Redefining What is Comfortable

I left the house at 10:45 this morning. It is a perfect November day. The sun is shining and from the web cam, the beach looks beautiful and the water looks clear. The clarity really comes out in one of the Salt Creek cams, and I wonder could it really be that clear? It was like this yesterday too but I just couldn’t get to the water with everything I had going on at work.

It was cold this morning - 49 degrees at 5:30. I’m happy that it has warmed up nicely. I’m in a tight time crunch to get back here by 1:00 so I’m getting ready to head down to the beach before I even park. There is a little texture on the water and a noticeable breeze in the air, but everything is still relatively calm here. It’s quite nice, which is not at all unusual.

I let my hand slide along the top of the stairway railing as I head down to the beach. The rail feels cold in the shade and deliciously warm in the sun. When I get to the beach there are a couple kids playing on boogie boards in the water. They make it look warm. I’m expecting things to be a little cooler today since my last swim on Tuesday. Based on the buoy data, it seems everywhere is down about a degree. San Pedro is down to 60. I was reading my post from exactly a year ago and I had mentioned the water was in the mid 60’s. Ahh 2023, that was a very nice Fall.

The water does look clear from here and as I step out into the water, it looks down right spectacular. It also indeed feels colder, but with this water clarity, I can hardly notice the cold. The surf is practically non-existent.

I start to swim and my god…it is clear. It is like swimming in a pool. I want to say it is the clearest day of the year. I watch the pattern of lines from the light coming through the water and hitting the sandy ocean floor. Rocks appear here and there like black islands. I swim over them and watch the kelp that lives on them sway back and forth and glow a sort of dark reddish-orange as the light hits them.

I’m swimming south and ty to keep close to shore and enjoy this shallow clear water. I swim right at the outer edge of the reef that crates the surf break here at Strands but today no surf is breaking. There is a 2 to 3 foot ledge of rock that drops to a flat sandy bottom. About half way down the beach - just in front of the middle stairs - the reef peters out and it is mostly just sand until the south end of the beach.

I let myself get really close to the dominant, large rock here on the south end near the rocky cliffs. There are three birds hanging out: 2 gulls and a black bird with a red beak that I don’t recognize. I swim in between the large rock and it’s smaller sister rock just a few feet further outside of it. I don’t normally do this but it’s fine with today’s small surf and sort of irresistable given the visibility.

I really wish I had time today to swim around the point because it would be the perfect day to do it, but I do swim almost to the tiny beach near the entrance to the large cave at the bottom of the cliffs. It is the closest to the cliffs here I have ever swam. There are lots of shallow rocks here but they are easy to see and avoid today.

I don’t spend much time here but it is great. It’s also cold but like I said before, I’m too busy taking in the scenery here to really mind it. Also, it’s really not that bad. Sometimes I wonder if there will ever come a time when the cold just doesn’t phase me at all? How many years does it take? I’m on year five now.

The hardest days in the cold are right after a drop in temperature - especially a larger drop. Fortunately this drop has not been too extreme and I feel pretty good. There are days in the summer when a drop to 65 feels particularly challenging and days in the early spring when I just can’t wait for it to get back to 58. Eventually the body just adjusts and acquires a new “set point” that redefines what is comfortable.

Well enough frolicking around out here, I have places to go. Salt Creek being the next significant milestone to achieve. I turn around and head back for that big rock and then up to the northern end of the Strand.

The cold comes and goes. It actually remains fairly constant but my reaction is like a sine wave where I’m like “whoa it’s cold” and then pause to really notice and then shift to “it’s fine.” Back and forth…up and down. I try to really observe it in a neutral way because it really is a somewhat neutral sensation. It is my own mind that gives it its flavor. It is a sensation that interacts with my own biology and produces a strong reaction. If I approach it just right, it can feel good.

As is my usual trajectory it seems, I drift further out on the northern leg. I soon lose the ocean floor in spite of the clear water. The houses on the beach look far away. There are 2 or 3 boats out here that are now very close. They each have diver flags on them. I look around for signs of divers but see nothing. It is, after all, a large body of water.

Over the second half of the beach, I move from kelp tree to kelp tree. I can’t see the bottom but the tall vines and leaves that I do see are crystal clear and the water is so blue. I pause in the middle of a bunch of leaves floating on the surface. I look at the boats beyond me and then see something moving through the water and breathing heavily. Is it a dolphin? I wait and see it again. Oh it’s a seal (or sea lion). Will it come close? Sometimes they can be curious and playful. This one does not seem to notice me.

I keep swimming and soon I’m at the northern bathrooms and just short of the lifeguard tower. Not only is the water visibility great today but everything above is so crisp and clear like it was no Tuesday. Not Wednesday though. I wasn’t here but from my house in Capo Beach, I could see a dust storm kicked up from the Santa Ana winds and it looked pretty gross.

I head back to where I started. Actually, a little further. I swim all the way to the ramp. I quickly walk up the stairs. I meet another swimmer up top who also goes wetsuitless like me here and he talks about the water similar to myself. Hi Sam! Then I see Zeb for the first time in months. I absolutely love talking to people here. However I’m starting to get worried because if I’m not home by 1:00, I might just get served divorce papers.

It’s 12:45 when I get to my car. No fiddling with pictures before leaving today. I immediately pull out and I’m home at 12:59. Whew.