorgeous at Avila this morning...   blue skies, 65° air temperature, and the water was glassy and calm.  Based on human observation, it was determined that the man and the gray suit has gone onto graze bluer seas.  The water was 60° maybe even 61.  Lovely swimming conditions.