333 Restaurant in Oceanside CA

I was talking to a co-worker a few days ago who had eaten at the new 333 Restaurant at the Oceanside Pier.  This gentleman and his wife had enjoyed a nice dinner at 333 and enjoyed the view of the Pier and the water.  I told him, "Hey, that's my spot.  Did you see a guy swimming out there?"  Well, of course he had not; the odds of that would be rather small.
I haven't been there yet; I'm more of a McDonald's guy.
This afternoon after work I went for a swim north to south around the pier.  The water was running south and it was mild to moderately rough.  Fins needed.  The water was breaking hard into a foamy, white water surge-wave after wave after wave.
Swimming out was lively; I was swimming into two foot waves continuously-just throwing my arms forward and pulling, along with kicking with the fins.  It was cold also.  I stayed cold for the 34 minute swim.  On the way in, it was more fun.  I felt like I was body surfing short, small waves every ten seconds or so.  It was fun, and the waves helped push me toward the shore.
Only a handful of surfers trying to catch a four foot wave with a decent shape-the waves were without much of a shape.
I almost lost my goggles-I was thrown around by two different waves coming in.
A neat, fun swim.  Invigorating, exciting, and bracing. No camera unfortunately.

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

Oceanside Downtown Revival

I drove down through Mission Avenue to the parking lot just south of the Pier at 4 PM this afternoon-the new time (Spring forward-bla-bla-bla).  My drive took me through the busy part of the downtown revival area-where one must be quite careful not to run over pedestrians with their heads in the clouds-or in a much more remote place below the waistline. 
I miss the old Oceanside beach area.  Don't care much for the new trendy shops and eateries, the theater, the street fairs, etc.
I miss ample parking near the water; I miss the quiet Oceanside beaches; I miss the past.
Boy, I miss having lots of sand on the beaches along the Oceanside shoreline.  Our beaches are so narrow now one has to get used to high-density beachgoing--exactly the opposite of what my mind needs.
I drove through the $2.00 per hour parking lot and changed my mind and left.  I parked up the block for the old $1.00/hour rate.  An act of defiance.
The water was much less ugly than yesterday but still unpleasant.  Dirty. My sinuses are acting up today from the dirty water.  The chop was 1-2 feet with the current running north-same as yesterday.  It was not as cold as yesterday-no face pain upon entering the water.
Not many surfers because the waves were lousy.  I swam out WITH the current-started at the south side and came in on the north side.  It was a moderately rough swim-38 minutes-but nothing like yesterday's misery. 
"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

Water Getting Colder

I just checked surfline.com and the water temperature reading finally changed to 55-57 degrees, down from 57-59 degrees.

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

Swimming Against The Current Oceanside Harbor

Usually I like to have a miserable, cold, choppy swim.  Usually I ENJOY being miserable during an unpleasant, freezing, water-swallowing, face-hurting, crap in the water swim. That makes me happy.
However, today I'm miserable and unhappy after my swim.  I was miserable, freezing, had the creeps, inhaling sea water, couldn't breathe what with the crazy oncoming chop of the ocean.  Why?
Part of it is that the City of Oceanside doubled the parking fee the beginning of the year.  I still have not gotten past that yet.  So today I wanted to do a swim longer than an hour so I had to pay 4 dollars - American.
There was a guy at the parking meter pay machine who was a buck short so I gave him a buck.  That actually made me feel better about the parking fee-in some weird way.  I feel better about giving a buck to a stranger parking than the City...
The water was nasty looking and the current was running north.  Oh, by the way, I didn't mention that I went to the Harbor to swim today.  I got in half-way between the 2 rock jetties at the Harbor beach and swam out.  What a mess of an ocean today.  Just chop, chop, chop. Big, choppy waves.  So, I headed south, against the current, just because I was feeling miserable and wanted to be more miserable.  So, on and on I go...21 minutes later I am tired and have barely gotten much past the south jetty.  That piece of water off that south jetty is a real mess.  The currents are all over the place-and the runoff from the San Luis Rey River/Creek/whatever messes up the water.  It dumps all sorts of crummy stuff into the ocean there.
So, swimming through that was annoying.  All sorts of floating specks and bits of pollutants and whatever.
On I go.  Initially, I had wanted to swim to the Pier, but at 21 minutes I abandoned that plan.  Swimming into the choppy current gets old.  I was getting the creeps more and more, so I changed my plan to swim my usual time-about 35 minutes-and then get out wherever I was.  So, that's what I did.  On the whole stretch of beach there were only a few people trying to surf in the water.  I got out on the south end of the Robert's Cottages-that's as far as I got.
I was cold, so I ran back to my car at the Harbor lot.  And that was that. 
The only good thing-not the only good thing-but the main good thing about this swim was that I needed to get a swim in today to keep my streak alive.  So, the streak continues.  I didn't even want to go to the beach in the first place today-just didn't have it in me.
Pretty lousy report, eh?

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

Hot, Winter Day in Oceanside-Flat Water, Nice Swim

The air temperature was 85 degrees at 3:30 PM at home and 77 at the beach.  The water was glassy flat-a big change from yesterday.  Several bored surfers lazed on their board looking for any wave at all to ride.  A few dozen waders and wanderers walking in the water enjoying a great, family day.  Young teenagers holding hands, young families taking photos of the toddlers, and young walkers at the beach.  We had a great, wholesome family beach day in Oceanside, CA today-Sunday.
It is often difficult to guess the direction of the current; today was no exception.  I always look at the fishing lines of the pier fishermen.  Which way are they pulled by the current?  Today, they were pulled both ways.  But the water looked calm, without a current.  I went in without fins and there was no noticeable current at all during the swim.  The water was cold, but not head-hurting or face-hurting.  I stayed cold throughout the first two-thirds of the swim.  Fortunately, there were some warm spots in the ocean this afternoon.
Off the end of the pier, the speedboats were annoying.  There were only a couple, but when you swim, you hear the whines of the engines, which alerts the swimmer to the danger.  I kept having to look around for boats or jet skis-the main concern out there.

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