This Ain’t No Pool

I wake up to rain at my house this morning and the wind is blowing 10 knots from the west. It’s not ideal swimming conditions by any means but it looks like there is going to be a window later in the morning with lighter wind and possibly partial cloud clearing. I did not get to swim yesterday so I am hoping that window aligns with my schedule. I am able to get away at 10:45 and the wind is down to 4 knots and I can see some patches of blue sky here and there on the Salt Creek web cams.

When I get to the beach, the sky is beautiful. There is plenty of blue and there are huge clouds spread all throughout leftovers from the morning rain. The water looks like it has quite a bit of bump and texture but it does not look rough. The movement looks more rolling than choppy. The light is reflecting off the water and lending a silver tint to the air from the cloud filled sky. This day feels so much like Fall.

The tide is low and surf looks smaller than it was this weekend. The air is pleasantly mild. The sand has the wet look of sand that had been recently rained on. I was wondering if last night’s and this morning’s west wind would cool down the water but it feels just as warm on my feet as it has been over the last couple weeks.

I head out into the water. I get to about stomach deep and a larger set of waves breaks in front of me. I dive under and feel the billowing underwater current push me back just a bit and I dig my toes into the sand to resist the force. I make my way well past this surf and then head south. It feels so good to be out here. The water is very pleasant and feels like an electrical current against my skin. The water is all around me swishing and swooshing. The light is in constant flux as the clouds move over the water and the sun burns through with a late morning light that makes it feel more like late afternoon.

The ocean surface is truly alive today. It has the feel like there is a giant swell in the water. There are still some leftover swells from the weekend but I can feel a dramatic and constant rise and fall with a current of swell that is coming from the northwest. I wonder if this is going to induce seasickness but I feel much more elated out here than sick. The north west push is extremely palpable. The wakes feel large and steep for being so far beyond the surf break. I wonder what the swim back north will be like.

When I near the south end of the beach, I begin to see a lot more organic debris in the water and it starts to feel just a little more rough. As I approach my turn around point, I begin to see breaking waves just in front of me. They break fairly gently here but hold a trajectory directly into the shallow rocks near the base of the cliffs. I stop and decide this is far enough today. I take a couple pictures and I can feel the current pushing me further south. I promptly begin to swim back north a ways before I get too close to those rocks. The current is particularly strong right here, but it just takes a handful of strokes and I feel like my position has stabilized.

I’m swimming north now and I can still feel that current heading directly into me but its not at all over powering. However it has the feel as though I am just on the other side of a breaking wave when I am actually well beyond that point. It’s a thrilling feeling. This ain’t no pool I am swimming in. That is for sure.

I reflet back on my reluctance to come out here at all today. Work has been particularly busy and a trip to the gym is definitely less time consuming than a swim. However, I am now very much of the opinion that this is time well spent. Today feels on the one hand very unique in regards to the behavior of the ocean yet that same uniqueness in and of itself is extremely typical.

I reach the northern bathrooms and decide to go just a bit farther to make up for stopping a bit short on the south end. I have managed to drift well offshore and there are large kelp paddies floating on the water that I watch rise and fall with the motion of the swell.

I steer inland after turning around and it feels like it takes no time to arrive at my final destination. It seems like the waves have picked up a bit since I started or it could just be a matter of random timing. I enjoy these waves. They have a bit of size to them but are not intimidating. A final wave feels like it is going to pass me and break ahead of me but manages to pull me along with it into its fall. I am pushed to the floor, tossed around a bit and then here I am. I stand myself up and the swim has come to its end.