Tues Feb 14 Oceanside Pier

There were a few dozen surfers spread along the south side of the pier this afternoon after work. The waves were smallish-up to 3 feet, but a good shape and I observed not a few good rides by excellent surfers.
I expected the current to be pulling south so I wore my complete getup: fins, webbed gloves, 2 swim caps, goggles, rash guard, bathing suit, and my thin, 1 millimeter wetsuit.
Turned out the water was cold but minimal current; also quite flat past the surf zone. I did my swim thing around the pier and headed home shortly thereafter. I was pleased to see 2 police cars in the parking lot at the pier south side and 2 more police cars up a few blocks from the water on Mission Ave.
Last week there was a gang or thug stabbing at the beach near the pier and a couple of days ago a dead body was found up the creek from the ocean about a mile, resting dead for a few days, the news said.
So, Oceanside is being Oceanside again. The police presence is on and off over time. We need more on times to keep the peace.
So I need to rinse my wetsuit and hang it up. We are expecting rain for the next few days so swimming won't be a good idea with bacterial runoff from the creeks into the ocean. Good night for now.

Valentine's Day

After work Mr. G and I swam out a few hundred yards from Camp Pendleton's Del Mar Beach into a choppy, two-foot, washing machine bunch of chilly water. We talked about trying to reach the buoy outside past the harbor channel entrance but gave up on that quickly. Instead we did a U-shaped swim, mostly on our backs kicking with fins or sidestroke. There were a bunch of seagulls at the beach there today. I'd say about 300 or so. And not one crapped on us. Sometimes they will hang around overhead and crap as they fly.

I took a few pictures of the beach area that I'll post here.

Sun, Feb 13 Oceanside Pier

The water was chilly:57. I expected choppy and windy but it was flat, mild, calm, with 2 foot waves. I counted about 12 surfers in the water south side of the Pier. Lots of people parking in the lot and hanging out on the sand on the south side. I wore fins and gloves and went out on the south side and around the pier and headed north. I wanted to go to the rock jetty but got cold and tired. I got out at Surfrider Way. Chilly is what I would remember from this swim and under-performing on my part.

Sat Feb 5 Oceanside Pier Swim

Late afternoon about 4:30 PM I got in on the south side of the pier and swam around and got out on the north side. The day and water were quite exquisite-really beautiful. Almost no swimmers in the water-as the temp is 57, but maybe a dozen surfers surfing the well-shaped small waves (about 2 feet).
The water outside was glassy with no current except out at the end of the pier. I was starting to go around the pier and kept noticing that I was staying in the same place. I threw in a couple of hundred stronger, faster strokes and got around the pier and headed back in. It took me longer to get in than head out, or so it seemed. Sadly, it is on gorgeous swim days like this when I am faced with the reality that I am just not a very good swimmer. When I don't wear fins, as today, I just don't seem to be able to propel my fat body forward quickly. I had my webbed gloves and wet suit on today. One of these days I'll do a swim without the gloves and without the fins and see how I fare.
But, at 53, with a surgically fused cervical spine, I'll keep plugging along. The last two days were actually pain free for me. So that's a big plus. No pictures today. Forgot the camera.

Feb 4 Camp Pendleton Beach

After work, Mr. G and I went in for a relaxing wet-down at the 21 Area Beach. We just practiced the sidestroke a bit and chatted about the difference between the conventional sidestroke and the combat sidestroke used by military combat swimmers: the latter involving dipping the head underwater and looking forward as one's arms are moving in opposite directions--the lower arm is reaching forward and the upper arm is pushing water toward the feet. Just a slight difference between the two strokes.
There was a small area with 4 foot waves breaking but the shape was not very surfable-only one surfer in the water. Temp was 57 degrees and we didn't stay in very long.