Mad Max drives a Subaru

I wanted to tell you guys about the start of my Kauai trip, namely, the drive to LAX. Our flight was scheduled for 1pm, David likes to arrive early so we can wait in the airport for two hours before the plane leaves so we had to be on the road at 9am. 9:30 I am ready and we hit the 78 West where Dave drives his usual 55mph in the fast lane. Since I’m busy checking my stuff, papers, lipstick, max. strength Ibuprofen, etc., I can’t backseat drive and we cruise along. Now we are on the 5 North and the fun begins. David is nervous about hitting LA traffic so he decides to make up some time by driving 90 in the middle lane, weaving in and out of traffic, which is very light, swerving, swearing, bobbing his head around like a bobble head and my back seat driving hits hard. Slow down! Stop doing that! Look out! What the fuck are you doing? And why? (Ali has her DSI headphones in her ears so mommy can swear) David is truly believing that he is Mad Max and I swear to you that he told me that he was driving like he was because (ready?) he was worried that ‘we’d be run off the road’. RUN OFF THE ROAD? WHAT? On the 5? In a Subaru? Um, when has this ever happened in our four decades on earth? This was a heavily debated topic and reminded me of Dianadarling wanting to climb a chain link fence at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis club while wearing Speedos on our ‘Escape the Waves’ adventure a few months ago in that it's just not gonna happen. It was however,lively and entertaining fun. And hilarious. It was then about 10am. I should mention that we are driving Dave’s Subaru, AKA the chickmobile, so I’m already grossed out by the dirt factor, tools clinking like mad in the back, diesel fumes from his equipment, rope coils on the floor boards and untinted windows (barbarian conditions) when the check engine light pops on to freak me out. Normally Dave would be very worried but not this time, not in Mad Max mode so we cruise on despite my protests and somehow, we made it. Yes, we made it to our car park destination, some dark, cold, industrial area that was so like a scene in Mad Max: barren, hard, strange bearded thugs tooling around with menacing faces. Some crying may have occurred here but I try to forget the small details. We end up in LAX to fly ‘Misery Airlines’ and begin our wait. Fun times, people! (Misery Airlines motto is ‘we know you’re miserable, we don’t care so STFU and sit down)
Later I will tell you about our hotel ‘The Ragged Flag’ (aptly named by Ali) and some of our more thrilling adventures, like our visit to Fort Elizabeth where serial killers hold their meetings and our kayak trip down the Wailua river where David dumped my kayak in mud so deep and thick that it actually sucked my left Keen right off my foot. I got it back because these are Keens I’m talking about and no river is strong enough to keep good shoes from a woman.
It was all so much fun! Really, I did have a blast and I wanted to share some of the fun with you...

Just us and the sea lions!

Steve, Bill and I had a great time Sunday with the cove all to ourselves. As Steve mentioned, 57 felt great and our wild ride was exciting. The waves getting out were not too bad, but fins made the difference for me -- Bill can get through that size wave... though we all worked hard getting out.  Our  quick tour of the buoys seemed to take forever, had to paddle and kick twice as hard just to go forward. A warm 57 -- felt so good to be back in the water again, even bumpy water!!!

We missed you, aloha-Laura! And Cami and our other podnicks too... no one was swimming when we went out. Steve said he saw other brave swimmers earlier and we did see another three-some-pod coming back around 3ish, still pretty rough...but all-in-all a merry swim! (-:

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing you [in the water] next year! That would be next weekend.

Happy swimming!

~Cary

57 felt warm

Thanks to Bill and Cary for the swim today.  it was quite the workout getting out to the buoys.  The swim back wasn't as bad though.  Laura, you never would have gone out with the waves we had to swim through on the way out and the way back in.  If Bill can do it without fins you would have been fine with fins.  See you guys next time.

Merry Christmas and Happy Ocean Swims

Merry Christmas to all from Bill and Cary. Looking forward to another great swim year with our growing pod in 2011!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the land,
People were jumping on the open water band.
Goggles and swimsuits were selected with care,
In hopes that summer season soon would be there.
Marathon swimmers with big dreams in their heads,
After miles of training, fall fast asleep in their beds.
And pilots with boats and coaches with caps,
Had just settled down for a long look at coastal maps,
When out over the water there arose such a clatter,
Swimmers sprang from the shore to see what was the matter.
Just a boat – but no waves or wind along the coast,
It was conditions that swimmers like the most.
The season continues with coaches standing on docks
Training swimmers in the oceans and in deep, cold lochs.
When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But focused swimmers sprinting so dear.
With passion abundant, open water swimmers are ready,
To live up to hopes that are courageously heady.
Spouses knew in a moment it must be the ocean,
More rapid than sharks in a furious motion.
Swimmers whistled and shouted and called out by name;
"Now, Dover! Now, Cook! Now, Zürich and Catalina!On Rio! On Manhattan!
On Rottnest and Messina!
To the top of the podium, to the first to the shore,
Now swim and kick and sprint all the more!
When the waves are high and the water is cold,
Keep true to the course and stay mighty bold.
And to all of you who are the sport’s good friends,
Our deep thanks to you as another year ends.

Oh Sweet Mystery Of Life...I Have Found You!

Before the rains came, I hustled down to the Cove for a quick swim (wanting to get as many swims in before Christmas vacation). As I was getting ready to get in, chatting with other swimmers, I commented that "I'd best get in and get going" and just as the words came out, a big bull sea lion barked loudly, up from the shallows. "All right, I'm coming!" My new boyfriend is sure impatient! We'll call him Bruce. LOL There was a grand current and some texture, but it was just beautiful below with fantastic viz...lots o' fishies, 55F water and one elusive tortuga! vahoo! I see you!...about 3/4 the way to the #1 buoy. Thinking it was a rock, I wasn't going to skip a stroke, but noticed an appendage moving out from it...dive!, dive!, dive! Yep, it's a tortuga. I did my 'tour d'stick buoys' zig zag swim and came back to the area, but found him a little closer to the buoy this time. The proof I needed. Great swim, great day, extra points! The ONLY thing missing...was YOU! Wish you had been with me today.

1.5mi

Well, I didn't get to go to Kaui like our dear comrade lftc, swimming with sea animals in warm water. But I did get a swim in at the only pool open in Vegas, the Bellagio. Did a few 1500 meter laps, had my cap and gogles. Everyone else was in the jacuzzi!!! And we did leave the day before the big heist...so don't look at us for stolen casino chips.

Prepare For The Plunge...

Though Christmas is just upon us, we should keep our minds to the future.
La Jolla Cove Swim Club's Annual Polar Bear Plunge at La Jolla Shores is coming up swiftly and a great way to start the New Year off right. Y'all are awesome at swimming throughout the year, liquid sunshine, humongous waves, through the jetsam and flotsam, and with critters of all kinds...they don't even phase you. I found a great article on preparation that I wanted to pass along. I hope you find it informative. Even if we are comfortable in these elements, others are not, and we can pass it forward. Check it out:

Preparing for Icy Swims On New Year's Day by Steven Munatones

Merry Christmas to all. I've been blessed to know you this year...here's to a heavenly 2011
~Marta

Hey there to all you swimmers out there, we are now going to start in on posting distances for our race the whales teams-LFTC is one captain I am the other we've both been lagging in getting started so look for more info soon, if you are not on a team-contact one of us.

So Monday had plenty of red tide and fog at the shores accordingly I agreed to meet two other swims at Coronado North beach on tuesday at 9am. At 8 am I got a text that it was fogged in but the surf wasn't' very big so it was a go. We met by sunset park and hiked across the big white sand beach to the lifeguard tower. The water to the S was looking rippy (it always does but some days bigger than others) so we worked our way in and headed N passing the fence to the Navy beach and picking up a navy land escort there. Since it was foggy and chilly we swam withing touching distance of each other and had quite a pleasant time. The water was green but a bit murky with churned up sand, the air was a bit foggy but not too bad and the breeze was strong the water temp in the low 50's. We kept an eye out for the dancing dolphins we had encountered on sunday but we only saw a sea lion eating breakfast and the remains of breakfast. As we allowed the current to sweep us back tot he start point, the fog lifted and some blue sky was seen. Plans are in the works for another coronado swim on friday.

monday 12/13

beautiful sunny day. flat, placid ocean. water temp fifty-something.

headed out from the main lifeguard tower at the shores. too much traffic leading into LJ. turned out to be a positive traffic jam--for swimming. the shores was a little warmer water than the cove. i swam along the shore over to the cove and back. red tide was in the deeper water. i stayed shallow--10 to 15 feet. that way i was able to steer (mostly) clear of the brown goop. seems the red tide might be dissipating. it was clear at the top 2 or 3 feet of surface.

party people in pants

LJSC Banquet report: sunday, 5. toni, ethan, phoenix, marta, janie, lftc (there were many, many swimmers around but i'm naming the ones we all know the most). first we drank all the lemoncello followed by white and red wine, a few really good beers were tasted and finally, premium vodka with mysterious mixers that ethan pulled out of his hat or from the back of the room somewhere. that's it, the whole report.
well, we did have some yummy dinner (some of us ate-sausage, i won't say who but i guess some people need a good sausage now and then) and watched about 4 hours of a slide show and finally a bunch of us wayward rebels wandered outside never to go back in. we had our own little banquet and we must have been loud because we were locked out, twice! how rude! i think the people inside were wishing they were outside where the real fun was, it was bitterness i'm sure and not our loud fun. there may have been some cursing and yelling for more raffles (phoenix was on fire to win something) and a couple of requests for our names to be called for swim accomplishment prizes but i guess no one cares about our 1 mile swims (one girl swam 365 miles last year in big chill, this may be where cursing came in) but we were mostly good and i had as much fun as to be had while wearing pants. i missed all the absentees!

swim in the soup

swim report sunday noon: ruth, bill, cary, steve, janie, howie & lftc swam in 58/57 degrees (most felt it was colder by two degrees) in mostly flat seas. swam to the a in semi clear conditions and then-darkness-the juicy red, the brown bad, the lentil soup, really thick in spots and not too bad in a few places but mostly eewww. we swam to the #3 pin, 1/2 and back to the 1/4 to sit on santa's lap but he was too high up. the swim was generally great but it was the crew that made this swim worth the effort. it was good to be together, as always!
lftc-out

Info if you need your wetsuit repaired

I got my wetsuit fixed at Swell Stuff in Encinitis for just $40.  They did an awesome job.  (Ask Bill, Carey, Ruth, or Laura)  Here's their website.

http://mojo.myfoxla.com/biz/swell-stuff-com-wetsuit-repair/encinitas/ca/92024/38006293

Also, if any of the swimmers here hike, I'm having a Full Moon Hike at Cowles Mountain on December 21st at 6:15.  I post it on 4 meetup groups and we get 50 people.  We go out for sushi afterwards.


http://www.meetup.com/allthingssandiego/calendar/15529922/

Larry!

Larry, i have missed you and your quiet ways! i'm very happy to see you on the blog and i hope to see you in the cold cold sea and deep dark fog! i betcha you can't wait!
see you in the water, soon.
lftc

Fogelicious Dream

Despite rumors of high surf, Cary, Ruth, and I met mid-day Saturday at the cove. The water was smooth with no waves breaking. A low bank of fog limited visibility to just beyond the point but the sun was out and we had every hope it would burn off shortly. We braved the 54 degree water and swam in the direction of the 1/4 mile buoy which we finally found despite the fog. We hopscotched to the 1/2 mile, using the white sticks as markers - at any given time we could only see the distance of 1 stick forward. A baby seal followed us most of the way. We guessed he was also lost. The fog never did burn off and instead got worse. We swam toward the sun filtered through the fog to find our way back. The land was just a dark shadow as we approached the beach and we were all relieved when it turned out to actually be real and not just a dream. Hope to do it all again tomorrow if anyone's interested (-;...

Mystic Winds

We all have those few wonder swims that carry us through the murk. Yesterday. Wow, what a strange and beautiful this swim turned out to be. Tuesday, noon, LFTC, Marta and I dipped in at a completely socked in Cove... fog so thick we couldn't see any buoys from shore. LG suggested hugging the shore just past the gropers (sea lions) and make it short since it was 54 (!).... but how surreal and clean it was... we followed M towards the cave, looked back and could not make out which land formations were what... suddenly we were past the Caves, effortless. Glassy. Quiet. The water that color of labrodorite, look it up, its exactly what it looks like sometimes.. clean and clear for several feet.... then over to the .25 looking West and a g.d.m.f. RAINBOW (fogbow) of all crazy things!!!!, nice tidy little high brow 'bow'... Marta said kinda feels like Mists of Avalon, and really, its just how it was. LG were totally out of sight, but we knew where to go and had a smooth as glass glide back in. Truly, one of my most remarkable and spectacular swims in my life. Thanks your mergals for making it happen.

monday 12/6

noon swim. water temp 56. light surge. no waves. clear inside all the way to the quarter. midway between the 1/4 and the 1/2--a WALL of red tide. around the A it was THICK with kelp. i was crawling over the kelp to get outta there. total distance 1 mile +. marta and i were in there just to log the distance. not very much fun.

Saturday and Sunday -- finally back swimming!

Bill and I finally got back into the ocean -- and whoa -- shocker on the temp! Who turned the cold water up? On-beyond-cold, but knew we had to get in there. We were just us two on Saturday, calm seas, smooth glass lake, seals around. Saw a bit of that red tide residue but not as bad as this summer. It just felt REALLY good to be swimming again. I must say, the cold does bring out my ability to buzz a little faster, so we had a good tour of the pencils and then meandered on back. I had to get back to get ready to work at the museum for December Nights fun...

Sunday we had a small pod. Ruth was there, Steve too, Janie showed up and Bill and I made 5! Glassy, smoothness again -- no rough spots and even had a dolphin sighting along with the usual ubiquitous sea lions. Still some residual muckishness that just won't go away, but that didn't stop us. Great and speedy this pod dashed from stick to stick, not spending too much time chatting along the way, cause it was just too chilly-willy! Missed those that didn't make it. Cami, Laura-from-the-cove-with-a-cold (LFTCWAC) -- all of you! (LFTC please lose the WAC and feel better soon!) Did you all notice that NO one is lounging around on the grass either? Can't understand why... I MISS THE SUMMER WE NEVER QUITE HAD. It was better than winter, yes? But swimming is better than NOT swimming, so there you have it!

Hey now, on a holiday note, we did make it to the La Jolla Christmas parade in the afternoon and saw Janie waving to us from across the street -- whoa, now there's a parade that stopped the local traffic. Lots of happy kids and marching bands and ladies on horses, my, my, my -- quite an event.

We plan to swim next weekend, so hope to hookup with more of our podnicks! Missing yous!
~Cary

VERY COLD

Saturday swim report: So, here we go......Claudia,Ralph, and I decided to swim at Coronado due to crappy conditions elsewhere. Beautiful day, sunny, and very cold water, about 52. Claudia thought the viz was better than the Shores yesterday, but still greenish, and I could not see the bottom even in shallow water. We swam from North Beach near the Naval Station to the Del and back, about 2 miles. As we were swimming into shore we were greeted by 2 beautiful dolphins frolicking by us. My feet were so numb I could barely walk out of the water. Claudia said my chin was blue!!! Went home and sat in my hot tub for 30 minutes with a whiskey drink. Over and Out.

Incoming!

At 1st it looked real ugly from up top, the high tide had washed the rocks (if you know what I mean), grey skies, grey sea, and lots of texture, mod+ surge and 55'.
I went in with the 9am crowd after seeing a "bodacious herd of dolphin" heading our way...and FAST!! We did just over a mile and the dolphin were all over the place. The guard said he saw one jump over the 1/4! The water...clear on the inside to the 1/4, darker as you get to the 1/2, lots o' kelp at the A, for a good while looked strange...clear blue-green on the top 6-8in of water with the brown-red stuff just hanging underneath...like a mixed drink I once had. I was NOT going to imbibe any of this concoction, no sir-ee! All in all, a very nice swim...definitely a chilly 55 though. Caught a little wave coming in (waves are like 1:20sec if that). If you go, Enjoy!

big chicken

yikes. what a deceptive ocean our Pacific can be.... clear to the bottom, waaay clear... and folks said OH NO, its brown... but I could see with my own eyes, it was CLEAR (whats wrong with these people, don't they even look when they swim I mumbled to myself)... So, LFTC and I donned our winter gear of caps and hoods and goggles and shortie fins and my 2mm catsuit, and her .025mm skin which is like wearing a windbreaker on Mt. Everest... and off we went, 54 Im sure of it, jolly and frolicking, us two lucky lucky gals... and then 1/2 way (or less) to the .25 the murk. Not just murk, it was a wall of brown. ?? ... yah, the red tide has reared her darkness and it was thick and daunting and I freaked. Well, I didn't freak like I could have.... there was no rescue called, no thrashing, no screams.... but that voice in my head was loud and clear, GET THE F***K out right now.... like swimming blind, panic almost, sure something would bump me before devouring my leg or side.... my braver coswimmer followed orders and did as she was told... we went left (worse) then right (baad still) then inwards... to the gloriousness.. then out again until I could take it no more, and back in. ITs that fine line sometimes, the edge and we crossed it and survived, but I won't be back...... I will be back in the water of course, but the red tide? nope, this gal knows her limits. Swim at your own risk, the darkness is there. Now the dolphins who then came through once we were on the grass didn't seem to mind at all.. sleek, beautiful and smooth. Don't they know?

It's "Hug A Swimmer" Day! Get Yours Today...

Proof!

Holy $%*t that was cold!

Marta and I swam a mile today around 1:30.  There were 3-4 ft. waves when we started but it was much calmer when we came back in.  The water must have been 55 inside the Cove.  We swam out to the half mile buoy where it seemed like it was 56 or 57.  I definitely could feel it get colder again when coming back in.  Marta was a brave soul and went without a wetsuit.  We both used fins.  I don't think I will go without fins this winter just because it helps stay warm.

Happy Birthday, Ruth!

This free greeting card generated with Smilebox

Happy, happy birthday!!!

easily distracted, like emus!

swim report saturday 11/27 noon: dianadarling, cami, lftc, ruth. after getting ready with wetsuits, zinc sunblock and coconut oil (dd likes to swim nakie and smell like food when she swims) a young telecommunications major asked to interview us for her presentation, since we looked and smelled so great, we had to do it. we all know how hot white faces under black neoprene hoodies and bodies stuffed into wetsuits look on video. she asked our names, how long we've been swimming, what we see, are we afraid, what happens during our swims and sea lion reactions. we did okay, diana and ruth spoke the most, thankfully. we trekked down and jumped in to 59 degrees, i'd have to say that this is 'holy shit' cold. it was clear to the bottom, flat, smooth seas. we slipped to the 1/4 and went caveward. some clear spots her and there but no epic sightings. cami started a game of tag, we started well but found a great big clear spot so that was it for tag. we are much like emu's in that we are easily distracted by bright shiny things and the clarity was bright and shiny. again, we suck at tag. we head back in and near the #6 pin we decided to race in as a group, for cardio and to intimidate the sea lions. the cardio element was great, the sea lions were not impressed. my neck boo boo flared up and i had a severe cold water reaction, red, stinging skin and some welts. later when i was whining to dave about this issue he gave me sage advice: take a week or two off from swimming so my "neck will have time to develop a callus". i wish you guys had been there to hear what i had to say about this. there was cursing, eye popping, accusations of him trying to kill me and talk of divorce (he gets the dogs and his subaru and that's it). i won't take any time off from swimming and the neck callus? as sexy as it would be, i'll try to avoid it with salves, balms and goo. all in all a fun swim with people i freaking LOVE. i'll even live with a neck callus to get some more.
lftc-out

Friday swim

Friday swim. Noon-thirty, the conditions were awesome. Flat sea, water temp 59-60, no current, waves, swells no nothin. Viz was crystal inside the cove and at the caves (reportedly) but murky at the quarter and the A. Sea lions were out in force. So were the kayaks and paddleboarders. We gotta increase our human presence out there, or else the pinipeds are gonna take over!

Turkey Day Swim - Left Overs Edition

Post Turkey Day swim at the Cove...gorgeous, lake-like conditions and 59-60F. The water was the most clear I've seen in such a long time! Swam to the 1/4 with some friends, we split, and I went over to the Shores, Marine Rm, along the Cave wall and rounded into the Cove...just cruising and viewing the beauty and splendor. Viewed jellies toward the tower, leo's at Marine Rm, the fish count was way way up today, as were the frisky sea lions getting down in the Cove. Thankful to have friends that care.

For those interested...Tomorrow is the LJCSC Thanksgiving Splash and Dash - leftover's edition due to last week's rain out. DOUBLE MILE POINTS offered again...yippee!

A Swim To Be Thankful For

What an absolutely gorgeous day...not a cloud in the sky, the sea is nice with rolling swells and a tiny bit of texture. Okay, so it's a wee bit colder than before...try 59.7F (I'll take every tenth I can get and prefer Laura's watch which read 60F). There were so many people at the Cove...out of towners mostly (no parking darn it!), but nothing was going to keep us away. Met Steve, Laura and Talia down there and we decided to team up for a mile (mainly to stave away the calories we were to later consume)! We swam a mile today and it was refreshing. Laura and I saw a pair of dolphin up close on the way back in...they are so amazing! We were truly blessed. A great day.

Mom and I went to the Marine Room for dinner tonight and watched the sun set from the shores...a fabulous ending to a fabulous day.
Happy Thanksgiving to All

Victory at Sea, or Ruth is So Not Hard Core

Went out this a.m. to pick up my gear at the Club, met a lone swimmer on his way out for a quickie and jumped into my wetsuit to join him. Very strong current, surf, swell - all of it and i'm not sure which is which but it was pulling strongly toward the rocks. I dashed out behind my new found friend. Should have known better as he was fin-less and wetsuit-less and I guess fearless. So I get out of the Cove and think this won't be fun to get back in, assuming i can make it out to the quarter. I turned around after about 5 minutes and came back in. Saw a bunch of em in the hot tub afterwards - Ken, Craig (?) and two others. Oh - the sea lions were jumping - quite literally - they were body-surfing too.

Anyone for a morning swim on Thanksgiving? 9 or 9:30-ish?

It's Been A Long Time Since I Rock And Rolled...

After a very chilly night, I sure didn't want to get out of bed...at all! But had an appt anyway, and also was to meet Steve around 10-ish. Primed with my hot water bottle, knit cap and swim parka, I thought I was ready for what ever. It was a rocky one today and once again the forecasters got it wrong! Waves were 3-5 feet both inside and outside the Cove (at the 1/4 and 1/2 also)/6-8 sec int, water temp about 61F, viz poor. Everyone that was swimming today was in or coming in...so it was a solo. The sun was out and brightened the prospects. But that Led Zeppelin song kept going through my head...esp Let me get back, let me get back, let me get back... . Fun swim, but glad Mike and Mike had my back just in case.

Nothin to see out there today, not a jelly, not a shark, not a ray.

Nothin to see, I'm not cryin, just rockin big waves and a pesky sea lion. ~mg

PS: For those in the market for new wetsuits, or if you've left yours out on the balcony one day too long, I heard of a great deal from Craig. He just got a gently used one from X-Terra Wetsuits for next to nothing! It was really nice.

november 20 big chill begins

swim report saturday nov. 20: big chill thru la jolla swim club launched today, claudia's race the whales too. (you are all part of the latter because i included you, you're in it so get to swimming)
i wasn't going to go because it was raining, cold, grey and windy and i have a wicked neck injury from wearing my hoody the other day. i went in with an undamaged neck and came out looking like a vampire chewed on my neck, an ocean hickey! anyway, marta was going, ruth was going, they kept telling me they were going, mocking me even. so what's a lftc to do? she's goes, that what she does. i wore a full 1.5mm body skin and no hoody, loved the skin, my head was cold. 61 degrees but warmer than the air. some swells rolling through but mostly beautiful, many swimmers out-more than i imagined, rained before, during, after. viz was 5' or so, sea lions insane. it was a perfect way to spend a rainy november day. we missed all you guys!
watch out for ruth, she is not only hard core, she's a trickster too, she has guile skills nailed down. she can tell you more.
swim on, people, don't let the weather fool or rule you. i think of it this way: if your going to be wet and cold, you may as well swim and do it right.
lftc-out

♫♪♪♫♪♪♫♪♪ We're Swimming In The Rain...Just Swimming In The Rain ♫♪♪♫♪♪♫♪♪

It was a dark and stormy night....NOT! We were supposed to get a storm in around 1am PDT, but it never came until morning with a slight drizzle. Or as my Irish friends would say "ah sure, it's a nice soft day." It was, however, enough to rain out the LJCSC's Turkey Splash and Dash Event (which has been postponed till next Saturday). Since I was already there, I decided, as did some others, that I would still swim as it was also the beginning of the Big Chill Winter Swim (to Samoa) and today's miles count for DOUBLE!!!! I'm going for it. Just then my phone rang. There was Ken..."whatcha doin this rainy day?" When I told him I was just getting ready to get in the water, he says (in an excited pitch) "Are you **blinkin** nuts!?" I guess I must be. The rain was coming down softly one minute and in fits and flurries the next. A couple of equally crazy friends joined me (Names have been removed to protect the crazy, but...you know who you are!) in tiptoeing into the 60-ish F degree water. They wore wetsuits, skins and fins...I did not. Does that make me doubly crazy? Certifiable no doubt! It's not that bad. Really. We caught a nice current to the 1/2 mile buoy, but a face slapping chop back to the 1/4 buoy, then the 'A' buoy. My friends decided to boogie back to shore but I still needed to swim. Mostly because of my need to burn off excess energy, but also because of the DOUBLE MILES :o) I joined my friends in the Club house Jacuzzi to de-thaw.
Swam 2.0 miles (x2 for the Event day) = 4.0 miles

nothing like a morning swim to clear your head

Well, I was at the Cove this morning at the appallingly early hour of 9:00 a.m. Hooked up finally with a threesome who left me in the dust. "we're going to the half and then the A". From the 1/2 i follow them and Ken and another guy out to the A which looks impossibly far away. Then i'm left in the dust again as everyone starts swimming back. I decide to swim back inside before heading home because of all the seaweed. I see in the distance a yellow stick buoy. WHAAAA?????? So then i realize that i'm all alone swimming back from the "B". You know, the "B" buoy where that outrigger saw a great white a few weeks ago. Back at the A Ken said i swam fast. I told him it was abject fear. Aside from the sharks in my head, the water was flat, cool, beautiful. Clear out to the 1/4 and clear-ish back from the A. Sea lions galore but the inner cove was still clear and beautiful. All in all refreshing and lovely. Missed you, my mer-folk and sea-sisters. Grateful for the company I did have. Looking forward to our swim tomorrow.

Underwater vision evolution -- seeing in the sea!

I know we're supposed to blog about our swims, but since I am mostly a weekend swimmer for now, I'd like to share some swim-related things now and then. At least I'm thinking and dreaming about swimming!

Here's another historic photo from what is said to be America's oldest skin diving club, the Bottom Scratchers, that began in 1933... the goggles they developed were amazing -- starting with radiator hoses and women's compact mirror glass (with the shiny stuff scraped off) and then strapped together...

Photo showing the evolution of goggles to single plated face masks that were developed and used by the San Diego Bottom Scratchers Skin Diving club, 1955 Water World Magazine.

Hope we can swim this weekend... what's a little rain?  Think sunny skies!
~cary

A Blanket To Swim Under

This morning I awakened to fog, not just a little fog, but fog so thick I couldn't see my neighbor's house across the street! I have swum in fog before...I don't like it, but seem to have a fairly good sense of direction when stuck in it (TG). I checked the different websites and called on my trusty pals at the beach for reports. Deciding to swim with the blanket anyway, I drove to the Cove. The fog was just starting to lift by that point and the sea was glass, great viz too. The 9am pod was just getting out, shivering and grabbing the hot water bottles...Not a good sign. The water, however, didn't seem that cold, maybe a degree of change (61F +/-), but what a nice swim WOW! Wish I could've staid in longer, but not an option today. Have to leave some for tomorrow. Ran into Ruth and Laura on their way to the beach and their beauti-mus swim...Friday, gotta make it a 9am swim. Any takers for an early one?

quickie at the cove

swim report wednesday 11am: had planned to swim with: ruth, marta, cftc and deb. ruth had to go later, marta was unsure, cami had -ants- and deb pulled through with a little help from the sun. so it was just us, deb and lftc meeting cove side for a quickie. you know we've been wanting it for awhile so we went for it. Some sun and clouds with wind chop, big clear spots and a good current kind of all over. a pleasant but uneven bump, hard to get a rythym but fun to cruise around and the kelp had big windy curves, the kind that are so fun to weave in and out of. swam to the a to show deb the toys, she has not seen them, ever! so i made her look. swam over to the 1/4 and on to the caves to look around for deb's sevengill, some skark that we saw the day before, a cutie with some white tips, i have seen him before, opinions say sevengill but who knows..then on to the point to look for cami's pot which was not seen and in because i was cold! shocking, i know. the temp was a solid 62 but i felt it today, i'm slipping. why my adipose tissue wasn't kicking into high gear today is a mystery, maybe my head was too cold. time for the hood. so much fun today, missed all absentees so very much! mike wrangled a mini massage out deb today, lucky devil, and promised to save our little crew first, everyone else can suck it. weather looks killer for thursday, rain is on the way. let's swim until we can't..
lftc-out

Cmon folks

Wed. swimmer people, I need a fix.... c'mon, get on it :)

Same ol' Same ol'...But Better

Did similar swim as yesterday. Much the same conditions as yesterday, but with much better viz. Sea Lions are mating again! Toni, Leo the Leopard shark says "Hi" He and his buddies were still there. Deb and LFTC swam with to the 1/2 but needed a quick get-a-way. MWWL paddled out to visit at the 1/2. Nice day.

Thanks for the invite

A big thank you to LFTC for watching the kids on Sat. It was indeed a gift. The water was perfect, compared to Sun. when there wasn't much to see. See you at the cove.

Groovy glassy sea

Monday at noon-ish. Cove was flat, 62-63 temp, clear inside, cloudy everywhere near the half. Steve, Marta and TFTC swam to the tower (LFTC said goodbye at the half, to make it for early pickup at school). Nice little current pushed us all the way there. Turned around and that nice little current became a constant bombardment of splash-in-your-face. We swam parallel to the beach toward the MR, in hopes of finding sharks. Finally got tired of the splash and headed directly to shore only to find....SHARKS! YAY!! We hit the jackpot, too. Lots of the big boys gliding around in 2-3 feet of water (way close in). I considered it my little redemption, after abandoning the search for sharks a little too soon last thursday. Steve decided to take the scenic route, on foot, back to the cove. He was so done with the current (can't blame ya for that, Steve-0). Marta and I plowed on, though; paying heavy dues for that easy ride to the tower. SLAP, STROKE, SLAP, STROKE, SLAP, brEAthe, gulp, brEAthe! Triton got tired of our willingness to suffer that shit, and miraculously, the current dissipated halfway home. Beyond that, our persistance payed handsomely with a groovy glassy sea!

welcome to the new boys!

welcome kevin! and alan, i hope we get to hear from you boys now and then. Kevin!, you're a such a great swimmer, i always feel that any swim you're a part of is extra special.
Alan, i know you're not a swimmer but you have been around some serious swim folks, glad you're checking us out!
lftc

Sunday Smooth and Glassy

In a panic, all I could think of was, where's Laura?  Our fearless-LFTC-swim-shepardess-extrordinaire was MIA... dang, but then, one by one, our wandering pod arrived -- Ruth, Cami, Wendi, Phoenix, Marta, along with the mer-couple made us a seven-pod set.  Just going to have to swim for Laura today -- her spirit was with us, for certain!  YES!!!  So...  anxious to get into the 60ish degree sea until Ruth softly mentioned (almost a whisper) that Ann said there was a great white sighting at the B buoy... well, heck, I could skip the B today!  How about the Marine Room anyone?  Yes!

Apre-swim view from Goldfish Point, check out the smooth, gentle rollers!

Another day in paradise!

We confirmed our 7-pod count and headed off in smooth, glassy rollers out of the cove to the 1/4, not much to see, but a gorgeous day -- yes, water temp's dropped -- Cami noted with a shiver.  After the Marine Room we decided to swim along the shore toward the cove and saw only one shark with a bite out of his neck.  The sea lions were in full-frolick in the cove coming back... I nearly smacked into one again as they show up in your space with a gleeful zoom before you realize what's happened!  Thanks to all those who came out today... so sorry we missed yesterday, but glad my miserable cold is gone.  I officially met Cami and Kevin's adorable boys -- they're SOOOO cute!
Happy Sunday... looking forward to longer days already!

~cary

Dr. Seuss must have swam the Cove

Wow - what a swim! I don't know - Cami - your swim yesterday must have made today possible - it was clear clear clear, cool-ish. Flat, bit of gentle surge, blue sky, heavenly. Ruth, LFTC, Claudia and Diana headed out cave-ward and swam to the white house by MR - it was just beautiful. We saw sharks! Maybe blue sharks or Claudia thought one was a sevengill. They seemed to be everywhere along our route. An underwater forest of sea fauna - dr. suess must have swam the Cove. Nothing else. I feel refreshed, reborn. Missed you mer-folk who couldn't make it.

Bottom Scratchers Photo

Formed here in San Diego in 1933, the Bottom Scratchers is said to be the world's oldest skin diving club. Here's a photo from 1936 taken at La Jolla's Seven Caves where all the sea lions like to play.  Bill's step father, Ben Stone (center), was one of the original founding members of the club. Linda (aka Lyndee), the daughter of Wally Potts, also a Bottom Scratcher (not in photo), still swims at the cove.

1936 La Jolla Cove, the Bottom Scratchers, skin diving club.

The three founding members of the Bottom Scratchers are  Glenn Orr (far left), Ben Stone (center), and Jack Prodonovich (far right). The sea life that used to swim in La Jolla Cove were truly amazing...

Ben Stone, lobster and halibut

We have many more old photos of the divers.  I'll begin scanning a few more if you're interested in seeing some local history.

~cary

rough seas out there

Y'all must have gotten the memo that the Cove was crappy today b/c this swim was a get in, get to the .25 to make the drive down worth it and get back in. 0 vis inside, 5 on the outside... some better, but none 'good'.... heavy chop from all ridiculous angles , S, E, W, NNW, SSW, you get the picture, I felt like a buoy out there.. Masses of sea lions taking over the Cove, more than I have ever seen and totally messing with swimmers... trying to come on the shore, keeping swimmers from coming in.... Im telling you those big boys are kinda gnarly. I was happy to come in today, y'all missed nothing out there, except that it is glorious saltwater that washes away worries and stress and is still in all its ALL... glorious. just better when on shore today.

Sunday anyone??

haiku for babies

soft and rough, your sea
welcome home to me my friends
we are as one at odds

sometimes i think up haiku's when i swim, mostly because the rules are simple (for 3rd graders, anyway) and they distract me from the fright. you can get so deep with so few words. everyone: post a haiku about the ocean, the swim, our swim crew, the sea life, whatever you want that's relative. Have questions? ask my little ali, that's how i did it..
you all posted everything there was to post about today, thanks to all for the reports and the swim!
lftc-out

philosophical yadda yadda

Since you all seemed to have nailed the concrete, swell size, temp, conditions, what we saw, where and with whom..... I'll go deep... here's where my mind was today. Particularly this long stretched out swim with my new neoprene hood so I couldn't hear anything .. swims like this take my mind away.... the ebb and flow of life, how one thing, one silly menacing nuisance can throw me off track (earlier this week) .... my swim stroke is so imperfect, I spaz out and go nowhere... when I relax and get in the groove of the swells and chop I swim faster... my breathing slows, rhythmic, I get my twist on and stop gulping water, I forget I'm even swimming sometimes, even today coming in against the chop, Im so in the moment, and so in space at the same time... such a relief to see that Kevin's got the kids on shore b/c for the first time all day I haven't thought about them even once..... when Im not trying to swim I move less with my arms and more with my being. That zone is bliss. So grateful for you all to share that with, I have yet to find that anywhere else in life and such a bond we all have in our love of the water. SWIM ON MY GILLED FRIENDS! .... and what the hell are you guys thinking out there??

adventure on the high seas

Marta, my swimming caps (both of em) are off to you for chopping around out there solo today. We got pretty scattered today, no small thanks to dawdling ruth and her early goggle adjustment. Water felt delicious - my shoulders were grateful to feel the cool water, the rest of me grateful to be under my wetsuit! But pretty good visibility on the inside over to the Marine Room where there were tons, thousands, maybe millions, of leopard sharks. I thought it was choppy going over - couldn't believe the return journey. I felt like a tiny fishing boat getting swallowed up and rocked around by the waves. Right arm stroke barely out of the water. What's with the big gulps of water when I breathed? I was facing INSIDE. Such an adventure. And it was so beautiful down there - pretty calm under the chop. Cami at my side the whole way in. What could be better? Toni you were so far ahead of me i didn't realize you were swimming back alone until I pulled into the MR to idle.

Like A Bouncing Beach Ball

I really wanted to join the mer-folk today, but had a (as it turned out) delicious previous engagement @ Cucina Italiana in Clairemont Square. Driving on the way to the Cove, I stopped right behind DB on his "scooter" (what are the odds?). I was hoping to catch you guys, but prepared to swim with Dana if I didn't make it. The timing and surf report was not conducive to a social swim and Dana spent time with the hubs instead, but I was glad to at least say 'hi' to y'all and see Cami's bitchin new fins. I let LG Eric know my plan as the texture of our Cove was getting more exciting and the temp dropping (62'). I didn't realize how much until I got out there...it was reminiscent of Monday's swim minus the warm water temp and dolphins. I was being bounced around like a beach ball, which funny enough was playing on my H2O Audio/iPod ala Dave Matthews Band la la lala "All the world is like a beach ball...Out in space between the waves..lala la." The only critters I saw besides the frolicking sea lions and DB were a bunch of white jellies; one of which got punched as my hand entered the water (that felt strange). I only managed A-B-1/2-A and back...a lot tougher coming back. A cross on-shore wind had picked up and I wanted to be back on shore myself. The music was now "Turn The Beat Around" and so I did!

~Marta

lost in the chop

Thursday at the cove. I was ready to swim. It's been 4 days and I was ready. Steve and tftc swam out to the .25 while lftc, Cami, etc. waited on the beach for Cami's fins to arrive by personal taxi (David went to get them). Water was 64-ish outside with much surface texture. Not too much texture though. It was a great sprint out and back with Steve. Viz was good all the way out to the .25. Sea lions were having a party out there. A group of them were swimming below the water as we passed over. They're cool in ones and twos, but I feel like keeping my distance when I'm outnumbered.
Back at shore, we collected the rest of the gang, Cami, LFTC, Wendy, Phoenix and Ruth, who came running up at the last minute--we'll wait for you Ruth! I grabbed my fins at the last minute when I saw everyone else wearing them. Good thing, too. The chop was building as the tide went out. We swam to the first inside pin buoy, stopped for just a minute to regroup, then headed over to the Marine Room to search for leopard sharks. Steve, Phoenix and I took off first. My body temp was struggling after the first swim so I had to keep moving. Steve and I lost Phoenix on the way to the MR. We pulled up 100 yards off the beach, after seeing no signs of sharks, and decided to turn back to the cove. The chop was even bigger now and I was feeling grateful for my fins. Almost immediately, Steve and I got separated in the chop. I couldn't see or hear him. Anywhere. Noone else either. Where did everybody go? I asked a kayaker if he saw any other swimmers from his vantage point. None. So I gunned it back to the cove, alone with my fins. What a strange swim. Back on shore, everyone showed up and compared notes. Apparently our group of 8 got completely splintered out there.

swim report with a dose of the hard life

swim report wednesday 11, lftc, marta: i was on the fence, really waffling and decided that if i could find a partner, i'd go, i did and so i went. i got down to the beach where i promptly complained to all parties on the deck about my car windows(which i just had tinted, secret agent style, and then untinted, fix it ticket style). i went on for several minutes about how i was BLINDED by the sun, was seen by all the 'people', had to resort to using little lame-o sun screens that stick to the windows with sucker pads-that says it all, right there-and totally lost my secret agent edge. (i did have one, you guys, it was just 'secret') anyway, after i vented about my hard life we trudged down to the waters edge, cool and kind of windy, some surface chop and rollers cruising in but mostly quiet and empty seas. swam to the a in 63 degrees, to the #2 pin buoy where we found a crop circle! or kelp circle. really, it looked like a big circle of kelp so we goofed around with it, dragging it to and fro, trying to make it a real circle but it was just long pieces in a circular pattern, thrilling, i know. on to the caves looking for viz but none was to be had. swam back in totally fixed for the day. we all need to learn sign language to communicate with marta, who swims with music in her ears. after screaming a few times i decided that hand signals are best, kind of like signalmen without the flags. it's fun, we can make new signals up! (i adore you, marta and i'm happy to scream at you and resort to hand signals) so that's it my friends, another cold and soggy day, they are the best and even better when there are more us around!

Just Another Ho-Hum November Day in Paradise

Swam @ the Cove. The h20 temp was 63F and the surf, surge, swells were much less exciting than yesterday. The sea lion colony was in full-tilt frolic mode today. One large one was seen doing his best impersonation of a cherub water fountain LOL. At one point btw 1/2 and A, while clearing my goggles, it felt as though something was watching me...I turned around and there were 2 sea lion pups (teenagers really) playing hide and seek in the kelp. These silly guys followed me all the way back to the Cove. I later noticed that they were also following behind others...too cute. When do we swim next? Miss seeing y'all.

~marta

Swim With Dolphins!

Evidently, it did rain for an hr or so according to LGMWTWL. I went in at 1:45. The sun was out with patchy clouds, BIG swells, 1-3ft waves and very high chop and surge outside. I swam to the A - 1/2 - Tower (just outside the surf lineup - big surf over there) and back to 1/2 - A - Cove....but most importantly - I GOT TO SWIM WITH DOLPHINS!!!!!! about 8 of them...sooo flipping cool. Btw the 1/2 and Tower there was this huge school of sardine and all of a sudden these dolphin were everywhere. Must have been feeding time. They swam around a bit and underneath and then left. On the way back I saw a Breakfast Jellie down deep. It took me a long time to swim the distance today. I should get credit for vertical mileage I think...I had a grin from ear to ear all the way back...Mike said when I got to the 1/2 and he saw me break away twd the Tower he called over to the LG's there and told them to expect me and then on the way back they handed me back to Mike...nice to know they've got our backs. Yea! A Big thank you out to the Lifeguards!!
~mg

Are you sure you speak whale?

Haaavve yoooou seeeeennn aa wwhaaalle toooddaay? Well we tried to find that ever illusive whale...the perfect birthday present for our birthday girls, but alas, no little whales to be found. It was a gorgeous day...a most excellent day...it had something for everyone. I think it must have been the largest pod I have ever swam with. The sun, the warm water, the clarity and most of all the gang of great mer-folk...what could be better? ~Marta

Happy Birthday to
Laura and Cami

Birthday pod and searching for the elusive cove whales...

What a day... even when the weather turns cooler our warm pod keeps us all toasty and swim-ready!  It was a treat to spend some extra time together after a glorious blitz out into that gorgeous teal sea all decorated with golden bronze-tinged kelp...  My biggest excitement today was nearly body surfing back into the cove and looking over at Bill only to see a BIG sea lion staring back at me -- what???

Never did see any whales today, but getting to swim and spend time (we really missed Ruth) enjoying a feast and our ever-warming friendship. What a group -- mer-migos!

Happy Birthday LFTC and Cami (Ruth's is next).

Hugs to all of you!!!
♥
~cary


Here's a couple of pics of the day...

Low tide at the swimming hole!

One of the birthday mermaids!

One of these guys is posing as Bill!

birthday swim to remember

Sunday birthday swim.
Mother Nature pulled a fast one on the forecasters today. "It's LFTC's birthday, so it's gonna be sunny and warm!" Wow, Laura, you sure have some clout with the old gal. Some occasional 2-3 foot rollers, but overall good conditions. It was a mass swim of TEN. LFTC, TFTC, Cami, Kevin!, Mer-couple, Diana, Marta, Wendy and ? (i'm having a brain-float) swam to the A then the B. Beautiful 65 deg water, not much to see except kelp forest in its best light. We were stalking the young gray whale that was rumored to have been spotted out there earlier (I'm sure he was snickering at us from the depths). From the B we swam toward the WDPSOH (white-drain-pipe-sticking-out-of-the-hill) until the murk redirected us toward the .25. Our empty stomachs and the thoughts of a picnic lured us back to dry land where we spread out our feast on the sunny lawn and enjoyed our cumulative company. I wanted to stay for the extra low tide and explore the tidepools, but my kids rolled their eyes and called the shots, "enough is enough, mom." Anybody know where I can get a good trade-in on two kids? This was a birthday swim to remember. Happy B-day, LFTC!

Saturday gander

No gondoliers today. But plenty of mermaids! Ruth, Cami, LFTC, Marta and Diana - swam out into the cold choppy sea today - out to the A and back via the .25. It felt like real swimming - so glad to see my sea-sisters pumping away next to me. My first challenge getting into the Cove as the swell and breakers were larger than i would have liked. But I managed, safe and sound. Water felt bracing and lovely. Company was unsurpassed. We even saw the famous mer-couple Cary and Bill as they swam into the Cove for a u-turn. Blessed be.

Quite a contrast to Thursday's glass-off bliss...

Just B & C today -- missed our mer-migos until we landed on the beach. Welcome hugs on shore were a highlight as LFTC, Ruth, Cami, Marta and Diana almost seemed to be waiting to give us a wet embrace!

The swim was such a contrast to Thursday night's glassy delight. Not bad, except no leopard sharks at the Marine Room  as I hoped  not much vis either... temp dropped, chop picked up with the wind, and the swim back from the 1/2 seemed like heading up a really choppy stream and not that calm sea I remember only days ago -- that fickle sea!  We spotted a poached-egg-jelly (not sure it's REAL name) on the way out, our only sea life spotting of note.  The sun was still out,  a warming treat, as the clouds were moving in quickly as we splashed up onto the beach.

Looking forward to our birthday swim and picnic tomorrow but it might be cool.
♥
~cary

birthday suit

LFtc, Tonifromthecove, Phoenie10, Cami and Mike-who-has-white-Lips braved the 1-2ft swells crashing in the Cove on Friday and jetted lollygagging to the A, then MWHWL headed wherever he goes and we went to the 1/2.... glassy flat, 5-10ft vis, more in some places.... zillions, if not more, bait fish several feet down.... calm and flat not a ripple on the water except for some surf at a fast pulling low tide..... came in with no issues, sat on the beach with some other mermaids marveling at the pretty water. Nice calm quiet day at the Cove... peace.

Swimming Always Cures What Ails Ya

After yesterdays roll on the rocks, I was really very sore and stiff. Licked my wounds with a rare lie-in and missed swimming in the morning. All was not lost as Ruth wanted to swim in the afternoon. I wasn't quite sure how I would do, but it couldn't be any worse. So off I went...

We swam from the Shores and overshot the 1/2, then almost to the 'A' but turned back cuz the ucky kelp was everywhere, so we swam to the Marine Rm and saw a ton of leopard sharks and lots of schools of fish, then turned left to parallel the beach and back to our stuff. Nice easy pace. It was like glass out there and the temp must have been at least 67' with good viz! The water felt good on my aching bod. It's true swimming does cure what ails ya. Thanks for the swim Ruth.

~Marta

Friday at the Shores with Marta

Well it was so warm i didn't even wear my wetsuit. Marta and I headed out to the half and then to the A but turned around before the A because it was so murky/milky. Went to the marine room to catch some leopard shark action - there were tons of them. didn't hang around too long with them because it was low tide and really rather shallow. the water was warm warm warm. another beautiful day.

Liquid glass swimming...such bliss!

A rare treat for me to steal away for a sunset delight!  Glassy, warm and calm,  thought I might walk to the B.  Alternatively, we swam into the sunset -- pink, glassy calm washed my day into a perfect moment.  Bill, Ruth and e-Larry -- a happy group, delighted to end the daylight happily swimming to the B.  Seemed to go by quickly, turns out the swim is about a mile and a half, round-trip.  I am not sure what the very large marine mammal was that showed up behind Bill in an arching plunge, but it was black and blunt-nosed,  with a small dorsel fin and was blowing out a blow hole... seemed like it could have pilot whales I've seen before -- not sure but it was only about 10 feet from Bill -- exciting moments!

Cetaceans -- what mystery creature did we see?

So lucky to be swimming on a week day -- BLISS!

~cary

November late summer swim.

Dashed up to the Shores for my fix, at 4:30. Headed out with Cary, Bill and Larry, straight shot to the B. Met up with a paddleboarder. Nice guy but he wouldn't serenade us, standing up on his board like a gondolier. Bill says it's a mile out to the B - no wonder it seemed so far away. Water was warm and looked molten. Coming back we had to keep turning around to see the sun getting ready to set. Then Cary called out - right in front of us the water was eddying, with something VERY BIG just below. I saw something large swim off - didn't see it blowing until it was quite far away. I've never seen the water displaced like that for a seal or even a dolphin. Cary said it was a pilot whale. WOW. Watched the sunset from the water again, and then swam in through the pink-tinged water. I saw a school of tiny blue fishies on the way out - and some of those white things Marta saw today as well - like jellyfish parts. A magical swim. Great company. I felt like a sea lion today, loitering at the B buoy with my fins sticking into the air.
Hooray for the ocean and mer-pals!

things we find in the water...

So today I went to the Birch and pinned down a biologist to harass....

1) He was WAY impressed that we saw that Spanish Dancer nudibranch this summer... waaay out of its warm water territory...

2) those schooling long fish with the yellow tails are not yellow tail but barracuda although they look nothing like the Ca. barracuda they have in their big tank.

3) he's thinking Angel Shark ... remember that guy we saw that one day off the white-pipe-cliffs, yah, I do have a picture but haven't gotten around to developing them yet... and (Cary) they often BITE if you touch them, they have TEETH... the dif. is that the angels have fins that are not attached to the head zone (true sharks) but look very much like the banded guitar fish (ray).... my money is on the angel shark now, anyone wanna put money on it? jk.

swim on merry folks!

Thursday Sunset Swim

Cary, Ruth, elusive Larry, and I swam Thursday late afternoon at the glass off. After rumors of waves in the cove (from Marta's post earlier), we decided to start at the shores. Conditions were perfect. The weather was like  the summer we never had, only better. The water was smooth and warm with no surf whatsoever. We headed from the south showers near the tower straight for the B buoy which was barely visible in the distance. Didn't see another swimmer outside of our self contained pod the whole way. A very large seal popped up within 10 feet of us on the way back. Cary saw what she thought was a pilot whale cruise by headed for the caves. We all saw something that looked like it was spouting a blow hole and no dorsal fin. Watched the sunset offshore from the beach on the way in. No green flash but everything else was perfection. A real swim day to remember.

I'll take one on the rocks! Wait! I changed my mind...but it was too late.

Well...the conditions are the same as yesterday for the most part. Hot and sunny; H2O is 64-ish, heavy surf with long breaks between sets and almost as glassy just beyond the surf zone. I did my same swim to 'A', 1/2, Tower and back. It was a bit choppier on the way back, but there was lots to see (some real nice spots of clarity): rays, lots of fishies and what looked like a large cluster of teeny white things reminiscent of very small jellies. I gotta ask someone about that one. When I got back to the Cove I thought I might play in the surf and all was well until the big bartender in the sky asked if I'd like mine "neat or on the rocks?" Before I could think to answer, I was tossed one on the rocks...ouch! That's not going to be pretty. Needless to say, I'm wiped out! Let's do it again! :o)

~mg

Big surf

Checked out the Cove before meeting Ralph and Claudia at the Shores for a 3:00 swim. Saw Jimmy the lifeguard out with another guy in the thick of the surf waiting for the perfect body surfing wave. Along with them were big seals body surfing and frolicking in the surge. It looked pretty churned up and there was some good size surf coming in. The biggest wave rose up, breaking left, and Jimmy rolled over on his back and slid into the sweet spot and took it all the way in! It was fabulous!!!! As for the swim at the Shores, small surf, patchy viz, but beautiful weather and good company! We swam from south of the big tower to the blue bathrooms, then to the Marine Room and back. Some really COLD spots. On my way out of the water, ran into Ruth who was meeting Bill for a swim. Get it while you can!

p.s.

I'm hankering for a naked feet no pants swim sunday.

Sunset, from most of me below sea level

Okay -i've tried three times to post comments to your blogs folks and they seem to post but then
disappear. So i'll just have to blog from scratch.
The rest of the world is still out there and exquisitely beautiful even when i am cooped up indoors all day downtown.
After what feels like forever since i swam last (saturday), and with very little convincing from Bill, i cut out early and headed north to the Cove, where the waves looked plenty big to me. From the water's edge they looked even bigger. Too big for this swimmer. Bill realized i wasn't going in the water from the Cove so we headed over to the Shores, where it was like glass.
Warm water, sunny, late late afternoon perfection - 4:30 or so. We swam out to the half, then headed out to the A. It was murky in spots but as we got closer in it cleared - kelp and fish passing underneath me - i felt like a barge (or canoe, or marine mammal?)- like i was gliding effortlessly, it was so flat. Then we headed out to the B. It was just beautiful. I just wanted to swim into the sunset forever. Or float on my back and watch the sky darken. Headed back to the Shores from the B - Torrey Pines cliffs in my sight with every breath, the sky turning color. We stopped about 5 minutes from the shore to watch the sunset. Then, alas, back onto land. It got dark so quickly. Headed out of the parking lot with all the surfers. Haven't done a swimming sunset before. Usually it's just Dog Beach with binoculars. Oh - we saw fearless Marta at the Cove just as she got out. Ran into Diana at the Shores, who just finished a swim with Claudia and Ralph. So glad you all shared this beautiful day in the deep blue sea. I am grateful beyond words for my swim today.

La Jolla Cove Surf Report Link

This is a great website. You can see 48 hour and 1 to 6 day swell heights, tides, and more.

Swell height website

http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/La-Jolla-Cove/forecasts/latest

~cary

I Double Dog Dare Ya!

...I wasn't going to go swim today because of the high surf warnings, plus I had this headache. I really wanted to go though. I knew no one would be out, so I waited for the afternoon crowd... maybe I'll call Dana or just go down there and see who's there. Dana was up for it and said Kathy and Janie would join us...then came the call "Sorry, the girls went at 1 from the shores due to the high surf! I was already there! My suits on and pumped and ready to go! I talked to Mike and Eric and they recommended using my fins since I am 'post-surgery.' So now the dilemma...follow the Doctors orders and swim sans fins or follow the Guards orders and don them. My devil on one shoulder was arguing with the angel on the other saying "I double dog dare ya!" Let me tell you this was NOT a hard decision. I put my fins on and off I went!

It was sunny and hot even at the beach. The water temp said 62-64 (felt like 65-66), high surf warnings everywhere, but I noticed long lulls btw sets. The biggest surf was about 8ft or so. Around the corner at Boomers and the rest, it was surfer's paradise. In the Cove, there were high breakers just off take off...BUT once you got past that, it was as flat as it has been all week!!! I swam to the 'A' through a ton of kelp and over to the 1/2. It was so flat, I just kept on going to the Tower and back to the Cove. On the way back a sea lion went darting past me (I hope that was a sea lion). The viz was fair to poor. Not a soul out there except for the few body surfers near the Cove. I caught a couple waves in to shore and was happy not to need the attention of Mike or Eric. Upon exiting the water, I could hear yelling and was looking around...up at the top of the stairs was my cheering section! Janie, Dana and Kathy whistling and yelling and waving profusely...They did come down to the Cove after all! The boys in red made 3 saves while I was drying off! We watched as others in the 4-5pm crowd went for a dip and the sun sank into the sea. Oh, and BTW, the headache is gone. :o)

love the beat down

swim report tuesday noon: tftc, cftc, marta, deb!, kevin-again! swam in 65 degrees with hot sun beating down on us, caring not one bit about pleathery skin, not much clarity but we searched hi and lo. found some killer kelp beds then the milky stuff cami fears, all of us i think. it reminds me of a spooky, eerie forest where at any moment some gruesome thing will appear.
it was pretty nice to not be chasing steve, we all just cruised about checking stuff out. it was great to FINALLY have deb along, we have missed her so much and kevin! (from now on i'm going to put an exclamation mark after his name) was a great addition. all in all a great swim, fun fun fun and i can't live without you guys. i simply could not go on or worse, i'd have to take up scrapbooking or stamping. what is scrapbooking, anyway? i don't like the sound of it. i'd rather swim: be cold, wet and tired, fear the shark, avoid the milk, drink the bacteria, get slapped around by chop and have pleathery beat down skin all the time rather than miss it.
swim crazed, we are..
lftc-out

Tuesday chic swim plus kevin

Tuesday. Swim conditions near perfect. flat sea. so much sun we had to shade our eyes. tftc, lftc, cami, marta and kevin...oh, and DEB! Our missing DEBi! so happy to swim with you again. it was icky and murky in deep water everywhere. So after meeting up at the quarter, we swam in search of clear and beautiful shallows. but the tide was very low, so even in the clear shallows, it was eerie--swimming so close to the seagrass. anything could have swum out of that grass and nibbled your nose or your toe without any warning. ewe. So back to the murky-but-at-a-safe-distance-from-the-floor half mile buoy. Too much chitchat and chilly subsurface water for this thin-skinned fair-water-swimmer out there. (what were ya'll talking about so long?!) I had to lead the retreat back to the cove.
Cami's Birthday swim on friday.
Laura's B-day swim also? or another swim in honor of our beloved LFTC on sunday??

Squid Dinner

Trying to take advantage of the warm weather, warm water, and after work daylight hours that all may not last much longer.

Hit the cove around 4:30. Didn't recognize anyone on shore but Janie was coming out of the water and introduced me to Tim, one of the regular late afternoon crowd. We decided to do a tour of the white stick buoys, but before we could get 20 yards from shore ran into a sea lion underwater munching on the back half of a big humbolt squid. The arms were already eaten, but from the tail I'd say it was at least 3' long when alive. Quite a site and glad it was not alive I hear they can be very aggressive.

Rest of swim was smooth and warm but not much visibility. I'm planning to try again on Wednesday and Thursday around 4:30 if anyone's interested.

wow..eee.

So, if clarity is your thing... mental clarity, clarity in the water.. this was the day. Warm water, very clear in some spots, milky clear in others, milky in some but we swam away from those.... .25 w/Phoeny(10), Kevin (it was his inagural swim with the pack, GO KEVIN! until he started hypothermating and headed in) Mike the lifeguard with white lips (turned toward the caves and was gone), Steve-who-is-freakishly-fast, LFTC who clearly had drank her allotment of water before swimming and was back on track making waves, and me. Only the top four of us continued past the .25 towards the 'pipe in the cliff' until the water was so shallow and murky that LFTC and I turned West knowing that if we lead the leaders will follow (P and S)... then out to the .5, then back in.... I think Phoeny10 swam a good .25 miles farther than the rest of us as she zigzagged her way in to make sure all territory was covered... she'd make a good SWAT team swimmer if she were to actually swim face down like the rest of us... but man she has a darn good back stroke.... LFTC and I solved all the mysteries of man (men) out from the .25 in.. just ask us if you have any questions. Beautiful swim inside, very aquarium-like-clear. Kellie swam out with me again for a short quick dip into the clear water.

Wow, should we do it again tomorrow? yah baby!

Sweet Sunday!

As Cami said, it was such a perfect day!  Thanks to all the mer-friends (LFTC, Cami, Diana, Josephina and  Mr. JustAddWater himself) for a great Halloween swim.  Out to the B (just for Ruth, who was with us in spirit), then over to the 1/2, off to the Marine Room -- well, SOME of us went all the way to the shore, others just tried out their synchronized swimming techniques NEAR shore. You know who you are...  Saw the great pumpkin face on the 1/4 mile buoy and finally forced ourselves (and this was not easy!) to head back to the cove... only to have the cutest little sea lion do a smiling water ballet under us as we came in.  Perfect finish.  Swimming with all of you, makes it all the more sweet.

Thanks for a wonderful, day. So good to be in the water!

Another day in paradise... 

~cary

Ladies of Winter Jan 2009

from left to right,

lftc;dog paddle;ladie?;

tftc; lyndi.

Saturday was a SWELL ride!

Map of the La Jolla coast at the shores -- it's shows all our really LONG swims!

The pouring rain this morning did put a momentary damper on my spirits...I wanted to swim, but watching the webcam on the shores was not very encouraging. Around 10 AM, I saw blue patches emerging on the cam and yes, hope!  Then the phone rang... poor Ruth was searching high and low for swim buddies -- were we going to disappoint?  Not, when the rain stopped and that golden sun starting shinning through!  And we were glad!!!  Started at the shores out to the 1/2 mile, then Bill said we must see the new spooky addition to the A buoy, so off we went, slogging through some pretty big swells and Halloween seaweedy decorations -- the swim just got better and better.  The A buoy was a highlight, especially when I spotted two dolphins just oh-so-close.  I wanted to screech with delight!  A to the 1/4 'cause we had to see the floating jack-o-latern -- nice work, that smiling, bobbing ball of orange and black.  Back to the shores, Ruth and I lost Bill for a while -- the swells were so swell,  we just couldn't find him in all that water!

Ever so grateful the sun came out and dried up all the rain!

We had the sea to ourselves, except for a few kayakers coming out to brave the water,  truly a gorgeous swim.  Since I missed last weekend I was extra grateful to get BACK TO THE WATER today.  Special thanks to Ruth for making that call this morning!  We might have missed this perfect  day.  We'll be there tomorrow (the cove) at noon. See you there!!!

Reverse Swim Saturday

After first deciding to bail, then some gentle prodding from Ruth, Cary, myself, and Ruth had an awesome swim from LJ Shores (due to an early warning of waves in the Cove that evidently was short lived). We swam to the 1/2, then the A, the 1/4 and back to the shores. Climbed over lots of loose kelp coming off the shores, saw an all white jellyfish along the way. A few hundred yards before the A buoy the sun came out and the visibility there was clear. It seemed like we in a plane flying over forests of kelp beneath. The final touch were 2 dolphins swimming by between the A and the B. Due to the up and down choppiness, I got separated from Cary and Ruth on the return trip, but we all landed back at the shores starting point about the same time. Looking forward to another great swim tomorrow around noon. Bill (AKA justaddwater)

shark infested swim

swim report friday 11am: tftc, lftc and nira, a girl we picked up on the beach. (i'm kind of a loose girl, i'll go out with anybody) 65 degrees by my watch, smooth, flat surface, zero swells, swam to the 1st outside pin buoy which is number 1, had to go around the herd of sea lions (what is their group called?) because nira had a 'thing' about them, crystal clear inside, murky at the buoy so we headed in to the caves-toni didn't get her caving done yesterday so it needed to be done-the water cleared up beautifully, as we got closer and closer to shore it was clearer and clearer, not much swimming going on at this point. we heard someone screaming from afar and decided to check it out, we knew someone saw something. on the way to the screamer lo and behold, a shark! i alerted toni and nira who had their own shark to keep an eye on. we all dropped to look and there they were, at least two big toni sized sharks. one bigger than the other. nira seemed to know something about sharks and said they were soupfins. i happen to agree, too big for smooths. it was an incredible sight so what did we do? turned around to go back, duh.. nira had to leave us so toni and i cruised the coastline checking out everything in our path. goofed around in the cove for a short while, the water was fantastic today, we missed having you with us, all of you! the joy is increased exponentially when we are together. 2 people, twice the joy, 9, nine times the joy, an overdose! love the sharks, my friends! lftc-out

Early Swim in Lake La Jolla

Good Morning all you fishies and mer-people! Due to appts, I swam a bit earlier and with the 9am Pod. We had a group of 9 at 9 to help Bob West celebrate another year (his Birthday is really next Friday, but he'll be celebrating in more tropical fashion next week).

The conditions today are amazing! It's like a lake out there with barely a ripple, 65-ish and the viz is much better than yesterday.

Today we, swam to the 1/4 - #5 stick - Marine Rm and floated about looking at the leopard sharks, rays, and guitar fish. We swam back the same route. The sea lions were doing there impression of synchronized water ballet (or sharks...not sure which). They started in a circle formation, spread out to a straight line and mixed it up for an improv interpretation...quite impressive and funny. Steve, Chris and I did our best interpretations of sharks at the Marine Room to unnerve Deb (LOL).

Only Chris swam without fins and I couldn't keep up with him...hmmmm, I'm noticing a pattern here!

Things You See When You Bring Up The Rear

What a fabulous chic swim today girls! Sooo beautiful out. I'm in a growth period of my life...learning that it's not important to always be in front of the pack! It can actually be a blessing in many ways. I'll explain...you can avoid the seaweed jungle the lead person had to swim through, you can avoid collisions as oncoming traffic will have looked up occasionally before they get to you, you can draft off of others (I especially like this one), and you can see all the critters the others didn't as they blazed for home. This last one I experienced today half way between the Marine Rm and the Caves. I saw the 4.5ft silhouette of a certain finned creature that shall remain nameless. He was a local though, no Santa Barbara plates. By my estimation must have swam right under one of our mermaids! He was a few feet away and about 3ft below surface. Also saw a few fishies; the Garabaldi were amazingly brilliant today. But for the lack of clarity in the water, a truly awesome swim.

~SharkBait

PS: Thought of another blessing in bringing up the rear...I have to work that much harder and will only get stronger. Watch out!

PPS: One of these days one of you will forego your fins and I can truly see how I measure up :o)

So, you hot shots....some us of gotta work!!! FINALLY got in Wednesday about 3:00ish, ran into Bill on my in from a very murky "tour de costa" with Claudia. Best part was the big bull seal lying on the low tide exposed rocks on his back and writhing, scratching in ectasy!!! That's why they are the dogs of the sea!!

C U Friday?

cami is famous

we all heard about the swim today: warm, sunny, murky, flat, glassy, marta, toni, cami, lftc with the where and the what so i'm going to report on cami's star power! i swear, she knew everybody and wasn't left alone for more than 5 minutes. leaving with her was like walking behind a rock star, it took us 15 minutes to walk across the lifeguard deck and up the stairs, where we immediatley ran into more cami fans, another 10 there. i have decided that cami is our group's star, lftc but a secretary and indeed, she had one of her fans jot down her email info and give to me, much like 'have your people get in touch with my people'. i wouldn't have blinked an eye if 'the common people' had taken out cameras to shoot photos of our star. i'm very happy to be cami's secretary, she's a well liked star, no drunken outburts, no drugs in her swim bag, very infrequent episodes of 'flashing' and wandering around with no panties is limited to the beach. all in all, integrity! really and truly, i adore you cami! fun swim today!
lftc-out