I had a day off for a doctor's appointment, so at about 1 PM I decided it was time to try out my old, creaky body in the water again. Jan 2nd was my last dip, so that's a 7 day gap without ocean. The beach at the Oceanside Pier was freakin' fantastic. About 15 surfers, beautiful sky, mid-sixties air temp, big waves gone, 2-3 foot inviting waves, and a pretty flat outside ocean.
Let's check the water temp at surfline.com. 57-59 degrees. Hmmm...On the low end of that-or a bit lower. I checked my watch and at 6 1/2 minutes I was still COLD. I hit the end of the pier at 14 1/2 minutes and had just gotten used to the water. But no face-hurt pain, so maybe the 57-59 was accurate.
I wore my fins because there has still been talk of rip currents and rough water leftover from last week, and I like to play it safe.
There was a guy way out there stand-up paddling that I thought I'd cross paths with, but he was nowhere in sight when I was off the end of the pier. I guess he was paddling pretty fast!
I can't really breath to my right well, except in flat water. There was a small (up to 1 foot) chop, and breathing to the right hurt today.
My hand touched the sandy bottom at 29 minutes. I was good with the water temp and my temp at the time. I found a few shells worth bringing home for the collection, and that was that. Let me just say it again, "Are we lucky or what..."
"The first time you quit is the last time you try."
yeah we are lucky! Good jobbbb
ReplyDeleteBrig
I am always surprised that I have the ocean almost all to myself all the time--except for an occasional kayaker or something--when it is so neat out there. I know there are lots of swimmers around, but they just don't go for the solitary experience of the ocean. Good for me!
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