I left at about 10:00 and it is sunny and warm - over 70 degrees. I’m really looking forward to this swim. Work is crazy busy yet I can’t NOT go - conditions are just too perfect.

I get to the Strand and it is definitely north of mild. The ocean looks beautiful all the way down the stairs. According to the surf report, the surf is supposed to be slightly up but I am not seeing it.

The lifeguard station says 65 degree water temperature. I’m not exactly sure what is going on with the roller coaster here. We were at 68 a few days ago. Sunday afternoon all of the local buoys were showing 70 or above, but yesterday’s water temp forecast said south Orange County had a bit of a dip and Surfline has more localized temperature data than just the buoys on its app so I guess we shall see once we are wet. Still, I can’t complain about 65.

I walk to my takeoff point and I’m still not seeing any surf of consequence. The water feels about the same on my feet as it has the last couple swims. Oh…and it is beautiful here. The tide is lowish and the sky is blue as can be.

I start to walk out and the water feels cool but no cooler than usual when first getting in. I make it to where it looks like the surf has been breaking and then a larger set finally rolls in that breaks further out. Still, it’s not all that big but it is fun to dive under.

I head south and the water feels good. I don’t feel any dip. It’s relaxing and soothing to just swim in this pleasant water and watch the sunny shore glide on by. It’s hard to get a feel for what way the current is moving but it seems as though I get to the south end of the beach pretty darn fast.

I turn around and start swimming north. I let go of my mind in this blue water and try to let it plot its own course. I want to lose myself in the vast horizon and merge with the pure blue sky above.

Every few minutes I look ahead and position myself to point toward the cliff that sits below the Ritz Carlton. Every time I look, I’m facing Laguna and San Pedro and I have to turn myself to the right. I start to look up more frequently but I still find myself swimming westward regardless of my course corrections so I try to over correct and head toward the Niguel Shores houses on the bluff just south of the Ritz.

I’m starting to feel like the Ritz and lifeguard tower area just are not getting any closer. I write this off as my own natural distortion of time and just keep swimming. It’s really the only thing I can do. At some point my inner clock feels like I should be to the northern end already or at least in the neighborhood. That cliff still looks far away. I stop to look around and I am hardly a third of the way down the beach. What is going on?

I start to point myself towards the asphalt road and lifeguard hut which is about two thirds down the beach. I’m pretty far out and it would just feel better to be closer to shore to quell any sense that I am drifting out to open sea. I swim and swim and swim and things just feel like they are not moving. Maye a little bit? Hard to tell. Certainly no significant headway is being made. I swim and swim and swim and now it really does feel like I have been out here a long time and I’m getting kind of tired. I can see I have made some progress but it is so slow.

Finally I manage to get close to the boardwalk. I’m wondering if I need to finish early and skip the northern leg of the swim. It just feels like I have been swimming for well over an hour already. I eventually reach the lifeguard station and sense that I am not so far out. Now I start to feel like I’m moving a little faster. I decide to just swim the whole course and if I’m late, I’m late. My OCD just can’t stand to end early when I am not in any clear danger.

The rest of the swim does seem to proceed at a normal pace. Also it looks like the ocean surface has settled a bit, but it was not particularly rough before. The wind has not been noticeable the entire swim. And it is very much worth noting that much of the swim has felt very warm. Certainly warmer than 70. Now that I am closer inland, it feels a little bit cooler and I actually welcome this coolness.

When I turn around for the last time at the northern bathrooms, the day looks truly beautiful. It has that afternoon look in the light but I expected to be home by noon. I am very curious what time it is.

I finish the swim and just love the warm walk up the stairs and the shower feels refreshing up top. I get to my car and once I turn the ignition, my clock turns on and it is 12:35. What? When I review my photo timestamps, I figure I was in the water for an hour and 50 minutes to take a swim that usually lasts an hour. That is definitely the longest that swim has ever taken.