Back in Dana Point! It’s a beautiful morning and I leave for the beach at 10:00. When I get to the parking lot, the ocean looks nice and smooth.

As I begin to head down the stairs, I focus on quieting my mind and not think of the cold water that awaits. Not long afterwards, a woman asks me about my kinesio tape on my achilles. This is a topic of many a conversation with strangers. In Hawaii I think I had three multi-minute chats with people on this exact topic.

This nice woman on the stairs and I talk the entire walk down as she tells me about different Chinese remedies for injuries of different sorts. We part ways when we reach the beach. It is nearing high tide which is about an hour away and the water is coming right up to the rocks.

I consider starting the swim closer to the ramp but there is a fair amount of surf and I don’t want to contend with the rocks here. I figure I’ll be fine at my usual spot. There is not so much water and surf where waves are crashing into the rocks.

I scramble through the rocky shore and just as I reach my spot, I see this really cool shell and stash that away where I can find it after the swim.

I’m curious what the entry conditions will be. Last week there was a dip and then large protruding rocks that I had to climb over. Today, as the whitewater comes to shore, the inshore water gets sucked up all the way to that dip and then the small broken wave pounds the sand just above it. I can’t see any significant rocks but maybe that’s because it is high tide. I drop into the dip and immediately go from ankle deep to chest deep water. I feel around for bigger rocks but just feel the smooth medium-smallish rocks that are usually strewn along the sand.

I start swimming. This is about 20 degrees colder than my swims the last 5 days. In fact less than 24 hours from starting this swim, I was in 78 degree water at Oneloa Bay. I’m not in shock or anything. Yeah, it’s cold here but it feels about the way I left it and I feel like I am acclimatizing well. A set of waves comes in as I am heading out. I dive under the breaks and eventually make my way past the surf. Man what a gorgeous day.

As I make my way south, I’m just so happy to be here and grateful for the sun, blue sky, and calm ocean surface. I try to keep myself relaxed and watch my body for areas of tension. The water is like an energetic charge prickling my skin. I let myself truly feel the cold. I occasionally cross areas that are not as cold and feel almost warm in these spots.

When I reach the southern end, I look around me below the water and see a school of silver fish. Interesting, it seems like I don’t usually see these fish in colder water but here they are.

I look north and take in the entire coast that stretches all the way to the Salt Creek lifeguard tower. It looks so vibrant. Hawaii was so amazing and I saw so many cool things both above and below the water but this sight is special in its own class. For one thing, the light in Hawaii just made me feel like summer. That’s a good thing because summer is great but this light looks like winter and it is lovely too. The blue in the sky and water, the browns of the sand and rocks on the cliffs and the greens of the shrubs in between all make for a wonderful vista.

I start to head north. I’m guessing I am heading against the current now because it seems like this takes a while. This water is not getting any warmer that’s for sure. However I am not miserable and I try to calm the thoughts that fear that misery may not be far away.

When I reach my northern terminus, I am greeted by a similar sensation as I had down south as I take in the view. I start my final leg back to my starting point. At first it feels like I am going nowhere and then it feels like I am proceeding at a really good clip and soon it is time to head east to shore.

A set of waves catches up with me in the final stretch and I just let the breakers rush over me and push me forward. Soon I am at that dip and I let the next wave push me over the edge. I grab my backpack but there is too much water here to stand around and towel off so I try to get to the asphalt as fast as I can over these small boulders

When I reach the ramp, I meet Zeb. He looks at me with this sort of piercing glare and asks, “why are you doing this?” Now that is a question worthy of a key note speech but I give him the one liner, “because I love it.” It can take a while after a cold water swim to be fully capable of coherent conversation. I’m trying my best here without looking like I am at death’s door. Note that I am still wet and just in my trunks on the January morning. Anyways we somehow manage to exchange sentences and I’m glad I ran into Zeb.