Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday, January 22nd Oceanside Harbor Beach

I went out at 12:30 PM to catch a swim from Surfride Street heading north. The water was chillier than yesterday, approx. upper fifties. Surfline quoted 56-58 degrees. Waves were big and plentiful. The waves also were not crowded. Sets of up to a solid 6 feet or a little higher were breaking at the South Jetty and the North Harbor Jetty. The North Jetty had more of the surfers enjoying the waves.
I had wanted to challenge myself to a very long swim but got tired sooner than I predicted. I swam from Surfride St. north to the Camp Pendleton Harbor Jetty and turned around. I had wanted to swim it all the way back to Surfride but my stroke disintegrated and the energy was gone. I got out of the water amidst the more highly-skilled surfers between the North and South Harbor jetties.
Foolishly, I swam across the channel into Oceanside Harbor and Camp Pendleton Harbor. Since I had been unable to get around the Pendleton Jetty yesterday, I wanted to get around it today just to see if I could make it. I was at a neutral tide and was very near the Pendleton Jetty but was asked to turn back by a Pendleton lifeguard on a jet ski for my safety. He told me that a boat might enter the harbor and not see me, so I'll stop swimming there. He was very courteous and safety conscious. He rose alongside me for a bit to make sure that I was out of the center of the harbor entrance.
What a beautiful place we have here. Beautiful beaches, clean water, no crowds much of the time, and parking available close to the water. Thank you Oceanside for today!

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