Families Taking Christmas Card Photos at the Oceanside Pier Today

I'm glad that I went to the Pier this afternoon before the new, earlier sunset times.  The water temp was 58-60 and comfortable.  The visibility was a bit better at 6-7 feet.  We had some small waves, one to three feet, with a few dozen surfers stretched out.  There was a small to moderate number of folks walking the Pier and the Beach, and enjoying some family time.  This is the time of year that families take their Christmas card photos (organized families) at the beach, and before sunset is a popular time for some families. 
I had a thirty-minute peaceful swim in flat, pretty water.  I took a big arc around the pier and went a good hundred yards past the pier.  No boats or jet skies to cause me concern today.  Instead of my latex swim cap, I'm wearing the warmer silicon swim cap now. 
Afterwards, I saw two big dolphins close in that appeared to be feeding on small fish.  I tried to get photos but my camera couldn't pick them up.  They are always a good omen to me. 

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

First Winter Water Today

I don't know; look at that LOW tide. How could it still take me 26 minutes to get around?  And the flatness of the water again was amazing.  Visibility about 4-5 feet. No waves.  Very few people.  This is the first day that I can say that the water was cold.  It hurt my face getting used to it; it took me 12 minutes to get used to it.  Let's look at surfline.com.  It says 58-60 degrees but it was colder than yesterday's 58-60 degrees.
Hey, it was my first day being cold on the drive home. Alright.  Gotta love it.


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

Beautiful Swim This Afternoon Around Oceanside Pier

I forgot my camera today.  I was deciding whether to use my lousy camera with blurry photos, but which I know how to use, OR take the better camera that takes clearer photos but makes me crazy trying to use it.  Then I just forgot to take anything.  But, it doesn't matter.  The photos would have been much the same as the past three posts of mine. 
The tide was low, but not crazy low like yesterday or the day before.  The ocean was FLAT!  Wow.  No movement in the water and visibility of about 4-5 feet.  No dredging at the Harbor today.
Very small waves, like one foot or two foot.  I found several cool shells, which fired me up.
OK.  Swimming.  The water cooled off more and now I can say the water is chilly.  Surfline.com has the water temp at 58-60 degrees.  Sounds right to me.  It took me about 10 minutes to get used to the water temp. 
I swim slowly.  I'm just slow.  I wish I were faster.  It took me 27 minutes around; I should be a couple of minutes faster.  I had good wind.  I was concentrating on the fundamentals of the swim.  My kick is lousy.  But I feel so much better in my head having done the chilly swim today.  And that, my friend, is PRICELESS.


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

No Swim. Just Pictures of the Lowest Tide I've Seen

Now that's some serious low tide.  And that's all I have to say about that.


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

Total Mess of an Ocean Saturday

There was a dramatic cooling down of the ocean to 61 degrees.  The water was totally rough Saturday and I couldn't even come close to getting out.  The rip current was extremely strong to the south; I got in a good quarter mile north of the pier without fins and fought the waves for 6-7 minutes before I was carried down to the pier.  There was one surfer on the south side wasting his time like me.
At least it was chilly and exciting; I enoyed it.

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