no surficide or homisurf-yet.

girls to the left, girls to the right, hard core, no pants all over the place.

swim report for some day in the recent past. (o how the mighty have fallen):
the four girlies above swam out in some surf, cami and i blazed out over a mini set and we were fine, swam all around in beautiful seas, some swells but nothing scary until (insert scary music here) our trip back to the beach. sets were cruising in from time to time, we all know 'just wait for the lull' is mostly crapola but still, we hung out for awhile until our beloved claudia, who, i might add, is highly seasoned, has a million miles of easy and hard seas under her belt, yelled out "swim now! haul ass!" claudia doesn't yell and has an easy, quiet tone all the time so of course i completely freaked out. um, WHAT? WAIT! WHY? HELLO? i couldn't swim now or haul ass, i was waiting for SURFICIDAL waves! but in came dianadarling to save the day. (not the 1st time she has guided me in, she just ignores the tears and whining, lets me hang on to her swim suit and waltzes us in all ho hum and smiles) she tells me we weren't going to haul ass anywhere, we were just gonna hang and see what was what. turns out there wasn't much of anything going on, claudia was just hauling ass because she can.  (she can by the way, she has some serious power under that speedo)
so no rescue for me, no surficide or homisurf.
 (pick one, doug likes surficide, me too)
kind of cold whatever day that was, like 60 but conditions were awesome and the company outstanding. of all the swimmers in the world, how did i ever get so lucky to hook up with all my swim peeps?
CAN ONE OF THE 11 SUNDAY SWIMMERS REPORT ON THAT BITCHIN SWIM? I HAVE TO GO MAKE DINNER!

lftc-out

WEdnesday, best ever

Oh man, sweet clarity you have returned. Claudia Rose, Lftc and Cftc swam in gloriously clear chilly (but not too chilly) waters, in the buff, no fins. Super low tide, clear to the bottom to the .25, towards the sticks, over by the caves, back out and back in.... so thats what the bottom looks like, I'd almost forgotten. Giant bat ray, lots and lots of California Barracuda and those snarky sea lions of course. Jamal dove into a rock on his way into the bliss and chunked up his nose, watch out for the rocks! Waves are up now, so glad we got this swim in when we did! Im thankful to all my lovely swim peepers who know what makes my bells chime!

Nice Sunday swim

Lftc, C rose, and DD went out today in fairly calm seas (some wind chop on our way back in). Swam to A, stick near 1/2 to cave side and back. Crazy bird convention, we were literally encircled by grebes,pellis,sea gulls..it was wild. They didn't move to let us part the seas. So up close and intimate!!

Hope to see you all Turkey weekend!

Saturday was nice...

Despite storm threats, Bill and I made it to the cove around noon... It wasn't raining, the water was clear and cool (59ish) and the sun was poking through in places -- we were in!  Sorry we missed our peeps, as we were getting into our wetsuits, Janie showed up and swam with us in the cold, clear waters.  We did a fast tour of the buoys on bumpy, waters and then back... not terribly eventful, but great to be in the water.
I was happy to see at Children's Pool, the harbor seals and people were coexisting... that was nice. Here are some pics as the light was leaving and we prepared for home.
~mercari

Looking like Saturday could go either way, it turned out to be a great swim!

Sea Lions actually together with humans... this is the second time I've seen this .
They're getting used to us! 

Pinks...love the pinks...

Nice way to end the day... looking this way!

Foggy Thursday

Thursday was socked in with fog...until around 11:00. My preference was a swim along the Shores; but thick fog and a lack of lifeguard eyes changed my mind to the Cove. Short swim, as 11:30 is really too late for me to even think about getting in the water. But there's nothing quite like the last swim before foul weather arrives to rationalize an 80 mph nail-biting drive back to east county necessary to arrive home before school kids walk in. The fog complied, and lifted just enough to allow my swim. Ahhhh.

59 deg. / good viz (great in spots) / flat water.

Another storm clearing swim...

Felt like we nearly missed the weekend.  Bill and I finally made it over to the cove at 2 on Sunday thinking it was just us... turned out there were lots of peeps to swim with -- happy day. We had Carol, Annamarie, and Shane go the whole way (B to 1/2 to A and in). We started with Chris, Don and Karen too, but they were too fast and zoomed ahead, losing us in their wake -- as we mozied and gazed at the fishes, kelp crab and more.  The water was around 60, and smooth and clear out to the B. Shane was wearing his underwater video camera and filmed a seal swimming under us, circling around and checking us out. I haven't seen any of Shane's videos yet, but once he gets editing, I'm hoping he'll post some soon.

Photo of Bill sans head/feet -- LOL

And Bill, I call him TRON, got a spankin' new wetsuit (this is the third or forth though I may have lost count).  Wish I'd snapped a photo of him -- wow, he looks, well, WOW!  His new 2XU has the cool blue stripes in a TRON-like style (remember the movie and then the next one--sorry...not the best memory?). Of course he looks way better than Tron and there's no crazy helmet. Be sure to notice it next time you see him. I think he's keeping this one, so hopefully,  it's a wrap!  Sorry, the photo is missing Bill's head and feet, but you get the idea!

I can't believe what a gorgeous day it was... we are sure missing Laura, Cami, Diana, Toni, Steve, Amber, Tayla, and all our regular swim peeps... hope the storms stay away for a while and we all get out together again soon!  Maybe next weekend?

~mercari

Thursday swim

Beautiful calm sea today. 15 to 20 feet viz. Cold water at 59-61 (arguable). Sea lions are so thick we had to elbow our way through them in some areas. They've given up keeping a safe distance from us humans and are now curious and quite cheeky. I haven't been 'checked out' by so many eyes since my college clubbing days!

One solitary sea lion was hanging out inside the cave. Floating just below the surface; silhouetted in the water against the light at the back of the cave. He completely blocked the cave, so Steve D. and I backtracked out of the cave rather than disturbing 'Mr. Solitare'.

We swam to the Q, the stick, then toured the caves today. Great swim before the storm.

Weekend swims with Ruth or What a Difference a Day Makes!

Saturday view from above the cove... near the Goldfish Point. 

Ruth was out for a short, but sweet visit. So glad we managed to get in a swim on both Saturaday and Sunday, despite the weather.  But what a contrast!!!

Saturday was GORGEOUS!  Best swim, ok, in a while, or, since LFTC swam with us... We had quite a group meeting at 2 (Ruth, Carol, Bob, Shane, Vic, Don, Chris, and the Mighty C's). The sun was brilliant as it sparkled and danced on the gentle rollers.  Quite a smooth swim out to the B -- straight out, did not pass A and get all tangled up in blue, no, that would be kelp... then from the B (the viz was clear) we had some fun swells rollin' in... carried us to the 1/2 then to the caves.  Shane and Carol went through the cave, even with the crazy swells. They timed it JUST right! Scared me... I'm a chicken when it comes to getting dashed to bits in the cave...

Rainy daze... fun swim times!

Sunday's swim seemed a bit sketchy... we were hoping the rain would stay away until afternoon -- or at least later than noon.... but NOOOO.  We managed to down some of my homemade chai (celebrating the November birthdays and sorry we missed our Cami and LFTC).  We charged off into the rain--couldn't get any wetter. And it  was fun--the water was calm and smooth and raindrops kept falling on our heads. We had Leonard, Ruth (guest of honor), Carol, Bob, Marta and the MC's. Still a nice pod for such less-than-wonderful-weather!  We headed to the 1/4, then the 1/2, where Bill, Bob and I opted to head back. The amazing Ruth, Marta, Carol and Leonard said let's do the B!  So off they went and the rest of us (Bill, Bob and I) all came back in the dripping rain as the life guard cheered us in (no one else was out today, can't imagine why!).  Slugged down some more liquid heat (chai), Leonard brought his great coffee and we were off to get into our cars and get dry... such a great weekend, only half wet and all wild.  We missed our swim peeps that couldn't be there, but think the chaff and the wheat thing might be important to note.  


~Wheat out

dolphin encounter

Lake La Jolla was beckoning. Today I swam at the Shores, from the Tower to the pier, then to the Marine Room and back. Many huge schools of sardines were out. Glorious, clear flat water at 61 degrees. I was swimming parallel to the shore when a small school of sardines came racing toward me, head on; swam under me. Made me think, "hmmm, why are they in such a hurry?..." In the next instant, a DOLPHIN came barreling toward me, swam directly underneath me, chasing those sardines! I stopped and popped up to see the rest of the pod, also on the chase. They split, swimming 10 feet either side of me, only to catch up with their pod-mate, now 20 feet behind me, to commence jumping and (presumably) snatching up some sardines for lunch. I wanted to whoop and go join in the celebration, but kept my distance. I listened to their squeaks and clicks and, in a matter of seconds, they were gone. And I was left with that tingly feeling of having been witness to something special.

I Spy With My Little Eye...

Something Beginning with "B"

Is it a Buoy?

Is it Bait?

Is it a Boogyboard on the Beach, the lifeguards hate?

Is it a Bird?
oh I don't know, gotta Be...

It's a Bikini

Nope, not any of these.

Have you had your fill?

It's the one, It's the only, It's our own Merman Bill