Oceanside Pier Swim CA May 23 2011

This water Monday late afternoon was just too rough to swim in but I did anyway. I wore my trusty Churchill fins, which are about to give out on me, because I wouldn't be able to make any progress swimming in this kind of 3 foot chop without fins. No wet suit needed. The water was warm enough and pretty clean. A few surfers are floundering in between the crests and troughs of the waves in these pictures but can't see any. There were several there, though. Not too much to say about this swim but that it was a mess, but I still enjoyed it.

Oceanside Ocean Swim Club

It was a bit chilly outside and overcast, so not too many beachgoers in the late afternoon on this Sunday. I went in with a rash guard shirt and trunks, and also fins. The water was warm and clean; visibility maybe six feet, which is good for here. Still the greenish tint to the blue water which is nice. The waves for surfing were very good, especially on the north side of the pier-probably solid 4 foot waves with good shape and intervals. Not many surfers there-approximately 20, I'd say.

A big wave knocked off my swim goggles as I was swimming in through the surf zone. Need to kiss that pair goodbye.

I took some pictures.

Oceanside Operation Appreciation Day Pier

The Marine Corps celebrated Appreciation Day for the troops and families at the Oceanside Pier Amphitheater. I can't handle the crowds at the beach so I swam at 5:30 PM. It was pretty well wound down by then. The water was warm, very clean, and that nice blue-green color. I wore fins and swam south to north around the pier. The water was rough and choppy-about a 1 foot chop. I had a nice relaxing, though strenuous swim. I did remember the camera so I have a few pictures.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/article_9b110ba1-900d-5896-88fc-7cb1115b4814.html

Oceanside Pier Big Waves Friday Late Afternoon

After trying to swim on Pendleton and finding the beach closed there, I went to the Oceanside Pier and swam around it. "The waves were going off," as the surfers would say. The water is beautiful, an aqua green color with very defined large sets of waves, some with great shape. I saw sets with waves up to 9 feet today, many in the 6-7 foot size range. I swam with the strong current running northward around the pier. It was warm and beautiful. Just beautiful!

I didn't have my camera and I'm kicking myself (figuratively).

Oh, by the way, as I was entering the water I saw an ocean swimmer in the distance heading southward against the current. Another ocean swimmer-yeah!

CAMP PENDLETON: Missing swimmer feared drowned

A terrible story of a Navy man swimming on base with his buddy and was apparently pulled out to sea and drowned. See link below.
I swim at this beach often and was swimming there Monday about 4:30 or 5:00 PM with a swim buddy. The water was a very choppy 3 foot mess with a strong southward current. We swam out and around the buoy. The incident link below occurred Thursday, and I believe the conditions were the same or worse.
I just went there today after work to swim and had just started swimming out when the lifeguards called me back in and told me the beach was closed. The search is ongoing now, and helicopters and boats were out in the area near and far in the distance. The water was very rough today-big waves, 4-5 feet, and a very strong current running northward-such the opposite current from this past Monday. Strange how the ocean changes so rapidly and so dramatically.
My thoughts are with the family and swim buddy.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_e3a75bab-c5c8-53f7-bb26-85a3c847dd50.html