Sunday, April 29, 2012

Fog and Distance - There was more weird April weather at Avila Beach today.  There was low gray overcast and a fog bank that would move in and hide the buoy line and then slide back out  to where I could see Shell Beach, then move back in.  There was a bit of a breeze moving the fog around, a 1' +/-  swell out of the SE and small waves.  The water temperature was 53.  Swimming today were Susan, Sylvia, Rob, Niel, Yvonne, Ed, Ruta and Duke.  Ruta came with Ed and this was to be her first ocean swim north of San Diego.  Sylvia and Yvonne went in about 10:40 and swam along the buoy line.  They really felt the lack of sunshine which made the water feel colder than the measured temperature.  Rob had put out an inquiry for swimmers interested in going long today, say 2 to 3 miles, so the 11 o'clock swim sorted out this way;  Rob was going for 3 miles, Niel was thinking 2 to 3 and Duke was in for 2 miles, so, we would start by swimming down the buoy line on the east side of the pier to the end.  Ed would accompany Ruta and let her comfort range determine their swim.  Rob, Niel and Susan would do a clockwise triangle route; from the last buoy to the end of the Avila Pier, to the end of the buoy line at the creek on the west side of the pier, and back along the buoys to the pier.  Duke would wait on the beach and join us at this point for the rest of the swim.  We reversed our route and swam back to the creek.  At this point Ed and Susan returned along the line to the pier.  Niel, Rob and Duke completed the anti-clockwise route and then did another in the clockwise direction.  We finished up by coming through under the pier and in on the east side.  The wind swell was large enough to give today's swim some variety.  Swimming parallel to the shore was not too bad.  The leg from the east end of the buoys to the end of the pier was right across the swell in either direction and required some timing to stay smooth.  The leg from the end of the pier to the buoy at the creek had us either surfing the swell of punching through depending on the direction we were going.  The water temperature varied 2 to 3 degrees and wasn't the same the next time through the same spot.  On the other hand there were no lane lines and no turns.  The fog had cleared just before we got in and came back 20 minutes after we got out, which was nice timing on someones part.  
Niel and Rob completed 3 miles in 1 hr. 33 min. (total time in the water) and Duke did 2 miles in an hour.  Rob and I will be doing more swims of this distance if anyone wants to join us.   We will work them in around what everyone else is interested in doing on Sundays. 


niel

Sunday, April 22nd 2012

We had 5 of us swimming today in Avila. Rob, Sylvia, Kim, Duke and Jen who was visiting from Bakersfield. The weather was a bit overcast but trying to burn off. Water didn't have an official reading taken but we've determined it to be about 50 flat. Current was running west to east and although it started fairly smooth it got progressively rougher as the swim went on. All 5 swimmers held together on the start of a clockwise triangle swim. At the end of the east side of the buoy line Kim and Sylvia opted to swim back towards the pier and in. Duke, Jen and I swam headlong into the chop for the pier and then off to the far end of the other side of the buoy line. When we regrouped there we decided to angle for the beach since we were freezing Jen out. With that little deviation we probably swam just a touch over a mile. I ran a GoPro camera on my wrist through the swim and posted a bunch of the better ones to facebook here. Weather this week looks ok up until Wednesday when we have a chance of showers. Keep an eye on the Central Coast Open Water Google Group to see if we're hitting the water or not. Rob D.

Wednesday Evening, April 18, 2012

It was beautiful at Avila Beach at 5 PM. There was a gusty breeze but it was warm, in the upper 70's, and clear. The wind had set up a west to east current along the beach with some small chop. I got a water temperature of 52 and the water looked clear on both sides of the pier. Swimming this evening were John, Byron, Niel and Rob. Our first plan was to swim west to the creek and to then consider going over to the Poly Pier and doubling back, which would be about a mile swim. Getting in took some commitment but I kept telling myself that this was 4 degrees warmer than last weeks water so it should feel 'warm'. It still felt cold. By the time I got down to the end of the buoys at the creek I was tolerating the temperature. The chop was just enough to make things interesting but not very troublesome. John and Byron had to ask Rob, with his 'traditional' swimming costume, if he was 'getting comfortable'. Rob's answer was kind'a hard to translate, something in the way of 'no, I'm not comfortable but I'm OK with this'. OK or not, Rob felt better about heading for the end of the Avila Pier and doing the triangle route since this would keep us closer to the beach, so we headed that way. On this leg I focused on seeing how close I could keep to Byron (not even close, but it gave me a goal) and was feeling pretty good when we formed up at the end of the pier. We agreed to do the full triangle route so we headed towards the last buoy on the east side of the pier. Oh Boy! Not 5 strokes into this leg the water temperature dropped 2 or 3 degrees and never did seem to come back up much. We finished up by coming back along the buoys to the pier and in to the beach. It was still nice and warm on the sand after we got out. This swim took 33 minutes and covered just over a mile.


niel






Quick notice for you guys thinking about hitting the beach on Sunday, there's an Earth Day event going on between the Sea Life Center and the Local Surfrider Chapter. There will be a dive clean up out at the port that you can observe and then a regular beach clean up going on at noon. The afternoon will have a carnival for the kids at the sea life center and adult beverages at Mr. Ricks for the rest of us :) - Rob D.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

It was beautiful, sunny and warm at Avila Beach on Sunday. The water was 52 degrees, which sounded great after last Sunday's 48. We held a discussion about the water quality. Since the County takes water samples at the beaches on Monday and posts them on Wednesday their information is of no use to us to determine the cleanliness of the water on a Sunday, so up to now we have had to come to our conclusions. (More on this in a bit) The ocean on the west side of the pier near the creek was muddy and the curls of the waves looked dirty. On the east side of the pier things looked pretty clean; the waves were transparent and there was little silt in the water outside of the surf zone. We decided to swim and to stay on the east side of the pier. We had four swimmers today; Niel, Rob, Byron and Kim. Byron has been swimming with Dave VanMouwreik but had not been out with us before. Kim has been swimming with us last summer but now has a full 4/3 suit instead of the Farmer John and a rash guard that she had been using. We decided to start out with a repeat of last Sunday's swim, out and down the buoy line to the end and to then plat a route depending on how everyone felt. With the water being 4 degrees warmer than last Sunday I was expecting to be fairly comfortable. Getting in was easier but once I got my face in the water it just felt cold. At the buoy Kim was more comfortable than she had ever been before but wanted to head back along the buoys. Byron and I were interested in going a bit longer so we decided to all go back along the buoys to the pier where Rob and Kim would head in and Byron and I would go out to the end of the pier and back. There had been some spots along the buoy line that were a degree or 2 colder and we found some more near the end of the pier. I had considered going in along the west side of the pier but just as we stopped at the end I got some water in my mouth that had a very metallic taste. I do not know just what that taste was but it was not good. I stopped right there and headed back the way we had come and didn't encounter it again. We got out after being in for 26 minutes. Kim was real happy with her new wetsuit and Byron had a good time so we should be seeing more of them on future swims.
Casey, Chad, Duke and Berto didn't swim but ran and joined us on the beach.


Rob tell me that the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is about to start their own independent water quality testing. They have a grant for the equipment and a certified operator to run the tests. The lab will be in the Avila Sea Life Center. They will be able to turn around test much quicker than the County so we have the possibility of having water samples taken on Friday and results posted on Saturday, which would mean no more toe tests to try and determine water quality. Watch their website http://slo.surfrider.org/ for an announcement.


niel

Sunday, April 8. 2012

I gott'a be careful what I say.
Rob and I are out on the pier waiting to pull up my thermometer when I hear myself saying 'Today's swim should be great. It can't be any colder than last Wednesday', (when it was 49 degrees). Well, the number was a weak 48 degrees. I was unwilling to call a 47 and a fraction. Rob and I both let out a long Ohhhhh which ended with thoughts of what this swim was going to be like. On the bright side it was beautiful at Avila today; sunny with just a slight breeze, nice clear water and small surf. We had a big crowd as well and some new guests. The regulars were Rob, Niel, Sylvia, Yvonne, Duke, Susan James, Amy and her brother Bo. Bo was visiting from Santa Monica and has jumped in with us before. New to swimming at Avila were Alicia and Tim. Tim is from Australia, he is an accomplished triathlete and is here with his family for 6 months. Alicia is a Poly grad who enjoys open water swimming but had not been swimming at Avila before. 48 degrees is the lowest water temperature that I know of at Avila so they had picked quite a day to try this out. Sylvia has not been in the water much lately and decided to sit out. Yvonne got in early on her own with the stated intent of just going to the first buoy and then getting out. At the first buoy she turned left and continued down to the second buoy before heading back and got a round of applause by the rest of us. We were a bit scattered getting in with everyone but Tim grouping up at the first buoy. All of Tim's previous ocean swimming experience has been in Australia in 70 degree water and he made a smart decision to bail on this swim rather than risk getting too cold. We grouped up at the last buoy and headed to the end of the line towards Fossil Point. The route meeting at the last buoy was a short one as no one wanted to tread water for long. Rob and Alicia headed back along the buoy line and the rest of us went to the end of the pier. When we counted heads there no one voted for going longer so we came in along the pier to the shore. We were in for 28 minutes. Today was just about my limit in two ways; I've never been in water that was colder and, like on last Wednesday, I was starting to get chilled on the last leg of the swim. If the temperature drops any more I'll probably sit it out.
We will be back Wednesday evening, getting in at 5:30. I'm sure that it can't be any colder than today;s 48 degrees. :-)


Rob will post his pictures from today's, and all of our swims, on the Avila Beach Open Water
Facebook page.


niel

Wednesday Evening April 4, 2012

Windy Choppy and 49 Degrees -

Rob, Niel, John and Ed had a 'real' ocean swim Wednesday evening.  There has been strong winds all day with gusts up to 30 MPH that had the ocean's surface well churned up.  The good news was that since the winds were offshore, the water close to the beach in Avila would not be as choppy as those farther out.  The bad news was that the winds were offshore, which pushes down the water temperature.  There were a few fishermen on the pier so we decided to swim on the right (windward) side of the pier and avoid any possible entanglement with fishing gear.  The plan was to swim down the buoy line to the creek and then decide how much more we wanted to do.  Even Rob, was unsure about how long he would want to stay in this evening.  John, Ed and I got out faster than Rob.  I have no idea how he even got in because the water on my unprotected skin hurt.  

Rob had his GoPro camera on his wrist and got a bunch of fun photos.

We grouped up at the buoy line and headed towards the creek.  The wind was angling off of the shore, blowing from Avila towards Pismo Beach, so we were crossing the chop on this first leg. 

Rob at the buoy line reconsidering the wisdom of his no wetsuit philosophy.

At the creek we agreed to head to the end of the pier and to then come in to the beach along the pier.  The leg to the end of the pier has the wind directly behind us so we got a nice push.

We grouped up at the end of the pier and everyone was ready to head in.  This leg had the roughest conditions.  I was switching between breathing on the right, left or alternating, before settling on alternating.  The timing seemed to be the most in sync with the chop so I was breathing the least water.  We got out 28 minutes after we started.  Rob was the same color as his cap but he was smiling.

You can see all of his photos from last night's swim on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.377822335591793.90735.117753191598710&type=3&l=b1078109e4  

The wind is supposed to be laying down so conditions on Sunday should be for flatter and warmer water. 

niel 

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Nobody went swimming today.  I got there about 10:30, checked out the water conditions and  settled in to catch some sun and enjoy the waves from the beach.   The water was 51.5 degrees.  It was muddy but it was tough to tell how much was due to rain runoff as opposed to the large surf.  The biggest waves of the morning were larger than these and part of a set that came in while I was out on the pier.  They broke just inside the buoy line (!) and sent up a wall of spray that came up and over the pier and soaked me from top to bottom, so I got wet today without having to get in the water :-)  The weather looks real pleasant this coming week so we look good for Wednesday evening at 5:30.

niel

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

This was the first Wednesday evening swim of 2012 with John, Rob and Niel getting the water. The water temperature was a more typical 54.5, sort of, but more on that later. There was no wind and the water was clean but there was a strong current running parallel to the shore from west to east. There were sets with 5 to 6 foot faces separated by smaller waves so getting out was going to take some timing. With the recent rain and concerns about water quality none of us had been in the water in a while. Rob was feeling a bit out of practice at getting acclimated to the cold and was not sure how long it would take him to get his chill going or how long he wanted to stay in, so we planned a shortish swim and he started wading in while John and I were still getting suited up. John and I waded in and waited for a break in the surf. The large surf hurried up Rob's getting wet and we all arrived at the buoy line at the same time. It was low tide and with the surge from the surf this was not a day to swim under the pier so we were going to stay on the east side of the pier. We swan directly out to the end of the pier and then towards the last buoy on the east side. As I was swimming out I was thinking how much more comfortable 54.5 degrees was than the 50 to 52 we had been swimming in since December. It was cold but my face and feet didn't feel frozen and I didn't have an ice cream headache. Then about 100M before the end of the pier the water temperature took a 2 to 3 degree drop. When we grouped up at the end of the pier a 'wow' was about all anybody said before we got moving. The big swell meant that we had to use a landmark on the cliff to keep our line to the buoy. The swim back along the line to the pier required some extra work to push into the current. Getting in to the beach was also a matter of timing. We had moved inside of the buoy line to wait out the large sets with John about 40M farther in then Rob and I. I thought that the sets were laying down when two jumbo sized waves rolled in. Rob and I swam out to get out of the break zone while John had to go under and hug the bottom. That turned out to be the thrill of the evening. We had an easy swim in in the lull that followed. After all of the flat water we have had since December this was the most real ocean swimming experience for us in months.
This was a short swim but with the conditions we were in the water for 29 minutes.


There might be some rain of Saturday so watch Rob's blog or the Central Coast Open Water Google Group for a final decision on Sunday's swim.


Rob has Friday's off for a while so if anyone wants to get in a TGIF swim he's your buddy.


niel

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Too much rain last night = poor water quality so no swimming today.  Rob and I are planning on swimming on Wednesday at 5:30.  There is a 20% change of rain predicted.   Watch the blog for updates.


niel  

Sunday, March 18, 2012

There was no swim today.  Rob and I felt certain that the runoff from the weekends rain would have degraded the water quality at Avila so we stayed out.  We did take a field trip to the 'new' beach near the Dinosaur Park that Rob has been scouting as a possible swim spot.  There are rocks on both the right and left ends of this small beach so today, with its minus tide, was a good time to plan a route in and out from the beach.  Once out we could swim parallel to the coast to either the north or south and double back, for a total of one or two miles. The surf was a mess but a clear channel was visible.  This beach is open directly to the dominant swell and wind so it will be a good spot only on a calm day.  If it checks out we will be able to have a bit of an adventure swim in our own backyard. 
Neither Rob and I are able to make this Wednesday's swim, but plan on being at Avila next Sunday.


niel

Sunday, March 11, 2012

We finally had some different weather but it ended up with nobody swimming today.  It was gray overhead and cool and damp on the sand, with even some occasional spitting mist coming down. The water was still flat, clean and almost surfless.  The water and the air were both 49 degrees.  Rob and I were the only ones to show and he is still trying to rid himself of a very determined virus that has applied for resident status in his body.  With only myself to get in the water with the gray and the cold I didn't make it.  Rob and I visited for an hour and moved on to other Sunday activities.
Rob has scouted a beach south of the Dinosaur Caves Park that looks like a possible spot for a swim.  We will scout it out and maybe schedule a swim there.
With the change of time Wednesday evening swims are now possible.  It will be wet, cold and gray the week but with the new weather pattern we may see a rise in the water temperature!  Watch Rob's blog and this post for when we begin the Wednesday evening swims.


niel    

Sunday, March 4, 2012

There were a lot of people on the beach today but only a few swimmers.  It was warm, almost hot and calm with no surf but the water was again 50 degrees.  There were several large dolphins swimming along the buoy line on the east side of the pier and two pelicans diving for snacks. Sylvia decided to sit on the beach with the Sunday paper so Ed and I were the only other ones there to get in the water.  We swam to the last buoy on the left, came back and crossed under the pier and went two buoys on the right side before turning back to the pier.  While we were out there a breeze from the East picked up enough to set up a small chop.  There were some colder spots that made sure that I never got adjusted to the temperature.  Afterwards we warmed up against the wall.


niel

Sunday, February 26, 2012

It was sunny, warm and windy at Avila today.  At 10 AM the breeze out of the NW had already put a chop on the surface.  The water looked clean and there were occasional 5+ foot waves.  Rob and I had a short debate out on the pier as to whether my thermometer read right on 50 degrees or was actually 49 and a fraction.  I've been in when it was 48 and 49 and wasn't going to be setting any personal records today so I was voting for 50 degrees. 

Susan James was with us today as was Chad and Duke.  Rob is still getting over whatever it is that has kept him out of the water for the last week and he decided to be our beachmaster today.  We decided to start out along the buoy line to the left and to confer at the last buoy on the rest of the route.  Getting out was not as chilling as I had expected.  It did not feel any different from 52 or 53.   I had to dive under a series of waves on the way out and that both hurried up my getting completely wet and gave me something other than the water temperature to think about.  At the last buoy we decided to swim to the end of the pier and come in along the pier.  The leg to the pier was directly into the wind and chop and was a change from the pool like conditions we have been having.  Swimming got tougher when we got close to the end of the pier and became exposed to the full push of the wind and current.  The swim in was easier.  We got out 25 minutes after we started.

At the showers there was lots of warm water to share to take the edge off of the wind so everyone was smiling when we got back to our stuff on the sand.

niel

SLO County Ocean Water Quality Testing Update

Hey guys I have a water quality monitoring update for you all. For the last year I've been keeping up with the local Surfrider folks as they work towards improving water quality monitoring in the county. We recently had a small victory in that the county now shows the actual numbers from their testing as opposed to just pass/fail. When you go to the SLO County Ocean Water Monitoring Results Page you can click on various testing sites and get detailed information on water testing results.

Below I've included the test site at Avila Beach between the creek mouth and the pier. Can you spot the rain storm?



And this is why we call off swims when it rains after long dry periods!

Unfortunately as you can see the County only tests on Mondays, sometimes Tuesdays which doesn't do us a whole lot of good since we swim during the weekend. The SLO Surfrider chapter is working on setting up a lab in Avila where they can do their own testing to supplement what the County is already doing. It's not up and running yet but it sounds like they're almost there. If any of you would be interested in being sample takers let me know and I'll connect you with the Surfrider crew. Once everything is in place it'll give us some extra data that we can use to continue to make sure the water we're swimming in is clean and safe. I'll keep you guys updated as things progress.

Rob D.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Avila was sunny, warmish and a bit windy today. There was a breeze out of the SW and a small, high frequency (real close together) chop and a west to east current. The water temperature was 53 and there were occasional sets of head high waves. The low sun angle and the chop made it difficult to look toward the ocean. Duke, Rob and Ed swam. Sylvia was comfortable in the sun and I my right shoulder is acting up again. The boys went straight out and turned left down the buoy line to the last buoy. They swam to the end of the pier, making a half-triangle and came in . Rob was towing his Go Pro video camera (mounted to a kickboard) and you can check out some video of today's swim here.

Avila Swim Feb 12th 2012 from Rob Dumouchel on Vimeo.

niel