It has been 10 days since my last swim. I don’t think I have gone this long without a swim since I started this in the Spring of 2020. The first half of January has turned out to be very swimming unfriendly. We have had several days of rain and we have had large waves. Last Friday included some of the largest waves I have ever seen at the Strand that were over 12 feet. I came to watch that as a spectator. Today the size was still larger than “normal” but we have a bit of a lull in the huge wave category. Tomorrow calls for more 8 foot waves growing to 10 feet overnight and then possibly 4 days of rain.

I remember while growing up here (and when I payed far less attention in the Winter than I do now) we would occasionally get Winter storms with locally large swells. Over the last couple years I just figured I must have been misremembering things but here we are. We have definitely had bouts of larger surf that I would skip but that usually only lasts a couple days.

So I am watching the Surfline cam in the background while working this morning. It looked pretty tame and there was a good handful of surfers out. It is easier to get a read of the surf size when there are surfers on the waves. Last Friday, at the peak of the huge west swell, there were no surfers out and from the web cam, the waves looked like they could be 4 feet. When my wife and I got to the parking lot it was still hard to get an idea of size. It wasn’t until we were on the beach that the waves looked like giant walls. It was kind of unsurfable because there was nowhere to go on the waves other than get totally pounded.

Anyways, at 10:00, I decided to leave for my swim. Today is the warmest day of the week and it is almost 60 and partly cloudy skies. I’m really really looking forward to a swim. I feel like I am about to dry up and turn to dust here.

I get to the parking lot and things feel super peaceful here. There is almost no wind, I have a clear view of Catalina, and the ocean surface looks super smooth.

When I get to the beach, there are two lobster traps that have washed up to shore. I can also see a trap buoy floating pretty close inside. The high surf must have drug those cages in. When I was here Friday, waves were breaking very far outside and likely breaking over some of the buoys.

The tide is approaching a modest 4.2 foot high. However, so much sand has been swept off the beach that even that modest tide brings the water almost all the way to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. I pause and wonder if I should start my swim elsewhere. The tide will come up while I swim and I don’t want it to wash away my backpack and I don’t want to end up coming to shore with no shore. Well there is no great alternative. I think it will be fine.

A ton of sand has been scraped off he beach. Rocks that would be at waist height, I need to climb up a couple rocks so that I can barely reach them. I do just that and lay my backpack up there where I know it will be untouched by the surf.

Also, what would be a nice sandy jaunt to the water is a rocky scramble. I delicately make my way into the water. The temperature does not seem much different from what I recall when last I swam. There are small waves breaking just off the shore. So I am almost immediately immersed in the water as I duck into a wave face and pierce through to the other side. Well, I’m wet now. Soon I’m off and swimming.

It is between sets right now and I want to try to get out before getting caught in a larger set. I make it past the white water but I see a set building further out. I barely make the first wave. While these waves are breaking pretty far out, they are really not that big and they are kind of mushy probably thanks to the high tide. I’m not gonna make the next wave and I dive under about 10 feet in front of the white water. I make it through without incident.

A couple more wakes and then I am home free and veering south. The water is cold. Not super cold. But it is super great!

I’m swimming a bit further out than normal but not incredibly far. There is no water visibility out here. I don’t see an inch of the ocean floor or any kelp swaying from the ground the entire swim.

I feel my body adjusting to the cold and emitting a mild burn from my center. I think to myself that I can swim forever in this water. Then an amazing thing happens. I come into what almost looks like a clearing in the water. The color becomes a more pure blue-green. It feels almost warm. I come across these clearings a few times on the swim and each time I feel a noticeable increase in warmth. No complaints there.

Regardless, the cold is good. That creeping, frigid closing in of cold that I often encounter in the second half of a swim never comes today. Over the entire swim, the cold feels like a sort of blanket encasing me.

I am keeping a close eye on my trajectory. I want to remain clear of the surf and don’t want to end up as far out as I was on my last swim. The light is well subdued from the very thin cloud cover but I sense the sun making a stronger showing as the swim progresses. As I head north, I watch the horizon and see a couple fishing boats along the way. My thoughts are still. I’m not really thinking of anything. I’m just resting in this state of suspended animation with no real desire to be elsewhere.

Well, before long it’s time to come back to shore. I’m curious what the state of the shore will be. I swim and swim and things seem to remain pretty calm. As the houses begin to look really lose I see a set come and just keep heading east and let the wave break over me and push me. I get to where I can stand up and I do see a few feet of small rocks between the water and the rocks where my backpack rests.

I get out and navigate over the rocks to the larger rocks. I climb up and grab my stuff. There is really too much water breaking right here for me to towel off and put some clothes on. I decide to make my way to the stairs and by the time I get there, I decide to keep up this momentum and wait to towel off at my car.

I’m hoping to make it bac here sooner than 10 days this time.