Sailors in the Water

I’m leaving the house a little after 11:15 and I have a little different plan today than usual. I’m going to start with a run and then finish with a short swim. I’ve been noticing for a few weeks now that my hip flexor muscle has been feeling sore after swims. It’s been getting noticeably worse and I’ve been easing up a bit on my swims and I’m afraid I may need to take a bit of a break so that this does not turn into something bad and force me to miss out on swimming during the peak summer months. It’s such a beautiful day today that I just want to get wet if nothing else so I am hoping that maybe a half swim will keep my hip flexor from getting overly inflamed.

This is the nicest day we have had in well over a week. It’s 62 degrees out, clear skies and very little wind. When I arrive at the Strand parking lot, the water looks truly inviting and is probably the smoothest I have seen it in a while. However, I’m pretty sure it is darn cold. I know it’s probably not going to be any warmer since Thursday and probably a bit cooler. Looking at the buoy data, the San Diego county buoys have been pretty stable with Oceanside a sultry 62 but San Pedro is down to 56 this morning which is 2 degrees colder than it was on Thursday. Well, especially if I’m only going to be in the water for 30ish minutes, who cares how cold it is.

I park and take an utterly delightful run up into Salt Creek beach and then back down to the Dana Point Headlands trail which I have not been on since before Covid. The water looks so delightful. The Salt Creek lifeguard tower says it is 57 degrees but it looks like it’s 80 from up here on top of the bluff.

I get back to my car after the run and change into my swim trunks and head down the stairs. The water looks so great from here. I’m really looking forward to this swim. The beach is beautiful and it’s about a mid tide right now. I head into the water and it is indeed cold. That’s ok. I’m ready for it. I dive under some oncoming white water and take it all in. As I start swimming, I feel an “ice cream headache” coming on. Oof. It’s ok. It will be gone in a couple minutes.

I’m heading north for a change today and by the time I’m close to the northern bathrooms, I’m feeling totally great. The cold feels good. I’m trying to teach myself to swim while turning my head to my right which is the opposite of what I am used to. In researching this hip flexor issue, I have read that alternating ones breathing side can help even out muscle imbalances across both sides of the body. Doing this feels totally weird and unnatural. It’s almost exactly like teaching myself to swim. I’m getting close to the lifeguard tower and imagining the guards look at me through binoculars and assume I am drowning as I flounder here in the water.

As I cross the point the water temperature fluctuations feel like they are going crazy. One moment the water feels 65 and then suddenly 56 and then back to 62 an so on and so forth. Where was that 65 degree spot again? It is so great out here. The day is just so beautiful and I’m extra enjoying it since it feels like it has been a while since it has been so nice.

My plan is to swim to somewhere in between the point and the Salt Creek snack shop. I really want to get to my favorite “vista point” where I can see both points - Salt Creek and Dana - one right in front of the other. I’m just about 50 feet beyond the surf pack as I pass by the main break. The surf today is pretty decent - not small but not necessarily big either.

I’m seeing what looks like patches of froth and muck in the water. I pause to get my bearings of where I am and then I see right in front of me on of those “by the wind sailor” creatures that I have seen on the beach. Then I notice there are probably about 30 of them here. I’m pretty excited to see this and I remain for a couple minutes to look at them. When you see them on the shore they are most likely dead. Out here they are alive. These creatures really are at the mercy of the wind and current as to their final destination. Last year conditions lined up to drive a ton on them into the southern California coast.

I’m beginning to realize that I’m going to have to swim further north to get the view that I am waiting for and I’m already starting to feel my hip. Welp there is nothing to complain about what I am seeing right now - that is for sure. I have a lovely view of several points from right here: Monarch, Salt Creek, and Dana. I see some Pelicans fly in close but they are too fast for me to photograph. I decide I had better turn back before this becomes a “full swim.” I’m pretty much in front of the snack shop now.

I head back and notice the same temperature changes crossing back over the point. Then again as I get close to my finishing spot it feels like someone just dumped a garbage can full of ice into the water right next to me. It’s all good. I feel like I’m right where I am supposed to be.

I make it into shore and the walk up the stairs is delicious. This hand rail feels so great and it takes all the will power I can muster not to wrap my entire body around it because that would look weird. The shower up top does feel colder than usual, but I manage to keep myself from running back to that rail. When I get home, I see from my picture times that I was swimming for 50 minutes. Oops. So much for my half swim. More like three quarters.