There is a large surf advisory out and now I know why. I swam around the pier and back at about 1:00 PM today and the waves were gorgeous! I took a few pictures from a distance that I will post here. Getting in and through the surf zone kicked my butt. I was hurting for air after getting out there and had to rest to catch my breath.
I don't know how swimmers without fins in the ocean get anywhere. I would have been able to get out today without fins but it would have taken me fifteen minutes and waiting for lulls in the sets.
The water was 59 degreees; I wore my thin wetsuit, fins, and cap. Around the pier and near the lineup of surfers at the south side of the pier, I hung out to watch the beautiful conditions. The waves were smooth, great shape, long rides, the big ones about 6 or 7 feet. The surfers were hooting with anticipation when the big swells were coming in. They were happy (stoked, I should say), and couldn't hold it in like they usually do. From my observations, surfers are very quiet, suspicious, territorial, and unfriendly in general. Today they couldn't help but let out their innate happiness at the beauty and power of nature. It was neat to see and hear it. I get tired of seeing sullen, quiet surfers when I swim; they eye me like I don't belong there. And I don't get in their way. Oh, well. That's the subject for another blogger. At least with surfers I share their love of the ocean.
I swallowed some salt water and it didn't mix well with the coffee that I drank before swimming. I had to stop to puke for a minute and the Oceanside lifeguards on a jet ski with a tow board stopped by to ask me if I was sick or OK. I was OK, but I appreciate their vigilance and hard work. They were probably doing several rescues today in the big surf.
The water conditions changed from the time that I swam southward to the time that I swam northward to where I went in at Surfrider Way. A chop stirred up and a current to the south came up. I had a more difficult time swimming back into the current and the choppy water. It kicked my butt. When I was getting ready to exit the water, I was afraid. There are rare times at the beach when the waves are so big and surging with white, foamy, roaring power that I need to wait for a slot to rush in between sets. Today was one of those neat days. Between sets I backstroked in, flipped over and rode the white foam as it passed me, then repeated the cycle a few times until I hit sand.
One last thing about today: I stopped by a kayaker who appeared to be getting ready to go into the water. He had a wetsuit on and was chatting with his girlfriend. I'm guessing that she was telling him to skip it; and he was debating whether to go for it, or take the wise (non-macho) route and save the kayaking for a calmer day. I chatted briefly with him telling him that it was serious out there and was worse than it looked. I lingered for fifteen minutes and they were still on the beach. I walked up to my car, changed, and walked back to see them still sitting on the sand. Thank goodness. They had the good sense to postpone the kayaking.
The very last good thing that happened to me was that a meter guy was checking my parking meter, which had just run out of minutes. He cut me some slack; he was very nice. Thanks, Oceanside parking meter guy. I always pay the meters and I think that I just missed my time by a few minutes because I was looking out for the kayaker, hoping that he wouldn't go out. If he had, I was going to be available to assist him. End of story. Success.
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