I left at about 7:30 and skies look similar to what they were yesterday. There are big puffy clouds in all directions of the sky but it is predominately blue over my neighborhood. No rain in the forecast today but who knows.

When I get to the parking lot the water looks fairly smooth but wobbly. We had some fairly strong onshore winds over night that have just calmed down but the ocean is still recovering.

I also see a scattering of dots all over the surface. What are those things? They are not surfers. They are not birds. You know, I think they are lobster trap buoys. Wow. That is a lot of lobster traps. I mean they are all over the place. There must be at least 50 of them. For some reason Indra’s Net comes to mind - the Hindu myth of the infinite net spread out over the entire universe and held together by these jewels that reflect every other jewel in the net. I can see the net and it is made up of lobster trap buoys! Who would have known?

I walk down the steps and am wondering how the water temperature will be. I figure it will be colder than yesterday due to last night’s West winds, but I don’t think it will be crazy colder. I’m sure it will be fine and if I’m a little cold, I will absolutely be warmer than the 1915 crew of the Endurance - the Antarctic explorers I was reading about last night. I can go home to a warm bed. They could not.

Yesterday afternoon I was down here with my son. It was rainy and not exactly warm but the water did feel quite warm on my feet. There was a south wind blowing at the time so we were getting that warmer water that has been sitting south and offshore of us shoved our way. However the direction steered more westerly last night.

When I get to the beach, it looks spectacular like yesterday. Lots of huge clouds mixed with open blue sky. What clouds there are do not look so ominous today.

I feel the water and it feels warmer than I expected. In fact, it feels warmer than the water I remember swimming in yesterday. As I walk into the shallows I am convinced this not going to be a problem at all whatsoever.

The surf has come up ever so slightly today. It is small stuff but there is stuff. As I am walking out, a set comes in and I can see the first wave just about to break in front of me. I make a bit of a run for it and dive just below the base of the wave before the lip touches ground. I then swim over the following waves in the set.

It is great out here. The sky is beautiful, the water is probably pushing 68 and the surface, just as I observed from the parking lot, is smooth but all over the place. The clouds dim the light just enough to eliminate the glare of the sun just above the bluff.

I swim south today. The water is relatively clear compared to recent weeks. It feels clean and fresh. I swim through what feels like warm patches frequently.

As I near the southern edge I see what looks like a squad of standup paddle boarders way out past the outer rocks. I’m not completely sure about this. The water is constantly rising and falling in front of the horizon and I don’t have glasses here and thus cant get a firm lock on what is out there.

I don’t encounter any lobster trap buoys on the initial southbound leg of the swim because I am swimming fairly close inshore. After I turn around and head north, it feels like they are all over the place. There are definitely more than I saw Friday. It’s also not like there is a line of them either, they are scattered inshore, offshore and all over. Which lines up with what I saw from the parking lot.

I usually like to stop and take pics of the buoys and I certainly do so but I’m not stopping for all of them. Some are just going to have to go undocumented.

I keep swimming and just enjoy watching the view of the clouds smattered about the horizon and the water feels so refreshing. Looking west it feels like it just goes on forever and the clouds are an entity all unto themselves.

I make my northern turnaround and head back south to finish the swim. This section seems to go by quickly. There is a pair of body boarders just south of me as I reach shore.

I head up the ramp, the asphalt road and then take on the stairs. I rinse off the salt water at the shower and change into normal clothes. I feel like I am really beginning to master this “change underneath the towel” technique. I think the trick is to not care so much about being seen and just change your damn pants.