Foggy then Hot
The pre dawn skies this morning were clear but by the time it got light, there was complete overcast and light fog here in Capo Beach where I live. The beach looked like it had decent visibility but by the time I was ready to leave the house for the gym, you could not see anything in the web cams. A total “grey out.” I went to the gym to do some elliptical, still grey. Then I came home, walked the dog and helped my wife with our todler and at 10:00 you still could not see a thing. So I did some yard work and fixed a curtain rod hanger that had been driving me crazy forever. 11:00 and still total grey. Every now and then you would get a peek of some sand and surf but then 5 minutes later it was gone.
Finally at about 11:30 it seemed like things were starting to move in the right direction. I slowly began to see Monarch Point in the Salt Creek overview cam and there was more and more beach showing up at Strands. The jetty was now showing up in the Doheny Boneyard cam. At about 11:45 I felt like things would be swimmable (I’d be able to see the shore) by the time I got to the beach.
Apparently I was not the only one heading this way. The traffic moving over the San Juan Creek overpass on PCH was stop and go up to Del Obispo. I also had to get gas and the Arco station there across the street from Doheny was having connectivity issues for credit/debit cards and that took some time.
Finally I get to the beach parking lot and it is beautiful. It is sunny, warm and the water looks clear and smooth.
As I am walking down the stairs the water looks so inviting. Despite the fog, the morning has been very warm and the water is a beautiful smooth blue green color.
As I get to the beach, the water temperature is posted at 67-69. Nothing wrong with those numbers. The surf is up from yesterday. As I make my way out in the water, there is a decent sized beach break that intersects with another wave to double its size and a boogie boarder is in the barrel. A really nice ride. I’m thinking that would have made a super cool picture. Then I realize that my camera is literally in my hands and can’t believe I missed it.
As I swim South, it feels like the water temperature average is the same as yesterday but the warm and cold spots seem more extreme. As the swim proceeds, it feels like it is getting warmer. Perhaps because it is turning out to be a particularly warm day.
I swim all the way to the South end without stopping to take in the sights. The water is clearer today. I see a bunch of fish at the South end and I hover around this big group of rocks where there is lots of cool kelp and several Garibaldi. Unfortunately the pictures just did not turn out all that great.
On the Northbound return I stopped quite a bit more as I stumbled across fish and kelp. Again, while most of this seemed very photogenic at the time, the actual photos were pretty poor. Basically, I don’t know what I am doing and just take a ton of pictures (today I took about 75) and hope that I get about a dozen randomly decent shots.
Today I notice that there are still 2 or 3 jr. lifeguard buoys in the water. Bob Marley is definitely still here but sadly the Green Monster is gone. I miss having a solid turn around point. Somehow I’ll manage.
I finish up the swim and am in a bit of a hurry to get home to see a movie with my son. We are going to see Where the Crawdads Sing. I absolutely loved the book and hear the movie is good (it was).
I never seem to have an issue with the heat of the pavement on my feet but today it is pretty darn hot towards the top of the stairs. It’s hard to believe that just a couple hours ago, you could not see the water from these stairs. Well you can now and it is pretty great.
