Sand Dollars, Stolen Shirt, and Cold Pier Swim

OK. Saturday 2:30 PM. I drive to the beach to swim. I take some photos.  I park and walk a block to the sand and leave my t shirt on the sand as I often do.  My t-shirt from the Oceanside Pier Swim.  And somebody takes it while I'm swimming.  Dammit.  I saw a bum nearby and I figure him for the culprit.  I guess he needs it more than I.

That was at the end of the swim so let's return to the beginning.  I went in and the visibility was excellent-about fifteen feet-major visibility in Oceanside.  I started to swim out and saw sand dollars on the bottom.  I can't pass up sand dollars.  So, I dive for sand dollars for 20 minutes and collect a bunch in my back pocket. Several are good ones-no cracks.  I'm getting chiily so I do the swim.  The water was choppy and I was swimming against a mild current.  On the way in after the pier I got the slows from the cold water. 
Several of the sand dollars crumbled; several got more cracks, and a few survived intact.
I jogged down the beach and there was a surf contest ongoing; the waves were lousy.  But I think surfing is analogous to fishing in that just getting out and doing it-even if conditions stink-is better than not going out.

Only when I looked for my shirt did I get ticked off. 

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