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

synchronized swimming

it happens sometimes out there... in this whole huge wide open space where we never ever ever have to do flip turns or share a lane.... when we synch up and flow... happened a couple of times with LFTC (and NO L, not on the way in... that was you blazing and me trying to catch up with you..) and once for a fleeting second with Toni.... I feel like when this happens, when our strokes match and when we turn and breathe on cue, its almost a dance, well choreographed...... the only thing better in the water is all that and when its clear out there too... lots of murk today, but glassy and flat and warm and a few fleeting moments of bliss like this. Its that huge feeling of being completely connected in this big blue world, I love that.

Chic Swim at the Cove

A chic swim at the cove today. wow! how sunny and placid. i swam an early warm up to the 1/4 pumpkin and back before meeting the "chics" onshore for another mile. lftc, cami and sharkbait all enjoyed a glorious swim in a somewhat circular path by way of the A, somewhere close to the marine room, then back. looking for clear water. alas, none was found. oh well, any swim on a sunny day is better than no swim at all. Possible revisit tomorrow, weather permitting. supposed to rain half inch on saturday.

A Crappy Day at the Cove is Better than a Good Day at the Gym and Today was Fantastic!

I went to the Cove today (Wednesday) to avoid going to the gym... with LTFC's guidence, I'm working through this! It was sunny, choppy inside but pretty fantastic out around the buoys. Did nearly 2mi and floated abit at the 1/2. Got burned! Why? I was talking and forgot to put sunscreen on! Water 65' no viz, but beautiful.
Going tomorrow (Thursday) @ 11:30...looks like a chic swim is on the menu
~SharkBait

What a Roller Coaster of a Ride!

You will rarely if ever catch me on a roller coaster. Never was fond of them, and yet that's what I envisioned. Driving down the parkway, this morning, you could see the white caps coming in...I said to myself...self, "yikes! I don't know about this one!" Though it was a good omen when the sun shone, if but for a brief moment, driving down into the Cove...Just maybe Neptune would calm the mighty seas for us. A number of our mermaids/men had other plans for the day, but our fearless leader, LFTC, was beckoning with her email and phone to join her. So there we were...LFTC, Steve (nice to finally meet you BTW) and me. The air temp was ~66F, the H2O temp ~the same, fair dive conditions with strong surge, and those white caps in the distance. We thought we'd do at least a mile (A-1/2-1/4-In) depentant on how our crew was doing. I say that laughingly, as I think I was the weak link in this adventure (I know I was). My newly surgerized knee and shoulder probably weren't up to prime time yet...I felt like a gimp, a slug, ...personally I prefer SharkBait! The battle of wounded knee it wasn't, but I felt like I got my butt kicked a bit. It was tougher for me than my ego would admit at the time. Reassured by my RoadID tag (a nod to my Mom I'll tell you about some day) and swim chums extrordinaire, we marched...err swam on. The water was great if you don't mind not being able to see over the waves. "Where the heck are those guys?" "Maybe the Lifeguards will get to use their jetski afterall - darn, I forgot to get his name!" and "If I wanted to do a mile pull-set, I'd do it in the pool where it's calm!" is what kept going through my mind. But made it I did, thanks to the encouragement of my fishy friends. Once again on terra firma, I was able to truly appreciate the swim and those I swam with and calm myself in the healing waters of the Jacuzzi. You may ask if I'll go out again in such conditions?...Of course I will. It's the only roller coaster I'll ride willingly.

Sea you out there,

SharkBait

here we go

swim report monday 11:30: marta, steve, lftc. grey cloudy skies, grey stormy seas but no waves breaking so i had to go, besides, some hard core swimmers showed up to swim with me so i had to man up, grow a pair in fact. we swam to the a in seas so rough we couldn't see eachother or the buoys or over the tops of the swells but! the water was very clear with 10' of viz or so to the a. we overshot the a, reeled back in to swim to the 1/2. the current just pushed us along. we turned back to swim against the current, again losing eachother and our landmarks but we handled it and the swim was really fun. 65 degrees, maybe a little warmer, a giant sea lion checked me out but not much else to be seen except for steve who i swear had flames shooting off his head he was so swift and marta who was a powerful force cruising through the waves, just making them part for her, like moses! i wish i had taken a camera so you all could see how tough we were. i missed you all, all the rest of the swim chicks and the swim boys too, of course. i consider this a midline report: it won't make you want to kill yourself for not going but not so dismal that you'll be happy you missed it. middle of the swim lane. personally? I'M SO HAPPY I WENT! thanks to steve and marta! lftc-out

chick swim

swim report sunday noon: cami, pheonix, marta, lftc, and for a short while mike the guard. spectacular 'workout' conditions, maybe 8' viz, 65 degrees and the SUN. the workout conditions are strong currents with a decent chop, arms have to seriously work it, if you don't work you drift. we loved it so much. swam to the a, the 14, the 1/2, playing, talking, clearing cami's goggles. this was interesting: we tried spit, adjusting, wetting her head, tightening but nothing worked. there was some talk about learning to deal with the fog, that it's good for the swim. we didn't see too much, cami didn't see anything but it was a blast. layed on the beach for hours after, enjoying mermaid talk. fun in the sun! thanks for the excellent sunday, let's do it again a million times! lftc-out

What a Day

So I met Bill at the Cove at 9 a.m. It was crowded as the Challenged Athlete Triathlon was underway. Man those folks are amazing. The swimming portion was nearly ended but there were still some folks swimming in so the Cove was officially closed for public swimming until everyone was in and the extra buoys taken away. Bill made me walk down to the Point and then made me jump into the surf. We swam out towards the A and then realized we were swimming to the B so I said uh-uh no way. So we swam to the A. Then Bill dragged me kicking and screaming to the B! The B buoy! The out-in-the-middle-of-the-deep-blue-sea B buoy. "Does Cary swim to the B?" "Oh yes, all the time" Well we were out there in the middle of the ocean at the B buoy, which was sadly naked. It was kinda choppy but the water felt warmer than yesterday. We swam back inside to the half and then home, stopping at the quarter for a long chat. All in all a spectacular swim and full of things ruth never did before at the Cove. Generally excellent population density - me and Bill and no one else in sight. If I were to trade state secrets, I'd do it at the B buoy.

Then a quick tour of the Event area and people were already running in to the finish. It was tremendous. The whole crowd at the Cove today was humbling and inspiring and filled me with awe and gratitude.

rrr.

Well so heres what happened on my end.... I left home in a relative downpour... Clairemont in some heavy wet-my-brow drizzle.. not the rain of the Pacific NW, but hey, when in Rome right? SO I stalled, must be a message from the universe right?? then a friend who I won't name but who also didn't swim today, called... oh, its raining here in LJ, rain, for real.... ohhh, and 5 ft. vis... sounds dreadful. I backed out. Phoned in with my lame-I-don't-wanna-get-sick.. yadda yadda... the grace on the other end of the line "ya ya, are you coming? Do we need to wait?" no. final answer.

Just to check, maaaybe? I drove down to the Cove anyway and saw it. You were beautiful, you fast strong gorgeous merfolks of the deep.... I saw you as I was cruising down the hill in total sunshine, peering out my window seeing only rolling hills, no bump on the water and you all marching out to the A. A force, you owned that water, you took over like a pod of hungry orcas on the hunt.

Defeat.

I was consoled into a mocha and walk along the ocean by WindanSea, where it was then disclosed that although this was MY only window for a swim, SHE would be surfing for sure later... it just looked so amazing out there.... w.h.a.t.e.v.e.r......

Dang. Glad you all made it safely, Toni... you are my hero... the rest of you... you know who you are, Dang. Sure missed it.

Tomorrow? Yah, come hell or high water (relatively speaking)

Dang.

lowering standards everywhere.

swim report saturday 10-23 noon: bill, ruth, lftc and howie. we all know howie, we have swam with him before so today i grabbed him from the athletic club and threw him in the mix. i seem to do this regularly. it was rainy and dark out, the sea looked good though, mostly smooth with some light surface chop, 65 degrees, some clear spots from above. howie wanted us to see the a buoy toys, which we have heard some things about, so we swam out that way, first stopping at the big floatie buoys out for the race tomorrow. bill was dying to grafitti the buoy since it was so 'clean'. at the a buoy i found our skeleton boy to be severly handicapped after having lost an entire arm to the sea. some horrors going on in the ocean. swam to the next floatie, enjoying the novelty, said good bye and good luck to howie and cruised to the marine room where i saw one sting ray, laying on the sea floor, all lazy-a teenager for sure. swam back towards the 1/4 and in. we had some big, smooth rolling swells on the way, a sign of things to come but very easy to manage and fun too. bill decided to do some kind of greg louganis triple gainer off the rocks in the cove and totally cramped his calf. we suggested he body surf in, which i think he did. totally fun swim and we missed the absentees. NO SHARK TODAY! it's because we have good luck charms hanging all over. swim again sunday, no sharks, no pants, no worries. i figure if i have no sharks, no pants and no worries, i can ask for nothing else as my life is complete. lftc-bringing lowered standards to your doorstep-out

What shark?

10/23 8 a.m. report
misty air, murky water. water temp 64-65. I had to break rank today, by not swimming with "the gang" at noontime. Number one child had a 6:40 a.m. warm-up time at LJ High for her swimmeet. Left her with coach and walked the mile to the cove. Slapped hi-five with some masters friends as they were coming in and I was going out. Swam solo to the quarter, the A and home. Visibility slightly better around the A buoy; luckily no sign of man-chomping shark with Santa Barbara plates. The sun tried to bluff its way out from behind the clouds on my walk back. It was quickly covered and replaced with clouds and a very heavy mist/light drizzle.
Sunday is the second day of swimmeet, so I'll be out there again for more of the same.

Shark Attack Friday North of LA!

http://signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/22/shark-kills-body-boarder-in-central-california/

be safe out there my friends!

cami & lftc swimming in the sea

swim report tuesday 10:30: cami, lftc. cool temps, dark skies, very slightly ripply surface, pretty clear looking sea and quite beautiful. collected a man off the beach, that's right, we just collected him up and took him out to sea with us, a minnesotan named mike. cami made him strip down and suit up right on the beach 'behind that rock over there and be quick about it'. really and truly. swam towards the a in 65 degrees but boats were wrecking the groove so to the 1/4 we went to look around. then to the caves but viz was limited, cruised back towards the 1/4 and in where we said good bye to mike, who was pink and out of breath, then to the point to see stuff but stuff wasn't in the mood to be seen. back to the 1/4, turned around and did drills all the way in. closed fist, crossed legs, breathing. out in the water, when mike caught up with us, he said that we were fast swimmers and neither one of knew what to say. we just looked at him, speechless. um, thanks? wow, it just occurred to me that in order to be considered fast, i need to swim with minnesotan tourists who have never swam in the ocean before and may be suffering from hypothermia and hypoxia. then, I ROCK! lftc out

gray things that make me quiverrrr

Yep, it was gray.... and so clear in some spots and not in others and warm.. a warm gray if you will..... LFTC and I started our descent only to find a wandering lost soul from Minnesota, Minnesota Mike who looked longingly toward the water.... which way do you go to swim here?..... um ... that way, said Laura with a warm smile pointing at the water. Oh.

We took mercy and invited him along for (what we found out later what was) his FIRST ocean swim ever... It occurred to me about 1/2 way to the 1/4 buoy that he might not like ocean swimming and we were very much the only ones out there... but he plugged on following us with each whimsy turn, towards the yellow.... hm, lobster boats and their diesel fumes.... then to the 1/4... clear to the bottom, glassy on top.. towards the caves... hard turn right, over clear and clearer water, strong pulse south.. we brought him in then went towards the point... that lurking gray hard to shake for some reason it hangs with me sometimes....LFTC in her jolly way headed back towards the 1/4 (although she was aiming more for Catalina) then a hard right again to bring it back in... did some skills building, swam in. And then came the rain. Eternally grateful for a swim before the storms, and nothing scary except my own mind out there.

swim porn

swim report monday 11: ruth and lftc alone but wanting all of you so badly it hurt. (it's the whole southern cal group thing) beyond flat, it was SUB flat, a vacuum of flat if you will, 65 degrees by my watch and clear, so clear it was actually sexy. soft, silky inviting, burning loins kind of conditions today my friends! swam along the outside pin buoys to the 1/2 and across just looking around, some fishies but not much else except for the sea floor so we hung out at the 1/4 and pin buoys for about 20 minutes going back and forth, back and forth. no wetsuit for ruth and no fins, period. we played all the way back in, i kept asking ruth if she was done yet, she kept looking back out to sea like she forgot something. i envisioned myself dragging her in by her suit straps. a near swimmervention! we swam for about an hour and the new guard, mike, said that he kept having to track us from one spot to the next and then back again. happy to know they really do keep an eye on us. no rain at all, likely 65 degree air temp and a g spot of sun! seriously, one solitary spot, shining down upon us. we thought of you all, especially cami who NEEDS the clear more than any of us. we met a swimmer on top that was expounding on her 'distance' swims, sounding like a claudia swimmer so i asked her how far her 'distance' was, her answer? to the 1/2 and back, a mile! i felt like clapping for her and i swear i heard circus trumpets blowing. hey, BITTER is my moniker! it's just my way. but i love you guys! lftc out

Inland Housewife Escapes to the Cove

Momma broke out of Housewife Jail and escaped to the Cove today. Dropped off one child at practice and took second child on an extreme car chase toward beconning clearing skies observed along the coast. Sources say she left her computer open to the Cove Blogg reporting idyllic conditions in the Cove by blogger, Ruth the Converted. Hold for video feed...

4:30 pm, the late afternoon sun is intermittently blanketed by clouds. Water flat. Flat. Flat. Tide is out. More sea lions that swimmers out there. So so tranquil oh my gosh. Water temp 64. I swam out to the mouth of the cove while Jake got used to the water on shore. Three sea lions were the welcoming party. We all got a GOOD look at each other! I swam back to get Jake, and we swam out again. By this time the sea lions were distracted with each other. No worries; Jake didn't want to get up close with the sealife just yet. Jake swam back to shore; and I swam out to the 1/4, escorted by a curious sea lion all the way. He darted up, down, underneath, popped up, down this way that way...so much that he was a distraction to my swim! I'VE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN! Jake swam out with me again and this time we were the center of attention to several sea lions! What a memorable experience. So worth the risk of getting caught.

Now back to my suburban cell, no longer jealous of lftc and ruth. ahhh.

Intervention may be necessary

for me, who has become hopelessly addicted. Today with Laura I swam, no wetsuit, for almost an hour. Calling it swimming is generous, considering there was some sightseeing going on. Best spot in the Cove - at the first pin buoy in-between the A and the quarter. Visibility was awesome again. Water felt warm. Like glass going out. Laura practically had to drag me back to shore. Don't know the names of the fishes- those tiny rust colored things that dart around like mad; medium-sized yellow mottled guys and more. It's time for my marine wildlife education. I think i'll get a poster or a book. Now it's time to get back to life on dry land. oh yeah - we nearly saw the sun!!!!

Loser

So Sunday was good, or was it saturday? I swam Friday afternoon from the shores with Davina, Claudia, Ralph, and it was murky outside, clear inside, some nice rolling waves. Hope to get in over the weekend. So sorry to have missed the clear day...went to the gym and got my butt kicked.

lftc is juicy

i checked around the web, for sure not a blue, leopard or angel but maybe soupfin. it looked different to me than the smoothounds, it was darker and seemed to have a bigger, slightly more rounded head. he was cool and did two swim by's.. i knew he was checking me out, i was the juicy meal while ruth and greg were snacks.

please god let it be a smooth hound

Well, i'm voting for smooth hound. they are more benign than the sevengill. sevengill is spotted and this wasn't.
i go for the smooth hound-dog shark.

I'm still kvelling

Yes Laura's right it was incredible. You could tell from up at the lifeguard chair that it was going to be incredible. Wow - we could see the bottom even at the A! It was hard to think about working out - the visibility made one want to cruise around like a Sunday driver. And that's what we did until we saw the shark - I did see a shark-shaped blue-ish large-ish fish down there - it was probably the largest fish i've seen yet swimming. So as we swam AWAY from it, i had this startling realization - that just because we can't see them on other days doesn't mean they're not there. Yes, with all my advanced education i just figured that out - in my gut that is.
I am in love with the ocean and the Cove, from the safety of my pod, that is.
So you were missed today. As I left the sun tried to shine through the clouds and i wanted to jump back in. i can see a strip of blue sky outside now. Get yourselves down to the water's edge!
rftc

i'm gonna make you cry

get your fainting couch ready because i'm going to give you a big fat spell of the vapors, right now: swim report sunday, ruth and lftc. icky out, cold and grey and drizzly but! the water was flatter and smoother than i've seen in awhile with the telltale big blue green spots seen from above, quiet as a lake and totally crystal clear-all the way down. everywhere. you could count the rocks and shells on the sea floor. swam to the a in 65 degrees then went toward the caves to show a new guy around (greg) and since the water WAS CRYSTAL CLEAR i happened to see a big shark, maybe 3-4 feet long, solo, swimming near the bottom. ruth saw only a big dark fish and greg missed him. i was the lucky one, i saw him twice, all of him. he didn't exactly look like the smoothounds, i'm thinking seven gill. i'll research it when i calm down. he freaked me out a little, i kept waiting for him to look right up at me and tell me i looked yummy so we swam back to the 1/4 and back to the a and played in the cove a bit. it was all ours. i was so distracted by the clarity that i couldn't stay on a beat, forgetting to breathe, ducking my head down and around like a bobble head, sometimes just floating on top like a raft. i'm sure it looked amusing from the top, swim swim swim and then nothing but a deadgirls float, repeat. so sorry you guys missed it, really. thanks to ruth for being an excellent partner and staying on track to get me there. had she actually known how to answer her new iphone i would have bailed. i tried but the sea gods had different plans for me. KILLER swim, my beloved friends.
lftc out

Did anyone swim on Soggy Sunday?

Bill and I bailed, but saw Leonard at Torrey Pines on his bicycle, no swimming for him either... we just slogged it out on a 6 mile walk down the beach towards La Jolla as it got wetter, darker and more rough... no smooth seas, that we could see!

Hope you all had a good Sunday.  I will be out of town next weekend (girls weekend up north of San Luis Obispo) so will miss you all bunches, though I'm sure Bill will represent the Cannings well.

Have a great week, I hear there are more soggy days ahead... wait, I thought It never rains in Southern California! ???

 ~cary

Where did the time go?

Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010
Where did the time go?
We got in the water around 12:15.
I only swam to the A, the Marine Room, the guitar fish, then back;
We only hugged and chatted a bit;
LFTC and I only boiled in the hot tub til we were bright pink...

The next time I looked at a clock it was 2:25!

So where did the time go?
Time truly flies...(you know the rest)

observation report

observation report saturday noon: bill, cary, ruth, cami, toni, lftc. toni and her shirt, cami and her duct taped index finger, a lengthy discussion on fins or no fins, big or little and camera decisions. i love this part of the swim, really and truly. after all the talking it was time to do it! that's right, take a vote on the route. we spent about 5 minutes making a plan, agreeing to it and then immediately ditching it in favor of 'wherever it's clear'. we bounced all over like pinballs, checked on skeleton boy who has been climbing up the a buoy an inch at a time, saw bunches of fish and a beautiful guitar fish. played in the cove for a bit, dodging sea lions who are taking over and getting jiggy it with all over the place. they are becoming like a frat party, loud and raucous. all the swimmers are awesome, all are in great shape and able to maintain a good pace for a long time. this is a tough group and i'm so happy to be part of it. thanks for a wonderful swim, again!
lftc out

All We Need is SUN...

A gorgeous, smooth and tranquil swim was ours today. Spots of clear, turquoise waters and bronze-golden kelp peppered with many beauties -- a mystery guest was spotted -- some say guitarfish, some angel shark...I looked him up in my brand new Pacific Coast Fishes -- Petersen Field Guide today and am leaning toward a banded guitar fish. I need my fellow swimmers to chime in.  Bill, who was a charter member (he reminds me) of the Scripps Institute Junior Oceanographers, thinks it's an angel shark, but after looking at many photos on the web, I think it looks much like the banded guitarfish.  It's not really banded, so that's tough, but the angel fish have really big outer fins. This one seemed to have thinner outer fins but was more rounded than an angel.  Cami, did you take a photo of our mystery fish?  If so, please post it.

• See link to Google Banded Guitarfish images.
• Compare to Angel shark Google Images list.

Well, regardless, what a swim!  All you wonderful pod-nics that make the swim so special -- LFTC, Ruth, Cami with her camera!, Toni and of course, William Henry pod-nic!  What pod of swimmers we be. Thanks for a great Saturday (I did find myself singing "All we need is sun..!" to the tune of that old Beatles hit, "All we need is love."), still it was near perfect -- the pod made is so!

A special thank you to Cami for lugging around a camera to record our pretty-darn-close-to-perfect swim!

~cary

Gray daze...

Anyone know where the sun went?  I know, need a little bread with my whine? --  was hoping for a beautiful, sunny weekend and looks like my expectations were set a little too high!

I did find a couple of good webcams and weather links so we can see, real time what things looks like before heading WEST.
Check them out.

• La Jolla Shores public launch (Marine Room area)
• La Jolla Shores Webcam -- check it out!
• NOAA Weather for La Jolla Cove/Shores
• Surfer tides and weather

The Fast Lane!

this may hurt a little

swim report for wednesday 11am, toni, ruth, steve, lftc. grey skies, mid 60's, pretty flat seas with a rolling swell now and then, water temp an easy 67. i have some disagreement here but this is my report so i stand at 67. we swam to the 1/4 to see the newly installed toy then railroaded toni to the a to see the other toy (we really are a bunch of kids with the toys and games) then back to the 1/4 and a pin buoy. not too much viz, maybe 5' but the water was grey glass and flat, smoooooth. for some reason toni had decided to workout TWICE before our swim workout so she was a little tired and cruised back with steve. ruth and i trekked out to the next pin buoy, nothing to see, turned in a little, still nothing so back to shore we went. absolutely fab swim and i really missed every absent swimmer in our group. nothing too amusing, no bitterness or acerbic wit so i'll tell you this: a couple was having an anniversary, the wife says to her husband that she wants something sleek and shiny and silver that goes from zero to two hundred in 60 seconds-so he bought her a scale.
lftc out

Really, thanks

I mean it, you guys. I wouldn't have gone up there had I know you weren't going. And I would have missed a nice swim.
Well, as nice as a swim can be without your company.

Thanks

for snubbing me! Miscommunication resulted in my going to the Cove when y'all had cancelled. I hung around and found a swim buddy. He was slow-ish and also I had my brand new fins. I just assumed every thin tall guy swims as fast as Bill....
It was grey=ish skies when we got in and by the time we got out it was clearing. The water was warm - maybe 65-or higher. Smooth as glass - moderate but gentle swells. No visibility but dang nice. I swam to the 1/2 and then back along the outer pin buoys and then a bit of zig and zag and into shore. Small sets breaking into the Cove so no problem.
I love it here.

monday 11:30 the october games

swim report monday noon: wendy, cami, ruth, steve, lftc. big swell rolling in with considerable bump and surge, swam to the a, the middle inside buoy, a short way towards the cave hoping for 1' of viz, none was to be had so we turned around to head back when cami announced it time to play tag. i was 'it' first and they couldn't even come to close to tagging me. i turned around and they weren't even near me, they were all inside the swim zone, i was way outside, also, i was nearing oxygen depletion so in my book, i won! the next 'it' was cami, she booked to the buoy, we couldn't catch her, then ruth, couldn't catch her, then steve, couldn't catch him. we really suck at tag. but it was a blast and since we couldn't see anything, playing was fun. it was HIIT: hi intensity interval training, which is all the rage right now. on dry land this training will make you throwup and then pass out but we loved it! thanks to my ultra fit and strong partners, as always you guys make the good swims great!
lftc out

sunday gang report

report for sunday, noon: gang of 9 today-no particular order, there will be a quiz after. cami, claudia, diana, bill, cary, rebecca, ruth, janie, lftc. swam towards childrens pool but turned around due to foam awash with biohazardous glop, water was clear below the foam and cold. headed to the 1/4, had a meeting of the many minds and decided we needed to see the 1/2 since it was moved back to it's rightful position. at the 1/2 we had a lengthy debate about our future together, we had a swimmer actually abandon our crew due to cold temps and one outright mutineer who wanted to hit the tower without us. the one and only guy in our group, BILL. i think cary wanted to stay with the gang, mostly because we, as a gang, rock the cove but she was torn between her man and us. i'm pretty sure there may have been some foot stomping but i can't be sure. the gang won bill over. swam to the caves but there was so much kayak and boat activity that we decided to sightsee at the point. it was clear and beautiful but getting cold by this time. a lone diver was found, bobbing around just waiting for her lost partner, who was low on air. we notified the guards and all was well. (our good deed for the day) not too much to report on sea life, we were probably the most amusing sea life seen mid day. as usual, a swimtastic day! quiz: who was the mutineer?

Yes, today was an odyssey. Although it was cool-ish for me, part of me felt like i could swim forever in that beautiful water. I am still bobbling too.
9! thank you all for frolicking with me today. i'm so grateful that i'm Back to the Water.
:)

depth, cool spirit, clarity... isn't this what we all want??

WOW, what a fantastic swim today my gilled friends!

Nice pics Cary!.. I am enticed... I'll do this, a complete south bound swim, I will... just not until its CLEAN... Im a weenie with brown bubbly water, it was my fault, I started the mutiny. But ManohMAN, that water on the way to the A, clear in some spots to the BOTTOM... and the light reflecting on the sand and through the kelp, heaven. truly. IT wasn't clear everywhere, but where it was, wow. bliss. My head is still bobbing up and down. Amazing, so darn blessed to have you all to swim with!

Sunday, October 10 went swimmingly...

Quite a group today. We had nearly 8 or 9, a record "pod" (Janie called it a pod swim and I think it fits) on another gorgeous day.  The temp seemed to drop and was very patchy. We started heading south towards Casa or Children's pool and then the currents changed or the pod-think changed and we turned around. Okay, some said it was dirty and some were a bit concerned about the waves and rocks.  You know who you are. Claudia just wanted to see things for a change!  I love it...  Going south or along the shore transit from south of Casa Pool is a favorite of Bill's, so I know we're going to do it soon -- so says Bill (or he-who-does-not-blog).   Stay tuned!    I think it will be fun on a day like today.

After turning south, our mighty swim pod reversed itself and headed to the A buoy where the visibility was near ZERO!  Dazed and confused about our direction --  we headed at a northerly tack and on toward the sticks -- out to the 1/2 mile and finally towards the caves... we swam!  Saw some fish (YELLOW TAILS). LOL... sorry, I still don't know what they are am I'm the only one that sees them... what does that mean?... Ha. Don't say.  Anyway, that's my proper report and I loved the whole weekend both swimmingly beautiful days!  Thank you all for being there because you're what make the swims even more fun!

Here's a couple of pics of Bill and our wanderings after the swim... we'll see these views from the water when our pod swims south!  Can't wait.

~Cary

Looking north toward Scripps Pier and Torrey Pines cliffs...

Low tide... no seals

Pretty as a picture -- what a day!

weird fish

swam saturday,w/ claudia, al, lftc's friend(cant remember his name). best conditions in a long time...warm and clear. Had a seal play and swim around and under me over near the caves. coming back into the cove I encounter the weirdest looking fish i've ever seen!! The size of a dinner plate,completely flat, with fins on top and bottom, not side to side, color was whiteish/greyish kinda luminous. Cool,swimming, laying in the grass near the reefs. I heard it might have been a sunfish or "mula mula"?

swim report saturday noon

swam with bill, cary and janie today! warm sunny sun, dark blue, light blue green water, pretty calm and flat, playful rippling, gurgling, gently lapping waters welcoming us into it's wonders. (whatever, it was killer, okay?) first the a to admire our toy then we jetted via the current to the marine room. bill and cary saw some stuff, guitar fish, a leopard, we all saw a fish ball on the way back and cary saw her beloved 'yellow tail'. oh, we saw a big school of barracuda too. the water was oh so warm, easily 67/68 and some great clarity out to the a, so so to the m/r, then glass for awhile. sort of a hard chop back since we were against the current and ta da! killer swim, wrapped up! sad story on the sun fish: we saw a good sized sun fish struggling right on the sand, barely in water. a kind snorkeler took him out to sea but he washed right back in, clearly desiring to be fish tacos. thanks to my outstanding partners today, as always! bill and cary are fun, janie is adorable and me? well, i stay amazed at how lucky i am and decorate the buoys! lftc out

More Friday

I swam at 4:00 this afternoon. No one to swim with - stood round in the water for 5 minutes then got out. Got back in as some wetsuit-ers were getting ready to go in. I figured they were real triathletes so i swam out halfway t0 the quarter by myself and kept turning around but they never gained on me. so i waited for them and we swam together to the half - but they were pretty slow and kept stopping - talk about meerkats! So I sort of swam back alone-ish. It was very swelly - but small fast rolling ones - the water was churned up so i couldn't see much out past the 1/4. i'm not sure i wanna see anything in this water as the tide is so low it only increases the concentration of crap. the smell swimming in yesterday was awful. huge wall of kelp today. yucch.
one day i'll get over my fear of sea lions and just do it.
but it's wwwaaaaaay more fun with pals.
janie came around 4:45 as i was headed up to shower. there were two fellas who i met at the half and then saw again as i headed in to the shore- a big bear of a guy who according to janie just swam the english channel.

didn't really catch anyone's name today - a guy larry and i forget the rest. yesterday i swam with janie and her friend don.

i love the A's halloween theme. caught it yesterday.
this water is so warm - i can't believe i swam in clear skies for two days now. my first time back in the ocean in nearly two weeks.

I can't wait to play with y'all tomorrow and sunday.
i heard the marine room was hopping today with leopards.-

oh i saw a few little fishies. no turtle no bass no mermaids.
-ruth

Friday

... you were scared, admit it.... all that rain, thought it would be nasty...smelly... full of sea lion poop.

We were the brave ones, bacteria? not sure but we did it anyway. It was real nice. Thats all I got for you.

swim report friday 10-8-10 color commentary

Friday noon, Cami, Pammy, me: (Pam is the Athletic club mgr.) Dark blue green water with some mild swells, clear clear clear inside, easily 67 degrees AND the bright warm sun! That's right people, the sun. Swam out to the A to show Pam the October decoration and had to navigate mucho kelp and pulled up sea grass. Every time we stopped Pam yelled out "what happened?" "what'd you see?""what's going on?" Pam will never leave your side if she's with you, she's a good partner! Lots of lobster traps out, not too clear out that way so we steered to the 1/4 then to the 2nd pin buoy with the current, no turtle sighting so I was heading into shallow waters which makes Cami very nervous. Something about milk (we need to clarify). Two of the grossest definitions are food related: Milky and juicy red. Both Cami's..My definitions have more curse words. Anyway, we swam back against the current which was awesome and layed on the sand like beached mermaids. So maybe a mile swim, it was hard to get out today and the weekend looks better. Swim Saturday at 11:30! Cami's scientific report to follow.

A few good links -- Here's a little Proper Data:

Bill's favorite: Scripps Pier Composite plot (water temp and tides)

Coastal Observing Research and Development Center

Scripps Pier Web Cam

Feel free to add any others...

Happy swimming!
~cary

Good job signing up!

Looks like people are signing up. If anyone else is interested or needs help, let me know. Laura is now an author / contributor and I also made her an administor.  That gives her POWER... LOL.
LFTC now has admin rights to allow her to edit this blog's settings and template, as well as other members' posts. 

And another thing... who'll stop this rain?  I know we need it... but geez, we gotta' swim!


~cary

BLOG

How fun!! I'm SO not computer savvy...but I will learn. Great idea!

Details...

As I'm fumbling around trying to figure out how to get this blog going, I noticed some of you don't have your little photo icon.  (I added Bill's for him).  If you see the Options tag next to your login name on the right side of the blog under FOLLOWERS you can click on the little down arrow and see a link to Site Settings.

Click on Site Settings and you can change your photo and edit any basic information about yourself.

Let me know if you need any help...

Great work all you swimming-bloggers!  It will be so nice to keep all our proper reports together in one big BLAH, BLAH, BLOG!  (-;
~Cary

Let's get back to the water!

Because we're all having so much fun swimming and sharing our "proper" swim reports, I thought I'd help us start a swim blog. Everyone can chime in, post and have fun -- not as much fun as swimming, of course, but we'll inspire each other to new aqua-vistas! I'm guessing we need to get Laura's adventures from last week to get us started... this blog will only be viewable by those we give permission, so we can blog away -- typos, colorful language and all! 

What do you think?
Are you in?

We can add photos, video, links to other websites like the La Jolla Swim Club and more... blogspot is easy to use and fun!
Here are some photos of La Jolla Cove looking out towards Torrey Pines and beyond.   I also included a few images from our Scripps Pier swim taken by David and a Children's Pool pic too. 

Enjoy!
~Cary

Good Enough for a Warm Up -- 10 Mile Relay team

Scripps Pier swim to La Jolla Cove

Thanks to Dave for the great photos and the awesome starting place!

The Happy Swimmers!!!

It looks so far!

We made it to the cove... great swim!!!