I’m leaving a little after 6:30 this morning. It’s about 53 degrees outside and the sky is clear blue with a few light wispy clouds here and there. The surf report says the surf has come down some today and I’m glad for that. I may not have swam yesterday if the report had come out before I left, but I’m glad I did.

As I pass Doheny driving over San Juan Creek, a set of waves is rolling in and they are quite sizable by Doheny standards so this makes me wonder what the size at The Strand will be which is usually larger than Doheny.

When I get to the parking lot the water looks smooth and I see Catalina off in the distance. Today brings more direct sun light than yesterday. The horizon fades from orange to yellow to blue. I can see the light shining on Monarch point bringing out lots of color and detail. The water surrounding it is a lovely blue and expands to forever.

I grab my pack with towel and clothes which I know I probably will not use, but it makes me feel better just to have it. I head down the stairs and I can hear the surf but it is not as loud as yesterday which is a good sign. My feet are cold. Once I’m on the asphalt road, I can see waves all across the beach but they are definitely smaller than yesterday and maybe smaller than what I saw at Doheny.

The tide is high and quickly approaching 6 feet. The beach is still under the shade of the cliffs. As I approach the water I can almost feel what seems to be warmth which strikes me as odd but the water may just be warmer than my feet are right now. I dip my toes and the water feels cold but not uninviting.

I put my pack on the rocks and remove my shirt. When I turn to face the water I notice a whole and very dead fish lying on the sand. I wonder what happened…so many possibilities.

As I walk out into the water the waves are breaking super close to the shore. The water here is very clear and I can see lots of rocks and a cool Wavy Turban Snail shell being moved about on the floor by the current of the passing waves. A wave approaches and breaks right over my head as I crouch into its face and I emerge out the back fully wet. I start swimming now. It is cold. Not as cold as last week but colder than yesterday.

I’m swimming south and hoping this ice cream headache subsides soon. I’m also hoping to find that warm water that I found yesterday. It never shows up but thankfully neither does the brown foamy muck. As I pass the little lifeguard hut, the sun is rising over the bluff and it is difficult to see the south end of the beach.

I make it to my big rock at the end and there are a few surfers just inshore of it. I am just about 15 feet west of the rock. Waves gently sweep over the rock and water pours off over the muscle covered surface of the rock. The headlands are just above me and there are a few fisher people standing on the rocks just above the water. I take in the view of both the cliffs to the south and then the entire northern coastline in the opposite direction. I’ve scene these views countless times before and they are never not beautiful.

I head back north. I feel good. No doubt about it now, it is colder than yesterday. I was so pleased with myself after yesterday’s swim. I went the entire distance without feeling particularly uncomfortable. I wondered, had I passed some milestone of cold acclimatization and now things will be forever easier? Well, today presents some challenge for sure.

As I swim north, I just try to keep my awareness on the cold. I examine how the skin over my arms and sides and legs feel. I’m feeling good but wondering just how much is left in me. My fingers are having difficulty finding each other and my hands feel like claws. I just keep swimming and eyeing the lifeguard tower ahead to check my trajectory. I keep asking myself how does the cold feel? How do I feel being here right now? I try to settle in to the answers to these questions which define who I am at the most basic level. Abstractions that paint a story of who I think that I am drop away out here.

About half way down the beach, the light from the rising sun shines directly on the water around me. I like to pretend that I can feel its heat. I stop and look back to the south end and can’t make out the point at all thanks to the glare of the sun. I point my camera in that direction anyways and take a shot, wondering what it will reveal.

I keep moving north. The cold is creeping in but I know I’m getting closer to the north end of the beach and I’ll be finished in probably 15 to 20 minutes. I know I have that much left for sure. I’m getting super close and I pause to look around. As I wade here motionless, I don’t feel bad. I gaze south and see figures heading my way. Are they Stand Up Paddle boarders? No. They are outrigger kayakers. These are not the multi person outriggers but several solo outriggers. There must be about 20 of them. They are heading right for me and I wait for them to pass me by. I exchange hellos and they continue onwards towards Salt Creek. Then so do I.

A little further and I can see the restrooms but I’m not exactly sure if I have passed them so I swim just a little further before turning around one last time. I only have about 10 minutes left now and I’m feeling colder now and know I’ll be ready to call this a swim once I reach the finish.

I watch the Niguel Shores houses on top of the bluff and come closer and closer to shore. I see the waves breaking just inshore of where I am. I am just a few houses short of the end and I feel some kind of turbulence just below me that kind of freaks me out because I don’t think it is from a wave and so my question is what is it from? I see nothing below me. I guess it will remain a mystery.

I’m not sure if I will need to make use of what is inside of my backpack once I get to shore. I am cold and toweling off sooner than later sounds like the right thing to do. However, once I am out, I feel ok and confident I’ll have to trouble getting to the top of the stairs. This last bit of shore between me and the ramp is beautiful. As I look back south, the beach looks all misty and glows in the light. I think I might be glowing too.