Swimming With the Orcas

I leave the house at 10:30 and it is the most pleasant day we have had in weeks. My phone says it is 73…SEVENTY-THREE! Skies are mostly sunny with lots of wispy clouds hanging about. When I get to the parking lot, the horizon is so clear that it looks as though Catalina is just 20 feet away and I can practically touch it.

It is warm enough out that I decide to just leave my pack in the car. On the last several swims I have been walking back to my car without drying off or putting on layers and I know today’s water is not going to be any colder and the air is certainly much warmer. Besides the tide is high and I won’t have to worry about stashing my pack where it won’t get wet.

When I get to the bottom, I do suddenly wish that I had something for my feet (which I have in the pack in my car) because given the tide and moderate surf, I opt to take the trail above the rocks. However it turns out that bare feet do just fine here. Most of the dirt is soft and there are lots of large flat rocks to provide good footing.

I get to where I am pretty sure is my usual take off spot. It is hard to tell because I cannot see the houses above me given this vantage point below the brush. I scramble down the rocks to the cobble shore. It looks like we are between sets and I walk right into the water. There really isn’t anywhere else to walk to right now. I take a step into the water and here comes some waves. With the high tide funk they break and then become a wake again and then break just a foot or so from the exposed shore. So it’s clear that I should just start swimming now especially since I seem to go from knee to stomach depth in just about a single step.

Hey this water feels pretty good. It’s cold but not debilitating. Once I am past the surf I pause and look around me. It’s definitely warmer than last week because I would not at all be in the mood for stopping if it wasn’t. It is such a beautiful day. There are several boats out. I heard some comments from others walking down the stairs from the parking lot that the boats are watching the Orcas. I have no way to verify this information but I go with it. I have heard in the local news that there have been several Orca sightings off of Dana Point this week. Yesterday I saw this amazing photo of one breaching just off of Salt Creek and it could not have been much farther out than where I swim.

Before I left this morning I googled orca attacks on humans and learned that it is extremely rare for them to attack humans in the wild. I note the difference between “rare” and “never.” Most of the documented accounts I saw of these attacks involved the whales being harmed or hunted or trapped in an enclosed area. I decide to take my chances and if by any chance I see one up close and live, it will be a memory that I am sure I will never forget. Alas, I sit here now still in the absence of such a memory.

I swim south and by the time I get to the southern point I can tell that I am way offshore. I think my subconscious wants to steer closer to those Orcas. I am almost parallel to the end of the point which is actually a super cool view as I look along the bluffs at the end of the headlands. I see a flock of about 3 to 5 Pelicans round the corner from Dana Cove and they are heading right for me. Then swoosh down and hover inches above the water and come within just a few feet of me. Such a great moment.

I head north now and watch as the cold slowly enters my core. Like Wednesday, I’m cold but it does not reach an alarming level. I feel the cold pass through me. Some spots are colder or warmer than others. I notice that the primary area where I can feel the cold the most today is my arms. My legs and torso feel pretty ok. Or maybe they don’t feel much of anything and that is why they are more comfortable.

I read an article this week written by a swimmer who has grown to enjoy swimming in the cold over the last few years. She talks about how the cold brings her into the present moment and helps her to focus on her body in the water. That really resonated with me. I really don’t think all that much out here and certainly not as much as when I am out of the water. How can my mind wander when the water and cold are right here right now and demand my utmost attention? There is something delightful about that.

With the boat activity not to far from where I am swimming, there are lots of wakes intersecting with my trajectory. I can see in my periphery a couple boats just hanging out. I wonder if there are Orca’s out there which would be pretty darn close to where I am now. However I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. When I stop to look around, the noise level seems louder than normal. Is that surf or the motors of the boats?

I can’t see Catalina from here. I never really can. There is just too much water between where I am here and the island that rises higher than the several inches of my head. I do see lots of beautiful rich blue and faint vaporous clouds all around. When I get to the northern end of the swim, I look again for whales in the distance towards where the boats are hanging out. I don’t see anything but boy it’s lovely.

I swim back now and about half way to the finish I stop to see if I can tell what the tide situation is now. It is hard to make out because there just isn’t any sand on the beach to catch the sun. I do see plenty of cobble which is a pain in the foot to walk on. I make it to the end and I’m just a few feet from the cobble. It’s a precarious spot that is just about head deep. It seems I should just be able to walk to shore but I can’t. I let the oncoming waves push me towards land and then one breaks giving me just the amount of momentum I need to step right on up to dryish land.

I take the cobble route back to the ramp which proves challenging. There are large piles of this stuff all along this small stretch of coast. I get to just before the ramp and see the ever familiar “Jupiter” rock. The cobble is so high that it covers all but the top foot or so of this four foot high rock. A surfer passes me and he seems to be making this trip effortlessly while I am performing wild and embarrassing gesticulations. Oh he has sandals. So do I but they are in my car.