Normal and Expected

It is a beautiful beautiful spring morning. The temperature has climbed to 57 degrees outside and I leave for the beach at 11:00. Earlier in the morning when I check the surf forecast, I see the water temperature has deopped from 58 to 56. Keep in mind that is the high. So it translates to 54-56. I have to say my heart sank a little when I saw this. This is not the direction that I want to see the temperature moving in April. However, this was also totally expected. The winds on Monday made this pretty much inevitable. It’s funny I remember last April’s Easter and being confused if we were celebrating the resurrection of Christ or the water temperature. The water temps were rising to the low to mid 60s. Well 2023 has been a very different year than 2022 and we are just going to have to wait.

I considered just not swimming at all. I remember the 56 from early March and it was crazy. It’s the first time I felt maybe unsafe in the cold in that last 10 minute window of the swim. However, as I like to repeat to myself - I am not obligated to stay in the water for the whole south/north expanse. I’m pretty sure that today may not include that final 15 minute northern stretch.

As I drive to the beach, park and walk down the stairs, it is clear that there is value in this excursion already. It is just a gorgeous day. It certainly feels like spring from where I am standing. I get to the beach about two hours past high tide. It is probably in the low 4s or high 3s when I arrive and the water is coming up to the rocks but it is very walkable if you don’t mind wet feet. The sand looks like it has come down a bit. Oh come on! There is about a one foot drop from the end of the ramp to the sand.

There is a huge round boulder right by the end of the ramp. The other swimmers call it Jupiter because it does kind of look like Jupiter. One of the swimmers I talked to on Sunday mentioned that it actually moved this season. I have not been paying that close attention but I totally believe him. I could probably look back on some pictures and find proof.

The water touches my feet and my first thought is, “well that did not feel terrible.” I set my stuff down and head for the water. Before I am even shin deep, a shore breaking wake strikes the sand right in front of me and splashes my whole front side. Consider me awake!

The surf is present but pretty small. I get in the water and start swimming. Two thoughts dominate: it is cold and it is beautiful. It is absolutely colder than last week - hands down, but it is clear, smooth, and just delightful. It takes a while, a good long while for the sensation of micro explosives detonating all over my front side to subside. I’m not in pain or extreme discomfort but definitely in extreme something. I come to a calmer place about half way down the beach and feel pretty good.

I reach the southern end and still feel good and then head back up. My thoughts are pretty much dominated by this cold. How long can I go without coming out of my skin? What is in my mind and what is in the water? Does it even matter? I pass through patches that feel more benign and make me think I can last a full swim and then pass through a cold patch where “cold” just does not feel like the right word.

I decide to skip the northern leg. It’s just not worth toying with my abilities when I am over a hundred feet from shore. I can call it when I reach the spot that I entered and be well within my limits, but the northern stretch is a big unknown. Look, I tell myself, a 45 minute workout in 55 degree water is nothing to be disappointed with.

There is a guy standing on the shore right where I come in. He is going on about how he saw me and how impressive it was to watch. I start to say some words that just kind of fumble out of my mouth. I decide to just say “thank you.” I grab my stuff and carry it down the beach just a ways to where I have a good rock on stable sand to sit on and towel off. After drying I can feel the cold sinking in my core - this is normal and expected.

The entire walk up the stairs I am breathing breathing breathing and hanging onto each breath like a handhold on a moving truck. I am in a zone where I can’t find the boundary between objective and subjective reality - this is normal and expected.

I drive home and later shower and feel as though I am in a fog of confusion - what was it that I just experienced? Have I grown weaker this season or is it just colder than previous years? Well I know the answer to that question but still wonder. Then just before sitting to write this post I look at the updated afternoon surf report. The water temperature drops to 54. I know for sure that I have never seen such a low temperature posted for this area. Ok, this explains a lot, but I am telling you. Two weeks! Two weeks and it’s gonna be 60! I’ll keep saying “two weeks” until August if I have to.