Return of the Buoy

Before swim

Cloudy but pleasant morning today. I left the house at about 9 and it was 59 degrees out. I could see just a bit of blue poking through the cloud cover. Passing by Doheny the water looked bumpy and very grey. When I got to the Dana Strand parking lot, the water looked very ruffled but not at all choppy.

I was not sure what to expect of the water temperature. Monday was indeed an improvement over the chilly weekend, but today lacks Monday’s 70 degree direct sunlight. However, the past couple of days have been seeing consistent southerly eddy winds which fare well for rising ocean temps. There is 62 degree water sitting to the south of us and this wind is pushing it up our way. Surfline temperature readings have been kind of inconsistent with reality. Sunday they updated to 57-59 but I really think it was colder. Then as the water warms on Monday it gets updated to 56-58 and later that day 57-58 where it still sits today. My body says it was 58-59 today.

The water did feel warmer to my feet but who knows what kind of personal subjectivity is at play there (probably a lot). The initial plunge felt cold but no colder than Monday. Surf size was small to mediumish like Monday. However all week the waves have been breaking further out than they have in a while. That definitely takes the mind off the temperature as you swim under break after break past the waves.

After swim

Water visibility was nil as it has been for the past couple weeks however no brownish-redish cloud hovering at the bottom today. Just murky. All in all it was a really nice swim. It got progressively sunnier throughout and the cold was not crazy. My mind felt relaxed and it felt good just to let my thoughts go and focus on the water and the movement of my body for an hour. The final push from the bathrooms at the Salt Creek point to the finish felt like swimming through rapids. The wind had definitely picked up since I started and I enjoyed this vigor.

One highlight was that the lifeguards had anchored a buoy at the north end. There will probably be more soon and that makes it feel like summer when I will regularly see and encounter an army of Jr. Lifeguards on the beach and in the water. I remember 40 years ago when I was a Jr. Lifeguard near the San Clemente pier. Those were mostly good times (sometimes scary times). It’s great to see these kids enjoying the beach. Last year they had about 5 buoys out with names like “Big Bob,” “Little Bob,” “The Monster,” and “Bob Marley.” This one was just named “Lifeguard” - c’mon people we can do better!