Sunday, May 22, 2011

When I got to Avila at it was still and sunny. The water looked really clear, the tops of the waves were a nice transparent green. I got a water temperature of 55. There were three jet skis playing in the surf down at the far end of the beach near Fossil Point. Sylvia and Yvonne were out along the left side of the buoy line and turning towards the end of the pier. When I got back to our stuff on the beach the jet skis were leaving and heading back towards the port. The two stand up skis took off at high speed and it looked like they came within 100M or less of Sylvia and Yvonne who were on their way to the end of the Avila Pier. That was clearly a violation of the required distance that a powered craft must maintain for a swimmer, anywhere in the water. Next a fishing boat pulled up towards the the end of the pier and moved over to the moorings on the west side. Yvonne said that this boat, though moving slowly, cam closer than comfortable. This was before 11, when the lifeguards man the towers so I do not know if any of these operators was cautioned by the Harbor Patrol. Duke, Chad and I decided to do about a mile along the buoy line, for no other reason than we had not do a swim that was all parallel to the beach in a long time. We went out, turned left and swam to the end of the sea wall to approximatively where the last buoy used to be. While we were regroup we agreed that it today's conditions were superb, it was flat, the water was clean and even warmish. We agreed to do the next leg to the creek without stopping. As we emerged from under the pier onto the west side we were surprised by a reasonable chop coming straight at us. As we continued towards the creek the chop kept building up until it was really pushing me around. When we stopped at the west end of our route the surface was whitecapped and there was a strong breeze blowing. We road the chop back to our starting point and came in. This swim was about a mile in 31 minutes in the water. The wind was now blowing sand down the beach so we hurried to shower off and get dry. By the time we had settled down in our chairs the water was whitecapped into the surf line on the east side of the pier. About 12:30 Duke reluctantly left for his scheduled 40 mile ride and Chad faced a run to the port and back. I didn't have anything else planned today so Sylvia and I visited until Chad returned.

There will be a potluck lunch after next Sunday's swim so bring something to share. Swimmers and guests are welcome. The route of Sundays' swim will be determined on the beach. If we have kayak support I'd like to go longer and more offshore; to the rock off of Fossil Point (1.5 miles), or to the end of the Poly Pier and back (1.4 miles). If we do not have support or the conditions are not favorable, the group will make something else up.

niel

Wednesday Evening, May 18, 2011

Niel, Rob and Ryan swam tonight. It had been very windy all day but Avila Beach was showing off when I got there at 5. There was only a light offshore breeze that would gust occasionally but this turned out to be its dieing gasps. This water was 55 degrees, clear and had only a rippled surface. We swam the 'classic' triangle route; Out on the left side of the pier, left to the last buoy of the line, turn right to the top of the Avila Pier, from there to the mouth of the creek at the end of the beach on the right side of the pier and back parallel to the beach, under the pier to our starting point and in. Rob measured this excursion as 1500 M. With all of the time we had spent visiting at the turning points we were in the water for 32 minutes. When we got out the wind had died completely and left us with a beautiful still evening at the beach with the sun setting into a big bank of fog that was pushing up against the hills behind the port. Pretty nice!

niel

Sunday, Mat 15, 2011

Rob, Niel and Chad. swam today. The water temperature was 54. The rain showers we had Saturday night were not enough to muddy the water. There was a steady wind from the south and wind waves from the SSW. There wasn't much surf but the wind waves were 1' to 2' with an occasional 3 footer and not breaking. The waves were only 3 seconds apart. The swimming conditions didn't look too challenging when we got in, without whitecaps it didn't look too bumpy. We made up this swim as we went along. We swam out to the end of the Avila Pier, then to the phantom buoy at the creek, doubled back along our route to the end of the pier and swam to the last buoy on the east side at the start of the sea wall. We came back along the buoy line towards the pier, angeling in early to avoid the lines of the fishermen on the pier. This swim turned out to be mush rougher than we expected. On the first leg on our way out to the end of the pier it seemed like I never got out of the surf line. Swimming in the wind waves was just like working through the surf. It wasn't like swimming through a chop. The waves were big enough to really push you around and they would break over your head. It was easy to swallow a lot of sea water. Each leg was different but they were all a lot of work. We were in for 41 minutes. This swim was just over a mile.

niel

Wednesday Evening, May 11, 2011

It had been windy all day Wednesdayand there was still a strong breeze blowing at Avila Beach at 5 PM. The wind was blowing from right to left, almost parallel to the beach, and the resulting chop was starting to break into whitecaps. I got a temperature of 55, which seemed odd as the station over at the port had been reading 50 - 51 all day. I wondered if the steady west wind was pushing warmer water from the creek, which is at the far western end of the beach, towards the pier. We'd find out soon. Rob and Ryan were here so we would be a threesome this evening. We decided to go out on the west (windward) side of the pier and swim the phantom buoy line to the creek, turn to the end of the Avila Pier and then swim to the second, and last, buoy on the east side before returning to the pier. It felt colder than 55 getting in. There are 'wind aided' times in track so I think there should be 'wind deducted' water temperatures for ocean swimming. This applies especially when I look over at Rob, getting in with wearing just his shorts and a single cap. The leg down to the creek was almost directly into the chop. I quickly stopped thinking about the water temperature and focused on timing my stroke, breathing and keeping a strong pull against the steady slap of the chop that was breaking into my head. We regrouped near the mouth of the creek and headed towards the end of the pier. I was feeling comfortable with the water temperature at this point so 55 seemed reasonable. This leg was across the direction of the wind. I was getting bent every which way by the waves and it felt like I was getting a full body massage. We grouped up at the end of the pier and started for the last buoy on the east side of the pier. Just after we started on this leg the water temperature dropped a couple of degrees, so my idea bout the water from the creek was right. The wind was behind us on the third leg and I occasionally got picked up and surfed down a small face. There were several fishermen on the pier near the surfline so instead of swimming parallel to the beach towards the pier and turning in to the beach we decided to angle from the buoy directly to the beach opposite our stuff and not risk getting near the lines trailing out from the pier.

We swam just about a mile and were in the water for 31 minutes.

niel

Sunday, May 8. 2011

Today Avila was back to more normal conditions. It was crowded for Mother's Day, windy and the water was 54 degrees. The wind was out of the SW and was not steady. but when it kicked up it was really messing up the surface with a breaking chop. Sylvia, Yvonne and Rob had gone out early for a loop around the pier. They were just coming in when I went out to check the water temperature. When we met up on the beach they reported that it had been really rough off of the end of the pier and generally rougher swimming conditions on the west (windy) side of the pier. We took that in mind when we planned the 11 o'clock swim. Rob was going to go again with the three of us; Susan James, Niel and Ryan. We decided to start out along the east side of the pier and to swim to the end. then to swim to Fossil Point and then return to our starting point by swimming parallel to the beach along the buoy line. The leg towards Fossil Point would be with the wind and chop at our backs. The last leg would have the chop coming towards us at a 45 degree angle from the left but it should moderate as we came closet to the pier. Rob had said that it has felt colder than the 54 degrees that I had measured but we figured that the combination of the wind and the partial cloud cover would make it feel colder. Getting in it sure felt colder to me. We regrouped at the end of the pier and made sure that Susan and Ryan knew where we were headed to so no one would overshoot the point and wind up at Pirate's Cove. This leg was the longest and the most fun. A few times the chop would combine enough for me to get picked up and get a bit of a ride down a face. The leg back to the pier was just a slog. It was a matter of finding a rhythm that worked with the period of the chop that would allow you to keep a good stroke and not swallow to much water. We finished up and everyone felt like they had done a real ocean swim and accomplished something. The swim was 1.4 miles and took 40 minutes.

Rob, Ryan and I will be swimming Wednesday evening at 5:30 if anyone wants to join us.

niel

Wednesday Evening, May 4, 2011

It's All in the Top 18"! That was the story of Wednesday nights swim. Springtime is when the water at Avila gets coldest and the last 10 days it has been 51 or 52 with the cold spots certainly in the high 40's. Starting on Monday of this week we had offshore winds and unseasonably high temperatures and at 5 PM on Wednesday the air temperature at Avila Beach was 85+. I did not know what to expect for a water temperature and I had to read the thermometer three times to be sure that it was really reading an even 60 degrees. There was a very light breeze that was just able to ripple the surface and no visible current. The waves were small to tiny and the water looked very green. Rob and I decided to swim out parallel to the Avila Pier to its' end, then diagonally to Fossil Point and back parallel to the beach to our starting point. This would be a long mile. Getting in felt great but occasionally a wave would stir up the water just right and I'd feel a shot of very cold water well up around me. When we regrouped at the end of the pier it was clear to both of us that the warm water was limited to an 18 inched thick layer on the surface. Below that it was still frigid. The solution was to get to swimming and keep your feet up out of the chill zone. I was in front and when we stopped at the point Rob mentioned that he had tried drafting in my bubbles but had had to give it up as my kick was stirring up the water and it was really cold following my feet. With the glare from the setting sun right in our line coming back parallel to the beach was sort of Braille swimming. I navigated by sighting on a hotel on a hill to the right of our course and stayed straight enough to just miss running into one of the buoys. The water near the surf line felt so comfortable that neither of us wanted to get out so we played in what waves there were until a long lull. Rob's friend Dani joined us. She had taken advantage of the weather to pass on her bike ride and come to Avila for some boogie boarding, a very wise decision on such a hot and beautiful day. Sunday is supposed to see a return of our overnight fog and 70 degree temperatures so I do not expect to see a 60 degree water temperature again for a while.

niel

Sunday, May 1, 2011

It was beautiful at Avila Beach this morning; sunny and warm with a very slight offshore breeze. The water was flat with no current and almost no waves. The only thing to keep it form being absolutely perfect was the temperature, which at 51 was a balmy 2 degrees higher than what was being reported by the tide and temp station a couple of miles to the west at the port. The beach closure that was posted Friday had been lifted, with a cryptic note on the County's Beach Health Advisory website that stated that upon testing, the bacteria count in the 'spill' that had caused the closure was found to be within state standards. When I walked out on the pier to take the temperature I saw Sylvia and Yvonne swimming in along the length of the pier on the west side. They had gone out the west side of the buoy line and were finishing up along the pier. Swimming at 11 were Chad, Duke, Pete, Jerry Gross and myself. Before we got in Alan Freeman came by for a visit. Alan has been living in Hawaii for many years but used to live in San Luis Obispo and was an original member of the Avila Dolphins. Before abandoning the central coast for endless warm water he completed many cold water individual and relay races (no wetsuit) including a solo Catalina Channel Crossing. With his normal water temperature running 20 to 30 degrees higher than todays temperature he rightly elected to stay on the beach, visit and enjoy the beautiful weather. We decided to swim on the east side of the pier and swim parallel to the beach all of the way to Fossil Point and back. Getting in didn't feel too uncomfortable until I put my hands in the water and they seemed to pop right back out all on there own! I had to work at keeping them in the water and when I started swimming the water on my face was 'bracing'. I was wearing a full 3mm wetsuit, a neoprene cap and earplugs and wanted it all. By the time we got in the wind had begun to pick up a bit and 3/4 of the way to the point we started to swim through some chop. As we swam past the little reef that is near the point I was just getting numb enough to get 'comfortable' when the surge over the reef pushed some water up from the bottom and dropped the water temperature several more degrees. Ouch! We grouped up at the point, trying to keep our feet high in the water and started back to the pier. Once we got back and regrouped we headed in. We were in for 28 minutes, which made this swim just under a mile. My hands and feet never did stop feeling cold. The sand was warm and felt great walking up the beach. The showers felt unusually warm too. By 12:30 it was getting hot on the beach so we each soaked it up until we had to leave.

niel

Sunday, April 24, 2011

It was cool and overcast today and while I was driving to the beach I was passing in and out of rain showers. There was no rain once I parked but it was breezy with gray clouds that looked like they had moisture in them. The water was clear and 55 degrees with small surf and a small chop moving from right to left. Sylvia and Evonne were getting ready to get in when I arrived. This was to be Evonne's third try at ocean swimming and she and Sylvia were going to do their own swim. For the 11AM swim we had Niel, Rob, Chad, Monte (who was over from the valley) and Conner. This was conner's first swim with us. He is a Cal Poly student and a triathlete and found us through the website. He was comfortable in the ocean but wanted to learn how to swim in open water. Well, he found the right group!

We decided to do the large triangle clockwise today. That would give us a route with different exposures to the chop and multiple points for shortening or modifying the swim if we decided to. We swam out, turned left and headed down the buoy line until we were opposite the big rock at the far end of the retaining wall. From there we swam to the end of the Avila Pier. As we approached the end of the pier we discovered that the pier had been flattening out the chop by about 1/2. The third leg towards the creek to where the last buoy used to be was across the chop and probably the most difficult technically. Once we grouped up at the creek we swan parallel to the beach, under the pier to our starting point and turned in to the beach. This swim was about 1.25 miles and we were in the water for 38 minutes.

niel

Wednesday Evening, April 20, 2011

There was light rain falling as I drove to Avila at 5PM. It had slacked off to a mist by the time I got to the beach but there was a strong wind out of the West, blowing from right to left along the beach. I met up with Rob and we decided on a swim. Tonight we would go in on the right side of the pier, out to the lone buoy, down the phantom buoy line to the creek, over to the Poly Pier and retrace our route back. I had not gotten here early enough to get a water temperature but based on the temperature for our previous 3 swims we agreed that it would be cold, somewhere in basement of the 50's. Wading in the water felt nippy on my feet and hands but Rob, in his 'traditional' cold water gear, feels it all over and he was feeling the cold. As I was swimming out I started thinking that it wasn't that bad, maybe even mid 50's. Our leg down to the creek was into the wind and chop and took some extra work. I could taste the presence of fresh water as we neared the creek. Once we were off of the mouth of the creek we angled towards the Poly Pier and got a surprise. As we pushed towards the pier and swam out of the creek water we crossed a 3 or 4 degree temperature drop. This felt like 51 or 52 for sure. We did not spend any time idling at the Poly Pier and headed directly back towards the warmer water and the first buoy. Once there we stopped and reviewed the swim but not for too long. Treading water let our feet fall into the cold salt water that was below the fresh on top and our feet started freezing. We headed in, got dried off and changed. This swim was 1.55 K and we were in the water for 34 minutes.

niel

Sunday, April 17th 2011

It was too hot to walk barefoot on the beach but plenty cold in the water today! The nearest ocean buoy was running about 50 degrees but it was probably closer to 52 at the beach. Swimmers were myself, Duke and Sylvia. Duke and I swam to the end of the pier, over to the Poly Pier, back to the 1 buoy on that side of the Avila Pier, and then under and back to the beach which was good for about 1.3 miles. Sylvia did her own thing but spent about the same amount of time in the water as we did. Along our route Duke and I found some really cold patches. Midway between the Poly Pier and the Avila Pier on our way back we hit a patch that felt like a solid 4 degree drop, it was pretty brutal... luckily the sun was shining with reckless abandon this afternoon!

We'll be back out in the water on Wednesday after work around 5:30!

Rob D.

Wednesday Evening, April 13, 2011

I guess that you could say that we had spring conditions this evening. There was a stiff breeze that would gust hard enough to shake the pier, as if a big wave was passing under it. The wind was unusual as it was blowing from right to left, almost directly from the west and parallel to the beach. The surface of the ocean was pushed up into a short, sharp and close spaced chop that did not have any whitecaps. The water was clear and the temperature was 52. Swimming tonight were Rob, John and Niel. John and I wear wetsuits and I kept looking over at Rob in his trunks and cap as we were wading in to see what kind of fun he was having. We started on the right side of the pier and grouped up at the buoy line. We swan down the beach to the right to the creek. This leg was directly into the wind and chop. For me it was harder work but an OK swim, as I found a rhythm that worked with the chop so I wouldn't catch any water when I breathed. From the creek we swam to the end of the Avila Pier. The chop was coming over my right hip now so I was getting a nice push, even sliding down a few faces, but the direction meant that it was easy to get a mouth full from the chop breaking over my head. From the end of the pier we swam along the east side of the pier in to the beach. The pier broke up the chop some and made this the easiest leg of the swim. We finished in 28 minutes. The idea of a shower in that wind didn't sound too inviting so we just got into dry clothes as quickly as possible.

I'm busy Sunday but Rob will be at Avila on Sunday for the 11 AM swim.

For those of you who knew Alan Freeman, he will be in town next week and he is hoping to swim with us on the 24th, Easter Sunday and possibly Wednesday (the 20th) as well.

niel

Sunday, April 10th 2011

We had a great day for a swim. It was really sunny and warm on the beach with a light wind blowing onshore. There was no real surf to speak of and the water was only lightly textured. There was no official temperature reading today, but everyone agreed about 53 sounded right. The nearest NOAA buoy was reading 51-52. We had 4 swimmers today - Rob, Sylvia, Duke and Chad - and everybody swam the same route. We swam down to the end of the pier, over to the reef buoy, and then back to the buoy line and in. According to my GPS it was just shy of 1500 meters.

We'll be back out on Wednesday at 5:30pm for a swim. If anybody is interested in a Saturday swim or bonus after work swims let me know (rob@robaquatics.com), I'm up for spending more time in the ocean right now!

Rob D.

Wednesday Evening, April6,2011

Rob and I met at 5:30 this evening for our Wednesday after work day swim. There was a light wind and a current from the east to the west and a small swell from the SW. The water temperature was 57. The waves were 2' to 3' with some occasional 4+ footers. We decided to do something different; we swam out to the first (and only) buoy on the right side of the pier. From there we did not head down the buoy line but headed straight to the Poly Pier to our usual stopping point about a third of the way out from the shore. From there we swam to the end of the Avila Pier and in along the pier to the beach. With the wind, current and chop running in different directions each leg offered different conditions. As were were coming in the surf had built up to 4' to 5' so we got to play a bit getting in. We were in the water for 40 minutes and covered 2.4K.

niel

Sunday, April 4, 2011

Today's water conditions were not like anything I have ever seen at Avila. The overcast was burning off, there was no wind, the water temperature was 55.5 and the ocean was a complete mess. There was a mix of small and large waves. The surface was not choppy but underlying the waves was a steady series of small swells out of the SW, one foot or so high and spaced about 6' apart, which created a very messy surface to swim in. A lot of water was getting pushed up onto the beach which caused numerous runouts and rips which was combining with a strong eastward current along the shore. A couple of times the competing currents formed rotating whirlpools out by the buoy line! Today's swimmers were Duke, Susan, Sylvia, Niel and Chad. We elected to go out and start along the buoy line and see how things went. Sylvia swam the left side of the buoy line down to the point and back. The rest of us started in the same direction but turned around at the end of the sea wall and swam back to the first buoy. From there we headed out to the end of the pier and turned around and came back along the length of the pier to the beach. Back and forth along the buoy line was across the direction of the small waves and was messy swimming. The legs out and back along the pier were mostly into or with the waves which was harder then easier, but easier swimming. The water today was the same temperature as last Wednesday evening but felt considerably warmer to me. Our total time in the water was 32 minutes.

niel

Wednesday Evening, March 30, 2011

Back In The Water Again - I think that it has been over two weeks since Avila Beach has been swimable. The rain has stopped and the water has cleared up so Rob and I got in Wednesday evening. There was an offshore breeze, the air temperature was in the upper 70's and the water was 55.5. The 'surf' was maybe 2' high, but the wind was holding up the faces nicely and they looked green and transparent. The wind had put a small chop on the water but since it was blowing right off of the shore the chop would stay small. Rob suggested that we do the Classic Triangle, which was fine with me. I got out to the buoy line first while Rob finished getting acclimated. I was looking around while I was waiting and noticed that the floating dock that was used to stage jet ski tours has been removed. Once Rob joined me we headed down to the left to the second and last buoy. There are still are only two of the original 4 buoys on this side of the pier; numbers 2 and 3. The first one is gone and the 4th is now anchored on a small rock pile about 100M seaward from its' original position in the line. Nobody knows if it was blown there or moved intentionally. Our leg to the end of the pier was downwind so we got a nice push. At the end of the pier we both had to slide past a fishing line that the wind and current was carrying far off the end of the pier. Because of the chop I could get glimpses of only the first buoy on this side of the pier, so we sited on the headland at the end of the bridge and headed for where the last buoy of the line should be. This leg was almost directly into the wind and chop so we got to make up for the wind aided swim on the previous leg. Once we go close it became apparent that the first buoy by the pier was the only one left of the line of four. We continued on to where we thought the last buoy should of been and turned towards the pier. We swam under the pier (something else we have not done in some time due to the large surf) and came in. Rob's GPS said we had covered 1.8K in 35 minutes.

Rob and I stayed for dinner and at 7:30 came out to a great sunset. You can see his photos at www.robaquatics.com

Rob will be out of town this weekend but I will be at Avila on Sunday.

niel