Oceanside Rough Water Ocean Swim

The water was very choppy tonight.  I swam north to south at 4:30 PM or so.  Water temp 57-59 degrees per surfline.com and I think it the upper part (59) of that.  It didn't feel very cold to me.  I got used to it within 5 minutes.  The chop was one foot and up to a solid two foot farther out off the pier.  My neck is hurting now from trying to lift my head up to breathe.  Visibility about 8 feet.  Surprisingly, under a cloudy sky with that chop, there were quite a few surfers, especially on the south side.  Up to two dozen.
I can't think of much to single out this swim tonight.  Thirteen minutes to the end of the pier, with fins, and I hit the sand at 27 minutes.  A nice, brisk, rough water swim.

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

North County Times Neat Dolphin Picture

North County Times Photo

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

Thank Goodness I Got Wet & Cold Today!

I have been on dry land for ten days with a bad cold.  I still have the cough & cold but after work I went for a swim.  My thought process while staying away was to rest up, and today's thought process was to work the lungs and maybe get cleared up.  I was coughing like crazy while in the water; I think it helped.  The water was good.  Twelve to fifteen feet visibility.  Pretty flat ocean past the waves.  Small waves.  A dozen or so surfers at a time. 
Before I got in I saw an older gentleman in his swim trunks jump in the water and get his chill on!  So, I have competition.  I read his lips when he said to his wife, "That water is freezing," as she greeted him with a towel after he got out.  Great for him!  He didn't swim-he just took a dip for a while.  What a gutsy, tough, older guy. 
The water wasn't too bad tonight.  It was cold, but not face-hurt cold.  Surfline.com still has the water temperature at 57 to 59 degrees.  I believe it today.
So, I swam out with trunks, a neoprene hood, and goggles.  The current was there a little bit.  I wore fins because of it.  Just off the end of the pier I started to see some seaweed (kelp) leaves and a bit of debris in the water.  Then I saw a small, child-size, worn-out lifejacket resting about 5 feet below the surface.  It startled me a tiny bit at first, and then I dove down a little and looked around but no other interesting sights.
I had to kick hard and pull hard to get around the end of the pier.  I swam north to south.  Fourteen minutes and I was around and ready to head back in.  I didn't hit sand until 28 1/2 minutes, which lets us know that there was some current action against me-just mild. 
Nice to be back.

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

Can't Swim After a Rain

I drove to check out the beach Saturday afternoon;  I was needing a swim to get myself going.  Well, no luck because the water was dirty after the rain that we had last night.  I figured it'd be like that, but I was hoping against hope.
Now there's a saying that makes no sense: Hoping against hope.  I'm gonna' look it up now.
Looks like it does make sense to someone--it says that it means one is hoping that something will happen, although it is likely not to.
That fits today perfectly then.
Not a soul in the water.  Very low tide.  Dirty street runoff into the ocean creating a bacterial & pollution hazard to swimmers, surfers, etc.
I didn't feel like getting sick so I returned home unfulfilled.  Tomorrow will probably be dirty water again.  I took a few pictures of the pier scene.

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

Still Going

I have doubles up on some of these photos above.  Oh, well.  I don't want to mess with them to try to eliminate the double.  Swim after work-Friday night.  25 minute swim with fins around the pier.  A visible current moving south to north tonight-the reverse of customary.  Cold water. Trunks and swim cap.  Low tide, pretty flat out there.  Small waves for the surfers inside-not many surfers-about 2 dozen.

I needed help from a few surfers coming in through their stretched out line so that I could find a hole to slip through to get to shore.  No cooperation tonight.  A couple of them didn't want to move a few feet to help this cold swimmer.  I thought about getting mad and yelling, "How about getting out of the ****ing way!"   But they probably think I have some perfect vision of them and their positions in the water, and I'm the one not moving a bit to cooperate with them.  For the record to surfers-a swimmer can't see sh**  swimming through the water with waves, swells, and chop--not to mention foggy goggles and a swimmer lying flat on the surface of the water has no view.  So there!  Now I feel better.
It is supposed to rain this weekend so there may not be swimming.  We'll see.  At least I'm covered for now--I got in with my trunks again and did the pier thing.  Haven't cracked yet.  Still warming up after a hot shower at home.

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