Wednesday Evening, May 28, 2014

It was sunny, warm (about 80 degrees) and windy at Avila. Rob was just getting out as I arrived. Allison came by to get in some beach time. Mark and I swam the buoy line.  It was choppy but the water was 60 degrees so the swimming was a bit of work but in otherwise very nice conditions.  Mr. Hydro Tracker arrived with a dead battery so there is no plot of today's swim.

Rob and Allison's going away party is this Sunday!

This Sunday is Allison's last chance to paddle with us before she and Rob move to Arcata, so, let's have a potluck lunch sendoff for them at 12 after this Sunday's swim.  

Rob is leaving on June 9th and Allison soon after so this Sunday is our chance to wish them well in their new educational adventures in the far north.

niel 

Sunday May 25, 2014

I was out of town on Sunday so today's post is by John Hampsey.

niel

When i arrived, the sea was glassy under full sun, and there was only a slight wind. It was great to see Rob and Alison on the beach. In a couple weeks they will be heading up to Humboldt.

Entering the water were Duke, Rick, Sylvia, Amy, and myself. We noticed the onshore wind had picked up and there was now a slight chop. By collective intuition we judged the water to be exactly 56 and a half degrees. We all started swimming south along the buoy line. Sylvia remained along the buoy line and the rest of us continued to Fossil Point, Rick and Duke actually going all the way to the rocks. Amy and I met up with Dan(new guy who had caught up with us), and we then split into two groups--Dan and Duke and Rick returned north along the buoy line and then into shore, swimming about .8 mile. While Amy and I decided to head yonder... diagonal out to the end of the pier. This ended up being a challenging swim as the wind had significantly increased out of the northwest, and the chop was now quite strong, and we were going into the face of it. When we reached the end of the pier we stopped for a moment to enjoy the view and to check out where all the fishing lines were. We swung around the end of the pier and headed to the first buoy on the other side. With the wind and chop now behind us, it felt at times like we were body-surfing... past the buoy and toward the shore. Our swim time was a little less than an hour and covered about 1.25 miles. During the time we had been in the ocean, the number of people on the beach had quadrupled! After all, it was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, with a bright sky and a crisp clean breeze, and everyone wanted to make the scene.

John Hampsey

Wednesday Evening, May 21, 2014

The water temperature was 55 degrees with a strong, steady wind from the west and low gray clouds.  Small waves, wind chop and some whitecaps.  Kim and I stood there and watched the water for 20 minutes and decided the winterness of the conditions were more than our motivation could overcome. There should be more swimmers and better conditions on Sunday.

niel

Sunday, May 18, 2014

It was sunny and warm when I got to Avila with a light breeze out of the SE.  The water was clear, 1 to 2 foot surf,  a water temperature of 58 and there was one seal playing in the surf near the pier.  Swimming today were Rick, Duke, Niel, Sylvia, Ali, John Hampsey, Rob and Gerry Gross.  Gerry was going to swim the buoy line, Rob was going to play in the surf and the rest of us were going to swim down the buoy line towards the creek and then head over to the Cal Poly Pier.  Doubling back along that route would be a mile swim.  On the way over to the Poly Pier the wind began strengthening and shifted to the WSW. The water was medium rough by the time we reached the pier.  Ali, John and Sylvia headed back the way we had come while Duke, Niel and Rick decided to go a little longer by swimming to the end of the Avila Pier and to then come in along the pier.  The wind waves were coming over my right shoulder and I had to push to the right to make the end of the pier.  The waves were starting to combine so I occasionally found myself picked up and bodysurfing.   I was feeling good and having fun remembering how to deal with conditions that were this rough.  We grouped up at the end of the pier and swung wide of some fishing lines on the way in.  Even being on the lee side of the pier didn't seem to lessen how much I was getting tossed around.  We all met up at the beach. Duke, Rick and I covered 1.2 miles in a total time of 42 minutes.  When we were dried off and in our chairs the water was whitecapping all of the way in to the shore. 

I'll be back Wednesday.

niel

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

We have been having warm Wednesday's but tonight was a topper.  With an air temperature in the upper 80's or low 90's and a water temperature of 61 degrees Avila Beach was a great place to be this evening.  I do not know if I have ever experienced a 10 degree change in water temperature in 3 days.  Swimming were Amy, Niel and Kim, who we have not seen in a while. Kim had 3 friends join her who were new to ocean swimming.  There had been two jet skis operating at high speed on both sides of the pier and behaving very badly, but it appeared that they had quit for the day as we were getting into the water.  Boy, did 61 degrees feel comfy! Kim's friends had not shown up yet so she headed back in to wait for them once we reached the buoy line.  Amy and I swam down to Fossil Point, stopping every buoy to see if the water bikes were back.  With no sign of them we decided to continue on to the point. There was a steady breeze out of the SW so we had a current and small chop at our back on the way down and to work into on the way back.  As we approached the first buoy near the pier we had an  encounter with a surprise guest swimmer. Rob Dumouchel had an evening class cancel so he boogied to the beach.  Good decision!  School is just about done and he has resisted the idea of summer school so we should be seeing more of him at the beach. 
Amy and I covered just short of a mile. We were in the water for 40 minutes which included hanging out with Rob at the first buoy for 5 minutes of more.
It is supposed to be a lot cooler Sunday but I'm hoping that the water temperature will hang on to some of this heat for a few days.

niel

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Duke and I had a great swim today. Avila Beach was sunny and warm with a steady wind out of the SE.  There was no fog, one pelican and one sea otter in the water, no one fishing and a 51 degree water temperature.  We decided to start out down the buoy line to the left and to see how we felt about the water temperature.  By the time we were getting in the chop from the SE wind was white capping between the end of the pier and the buoys.  I got slapped around a lot on the way down to the end of the buoy line which seemed to keep my mind off of the water temperature.  At the end of the buoy line we both thought that we were having fun that we headed to the end of the pier.  The wind had started shifting so we still had the wind chop on our left shoulders but would also be swimming into 1 foot wind waves.  The leg to the end of the pier left us feeling pretty studly, up to the point that we were hailed by a female lifeguard who was doing a lap around the pier towing a 5 gallon bucket!  The leg towards the creek mouth was the easiest because we were swimming across the wind waves and the leg back to the pier was just kind'a messy.  Duke and I enjoyed a real ocean swim and covered just over a mile in 35.5 minutes.  It was nice and warm on the beach.  Rick and Rhonda came by.

It is supposed to be HOT on Wednesday so I'm planning on making to the beach for our 5:30 swim.

niel

Sunday, May 4. 2014

A beautiful day a Avila Beach today. It was warm, sunny and the strong winds that were blowing along the coast since earlier this morning had not pushed over the hills into Avila yet.  The water was 56 degrees, only one fisherman on the pier and one seal in the water.  There was a yacht race forming up so we decided to stick to the buoy line.  Sylvia and Yvonne did their own swim as usual. Niel, John Hampsey, Amy, Ali and Kirtus swam the buoy line.  The extra six degrees in water temperature since last Sunday made all of the difference. The water felt very comfortable and relaxing.  
Kirtus and I are going to swim Wednesday evening at 5:30.  If the wind holds up we are hoping to get some practice in swimming in wind chop.

The swim plot is back after I installed the updated version of the FINIS software.  Would have been nice if they had posted something about the update!

niel

Wednesday Evening, April 30,2014

It was about 80 degrees at Avila this evening.  The water was 55 degrees, which makes this another Warm Wednesday after Sunday's 50.  There was a steady wind out of the WSW and wind waves that were not quite forming whitecaps. I was by myself and swam the triangle counterclockwise. I covered just over a mile, enjoyed myself and with the current and chop got a nice workout.

There is no plot tonight because the FINIS Bridge software has lost its mind.  I gott'a say, the FINIS Hydro Tracker is capable of some nice things and is reasonably priced, but the device in in serious need of an updated version to make it more user friendly and the software is slow and prone to crashes. It would not let me log in this evening, even after changing my password and then removing and reloading the Bridge software I could not upload data to the FINIS website.  I'll see if they can fix this tomorrow.

niel

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sorry that there is no route map today.  My Finis Hydrotracker showed up at the beach with a dead battery.

John Hampsey, Amy and I swam today in very spring like conditions.  It was partly cloudy with a light wind out of the SE that changed to SW. The water temperature was 50 degrees with occasional 4 to 5 foot sets.  There were only a few birds, no seals and not many people on the beach.  We swam the east side of the buoy line.  Amy and I headed in but John was having fun so he swam for another 10 minutes.  We warmed up quickly and visited on the beach for a while.  

niel 

Wednesday Evening, April 23, 2014

When I got to the beach I didn't see anyone I almost called it a day (no swimming alone!). I decided to wait a few minutes and watch the water as it was a beautiful day at the beach. Good thing I did, as a lady came walking up the beach who looked like she was a swimmer. Her name was Holly (if I remember correctly) and swims with the SF Dolphins. We hit the water and swam the buoy line on the left side of the pier. The water was cold (55* according to the web site) and conditions were pretty good as the wind died down right as we started swimming.

`Mark

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sylvia, Yvonne and Niel swam today.  Rick and Rhonda enjoyed the view from the sand.  Avila Beach was foggy with the visibility coming and going. There was no wind and the water was flat. The water temperature was 53.5.  Sylvia and Yvonne were getting in as I arrived. They swam the left side of the buoy line and were cold when they got out.  With the fog the water was going to feel colder than on a sunny day.  Thursday's water quality results from the mouth of San Luis Obispo Creek were bad so I stayed on the other side of the pier and did a rough mile down to Fossil Point and back.  
You can see the results of the Thursday water sampling of popular SLO County beaches and SLO Creek by myself and other volunteers for the SLO Surfrider Chapter's Blue Water Taskforce at http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/34.

niel

Wednesday Evening, April 16,2014

An Even Warmer Wednesday
It was just Sylvia, myself and all of that 59 degree water this evening.  Avila Beach was crowded, sunny, warm and almost windless.  There was a bit of a swell but it was not producing any waves over 2 to 3 feet.  There were a lot of people fishing from both sides of the pier but no signs of bait fish, no seals and only two pelicans.  We began by swinging out to the second buoy to avoid the fishing lines.  Sylvia swam laps along the buoy line on the east side of the pier while I did a triangle.  I cane under the pier and continued to my starting point at the second buoy.  Just as I was approaching the buoy I ran head on into Sylvia. What are the chances of that? I was siteing on the buoy and she was working around some kelp.  We both had a good laugh about how we managed to collide with the whole ocean to swim in.
We'll be back Sunday.

niel 

Sunday, April 13, 2014

It was just Ali and I today. The water was 54 degrees, 2' surf, with overcast skies that were breaking up.   The lifeguards were training on the left side of the pier.  This was the first day since early last summer that there were baitfish present.  Pete Kelly said that they were either sardines or Spanish mackerel.  The ones that I saw being landed on the pier were nice looking foot long silver fish and whatever they were the seals and pelicans thought that they were good eating.  All of the bait fish action was on the west side of the pier so we gave them some room by starting down the buoy line on the east side.  Ali decided to swim to the end of the buoys and turn back.  I swam to the end of the pier and doubled back the way I had come. The clouds had gone and the sun was nice but we had also picked up a strengthening SW breese.  My leg to the end of the pier was a slog into a building chop and the leg back was part bodysurfing.  By the time we were back from the showers there were whitecaps forming and by 1 PM the water was totally blown out.  I'm glad that we got in when we did.

I'm ready for another Warm Wednesday on the 16th.

niel   

Wednesday Evening, April 9, 2014

Warm Wednesdays are Back!

Last summer the water was almost always warmer on Wednesday evenings than it was on Sundays.  Last Sunday the water temperature was 52 degrees. This evening it was 58!
Sylvia and Yvonne swam without wetsuits and felt (no pun intended) that the water was truly 58 degrees.  Even in my wetsuit the water on my face and feet had lost the 'edge' that it has at 55 and below.   There was a gusty wind from left to right along the beach that was pushing a steady current and a chop that was just not quite big enough to start breaking.  We also have our buoys back. Yvonne and Sylvia did the east half of the buoy line.  I did to whole length, which at 1500 meters means that for this summer a buoy line swim will be just under a mile.

niel

Sunday, April 6, 2014

It was a beautiful, warm, clear day at Avila Beach.  The water was 52 degrees and the wind was light and variable, sometimes offshore, or from the east or west.  On the beach were Niel, Tom, Kyle, Rob and Ali.  Niel, Tom and Kyle swam down towards Fossil Point.  I wanted to stay away from the west side of the pier as Thursdays samples from the creek had tested very high for bacteria.  This was Kyles first swim with us. He will be working this summer either as a lifeguard at Avila or for CalFire so I hope that we see a lot more of him.  Kyle got out at the end of the beach and ran back. Tom and I doubled back on our course and covered 1450M.  Ali and a friend got in on their own and Rob got in and re-immersed himself after too long a time out of the ocean.

niel