A Sunday Six Pack Swim

Sunday's report -- the MCs are back... and had to get into the cold water before we forgot how!  I don't really know what Toni was talking all crazy about on Friday -- warm water -- you mean compared to the Bering Straits? So hot we're rippin' suits off here? No way, Jose! -- these MCs are not so M... but you knew that... all you no-pants-really-hard-core and VERY mighty merfolk -- you know who you are... you brave the cold every day... (so maybe Bill and I should be renamed the WCs for the wimpy Cs we are).

We did have a wonderful, muy bueno time in warm, sunny Puerto Vallarta... great water (though we got lazy and swam mostly in the gorgeous swimming pool and soaked in the jacuzzi) -- I blame it on Laura -- she made us too spoiled at the La Jolla Athletic Club, so what else could do?  R&R&R&R... now it's back to the cooler climes.  I drank a mango margarita for you, LFTC -- so hope you tasted it -- was so GOOD!

Greyness, coolness, funness at the coveness

The water today was a bone chilly 57 inside the cove... we raced to get out to the A and B where it was almost 60. Marta had her gauge on and Steve had his Garmin swimometer on.  Marta gave us temp readings and Steve reported on mileage -- A then B then caves, through caves, well almost but near crashing on the rocks so back out the caves and in gave us a mile and a quarter!  Nice work for a six-pack-swim team Leonard, Diana, Marta, Steve, Bill and me... fun times, good swim -- hope to see more of our swim peeps next weekend! Diana will be gearing up for her Kauai getaway, so hopefully we'll get to see her next week too. Keep that water temp going up...please?

~mercari

Friday swim

Friday swim.  My first in 3 weeks!  Ralph, LFTC, Claudia and Toni.  The fog was low, but hanging respectfully off shore for our swim.  We respectfully swam along the cliffs to the WH, just in case the fog changed course.  Curious sea lions above the water, but the viz was poor underneath.  So poor, in fact, that Laura and Claudia simply wouldn't continue in the murky conditions.  "REALLY?"  So there is actually a scenario that would turn those two dedicated swimmers back toward shore?  Dang.  We had one out of the three conditions needed for a good swim: 1)sun 2)flat water 3)warm water.  We had #3--warm water!  60 degrees!  It was like a boiling cauldron out there.  I wanted to tear my wetsuit off and bask in it.  Spring has sprung in the ocean.  Let the warming begin!

making ralph love the turtle...

swim report ala ralph: i'm going to ask you to imagine that ralph is giving this report, i don't think he has checked his email, ever, i texted him a year ago and he still has the message on his phone, nor does he know it's from me. asking him to find the blog, log in and report anything is a long shot. however comma, ralph has opinions and thoughts, i'm sure will be happy to hear that i spoke for him today. okay, here we go: "yeah, we saw the turtle today, it sure was special."    there you go! that is what he said to loli when we crossed paths, just like that in a low, calm voice. that was his story.
swim report ala lftc: ralph and lftc met at noon under the sun, looking at beautiful flat seas and 60 degrees. no homisurf? i'm in. we swam to the marine room with some viz, maybe 8' here and there, less in some spots, we made it all the way to the hotel when fog started rolling in so we turned back and found that weird rip that hangs out near the 'white house'. a heavy cross current was making me a bit dizzy when suddenly i see a big tan boulder rolling under me. wow, i'm really dizzy but no, oh my god! it's the turtle! a big turtle, a big light colored turtle right beneath me. i scream for ralph, (ear plugs, two caps) after i'm hoarse from screaming, he notices that i'm telling him something. the turtle, ralph, the turtle! his response? an enthusiastic "oh". um, what? are you kidding me? i grabbed his hand and dragged his ass over to where turtle was posing, waiting to give out autographs and made him look. if i had needed to, i'd of held his head under to be sure he saw turtle. he came up grinning and i knew i had a done a good thing by forcing him to love the turtle. i love the turtles, not only because they are magical creatures living in a place i love but because my very first sighting was with my very first real swim partners, cami and toni, they love the turtle too.    i had a very, very good swim today my friends.
i know you will appreciate both of these reports. i mean, some of the shyer people need the more expressive people to elaborate on the story, to bring out the color and deliver the vibe. color and vibe brought directly to you!
lftc-out

dear braggers....

easter swim report: i swam in coronado early to beat easter crowds, dave and ali came along too so i knew it was going to be a get in, get out and go home kind of swim day and so it was. but! conditions were outstanding, flat, calm seas, no waves at all, dolphins partying everywhere and sun shining down us. our coronado hostess has a take off locale and regular route which was from the north end of the beach to just past the hotel del and back for a 1.5 mile trek. it was very cool to see new stuff and swim a different course, especially with someone from that specific region.  the lifeguards were just as nice and helpful as our guys, the beach big and beautiful. we came up, ate candy like all athletes and got home before 1pm. wow, what to do with all that left over time. nothing, that's what. lounged around in a candy induced fugue state. i think it was the peanut butter eggs. i hate that.
and back to the beloved by all cove this week!
see you all very soon!
lftc-out

Sundaze swim...

Working on the house again on weekends, has  reduced our lounging-around-the-cove time, but we managed to make our way over again--fighting Easter crowds reminding us of summer-time.  The seas were calm and cool (57ish) without much viz again.  Saw lots of peeps today too, despite all the holiday gatherings.  Janie looked like a happy swimmer and was just coming in as we got there; Shane and Vic were heading out too.  Bob showed up for a lonely swim just as everyone else was heading home.

Steve and Alexis (Wendy's friend) joined us today for a fun smoothie of a swim. Glassy seas and a little cooler feeling greeted us today -- the sun didn't shine through like yesterday. Steve was on fire! Alexis zoomed and the MCs brought up the rear... Bill was falling to the back of the pack--his arms ached from all the scraping, priming, masking, painting warmup!  We headed to the Marine Room and noticed the poor quarter mile buoy finally bit the dust. The lifeguards found it adrift not from from the cove and rescued the very sad looking buoy, dragging it up on the beach. Quite a rescue.

Looking south past Children's Pool... beautiful, soft grey day.

We had to park in PB! Just kidding... we got a good walk to the car though!

Phoenix rode in on her chariot (actually a bike) and we lounged around on the grass for a bit together wondering how our Coronado Easter peeps were doing in the cold seas of the south.  She brought out some of her newest batch of wild jellies. I had to get the kumquaty one and then the grapefruity one and so on.  Can't wait to try them out!

A happy weekend swim... we won't be seeing yous around next weekend as we'll be heading to Puerto Vallarta for a week of warm swimming and relaxation -- margaritas, ole!

Looking forward to that... hope to see you the Sunday after our return on April 22.
~MCs away...

MCs Cruise the Seas

Saturday, happy day! Warm, sunny, gorgilicious day with a smooth, calm cove... a major relief after last weekend's Neptune's Revenge. With no swimmer-buddy plans, Bill and I managed to find our way to the cove (to beautiful a day to pass on) and were truly rewarded! Swam to the A-B-1/4-Caves and through the cave... soooweet.  The water is warming up -- 57ish with spots of warmer and cooler. The cove was nippy, but clear, the rest was not so clear, but the day made up for it.  A big highlight -- we saw our Leonard just as we were popping out of the cave... he was swimming late because of his big bike ride...  we had hugs all around on shore. We also chatted with Alexis (Wendy's buddy) who was just coming in and hope to see her tomorrow, along with Steve.

Note: Bill and I soaked in the jacuzzi (thanks for letting us be your guest, LFTC!).  I do plan to call Pam on Monday and JOIN us up... can you believe it? We got so spoiled that month (they knew we would), so we are going to have to join now... and that's that.

Missed all of you. Have a happy weekend.  Lot's of eggs, family and all that!
Next weekend we'll be flying off to Puerto Vallarta, so it'll be a few weeks before we see you all again unless you make it out for your Easter Sunday Noon Splash.
Hugs!
~the MCs