The End of Dana Point
I left a little after 7:15 this morning. This is finally the day I have been waiting for. Full blue sky and sun is out first thing in the morning. Winds are supposed to start ramping up early and get up to 13 knots this afternoon so I am hoping to hit the water before it starts going nuts.
When I get to the beach, I can feel the sun shining down on me and it is super quiet here. For now, the water looks smooth. I step out of my car and the grass is still wet from the morning dew.
I walk down the steps and get to the asphalt. Sadly the landscape crew is clearing the sand off the road with their leaf blowers - so much for the soft carpet. There is quite a bit of sand here. Another maintenance worker is shoveling the sand off of the bottom of the concrete ramp where it meets the shore. At first, I think the Jupiter rock is completely submerged in sand but then I can just barely spy a couple patches where the sand and seaweed are not totally covering it.
It is a beautiful beach this morning. No surprises there. The line separating sun and shade from the bluff is perfectly aligned with the edge of the surf, which again is quite small.
The water feels pleasant on my feet and lacks any kind of a cold bite. Once I am in up to my thighs, I am trying to adjust my mindset to the cool water. I lean in and I’d say I’m pretty well adjusted in about two seconds. It’s super nice. I’d say we are at 70 or better..
I’m swimming south today and I’m thinking of possibly doing something different. Once I get to the south end, swim west and around to the next cove or close to it. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and hoping with the continued small surf, today might be a good day for it. I’m not sure how far it is exactly but maybe I’ll just swim back to the south end of the beach afterwards and then run straight to the car.
I feel like I am moving at a good speed and I reach the south end in what feels like pretty quick time. So I start to swim out toward the far end of the point. It is pretty darn murky here and there is not a lot of sun light to assist yet either. I get pretty far out. I’m about parallel to the other big rocks one would see from shore where I would start swimming south. I just don’t know. I can’t see as well as I thought I might and I have a 10:00 meeting. I really need to come back when I have more light or visibility and time.
I turn around. Still it was pretty cool. This is the closest I have ever swam out to these big rocks. Rather than making my usual line towards the Salt Creek lifeguard tower, I first swim towards shore for a good ways. It feels just a little too isolated right here. However, maybe I’ll see a whale. Now that would be something.
The rest of the swim is great. I can sense the wind picking up already. The water is more turbulent on the second half of the swim than it was on the first for sure. Turbulent or not, it feels great. I feel like I could spend a lot more time than I have out here if only I could. I stare toward the horizon to the west and see what looks like a bank of cloud far off in the distance. Is it coming or going I wonder? Probably going.
My thoughts really don’t wander much today. They feel pretty good staying right here. And why not? It is such a perfect morning in every way. I’m in the warm water of the ocean on a beautiful beach and it’s a sunny day. These variables don’t all come together as often as one would think here in Southern California.
I swim as far as I possibly can without completely beaching myself and trying to swim through the sand. I’m just thirty feet from the concrete ramp and start to make my way back to the car.
Someone coming down the stairs asks me if the water is very cold and I respond with how warm and great it is. The showers up top emit a blast of what feels like almost hot water. What’s not to like about that?
