One More Swim Day

I’m granted one more swim day before the big surf comes tomorrow. This was unexpected with the forecast predicting another bump in size today but the morning report says it is smaller and at chest-shoulder height. So I decide to change into my trunks (still wet). It is supposed to be 8-10 tomorrow and bigger on the weekend so I want to get as much swimming in while I can. Sidenote: the bump did manifest after noon and now it is well overhead.

I manage to get out the door a little past 8:15. The skies are mostly cloudy and there are more clouds the closer I get to the beach. The air temperature is in the low to mid 50’s. My google weather app says there is fog but I don’t see anything prohibitive on the webcams.

When I get to the beach it does look smaller than yesterday. The average sets are close to the same size but I don’t see the intermittently larger sets roll in - at least not on the south side of the beach. Out off the point at Salt Creek it looks pretty big.

It is a 6.3 foot high tide and the water comes up to the rocks at the end of the sand. It’s still passable if you don’t mind wet feet.

I wait for the current set to pass and then make my way out. I dive under one breaking wave and then I am free and clear up to my longitudinal destination. The ocean does feel a little less volatile here than yesterday. It is not asleep but uneventful where I am.

I want to say the water is a bit colder today but it doesn’t bother me. I wonder if it is the surf that makes the cold more palatable. Perhaps my mind lacks the real estate to hold obsession with both temperature and surf simultaneously. I find that I ponder the surf in a similar way that I sometimes mull over the cold. It’s like a perfectly spherical stone that I push and roll and rub in my head. I can feel it. I can touch it. I am probing its boundaries and examining every bump and groove. It’s a fear that cohabits my brain and breaths on its own. If I can just breath with it, I can balance on its axis and minimize the friction.

I make it all the way to my southern turnaround. I can see waves pounding the cliffs but they all remain between me and the point. I turn around and wonder what it is that I am seeing down towards Salt Creek. Is that really whitewater? Exactly where is it? I hope it is well past my northern turnaround but without my glasses it is tough to tell for certain. Fortunately I know it should be obvious when I get close.

I head north and I can tell I am far out again today. I’m pretty close to a couple boats that I pass (or pass me) along the way. I can feel more and more light penetrating the cloud cover and I welcome that. Towards the end there are a couple pretty expansive kelp paddies that I try to swim around instead of through. They are super thick and I have to push their leaves own with my hands to make it over them.

The final leg of the swim is very similar to yesterday. I cut a diagonal line towards the asphalt ramp to get closer and closer to the shore as I make my way back. Then when I intersect with my modern boxy house, I pivot 90 degrees and head straight in without getting caught in any noteworthy surf.

I still feel like the surf report undersold the size but it was in fact smaller than yesterday and I am very glad that I came. I guess I will see you again some time next week beach. Please leave some sand on the shore.