Nothing 65 About This

I’m leaving home a little before 10:30 and it is a beautiful sunny day out with a few stray clouds out and about near the water. I really wanted to get in the water yesterday since the water temperature was so nice on Sunday, but I just couldn’t make it happen with my meetings. I was afraid it might be the last day to take advantage of the warmer water. Yesterday was pretty breezy and I swear I could actually see the water temperature plummeting through the web cam.

Based on the local surf reports yesterday afternoon and this morning, you’d think Winter was here. Yesterday had the warning to “bring extra neoprene” if getting into the water tomorrow. They rarely say anything about the next day’s conditions in the live report. Last night’s water temperature forecast was titled “Well, we had a nice run.” This morning the live temperature reading was downgraded to 65 and the report mentioned that we lost a “few degrees.” I’m reminding myself how great 65 really is, but boy I love that 70 degree water.

The wind is certainly more calm today. The ocean surface in yesterday’s web cams looked pretty chewed up. Today looks more smooth than it has in a few days. As I pass Doheny on the way over, it looks pretty darn inviting. It does not look cold at all.

I get out of the car and the sun feels pretty great. Before dawn this morning I saw my first sub 60 air temperature reading in months, but we seem to have recovered now. It was 68 when I left the house. I walk down the stairs and the water looks lovely and I can see the swell lines roll over the water. Remember, 65 is warm. Besides, my body could use to move my current “set point” in preparation for the impending Fall and Winter. Bring it on. I’m ready to get cold.

I get to the sand and I see more of the top of the Jupiter rock than I have in some time - not a lot more, but maybe the top 6 inches is exposed. I dip my foot in the water and I almost flinch because it is warmer than I expect. Where is that bite? Oh it must be the sun playing tricks on me.

Soon it is time to walk into the water and I’m really not sensing any dramatic cool down. I start swimming and sure maybe the temperature has come down a degree but there is nothing 65 about this water. It’s super nice and I’m delighted. The sun is shining bright and I can hardly think of a better place to be right now.

What has gone down is water visibility, but I can totally live with that. Swimming right here right now is such a joy. All is good until half way through the swim, my camera starts going crazy. Fortunately I know what is going on. Water leaked into the plastic housing which is ok because the camera is water proof. As drops of water roll over the touch screen, they mess with the controls. I should have locked the screen. So now I am on the one hand utterly annoyed with the camera situation, and on the other, completely delighted with my immediate environment. I try to ignore the former. I’ve taken well over a thousand pictures here and I’m sure I’ll take thousands more.

The whole swim is great. The wind picks up just a tad toward the end of the swim which puts a nice sparkle on the water’s surface. There is no one else in the water and hardly anyone on the beach.

I finish up and when I get out of the water, I reset the wacky settings on my camera. When I get to the top I notice the unclaimed bottle of shampoo at the showers that I first saw on Sunday is still here. It looks like it has gotten some use. When I get to my car, the majority of the photos I had taken are erased from my phone. I’m just going to have to let those go. Thankfully I didn’t see any Orcas or Blue Whales today early in the swim.