Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Practice Rough Water Pier Swim Oceanside
























4:30 PM Wednesday afternoon. I park above the pier and take my photos. It is clear that there's a north current inside but the far current past the breakers is hard to determine. I figure it will be northward as it has been for days, so I swim out and north. I try to work on my kick. I'm thinking about the 6 beat kick and trying to break the surface with my kick. It seems to help a bit-a tiny bit. Into the one-foot chop I swim, no fins again, water warm, with the chop hitting me in the face every time I breathe to the left.
It turns out that there is a mild current only far out moving north when I'm past the pier. Then, when I turn in, the chop has decided to reverse direction and it hits me in the face every time I breathe to the LEFT. It should have been hitting me in the face on the right breathing side but the ocean reversed itself mid-point during my swim. How does this happen?
On the way in I swallow a gulp of ocean water as I breathe to the left, which causes me to throw up for about a dozen strokes, then it goes away quickly. That may be my least favorite thing about swimming in rough water: swallowing it when the chop throws it in your face.
Closer in the north current gets stronger and I end up at least 150 yards north of where I turned in toward the beach. Ah, the mysteries of the sea...

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