Lobster Season
I have a narrow window of opportunity to get to the water between dawn and a 9:00 meeting. I am summoned to an impromptu meeting at 6:15 and manage to leave at 6:45. I don’t have any time to dilly dally if I am going to make that meeting. I want to weigh the pros and cons on an early swim vs. a later morning swim. I cut myself off and decide not to over think this. Lets get wet now and let history be the judge.
Skies are overcast this morning and judging by the density of the cloud mass, I don’t think we are going to be seeing any sun or blue sky before I return home if at all. Of course I could always be wrong, but I set expectations accordingly.
I get to the parking lot and am pretty focused on getting to the beach ASAP. I don’t even have time to dread about getting cold. I plan to maybe put a little extra pep in my stroke today so maybe that will raise my heat production (not likely).
As I round the bend on the asphalt leading to the sand, I can see what kind of looks like a small group of surfers out at what must be past the surf line. It seems odd. I don’t think anything is breaking there and they don’t quite look like surfers. I don’t have my glasses on and the light is dim in the early morning cloud cover. Maybe they are standup paddleboarders? I just don’t know.
It’s medium tide and it is on it’s way to a 6’ high in just a couple hours. On the way to my entry point, I pass two guys who don’t appear to be swimmers or surfers but look like they are heading into the water to get wet. I see my first Long Billed Curlew of the season prancing on the sand.
I make my way in and the temperature is not bad. On a cloudy early morning it just feels like it can’t be anything but cold in that ocean but I am hoping to be proved wrong. By the way, I am often proved wrong especially on this exact topic.
Surf has come down since a couple days ago but there is still something here to ride and there is a small group of surfers out. As I swim south just beyond the main reef, I feel and watch the waves roll by.
The water actually feels great. I would even say perfect. It is not “warm” in the technical sense but it is not at all cold and feels quite nice especially once I get into my rhythm. I’d say it is 67ish. Whatever reservation I had about a dawn patrol dip, is long gone and I’m now convinced this is the best place I could be right now.
The water looks dark below me. That bright electric blue from Wednesday is nowhere to be seen. Regardless, it is good. The grey feels peaceful and I have this sense that I have discovered something for the first time.
I am still reading Endurance, the Earnest Shackleton Antarctic story, and just last night I read about their landing on the shore of Elephant Island. They were likely the first humans to ever set foot on it and I guarantee you that their water was MUCH colder than this. In fact as I think of this, the landscape here is about a thousand times more benevolent than the shore they arrived at. Just imagine if Shackleton and crew landed here instead. No matter, it had been well over a year since they had seen any kind of dry land and they were pretty darn happy to walk on something other than ice.
I reach the south end of the beach and turn around to head north. I’m not too far up the beach and I see something floating on the water just beyond me. I stop to have a look and it is a small buoy. Lobster season. Is this the first day? I know it is sometime in early Fall so this would make sense. Maybe that is what I saw coming down the asphalt - people on small craft laying out their traps.
I continue north and I see these buoys spread out all the way up the coast a couple hundred feet or so apart. I pause to approach a couple and get a better picture. I know this potentially messes with my odds of making that 9:00 meeting but the first day of California’s recreational spiny lobster season only comes once a year.
They are several different colors - well three - green, blue and purple. At one point I notice a large clump of seaweed gathered near the surface and then see it is hanging off of a rope. I lift my head above the water and there is a blue buoy right in front of my face. I’m getting close to Salt Creek now and see a lifeguard truck driving along the small road at the bottom of the bluff heading toward the tower on the point.
Soon I am at my turnaround spot in front of the bathrooms. I just can’t believe how great this water feels. Ok, back to finish this up and then race back up the stairs.
When I reach the shore, the tide looks like it has come up quite a ways since I started. I see two standup paddleboarders just south of me trying to paddle into the small waves and the pack of surfers has expanded quite a bit. The water breaking on the shore looks vibrant and blue perfectly offsetting the grey sky.
I pick up the pace and head up the stairs at a near jog. I rinse off the salt water at the shower by the bathrooms and then extract my keys from the lock box hanging from my car door.
No time to preview my pictures, I grab my cell phone to check the time. It’s 8:30 - perfect! I’ll be home by 8:45 with ample time to get dressed before my meeting. I also google recreational lobster season and sure enough, it starts today September 29th. Officially it starts at 6PM but I assume that is the time when they can check the traps.
