Capo

I don’t think I have labored over whether to swim or not more than I have today. I have not gotten in the water for a week - since last Friday. I really wanted to swim last Saturday but it was foggy all morning and I didn’t have time to wait for it to burn off. Then high surf rolled in on Sunday with 10 foot swells. It tapered a bit the next few days but still somewhat above my comfort zone.

I thought I could make it out yesterday but I could see it was still well overhead on the web cams. The thing is, I know I’d almost certainly be fine. It’s not like I have no experience in the water. However, trying to make it out through rough surf while undergoing the initial stages of cold shock and with no fins just makes me feel uneasy. I’ve done it several times before and have always returned but have now had enough experiences where it got super stressful and I’m just not sure I want to undergo that kind of stress if I can avoid it. Yet I just know that if I could get myself out there and see it all through, I’d feel so incredibly great.

So today the surf still looks on the large side. Interestingly, this has been a pattern for the last three years. Right around the holidays, a large swell rolls in and things stay on the larger side for a couple weeks. Soon, I’m sure we will be back to normal. Also, Strands and Salt Creek tend to be the breaks that respond the most to these swells from the north west. Looking at the surf reports, they have the largest size in all south Orange County.

Well since it is a Saturday and I have a little more time, I think maybe I should try a different beach. Just about anywhere will be smaller. I could go to Laguna which favors southern swells or the familiar San Clemente pier. OR I could go somewhere new AND the beach that just so happens to be the closest to where I live - Capistrano Beach. This beach is literally 5 minutes from my apartment.

Why have I never swam here before? Good question. I have run on the beach countless times. First reason: it is not The Strand - the beach of my forbearers and the place that just feels like home. Capo Beach and the adjacent Poche and Doheny beaches, I hate to say it, just are not as pretty as the Strand. They are by no means ugly, but they are within sight of traffic and lack the dramatic cliffs and rocks of the headlands. The other negative side of Capo, is the water entry is not as inviting. Throughout most of the year, Strands has a nice, flat and soft sandy floor through the surf. Capo, can be very pebbly and has a kind of trench just at the water’s edge that can make the surf suddenly rise and break large right where one gets into the water.

What Capo does have going for it today in particular is smaller surf. However, there is indeed surf. It is also just unfamiliar. It is always more stressful to swim in a new place especially when the water is cold and there is any surf of consequence. I question if today is the best day to test it out. One inner voice says, “Why not give it a try on a nice, calm Summer day?” The other voice says, “Just get your ass the fuck in the water.” Who do I listen to? That bullyish voice of course. Well, as I sit here, I’m glad I did.

I leave at 9:45 and sure enough I am parked by 9:50. Well that’s kind of great. Also, I am looking at the surf in the water that I can walk to in about 2 minutes. No endless staircase here. Now the surf that I see is not small but it is also not huge. It’s about shoulder to head high. There are also more surfers out here than I can ever remember seeing. Capo and south Doheny just isn’t a very popular surf spot. The waves can close out here leaving no shoulder to surf. However today is different. Shape is good and size is large by Capo/Doheny standards.

I exit the car wondering if this is really a good idea. Of course I am the only person here without a wetsuit and I wonder if that means I have a few less marbles than everyone else here. I enter the water just at the southern edge of the parking lot and the Beach Road houses beyond. This leaves me a small gap between me and the surfers. As the water hits my feet, it doesn’t feel terrible. It’s the same old cold I have grown used to over the last 6 or 7 weeks. Technically, this will be my first “Winter” swim of the season.

I need to start swimming pretty quickly with the above mentioned trench. It is taking me a good while to get past the shore break. Breaker after breaker rolls through without much of any lull between sets. After a few minutes I notice I have drifted south a few houses here on Beach Road. I’m wondering how stupid I look from the several onlookers on the shore. Look at that guy without a wetsuit or fins drifting down the beach and floundering through the white water. Was this all a big mistake?

Well fortunately the breaking waves feel pretty gentle compared to the stronger breakers at the Strand and eventually I do seem to clear the surf. I also realize I forgot to check the time on my watch as I got in the water. My watch says 10:00 and I’d like to be in the water for an hour. I figure I’ll swim for 25 minutes assuming it took me 5 minutes to get out here and if I finish in less than an hour, at least I’ll have my health.

It’s cloudy both on the inside and outside of my goggles. It’s hard to see much of anything. My skin burns with the cold. It’s a good kind of burn. I feel positively charged by the ions of the water. I should mention that I have no scientific basis for that last sentence and if asked, I could not give any kind of definition as to what an ion is - but it feels right. My back feels all tingly.

I can see the surf pack just inshore of me. I really don’t want to drift too far out here given the unfamiliarity I have with this beach. Also one signature characteristic of the surf at this beach is that there is an outside break called “Killer Capo” that breaks in larger swells. It is not breaking quite as actively as it was a few days ago but there is some intermittent crumble. The other interesting thing about the waves here is that they come in super steep and look like they are going to break much sooner than they actually do. So all throughout my swim I feel the undulating water rise and fall just underneath me.

I’m swimming north and facing the grey horizon that constantly moves up and down. I check my bearings every few minutes to make sure I don’t drift too far out. I notice I’m well past the rock revetement of Capo Beach and officially in Doheny territory. The Dana Point harbor jetty lies in the northern distance and the Coast Highway hotels are to my right. Every once in the while, instead of a pure horizon view greeting me as I breath, I see land. It’s the jetty and I adjust my direction.

There is another small group of surfers out here at Doheny. Again, it is super rare to see any surfers here in this southern stretch below the State campgrounds. I’m getting colder. I still seem to have full control of my hands and just wonder if I am mistaking my higher than normal stress level with cold. I know the best thing to do is try to relax. This is all well within my competency level. I’m going to be fine. Even more, I’m going to feel so great when this is done. I feel kind of great now actually.

I turn around at 10:26. I’m about half way into the two or three hotel/condos that line the other side of Coast Highway. Probably not far from Olimendi’s restaurant. I can see the washed out Capo Beach parking lot to my south. I’m not too far from the inshore break and I try not to get too close. As I look towards the beach now, I see white water bounce and splash up as the waves break. I watch a wave just outside of me start to crumble and then reform and slide underneath me.

This whole swim, there has been absolutely nothing to see below the water’s surface. No hint of any kelp anywhere. Just varying shades of grey and light blue.

Now I’m back to the rock barrier that separates the ocean from the long ago destroyed basketball court that used to exist in the parking area of Capistrano Beach. Now I’m re-entering the surf lineup and the slopes of breaking waves become visible. Soon, I’m slightly inside of the homes of Beach Road - time to swim to shore. According to my watch, it is about 10:45ish. I honestly do not care if I have not been out a full hour. I feel like I have had a full and complete experience here in the water. Ends up according to my picture timestamps, I was in the water for 59 minutes - good enough!

I enter the surf and it is relatively forgiving but there are plenty of breaking waves that roll over me. It takes a good while to feel the bottom and by the time I do, I am basically on shore. I made it! See? Not so stupid after all.

And now another down side to this beach - no shower. Also I have to admit that I miss those stairs at the Strand. I’m at my car with no opportunity to decompress or process this experience. My feet are shivering somewhat violently and I’m trying to keep steady on the accelerator without driving like a crazy person.