Sat Oct 8 Pier Swim at Sunset & North County Times Link to Article

North County Times & Is Red Tide Leaving?

The brown water is gone! Last night I heard that the beach was beautiful and the red tide had taken leave, so I rushed down and got in just before the sunset.  It had been seven days without salt water for me and I was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms.
There was an event at the pier wrapping up-having something to do with cycling and selling things at the amphitheater.  There were 2 motorized hangliders cruising around the area at about 250 feet.  I haven't seen that before and it looked inviting.
I jumped in fast, expecting colder water than last week, and it was cold.  Not head-hurting cold yet, but probably 60 degrees.  I wore my thick swim cap and it kept my noggin' warm and helped slow down the heat loss from my body.  I didn't get warmed up until I had been home afterward for about 45 minutes.  The ocean was choppy-but it was a wider chop-one to two foot mini-swells every ten feet or so.  I scurried out quickly through the surf, so as not to have to go through lines of waves twice.  After clearing the surf zone I was dizzy and exhausted.  I felt like I had lost my conditioning from where I was a week ago. I had to concentrate and tell my arms and hands what to do; I had to figure out how to breathe again; my legs had forgotten how to kick.
A neat aspect of the outgoing part of the swim, departing on the south side, was that I could see the two hangliders a bunch, which took me back to the old parachuting days 30 years ago in my mind.  Briefly, one hanglider collapsed half of his canopy and I wondered if he would be in the water alongside me in thirty seconds.  He recovered quickly and then they were out of my line of sight five minutes later.
Before I reached the end of the pier, my olfactory sense was tempted with the smell of burgers and fries from Ruby's Restaurant on the end of the pier.  I don't recall smelling that before, but I must have. 
The sun began to set before I rounded the pier, so on my left side breaths I had a lovely view of the orange sun with a brown haze at the horizon around it.  The water was more stirred up off the end of the pier and all the way into the beach.  Since I was swimming during the gloaming-that period of time after sunset and before darkness-I was able to have a right-side view of a 3/4 moon, which was cool.  I saw a flash from a person taking a picture from the pier.  I just had lots to see and feel on this swim.  Two big waves threw me around coming in and lots of white water to swim through hard to hit the sand.  No watch on my wrist but it seemed like a long time.  A brief jog to the pier to say "Hi" to my wife and daughter, and I jogged up to my car.  It was a hard, brisk wake-up call for mind and body-just what I needed.  Wish I could have taken pictures but no time.

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

No Swim Today-Water Still Brown. Saw 4 Dolphins In Close

I thought that I'd go in this afternoon after work if the water had improved, but the brown still dominates the blue.  The ocean was quite flat-no waves for surfers.  I watched a few minutes and saw 4 dolphins in very close to the beach slowly heading north. Two big, black ones-about six feet, I'd say.  I felt bad for them.  They must be somewhat dispirited by the water opaqueness. 

I just couldn't see jumping into the brown, although I sure need a fix of it.  Hope it clears up soon.



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

Why are we in this brown water?

OK. The 3 dozen or so surfers and this swimmer must have a screw loose because we are going into this brown ocean water that has powdery, fluffy, brown stuff dispersed throughout it that is algae-and it is getting too gross to believe.
I couldn't even see the end of my arms yesterday in the thickest parts-which is the first 100-150 yards from the beach. The water is about 62 degrees, small waves, and flat ocean.  Mild current moving south.
My swim was 37 minutes of weirdness.  The tide was as low as I've ever seen it. 
Please go away, red tide...

North County Times Article About The Beach


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

Wednesday Pier Swim in Red Tide-Nasty, Brown Water-Oceanside, CA

So, they are saying that the brown ocean is from a bloom of algae called a red tide.  I tried to stay out of it for a few days but couldn't help myself yesterday.  I jumped in and swam a long route around the pier in 37 minutes.  Visibility was just to the end of my arms, and the thick, brown areas had tiny, solid, brown particles in big clouds of water out there.  Off the end of the pier it thinned out and some blue broke through.  There were still about 3 dozen surfers there surfing the well-shaped 1-3 foot waves.  Two feet was about the common size wave but the shape was good.
My eyes were stinging afterward and red, so I was using eye drops to rinse them out and soothe them for a couple of hours.  The water was cold but I was in trunks.  Probably low sixties.  I hope the algae die off soon.

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

Link to North County Times Tiki Swim Photo

Pretty good crowd for the long swim out there

.North County Times Tiki Swim Photo Link





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