Oceanside Saturday Harbor Beach to Pier Swim

I went to the Harbor Beach about 4 PM and it was beautiful.  The water was warmer than recent temps-about 63 degrees.  Red tide has almost completely died off.  The swells were big and beautiful at the Harbor and the south side of the Pier today.  The interval was long between waves, and the big swells were starting to develop way the heck out there at the Harbor.  I was about three hundred yards off the Harbor beach-well past the surfers-and several big sets started to develop where I was.  Looking back in toward shore after the swell passes me and develops into a breaking wave is cool.  I love to see the back side of a big wave, knowing a surfer caught a ride and is unseen from my perspective. 
I wish I had the youth and health, and probably the amigos to get me out to learn to ride those big waves.  Those surfers are lucky dudes-tough, fit, gutsy-but definitely not friendly overall.  They have some tough guy thing going on which builds a wall between them and other folks.  You probably have to start young and have your Dad take you out to get you started and fit in.  Too bad.  Lately I have been swimming through them-screw them. I'm probably being too tough on surfers and generalizing, but those guys with that whole "Point Break" territorial thing with the body ink don't do it for me at all.
Trunks with tight thigh-length undershorts was my uniform of the day.  Two swim caps so my head and body heat was good.  I hit the pier at 52 minutes and was tired.  About 200 yards north of the pier the water got choppy and it felt like I was heading into a mild current.  It was hard to swim out toward the open ocean-maybe the tide was coming in.  I'm not a tide watcher-though I should be.  I guess I prefer the tide surprises and just deal with them. 
Swimming in after I rounded the pier was tough.  I was tired and really had to pull hard to get in.  I jogged back up the beach to my car at the Harbor, but I had to stop to catch my breath several times.  I had an off and on creepy feeling today while swimming.  Early in the swim I hit a rope that was probably attached to a lobster trap that got away.  And I was just feeling the sea monster thing today-I wasn't feeling my comfort level with the water far out like usual.  Therefore, I swam in closer to the breakers and had to keep heading out more as the swell drifted me in closer.  Just a weird feeling today-no real reason why.

The whole deal was 1 hour 20 minutes.  A good workout.  Here's a few pictures of the Harbor before my swim.



"The first time you quit is the last time you try."