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...