Rough Water Swim Pier Tuesday - Chilly

Very few surfers in the water this afternoon.  The water was very sloppy and nothing much in the way of well-formed waves.  The chop was 1 to 2 feet swimming around the pier and interesting.  I jumped in on the north side because yesterday the current was mildly moving south.  Well, my decision was correct; the slight current was heading south.  No sooner did I jump in and take a few strokes when I swallowed a gulp of water and threw up a bit-my Suzy Q snack from earlier in the afternoon. 
The water was cold. Cold. My focus was on being cold and not inhaling/swallowing seawater during this swim.  I just wore trunks and my two swim caps.  My head was warm anyway.  That's a big deal, you know.
The smell of the bait was all over the water off the end of the pier, which always kind of grosses me out.  My swim was 35 minutes and I didn't even want to jog to my car afterward. 
I did see one man in the water with trunks doing a bit of body surfing.  He seemed very comfortable in the water. 
Overall, a good, rough, cold mile swim.

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

Monday Pier Swim

The outside water was calm and flat Monday.  There were a bunch of surfers on both sides of the pier with beautiful, smaller waves-but great conditions.  Waves were 2-5 feet, I'd say.  The water was about 60 degrees and the cold is here.  Visibility about 5 feet.I got around the pier in just under 36 minutes and felt ok.  I stopped briefly off the end of the pier for a current check and there was a mild current moving south.  Two guys went by me closer in near the pier in a small, Hawaiian-type paddle canoe.  I can't think of what you call them.  Those 2 guys were flying though.  I don't know how far they were going but I wouldn't want to be racing them.
There were very few people wandering the beach late yesterday afternoon, which was nice. Plenty of parking and quiet.
The water is getting clean and the red tide is gone.  Fall is coming fast. 
I still have water draining from my sinuses this morning. 


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

Oceanside Saturday Harbor Beach to Pier Swim

I went to the Harbor Beach about 4 PM and it was beautiful.  The water was warmer than recent temps-about 63 degrees.  Red tide has almost completely died off.  The swells were big and beautiful at the Harbor and the south side of the Pier today.  The interval was long between waves, and the big swells were starting to develop way the heck out there at the Harbor.  I was about three hundred yards off the Harbor beach-well past the surfers-and several big sets started to develop where I was.  Looking back in toward shore after the swell passes me and develops into a breaking wave is cool.  I love to see the back side of a big wave, knowing a surfer caught a ride and is unseen from my perspective. 
I wish I had the youth and health, and probably the amigos to get me out to learn to ride those big waves.  Those surfers are lucky dudes-tough, fit, gutsy-but definitely not friendly overall.  They have some tough guy thing going on which builds a wall between them and other folks.  You probably have to start young and have your Dad take you out to get you started and fit in.  Too bad.  Lately I have been swimming through them-screw them. I'm probably being too tough on surfers and generalizing, but those guys with that whole "Point Break" territorial thing with the body ink don't do it for me at all.
Trunks with tight thigh-length undershorts was my uniform of the day.  Two swim caps so my head and body heat was good.  I hit the pier at 52 minutes and was tired.  About 200 yards north of the pier the water got choppy and it felt like I was heading into a mild current.  It was hard to swim out toward the open ocean-maybe the tide was coming in.  I'm not a tide watcher-though I should be.  I guess I prefer the tide surprises and just deal with them. 
Swimming in after I rounded the pier was tough.  I was tired and really had to pull hard to get in.  I jogged back up the beach to my car at the Harbor, but I had to stop to catch my breath several times.  I had an off and on creepy feeling today while swimming.  Early in the swim I hit a rope that was probably attached to a lobster trap that got away.  And I was just feeling the sea monster thing today-I wasn't feeling my comfort level with the water far out like usual.  Therefore, I swam in closer to the breakers and had to keep heading out more as the swell drifted me in closer.  Just a weird feeling today-no real reason why.

The whole deal was 1 hour 20 minutes.  A good workout.  Here's a few pictures of the Harbor before my swim.



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

Beautiful Swim Harbor to Pier Oceanside CA

Oh my goodness, what a beautiful afternoon at the beach!  It was glorious!  We had a mild offshore breeze condition today with warm temps at the beach--78 degrees.  I stopped at the Harbor Beach and the offshore effect was lifting the breaking waves spray up into the air a bit-and the effect was picturesque! The surfers were out in big numbers. The water was chilly, but not too cold.  I swam in shorts and was fine. 
I swam out from the Harbor Beach about two hundred yards past the surfers and headed south to the Pier.  The swim from the Harbor to the Pier was absolutely fantastic!  It was calm, some glassiness, some cold spots, some warm spots, only remnants remaining of the red tide, and I had the whole outside ocean almost to myself.  I saw two kayakers and one guy doing that stand-up paddle thing.
The water got a little choppy at the pier and I starting to head in to a very mild current moving north-but still great conditions.  I threw up a little bit after swimming about 1/4 mile because I had just eaten a pack of Suzy-Q's and a cola.  You know the chocolate, rectangular Suzy-Q's with the white, cream filling.  I love them. 
I hit the beach on the south side of the pier at 1 hour and 12 minutes.  The distance was approximately 1 mile and 1/2 or 3/4.  Who knows...
Then I still had energy to jog back up the beach to the Harbor parking lot.  Just really great! Really special.
These pictures stink because I took them afterward when it was getting dark.

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

Wed Pier Swim: Cold Water, Dolphins, Glassy Ocean, Less Red Tide

I had a nice swim after work today.  In the water I'm still in trunks and I'm cold. I'm holding off on the wet suit for the time being.  Before I went in I saw a few dolphins playing aroung in the water.  I entered where they were but they didn't stay around; I didn't see them at all while I was in.  The water was glassy and had some warm spots mixed in with the cold water.  The red ted has eased up; the brown water is light brown far out and clearer closer in to the beach.  We still have a good ways to go before we are back to normal though.  I took some pictures today.  My swim was 34 minutes and I felt good.  My stroke felt good; my breathing felt very good;  I was very comfortable.  It was a good swim today.

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