Caught in the Kelp
Spring is definitely in the air today. It is a perfectly blue sky and the temperature is approaching 60 degrees. I leave the house at 10:15.
Doheny must have opened back up because I see many surfers out and spread over the different breaks of the beach. It is not quite the crowd you would usually see on a Saturday but it is good to see surfers in the water again. However, I ran along the jetty on Wednesday and the water breaking against the rocks looked pretty disgusting. It could have been just dirt but it was definitely not attractive.
When I get to the Strand I can’t quite make out Catalina from the haze on the horizon but it is a gorgeous day. The water looks calm. The air is just a bit cool but not cold.
When I get to the beach, the sand has definitely made more progress even since yesterday. Now the entire base of the ramp is covered in sand. Also I can now walk up to the edge of the base of the bluff without needing to climb up or over any rocks.
I walk out to the water and approach the small surf. It is pretty sandy for a good few feet and then I swim just before getting to the boulder field. I make it out past the surf pretty quick and start veering south.
It is such a bright sunny day but man this water is cold. I’m convinced that even without any radiating surface heat, just the vibe of the sun makes the water feel warmer. If it was cloudy and windy I’d probably feel colder.
Eventually I find my happy place. I’m trying to just stay with every stroke and feel the goodness of the water all around me. There are a few warm patches that helps my body to relax.
On the way back north, I get tangled up in some seaweed and I have to stop and unravel it from my camera.
I proceed north. The water is definitely feeling cold as I approach the northern bathrooms. I try to keep my mind relaxed. Every now and then I have to look up to make sure I am tracking toward the Salt Creek lifeguard tower and to gauge my distance to the bathrooms. I try to do this as seldom as possible and I wish I had some kind of on board guidance system so that I could just lose myself right where I am at now. I have been noticing over the last few weeks that I enjoy not thinking of those bathrooms (my destination) and just settling into my stroke.
As the swim continues, it becomes harder to feel my feet splashing the ocean surface. Eventually it is time to turn around and I stop to catch my breath. It is hard to tell if I am out of breath from the effort of the swim or the cold - probably both.
I head back and the beach just looks like summer but this water feels like winter. I’m betting that things are gonna turn around in the next two weeks. Of course I could lose this bet. We are due for a major blow through of NW wind on Monday - not good at all for water temperature. However the air temps are due to warm significantly after that. Of my three winters, this is the first where the water is still below 60 come April 1. However I am not at all surprised given this crazy winter.
I finish up and make it back through the rocks near shore much more easily than yesterday. There is less surf today which makes it easier to see what is beneath the surface.
I towel off and head back to the asphalt road to the stairs.
I am delighted to find that the little lifeguard hut here is open. Now that makes it feel like spring. I sense the water temperature heating up already. Then I read the little placard with the day’s stats. It reads 58 degree water temperature. Ok, back to reality.
