A Christmas Gift...

Sunday we made it out, dispite the drizzle and gray... Claudia, Grady, Leonard, Steve and the Mighty C's were back at the shores happy to test our toughness in the 59 and dropping water...

And worth it, it was!  I shouldn't use our favorite phrase, BEST SWIM EVAR, because Laura wasn't there  (though few had much sympathy as our dear LFTC chases the great wild waves  in Maui).  Still, the swim was such gift. I'd have to say, a large gift, okay, THE BEST GIFT EVAR, wrapped in salt water and sea spray!

As I missed Saturday with the shores gang, and sadly missed our Ruth's return swim because I'm still a bit under the weather,  I was in much need of some cheer, and the sea responded.  Claudia swears the little gray whale KNEW I wasn't well and came to check on me... and I yes, Virginia, I BELIEVE!

As I'm swam north parallel the to the shore, I start veering over towards the surfline  (like a horse to the barn, trying to get back on land!) and I look up and right in front of me (I thought I was going to swim into it!) was a gorgeous little baby gray whale and as it dove back into water, it fluked it's happy tale to me as if saying Merry Christmas, Cary... then, as if that wasn't enough, a dolphin escort jumped out of the water, swimming alongside the whale... at this point, I've stopped, am screaming until my voice -- EVERYONE, LOOK, IT'S A WHALE!!!!!! Bill heard me scream (that was kinda' nice and reassuring...) and most everyone including the surfers, stopped and stared... the group swam south towards the Marine Room and spouted as a final shout-out to us, at least that's the way I saw it... I do have witnesses, so I'm quite delirious with happiness knowing this whale with dolphin escort was a very Merry Christmas wish!

Sadly, no photos of the whale and his friends, but I took two photos... the first one is gray as the day started and the second, was the sunny-magical-whale-moments our day morphed into!

I missed thosed that were not with us and hope you all have a holiday filled with family, friends and swimming!  We'll be back out there next weekend!
Hope to see you then...
~Cary

Gray Sunday Start

After the magic, everything brightened!  

TOR-TURE TORCHURE TORCH ER

Swim report for the absent, 12-16-12, 11:30-Leonard who is the man, Steph who is the man, Steve who is the man, Claudia who is the man, Laura who is the man met under grey skies and sudden wind whipping up instant wind chop because why not? 
I asked the universe about this and the universe laughed in my face. HA! it said. It then kicked sand in my face. 
I was already questioning my sanity when donning ski wear-TO GO SWIM: my big parka, knit hat, wool boots and warmwear underwear.  Then I had to take it all off, there I was, standing on the beach in a stupid Speedo trying to fight off wind chill by hugging myself with my arms. I looked to the right and saw several surfers and a swimmer in full wetsuits, I felt so much less than brave, what's the word..oh yeah, crazy. I have a problem, something is so so wrong with me and Dave was right when he said cold water swimming could be used as torture. Take a criminal, strip them down to undies, make them wade out and then swim far into cold, dark seas with unseen but ever present marine predators, no life preservers, possible rescue only when near death and maybe maybe not even then. I mentioned Dave's theory to Leonard, he said it was too harsh to be used as torture. But here we all go tip toeing into torture, willingly! I made brownies for after! Celebrating the torture! I told you I had a problem!
It was very tough today, Steph is not too familiar with this level of crazy so she suffered a little cold shock, cold shock is what makes the sane people turn back. Not us, we pressed on, making sure she passed the 2 or 3 minutes required to settle down. Poor human organisms, trying so hard to save itself, instincts tell us to go back, get out, stop breathing with your face so close to the water! Shiver, experience pain, warning, warning, warning! But no, we tell the human organism to go have a great big cup of STFU and march on. We get out to the pink buoy, we are shores side, and head North, the water is very clear here and my watch recorded 60 degrees. Steve had a full wetsuit and giant fins so see you later, Steve! Leonard was immersed in some kind of stroke work? Speed work? He mentioned a mile and a half. Whatever, dude, have fun with that, I'm down for 10 minutes, max. Claudia was much more positive, suggesting we have fun first then we can get out. Whatever, dude, I'm down for 10. We blazed along for much longer than 10 minutes, I do love the misery-then Steph and I turned back, the 'others' kept going. Whatever, dudes, I'm outta here. No brownies for you! We made it back, dumped hot water on our heads from my bottle that was sent directly down from heaven itself and ate brownies. The 'others' brownies too. 
So after all this info, after this report on the sheer freaking delight of this swim, where were you guys? Haven't we all felt good about being hard core, year round, bad ass swimmers? We all have to suffer because misery loves company, you are all accustomed to cold shock, there are no excuses. 
lftc-out

brrrr

Dang that was cold.  Im still cold. Gray water, gray skies. 60 degrees everywhere. Friday was gray, but a good gray... the gray that says its all going to be ok, not hazardous gray.... LFTC, our fearless leader, sent out a cryptic message that spoke in no uncertain terms that  she has no mojo... uh oh, whatever that means I got my fanny in gear, took off my plans for hot yoga which sounded glorious on a cold winter day and booked it down into the gray. Sunshine, the girl not the weather, was there all slap silly from 90 min of spinning, then Claudia who almost swam naked (she is so committed to our swims really!)...  in we went, real slowly.... its warmer that way??  THE SWIM: Not much to speak of, went to the .25, big remarkably unremarkable swells that seemed to come then go and do nothing more.... then in towards the caves, milky water (this gal doesn't do milky water too much), gentle arching swoop over towards the A, over kelp, through kelp, crawling kelp... slightly better visibility, chilly but somehow tolerably chilly.... on back in to the shore where we all washed up on one final last wave from the Neptune to his lover Laura, alone. .... its not the swim that chills, its the dam cold afterwards!  Great swim in marginal conditions with good gals... c'mon winter, the deal is chilly but CLEAR... this is deal I made over summer, so let me know when it gets clear. Maybe Tuesday? All I can say is how grateful I am for my sweet friends, ugg boots, Lauras hot water Detergent bottle and women braver than me who know how to put the crimpers on. Im weak.

BOUNCY! FUN! ADVENTUROUS! PLAY!

proof positive that swimmers are crazy. 

also, this is evidence that conditions were scary today. 

Cary tried to use some kind of psychological trickery that she uses for difficult museum goers, she uses soft, positive words like; bouncy, fun, adventurous, play.  

(pssst; allow me to translate in street language; rough, dangerous, crazy, downright hard f*cking work)   

but i have learned a lesson or two in my swim life and surprise! i was there! that's right, i heard the mighty c's were going to 'check it out, practice surf entries and exits' so i packed up and flew over with my camera. before i arrived on the the scene of the crime, i received the text with all the soft words. fun! play! bouncy! sunshine is coming too! yeah! 

when i scanned the seas i couldn't see them or anyone except for surfers at the marine room. surfers at the boat launch. surfers at the tower. i watched the horizon for awhile until i saw little dark spots working hard to get to shore and these are the pictures. note the huge surf at boomers. after we parted ways, dave and ali and i walked to the pier with claudia. let me tell you guys, surfers were getting OUT of the water. do you hear me? OUT. we watched surfers unable to get past the waves, we saw surfers laying on the sand after getting beat down in the shore break. we saw the news crew filming 15' waves. it was amazing to behold. 

i invite you all to behold our bouncy, fun, adventurous and playful friends:

cary making her escape..

first one out cause she's smart!

look behind him/her...boomers is breaking so far out it wasn't even boomers. just open water.

i just imagine cary thinking ....

what was i thinking? 

the mighty c himself, sauntering out like aquaman..

right to left; boomers, sunshine, bill 

c

so cute and do you all notice how many fin our sunshine is carrying? there's a reason she has only 1 and you know why. 

new ink, beautiful!

there you go! fun for the day! congrats to the brave swimmers in these pictures who did some recon for us. thanks for representing the ascared people!
lftc-out

epic jumping november 3rd, 2012

something is going on here..sunshine is laughing at whatever it is.

ok people, this is how it's done..

just jump like this! cami in back-so fun!!! hands flapping! 

epic launch about 

to go down!

wait, what?

what is everyone looking at?

found at sea: this is cary scolding bill. lucky guy!

no pants pier romp, november 3rd.

these photos will prove to our children, relatives and friends that we have spirit, a sense of adventure, a love of liquid peace and deep kinship. AND this group abides by the No Pants way!

in fact, some of us have less than no pants. 

once again, the best swim EVAR!

thanks to my beloved dave for the adventure, for telling us to get a move on, get down and get off the ladder, the water is fine, there are no sharks, get in, now. 

al, kai and sunshine (the girl, not the weather), claudia, ralph, cami in her superhero suit, lftc, ali and diana darling..

always dark and cold and very wobbly down there..

by the way, this girl in front was thinking that we were really going to jump off the pier, off the top and still she showed up. amazing! (crazy)

what is cami looking at? and pointing at?

all spread out..

all coming together...

all spread out...

and back together, we do this all the time and i love it all the time..

al jumpin!

cami girl has thos arms up, always with the arms up!

the jump from above..

what is cami looking at? she sees things we don't. truly.

beautiful peoples.

thanks to all my beloved friends for being hard core, cold water lovers and joining me so willingly, it would mean nothing without you. to my beloved friends who couldn't make it today, you were missed but we have 99 years ahead of us!

Guess what we saw...

Whales in the cove!  LFTC, with her sonar vision (is that possible?) spotted a disturbance in the water out there.  She swore it was dolphins, but TFTC batted her down, there's nothing out there.  But it was Cami who first spotted the spout and the back rolling up over the water surface.  "Whales!" she announced.  And all eyes were on the water.  Sure enough, we spotted them, spouting over and over again, in the same area, between the A and B.  They would appear and disappear two separate occasions before everyone was ready to head down to the water.  LFTC, TFTC, Cami, Ralph, Claudia and someone I'm forgetting.  We decided to swim out to the B, to what, I don't know.  Rendezvous, get eaten, or just swim in the same water as whales.

We got out there and saw nothing.  We waited, climbed onto the buoy, looked and looked.  Nothing.  Nothin but disappointment.

So we finish our swim, and Mike, the lifeguard, tells us that the whale BREACHED the surface when we were halfway to the B.  WTF???!!!  I thought for sure he was shitting me.  But Bill corroborated the report. Damn!!  We missed the real show while we were heads down, swimming for the B.

Water report:  64-ish.  Clear from the A to the B. Cloudy inside the Q.  Lots of waves on shore.

Stevie D. took these late Saturday afternoon..

when i asked him

to please post these on the blog

he said, "you do it". 

so here you go!

Later, Leopards and Leonard kind of Sunday...

Laura commands... I obey. POST.  Post? BLOG?  I'm not a real blogger or a poster... but if LFTC says do it, then we do...

Plus, I have to mention (subtle, right?) about yet another, BEST SWIM EVAR!  And so it goes..

Calm, glassy, wish-it-could-last-forever kind of day...

See Ya' Later, Steve, the MCs, Lyndee, Lynn, and Leonard (we've got some serious opportunities for alliteration here) were on deck at noonish on Sunday... more gorgeous (if that's possible) than Saturday -- you know, or EVAR.

Our mighty 6-pack darted out to the 1/4 to see the pumpkin (I missed it yesterday) and needed to get into the Halloween pumpkin mood since my uncarved pumpkin still sits blankly on the porch... not only was there the big orange floatee, but also, and YIKES!, a sawed off body part -- a hand, looking like a shark had chomped the remainder of the body and all that was left was a grisly hand and forearm... someone REALLY has a sense of humor at the cove!  Leonard kept reminding us to look for the rest of the body parts scattered along the route -- cheery thought!

Did anyone see that ghoulish appendage yesterday or last week?  Because if you did, you're holding back... wow... a great addition to the pumpkin buoy.

So, I digress... past the pumpkin buoy we headed to the big white boat and stopped at the 1/2 on the way, swam around that gazillionaire's yachet (you can see in the lovely photo below) and then headed to find those darn MIA leopards that Claudia kept seeing Saturday but only alluded the rest of us, especially LFTC and Cami,  too spooked by the murk... So, as luck and Leonard would have it (also the other L's, MC's and Steve) we found those illusive sharks -- there were bunches at the white house by the Marine room -- I was happy at last!

See white boat? 

Of course, MCb had to get back out there, anywhere, everywhere, fast, where it was even clearer than EVAR and we headed out west to the A... everyone voted the B down (both B's) because we all knew it was so beautiful and clear at the A (Leonard saw a school of 1000 fish!) and calm, glassy, and warm sunniness that it just couldn't get any better... so we mozied back in towards the cove where it was aquarium-like all the way in... yes, oh, yes, the very best, EVAR!

Except that you who weren't there were not there and were missed -- just sayin'.

Next weekend?

Oh beautiful, lovely photo... here:

murk, pity and dick.

swim report- saturday, october 27th, 11:30 featuring cami, toni, the mighty c's, beth and her new tattoo, ralph, claudia, al, kevin, me.  we swam out in glorious seas, flat, calm, inviting with the sun shining down upon us with plans to swim to the marine room to hunt for leopards but some of us didn't make it and some of us didn't even care about the ones that were ascared of the milky yet somehow brown murk that surely concealed ocean predators. so cami and i watched you all actually cavort at the marine room, romp, even! we bobbed in deadly murk wondering if you all noticed we weren't romping with you. and we are the best rompers! we got over this immediately and swam toward clearer sea and there you all come, streaming through the kayak flotilla, little colorful heads bebopping over to us only to torture me with plans for the a buoy. god, i was so tired today, weak! beth and bill try to trick me by saying the a buoy 'is on the way in'. i know better but i agree because..well, i don't know why i agreed, i just did. at the a they try to get me on board for the b buoy but i wasn't going to fall for their trickster ways and head in with cary and cami who claimed they were done anyway but i suspect a pity call on their parts. excuse me? pity swim? pity partners? okay! hey, pity has a place in life for a reason. on the trek from the a to the cove we found the 20 feet of absolute clear to the bottom clarity, i didn't care though and swam right through it because i was so done. and! i rode my bike over, i had to ride back and i parked especially far for the cardio burn like a dumb-ass and i needed to get on it. sigh. guess what? i forgot where i parked and rode to rush spin studio, where i usually meet sunshine to bike to the cove. i climbed some wicked hills to go the wrong way. good thing i already have a helmet.
all and all a very good swim with the best partners on the planet, even the pity is kind and doled out with love.
a couple of things: cary and cami are suggesting i blog for free crap, like reviewing swim gear or swimwear in exchange for swim stuff, a fine idea except cary says i have to clean it up, cami wasn't sure about his aspect. (you guys DO NOT EVEN KNOW what our sweet cami is capable of, language wise-be afraid is all i can say ) my thoughts on this was that if i can't say dick in my blog, i'm not gonna do it. i know i can use it creatively in a review for say, fins, right?
the other thing is regarding new neoprene swim caps from a company called www.pbearcaps.com, the owner is married to a hardcore, crazy, cold water swimmer and makes neoprene caps for swimmers, custom, colors, different sizes,  with an excellent guarantee. she makes them herself and knows what the open water swim people are like. i have two of her caps, one with a chin strap, one without, for anyone to try out. these are super soft and super bright, really beautiful. it would be cool to bring some color to our winter swims and we can paint them! i see 'no pants'! i am not involved in any marketing plan nor do i receive any money or discounts for these caps, i just like them and i particularly like the strapless version. i know i heard one of my girls say they prefer the strap on but i didn't catch who it was. good thing, huh.. if we order in bulk we'd get a ship fee break. check it out, if you like them i'd be happy to put a group order through or just get one on your own if you like them.
winter is coming and you all are going to swim right through it, do whatever it is you have to do, caps, wetsuits, club access, hot water, medication, whatever. don't be a dick, swim with me!
lftc-out

it's all about the weather, people..

swim report for thursday, october 18th, 11am, stevie d., toni, me.
we left grey skies, mist and cool weather on the east of the 5 to find warm sun shining down on the cove, flat seas in that there was no swell but say hello to wind. serious surface texture but i'll take anything compared to homisurf. my watch read 64 degrees the entire way, the temp is headed down. come on now, take it like a man and swim.   so, we head to the tower because steve likes it over there, toni is game for anything and i was wearing fins so i knew i had it. we dealt with a strong current all the way over, toni and i mostly stuck together, steve is a fast wanderer, big time. veer to the left, veer to the right, it's best to stay either in front (i cannot) or in the back and just let him go. we land at the shores and take a look back at the cove, it was so far away! how did it get so far? wind was up and man, it looked so far away! toni suggested we walk to the marine room and we all jumped on it. we had a photo op on the way over and look at that weather! we make our way back and even though we should have been with the current, we weren't, it was pulling hard to the north so say good bye to stevie d. and keep on going. at the 1/4 we decided to blaze in and there goes steve, right to take off, directly to take off, toni and i swim in correctly but steve beat us in anyway. here's my point with my title: i had already been to the gym, i worked very hard on my core (god, the horror) and i was kind of tired. i drank some carrot/celery/apple juice (god, the horror) to hydrate or whatever hoping for the best and i did okay, i held my own despite shoulder and lat exhaustion but did i complain? of course but mostly i swam. it was hard to get a beat going for the water slapping me around. this was a damn good swim, athletic and fast and to the point. awesomeness all over the place and when i texted steve to thank him for the bitchin' swim, his reply was 'i liked the weather'. what? what? the weather? i was speechless until now. i wasn't even aware of the weather for trying to get the swim down, was there even weather? of course there was weather but the weather? well, he liked the weather. some people are into it.  i really like stevie d., he's cool, funny and fast and a welcome addition to our badass crew. you all know i kid because i care. (in case steve is reading my stuff, no one is safe from my posts, not even me).
thanks to tftc and stevie d. for hanging with me today, for making my swim so much more than just a swim!
there you have it, my friends: my rant.
if you want to hear about the actual weather, give steve a call.

Add caption

lftc-out  

First Winter "Storm"? where?

The weather predictors were all giddy--"Listen up. It's our first early-winter storm of the season! Focus on my winning smile for the close up.  All eyes and ears on me, me, me.  It's the XNews featuring our WEATHERMAN!"

Some storm. LFTC, CRose and TFTC paddled around in flat-ish warmish water from the Shores today with a bitchin gray cloud backdrop and only a dusting of well-placed sprinkles to decorate our swim-cake.  LFTC saw a whale breaching in the distance, through her binocs, before CR and I arrived.  If that's not a good omen, I don't know what is! We paddled down past the white house, dipped and dove in the sea grass , before paddling back.  A lone sea lion escorted us along the way, keeping his distance, much to CR's relief.  And, as we were drying off, we watched the dolphins having a food fest out by the half.

So, next time the weatherman predicts doom and gloom on the horizon, I will once again head down to the  beach because obviously anything he says is exactly the opposite of what's goin down at the Cove.

Sorry for the delay, people, I have post traumatic stress!

Okay you swimmer people, Dave took my laptop to sea and when he brought it back I couldn't find my stuff, passwords, favorites, etc. I found some of his favorites though and let me tell you, we had a very meaningful conversation about it. God, I hate when that happens. But anyway, I can post now!
We are now in October, so much has happened as of late! The Mighty C's went to Franistan for months it seems, Cary came back tired but 5lbs lighter, I'm very interested in her weight loss method: 24 hour long flights, stomach woes, some rotten little pick pockets, emotional distress and fatigue. I am all over it.
On their first swim back, Bill declared an easy, low key day, we should not expect much given Cary's weight loss plan and you all know what happened, right? He hauled ASS from the marine room back, leaving us behind. When we Cary asked about the 'easy' day plan, he said he had to go race pace for the relay. I was not one bit surprised as you all do this. I guess my ladder days mean I'm guilty too.
We have new girls in our pod: Beth and Sunshine, both are hard core nut cases and fit in perfectly, please let's try to keep them in the loop all year. Use whatever methods work; guilt, best swims evar!, bribery, anything. Guile, people! Practice guile!
Let's see, what else? I received an unfair and unwarranted speeding ticket on Mt. Soledad to the tune of $200. I was technically speeding but there were extenuating circumstances! I was behind a hundred year old dude in a Caddy! Do I need to say more? Because I get ruffled when thinking about it.
In order to offset my guilt over the cost of this unjust fine, I got a job! Calm down, I already quit because conditions have been really good and I can't lose sight of my priorities.
I quit the athletic club! That's right, I left the uptown digs and relocated to the street. I'm sure I told you all about it, over and over. I told complete strangers. I told Toni, Cami, Sunshine and Beth about a hundred times, I bored Claudia to tears. The rates and policies changed, not in favor of my budget, so I had to make a stand! I really dislike principles, they tend to make me do things I find difficult. Thus my Post Traumatic Stress. I need to talk to Wendy. It's her specialty.  So Dave bought me a bike, now I park far away and bike in to avoid traffic, hills and no parking. I love riding my bike, I sometimes join Sunshine and together we cause mayhem on the streets. Sunshine, the girl, not the weather, is prone to sidewalk riding, weaving, riding on the opposite side of the street, no helmet riding and Speedo wearing riding. I follow her for the entertainment. She makes it all very cute somehow, she rides her bike exactly as her name suggests.
Mostly I have been swimming. Everything revolves around the swim and I'm sure more things have happened but the I can't recall right now.
I'm so happy we are all still together, more or less. No matter how far away one might wander, it's cool to know that the pod will be welcoming upon a return, it's all about the love and we love the swimmers. Say it with me: We love the swimmers.
lftc-out
p.s. Cami has new fins! Magic fins like Cary's! She loves them. Diana has new fins too! Exactly like mine, magic fins all over the place.

Still Trashed and Trash Talk

Those crazy Gals.  I'm a slow learner, but let this be yet another lesson.... when someone anyone says 'wow, Im really tired... lets just take it easy'... its code talk for wear your freaking fins.  Monday LFTC, Sunsh and C-Rose and I took off in perfectly perfect conditions... CR was naked footed, me too... just a little jaunt out to the caves.... I mean really, LFTC almost didn't even come for unmentionable reasons... but it was convincing and took some coaxing.  Then she makes this subtle suggestion, fire behind her goggled over eyes,  lets do a little LADDER work, I think she called it.  Just go 50 strokes hard. um, ok.  Whew, that was fun. Lets head back.   uh uhmph.  It went 50 (which was only me doing 50 since apparently I didn't get the memo that they were stopping at 30 for some reason... Sunsh heading in circles again?....) then down in 5 stroke increments until we hit negative numbers then back up again like 12 times or something....   , suddenly we are almost to the .5, Im fried, heaving practically.. still have to get home and under glorious skies and calm flat warm (very warm) waters we jockeyed  in.  Dam, I feel like a gd olympian when Im out there sucking air and panting, rolling on my back, almost throwing up.  damit, nice hard ass workout yesterday.
Im tired.  Its like snarky race lingo, ya... I get it now.  These gals worked me.

NOAA practical jokers

A beautiful pre-Rough Water Swim today.  The NOAA website really threw me off, reporting ocean temps at 60.7 deg at 9 a.m.  WTF??!!  How am I going to do a 3 mile race on Sunday if the water temp is hovering at 60?  First panic ("I'm doomed!").  Then quiet resolve ("I've paid my $").  Then backup plans ("Bring hypothermia provisions to the race")....waitaminit, what's that snickering?....

Twas the nerds at NOAA having a good laugh at my expense.  The water temp was nowhere near 60.  Puleeeze.  I can't believe I fell for it!

Ruthy was the first person I saw out there.  RUTH!  She's done with her New Yawk job and ready to pack it up and head to warmer waters.  She was looking very laid back and relaxed too.  It doesn't take long for that Cal attitude to work its way into your mojo, does it?  She was done with her first swim of the day.  Little did I know she had multiple swims on her dance card today.  Good girl.

The water was smooth at 11 a.m.  Just a bit nippy inside the cove, but nothing unusual.  Everywhere else it was 68-71, I'd say.  Viz was so-so.  I did a training swim round trip to the shores, then round trip to the half, for a total of 3 miles.  I was impressed with myself; that last half mile was ugly.

Ran into Laura, Cami and Lyndee back on the beach.  I left Steve D a love note on his backpack.  We're doing the Gatorman this Sunday.  Because Heartland Parents ROCK!

glorious days of summer

Oh man. The sea has been ever-so-kind with gentle rollers, warm water and clear to the bottom visibility.... these last few days have been dreamy.  Today I solo-ed it for the second time in two days which makes me feel all high and mighty since this gal doesn't do that kind-a thing too often... but conditions have been epic.  Yesterday started off with a bang with honest-to-God,  LYNDEE down with sand between her toes at 10:30 AM!!  Sunshine (thats Sunsh for short) all sweaty and pumped up from spin class,  and of-course-Laura, our mighty LFTC!  Our route was wherever it was clear which was pretty much everywhere.... and then our fearless leader spotted this:  (for obvious reasons, I have a thing for spotted things....)

GO LAURA!!  Pacific Angel Shark..... good thing she didn't go in for a touchy feely, (remember when you did that Mighty Mer Cary?) they have a reputation for being quite aggressive and according to the guy at the Birch, more people are wounded from trying to touch these sweet fellas than all other shark injuries combined.

The rest of the swim was glamourous, with Lyndee working on her lung expansions and Laura and Sunsh taking turns kicking my ass at swimming in real fast... it was an aquarium like day to be sure!!  Round two was later in the day and clear and fabulous and wonderful too.... and nice to see our .25 buoy back where it belongs (more or less).

Lyndee brought some classic pictures to look at of her mom and dad back in the day... was that National Geographic?? Kevin was on cloud 9 reading and going back in time.
Vi, Lyndee's beautiful mother formed a group called the Sea Nymphs, details to come in the resurgence of this!!

Today, same as yesterday with a little Fall nip in the air... rumors were that things were less clear... but really? are we going to nitpick? its the best its been in ages, clear to the bottom, lots of floating bull kelp with fronds descending 12 feet..... swaying and drifting in the light... and not one HINT of red tide.  This girl has found her happy place, located about 2/3 of the way down, suspended in the midzone of clean clear water!!

Cannings are out of town, LFTC is out of town, Arno is back at work.... the rest of us are SWIMMING as we should!!

over.

Missed Saturday, not Sunday: Good Water Times

Need to post.
Saturday was painful and fun too. No swim was the pain. Bill went off to have fun with all yous and celebrate Claudia's day and I stayed home... for a good cause though -- a very special party!

Sunday morning wasn't going to be Tour of the Buoys... Party, Perseids -- what a night!  Sunday's swim was uniquely similar to many others -- where are we going? A-B-Corner? No, 1/4, 1/2, Corner! No, A-B-Corner and so on... Bill and Janie won and A-B-Corner in search of the GWBabyS-legend...

Did we find it? Nope! We found nice big leopards at the Marine Room, I saw lots of getting much bigger young baracuda, lots of fish and the cave. No GWBabyS-legend.  Let Claudia know we tried.
Great swim with Bob and Carol, Mark and Jo, the MCs, Ashley, Lyndee and not quite Diana, she went out a bit later with Lyndee's friend Lynn.  All good times... but here's the BIG deal, READY?

The MCs sat and listened to the tunes in the park for a while, simmering in the heat. Finally we said let's get back in the water, NOW.  So we had a wonderful no pants swim.  Nice... yes, it was very nice.
So that's my report... no pants swim in warm 70 degree water on a hot Sunday afternoon -- perfect!
~cary

Tour of Buoys, 2012

This will be a very brief post because there is little to report.  The weather was fab.  The water was flat and warm - 70.  The fabulous viz was wasted--on nothing to see!  For 2.5 miles of breathtaking clarity, all I saw was a couple of black jellies 10 feet down.  And bushels of those salp-thingys.  They were like so much flotsam floating on top of the water.  They were more plenty than seaweed.  I got a handful with every stroke some times.  I had to concentrate on not opening my mouth under water for fear of getting a mouthful of them.  They weren't yucky, just...OK, yucky.

The Tri Club did a great job of hosting.  From the breakfast munchies to the after-swim lunch.  Of course it wasn't all about the food...OK, it was all about the food.

I swam the 2.5 mi. in 1:17.  Doug swam it in...whatever.  My friend, Steve, too.  The first 5-miler finished in a blazing 1:39!  We left before the awards were announced, though.

Minute to minute swim report followed with Cookie Butter

Minute to minute report for Wednesday, August something or other. There is a birthday cake for Claudia, that's how I know it's August.
9am: I'm totally psyched about my swim for today, I am so going to rock this swim with my awesomeness, I can feel it. In fact, I'm going to skip the gym so I can really commit. You know, give it my all.

9:45: Stuck in traffic on the hill, on one side are giant trash trucks blowing black exhaust directly into my car, the other side are the are the tourists who are new to the planet and driving. My pre swim charge is at stake so I decide to use my overall pissed off attitude as fuel for the swim. That's right, ride that brake up the hill and go ahead, slow the f*ck down going downhill, I can take it.

10:00: Oh my God, what is going on? Why am I stopped? Where are all these people going? I hate the people and La Jolla. I put on my running music, it's all kind of hard charged, high BPM stuff, at least I'll be distracted while sitting in traffic. Damn.

10:10: Geez, finally! I peek down at the water on my way into the garage, it looks beautiful!
I'm back now, ready for my A game!

10:20: I grab Claudia from the garage, walk down and hear the report; aww, jellyfish everywhere, kelp everywhere, zero viz. I am not worried though, I'll avoid the Jellyfish, I don't mind kelp, we'll swim to Children's where it looks much cleaner.

10:30: I spot Ethan who is literally passed out on a bench, sweating his hangover off. Um, Ethan? Hello, you okay? He's fine as anyone would be after drinking until 3am, duh. I cannot see his eyes due to his tiredness. My partner, I'm so proud. We need to talk after this swim.

10:40: I swim out 100 yards and ran smack into a black Jelly, my entire arm snagged the sucker from wrist to shoulder. It's ok, I just need to get around take off, then I'll be golden.

10:45: The water is cleaner, way cleaner on this side but there is limited viz and a wild current beneath making me nauseous, ewww, I feel seasick! And, there are wicked cold spots which are shocking after the general 70 degree temps.

10:59: I wanna go back, I whine to Claudia. Claudia can swim in anything, she's just swimming along, unruffled by all, Ethan is too but for for different reasons.

11:10: I run into another disgusting black blob, this time my right armpit and neck. Gross and I'm stinging all over, my entire body is reacting with stinging sensations.

11:15: I'm sweating in the 70 degrees, I need to conserve! I'm dehydrated! What if I have an anaphylactic reaction! What is that? Something touched me!

11:30: Swimming across a minefield, kelp to the right, jellyfish to the left and in between lies the kelp/jellyfish nests. At least I am headed in, not even swimming now, just sidestroking and looking around for things that will hurt me.

11:35 I make Claudia collect trash from an infested kelp bed, it's for the earth, I tell her. She believes me and waded right into the mess to save the planet. I love her for this but I was so outta there.

11:45: I didn't even swim, I got wet and stung. And picked up trash. Isn't that like a scolding from your mom when you were a kid? Like some kind of torture?

12:00: I am in Trader Joe's buying large bags of snack food including something called 'Cookie Butter'. I have no idea what it is but it looked good and I had to soothe my soul after the trauma.
We ate coconut popsicles in the parking lot which was the hilight of my day.

There you have it: a minute to minute report.

lftc-out

just some of bill canning's birthday swimmers!
ralph, madison, grady, lftc, claudia, sunshine, bill, diana, anne, beth, phoenix, ashley, alexis, bill

Last week I ran into a distraught Cary in the parking garage, fretting and wringing her hands, all worried about her beloved Bill not having a swim group for his birthday. She sent out a little email but the real force was us peoples! The people who can sway the vote, people who can lure, at first with sweetness and if rejected can immediately resort to demanding, pushy, guilt trips and vague threats. Like 'don't make me come over there' and you know that's just scary. Even total strangers showed up, really! This photo doesn't show Wendy and her pal, or Teresa, a new girl I picked up from the sand. (it's just my way, people, I'm a swim floozy) Our group was far and wide today, we covered the cove with our awesomeness! 16 swimmers! Wow, really? I had no idea until just now. I guess that's how many of us it takes to fill Cary's shoes!  I know I safely speak for all the group when I say we missed Cary, Cami and Leonard and Lyndee very much and despite that, they can look forward to some bragging. Colorado, my ass.
I can think of one funny thing about the new girl,Teresa, she wanted to swim with us, she's heard good things, (who hasn't) but wasn't quite prepared for our love of distance, the zeal for adventure and the general hardcore. I mean, Dianadarling was present, it doesn't get more hardcore than Diana.
So Teresa kept stopping every 50 yards or so, popping her head up looking for the 'goal' and asking where we were going, are we there yet, where is it, what does it look like and so on. I kept telling her to follow the heads, go that way. She kept stopping though and kept asking the same questions: where is it? where are we? are we there yet? where are we going? which way? I could sense a bit of panic and I kept thinking that any moment now she'd get hysterical and start screaming; WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHERE'S THE BUOY? WHERE'S THE F*CKING BUOY? WHERE AM I? So when we finally reached the 1/2, she was out of there. Bye bye suckers, it was fun but later..
Wait until winter, woman, then complain. I wonder if she'll come back?
Thank you everyone for making Cary's plan work, for being the most beautiful and toughest swimmers around, for all your efforts to recruit or allow yourself to be recruited, for the effort to get there, it's not always easy. I love you all and let's do it again and again until we just can't. But don't be surprised if someone comes to tow you along.
lftc-out

Sharks and Merfolk

Swim when you can and as often as you can -- a wonderful idea!  Bill and I were lucky to make any swim at all today, since again, family plans have a way of occassionally infringing on swim time... Imagine that and I know you all can.  Despite all our hurrying around, we still managed to meet up with the mermaid sisters, Cami and Wendy (photographer of the day), and Lyndee. Looked like Laura and Claudia beat us out into the water before we could round up the stragglers...  we even ran into Mauricia (sp) and Kevin just going out while we were heading back to shore. Gorgeous day, despite the less-than-perfect viz and bit of algal bloom in the water.  Warm seas around 68 delighted us and we sailed on smooth rollers for a fun bump in our ride out in search of the soup fin...

Smile, then lets go find the sharks!

Bill found them too!  Happy days, as Wendy had her heart set on locating some... many fish and good times.  Here are some fun-tastic photos taken by Wendy.

A beautiful mermaid (guess who?) with the shark hunter in the shadows....

Why we are sooooo spoiled!  Great shot, Wendy.

Not great viz, but Wendy got some great shots.

Here they are! Bill pointed and we delighted in finding MANY sharks below.

So keep on swimming, team! Whenever you can and wherever you can find a beautiful blue sea like this.
~Cary