This Water
I left just a little after 6:00. Skies are overcast but I see small little gaps where blue sky is peeking out behind wispy clouds and the light is generally bright all around.
When I get to the Strand parking lot, I start with a 7 mile run through the Dana Point harbor. It is a very pleasant run. The temperature is warm but the intensity is dampened by the cloud cover. There is a rift of sunlight breaking through the overcast layer that gives the morning a sun filled vibe. In fact, as I pass the harbor patrol office on the east end of the island, I can actually see the sun making a brief impromptu appearance.
As I pass the Dana Point Yacht Club, I see the Dana Outrigger crew taking off from Baby Beach. I wonder if I will see them later on my swim. I guess it all depends on whether they take the north or south route. Yesterday I watched them out near Capo Beach (south route) just past the outer Killer Capo break which was breaking strong with the ssw-s swell.
I finish up the run and am ready to swim at about 7:45. Before I left I was just a little anxious about surf. Yesterday got pretty big. I was at Doheny with my son from 11 - 1 and it was head high which is big for that beach and usually means it was much larger here. Later in the afternoon, I checked the webcams and things seemed to have mellowed. Running past the cove behind the Ocean Institute, things look more settled down than what I saw in that same spot last night walking my dog. Surfline reports 4-5 which could also be translated: 2 to 8 feet based on previous encounters with that same reported size. It all looks pretty tame as I finish my run above the bluff so I’m not too concerned at all as I walk down the stairs.
The tide is low and there are about half a dozen swimmers just finishing up as I am getting in. We exchange some hellos and it looks like a couple of them are hanging inshore waiting for some waves that just don’t seem to come. We are definitely in the 2 to 3 feet territory right now. I don’t know where the 4 to 5 feet waves are. Of course it is very possible that there are long lulls between sets and we are in one right now. I’m feeling super glad that I didn’t preemptively skip the swim due to anticipated high surf because I certainly don’t see any.
I feel like I keep saying this in all my recent reports, but I must call out that the water temperature is absolutely perfect. I feel like I am swimming in a pool. Especially after the run up Cove Road, this water feels so so good. My limbs feel a little spent but manageable.
I’m definitely fighting a current but overall the water surface is nicely clean. It was all chewed up yesterday from a south wind all morning. We have south wind again today but not as strong. Light wind or not, it is a bit of a struggle to get to the south end of the beach but the kind of struggle I gladly invite.
After turning around I feel a definite change in the level of effort required to maintain momentum. I’m keeping an eye on the cliff below the Ritz but I’m slowly drifting offshore. I intersect with the OCJG buoy, pass it and keep moving. This water! My body is tired but every time I pause to take in my surroundings, I am taken a back by just how good this all feels.
I swim and swim and swim and try to give all that I am to the swim. I want to empty myself into the water. I want to let go of everything that I am and everything that I want to be. If I can lose all of these things, what will emerge to take their place? I feel compelled to push through an agenda, any agenda. Can I flush away that compulsion with the intention of my stroke? If I do, will I just drift aimlessly in these waters? Or will I finally allow some spark of authentic self to ignite and combust and propel me forward.
I’m thinking of a dream I had a couple nights ago. It is hard to describe in words. I’m talking to someone, maybe me, and explaining that I came to this realization that everything we are and hope and yearn for is here in the air we breathe and the light we see and feel all around us. I’m explaining in my dream that this realization was a sort of salvation event for me. So here I am now in the water reaching with all that is in my heart out to the air and light that is all around me. The dream resonates with what I believe but in the moment of the dream, it was more than just belief but something far more visceral. I feel the need to connect with this in my body rather than my mind.
I see a couple of fishing vessels on this northbound leg towards Salt creek. One of the smaller boats is sitting fairly inshore and I yell out a hello to the two guys fishing on board. Not much further I approach the North Star buoy. It’s just about 20 feet out past me so of course I must rendezvous with it. I spot a school of Bass swimming in its orbit.
I circle around the North Star and then start to head in to shore. It’s probably a good quarter of a mile out. It would be cool if I had a GPS to tell for sure. I notice the light getting darker then brighter again and again as the shore comes more into focus. I’m wondering if the initial swim through the surf was a lull and now am I going to see the real thing? Well I have no doubt this is real but it is real small. I’m sure it is overhead somewhere but not here.
