Beautiful warm sunny day today in Dana Point! It was 72 degrees out when I left for the beach at 10:30. I’m getting psyched for the cold. Warm air absolutely does not guarantee warm water. Based on the fact that yesterday felt like the coldest day all year, who knows what to expect? I stop for gas on the way and remind myself that $100.00 is the new $10.00!

I get to the beach and it is extremely pleasant: nearly no wind and silky smooth ocean surface. As I descend the stairs I make a concerted effort to focus on the birds singing, the waves crashing and the occasional jackhammer - the sweet songs of the rising mega mansion. All of these sounds give me peace, even the jackhammer. Once on the sand I can feel the water is still quite cold, but its a big body of water out there and who knows what pockets of warmth await?

I’d say surf is down another notch since yesterday. Still some solid sets but fairly mellow. The water is indeed cold but no ice cream headache today. As I continue south I feel some warmth here and there. Further south I see the same brown cloud I’ve been seeing for the past week. It’s super dense today. Very dark brown and almost red. It seems like I could reach out and touch it. Hmm…what monsters lurk in here waiting to emerge and bite off my arm. I definitely try to put those thoughts aside. There does seem to be a positive side to this disgusting cloud. It seems like it is adding some warmth to the water. This entire southern stretch is mildly pleasant.

After my turnaround point and reaching the more central to northerly parts of the swim, things do get colder. I feel like I am passing through patches of genuine warmth but then I abruptly hit a cold patch. These cold patches are particularly cold. Moving between the warmth and cold almost make the cold harder to bear, but overall I’ll keep the warm patches thank you very much.

I finish the swim and I’m feeling warm enough to not towel off and put on layers. This 70 degree sun feels good. Heading back up the stairs, someone says to me, “that has GOT to be cold.” He said he was out in his boat yesterday and the water temperature was 54. That sounds about right. Surfline updated itself yesterday morning to 57-59 degrees but I’m gonna stick with 54. What does Surfline know?