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.
As luck would have it my wayward sense of direction took me on the inside. I swam beneath shallow clear water mesmerized the rippling sand beneath the surface and waving kelp, thinking I would catch a wave and lay beneath the late lunch diners at the Marine room until the rest of our pod arrived. Then suddenly, a shadow passed, then another, and I dove down to find at least 12-14 lolligagging leopard sharks..paydirt! When I put my head up here came the rest of the crew shrieking with delight at our spotted friends, the largest of which was maybe 4' long. Wendy & I were feeling your chill and opted for a walk back. The rest of the "hard core" group swam back to the cove and we followed their path, from above, arriving at the beach nearly simultaneously. Later we regrouped on the lizard wall, soaking up winter sun and smiling...november bliss grins!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely got a workout today. Was a lot harder coming back against the chop. After Tony and I swam a half mile while waiting for everyone in the beginning it made it a lot harder coming back from the Shores later.
ReplyDelete