Swim Avila - Open Water Swimming

Sunday, January 22. 2012

2012-01-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

Concerns about the water quality after the heavy rain caused us to cancel our regular swim today. Rob suggested that we do some beach cleanup instead. I liked the idea of giving back and improving our playground so we met at the usual spot at 11 with buckets and gloves. Duke was already there hoping to swim after his run. Disappointed, he settled for a nap until Angela returned from her run. Chad came by and said hi before going out on his run. I did check the water temperature and it was still 52 degrees. There had been a big high tide of +6.2 at 9:32 which combined with the large waves to send water all of the way to the sea wall. At 11 the waves were still large with 6 to 8 foot faces but not rideable. Rob and I walked the beach and collected a couple buckets of plastic trash, toys, cigarette buts and general junk. Kris and I had lunch on the beach and finished up as the cloud cover was moving in.
By next Wednesday our now familiar anomalous weather pattern of clear skies, offshore winds and warm temperatures will be back in place so next Sunday should be another beautiful winter day at Avila. Enjoy it now before the drought hits.

niel

Bonus Announcement:

New Google Group for Open Water Swimmers on the Central Coast!

I set up a Google Group for local open water swimmers to use to talk swimming and set up swims locally. The idea is to pull swimmers from more than just our regular Avila Dolphin crew so please forward it along if you have friends that swim elsewhere like Lake Lopez and Morro Bay. My friends in Orange County use this program to coordinate swims and it has been really successful for them.

The group is located here: http://groups.google.com/group/centralcoastopenwater and there is a link to join on the right hand side of the page.

Rob D.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

It was a little cool at Avila with partial clouds, but it was completely still with flat water conditions. Surf was in the 2' range, the water was clean and 52 degrees with just a few birds and maybe one seal to be seen. Swimming today were Ed, Rob and Niel. There was a jet ski practicing tow-in surfing at the end of the beach by Fossil Point so we decided to start on the other (west) side of the pier and see let the conditions decide the route. We swam out to and down the buoy line to the last buoy at the creek, turned and continued to the end of the Avila Pier. At this temperature it takes me about 10 minutes to get 'comfortable' to where I start thinking more about swimming than how the water feels on my exposed skin. Next week I want to ask Rob (no wetsuit) how this works for him. The jet ski left while we were grouping up at the end of the pier so we decided it was OK to swim to the end of the buoys on the east side, close to where the jet ski had been. Once there we regrouped and swam along the buoys back to the pier and in to the beach. We were in the water for 36 minutes and covered about a mile. After we got out the sky had cleared and it was nice and warm on the sand.

niel

Sunday, January 8, 2012

2012-01-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

It was beautiful at Avila today, warm (70+) with a mild offshore breeze and unlimited visibility. The tide was ebbing, the big waves were gone leaving just a small swell moving towards the beach. The water was 52.5 and still kind of murky from the big swell earlier in the week. It was Rob, Sylvia and I on the beach today. Sylvia elected to soak up the sun and read the paper so Rob and I got our gear on and waded in. The water was biting at my ankles and hands and I took my time getting out, with plenty of looks over to Rob, he of the non-wetsuit persuasion, to see how he was doing. We got going, met up at the first buoy and kept going. With the tide up and not much swell it was a good day to visit Fossil Point so we continued past the last buoy and swam parallel to the beach until we were bobbing in the waves 75M from the point. At some point between the last buoy and the point I had gotten as comfortable as I was going to get. My hands and feet were cold and my face was numb but my arms, legs and core felt OK. We agreed to swim from the point to the end of the pier. When we regrouped at the pier I was still feeling about the same, not getting any colder yet, so we pushed on to the last buoy at the creek and came back along the buoy line, under the pier and in. We were in the water for 53 minutes and covered a mile and a half. Afterwards the sun on the sea wall was almost too warm, which was just about perfect.

niel

New Year's Day, January 1, 2012

2012-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Four of us swam at 10 o'clock today. It was sunny, clear, in the 60's and calm at Avila this morning. The water was 53 with small surf. There were no birds or other ocean life to be seen. Swimming were Sylvia, Niel, Susan James and Ed. We swam out along the west side of the pier and around the end. We came back along east side of the pier to the dock. There was a plan to climb up on the dock, from there onto the pier and to jump back in, however the coating of barnacles and mussels on the rungs of the ladders made a barefoot assent impossible. So, we decided to do a longer swim with no vertical element. We swam to the last buoy in the line on the east side and back along the buoys to the pier and in. We were in the water for 33 minutes.
Duane Leib was waiting for us when we got out. He came by to pick up some inspiration to get back in the water once he has completed rehabing his shoulder after surgery in November.

We will be back to our regular 11 AM start next Sunday.

niel

New Years Day Swim Time Change!

2011-12-29T13:49:00.001-08:00

Just a heads up for everybody out there thinking about a New Years Dip, the usual Sunday swim is moving to 10am for just this week. We'll be back to our usual time the following weekend.

thanks!

Rob D.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T17:57:00.001-08:00

I went out to the beach this morning not knowing if anyone would be by to join me. I ended up getting in the water early to bodysurf a little bit and play with a new camera. About half an hour later I emerged from the 52ish degree water and found an out of town and wetsuitless swimmer looking to take a dip! Holly was visiting from San Francisco and looking for a quick swim so I took her for a shot around the pier. There was some ok surf, but one you got past that it was smooth sailing all the way around. The water was smooth and fairly clear. We took a quick break at the tip of the pier so I could point out the local landmarks and then we made our way back to the beach. All told maybe 1000m tops.

New Years day is next Sunday and we'll have swimmers in the water, make sure you come out for your polar bear dip!

Rob D.

Sunday, December 18,2011

2011-12-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful Sunday for a swim and got to share it with a few out of town guests. We had our regular visitor Susan from the valley on the beach along with Shawn (in no wetsuit!) who was in town from the Sacramento area. Rounding it out was myself, Sylvia and Amy.

The water was fairly calm out past the breakers, but we had some burly sets rolling in at the beach. I measured the water at about 53. We opted for the classic triangle route to give Shawn the full tour and make sure everyone got in about a mile.

The swim was great, no major wind or currents to contend with, although we had a hard time sighting the creek buoy from the pier because the swells were so large. At the finish we treaded lightly to do our best to get back on the beach without getting clobbered by the surf. Once everyone was in I decided to try bodysurf one for fun but that didn't go exactly to plan. The wave broke in a weird way, folded me up like a pretzel and introduced me to the bottom of the ocean... whoops :)

Next Sunday is Christmas, I'm planning to hit the beach (weather permitting) so hopefully I see a few of you out there!

Rob D.

Sunday December 11, 2011

2011-12-11T14:21:00.001-08:00

I've had one of the flu's that is going around so I didn't swim today. For the next two Sundays a lot of people are going to be either traveling or otherwise occupied, so the attendance at the beach will be a bit spotty. Keep an eye on Rob's website and Facebook page.

niel

Sunday, December 4, 2011

2011-12-04T13:54:00.001-08:00

Avila was a lot like last week, except for the 100's of motorcycles along Front Street for the Toys for Tots drive. It was sunny, warm enough, windless, almost surfless. The water was real clean and we had a very low tide. The water was one degree colder than a week ago at 53 degrees. It was just Sylvia and I today. Sylvia was going to follow me in, as it takes her longer to get used to the water. I headed out, turned left and wound up doing about a mile along the swimming the buoy line. It was chilly but the swimming conditions were great. I never connected with Sylvia. When I got out she was sitting in her dry swim suit reading the paper, having kept an eye on me from the beach. There is no rain in sight so we'll be back next weekend.

niel

Sunday, November 27, 2011

2011-11-27T16:48:00.001-08:00

Niel, Sylvia and Susan James swam today. It was sunny and warm at Avila with no wind. The water was very clean and had a temperature of 54 degrees. Susan and I headed out, turned right. swam to the creek buoy and then to the end of the Avila pier. Sylvia was body surfing so we came in along the length of the pier to the buoy line and met up with her. We all swam down the buoy line towards Fossil Point to the second buoy, then came back to our starting point and came in. We were in the water for 36 minutes.
With no breeze it actually got too hot up next to the wall after our swim. Sylvia and I had lunch and I took a short nap before heading home about 12:30.

niel

Sunday, November 20, 2011

2011-11-20T11:22:00.001-08:00

No swimming today. It rained hard last night and is still raining this morning, leading to concerns about the water quality at Avila Beach. The predictions are for dry weather up to Thanksgiving, so Rob and I are looking to slip in a mid-day, mid-week swim before the next storm. Look here or on Rob's facebook page to follow out planing.

niel

Sunday, November 13, 2011

2011-11-13T14:30:00.001-08:00

Avila started out OK and evolved into quite nice today. At 10:30 it was sunny but with thin high clouds and a slight offshore breeze. There was also a slight current running form left to right, parallel to the beach. Rob and I had considered going out to the Fossil Point rock today but a water temperature of 54.5 made us reconsider. Neither of us had been in water that was below 55 degrees since last spring. We decided that this was not the best day to do a swim with a turnaround point 3/4's of a mile offshore with no way to shorten the route if someone became uncomfortable. Amy was swimming with us and was game for some distance so we decided to swim over to the Poly Pier and back to the Avila Pier. This route can be from 1+ to almost 2 miles depending on decisions made at 2 points along the route so it was a good choice. Duke and Angela came by as we were getting ready, heading out on a two/three run, (Duke does 2 miles while Angela does 3). We started on the west side of the Avila Pier and swam down the buoy line to the creek. At this point we had collected a group of 4+ seals who would follow us for the rest of the swim. We swam over to the Poly Pier, back to the end of the Avila Pier and in to the beach. By the time we reached the Avila Pier the clouds had gone, the sun was warm and the offshore breeze had died away. It was very pleasant on the beach afterwards with a small school of dolphins out off of the end of the pier.
This swim was about 1 -1/4 miles and we were in the water for 46 minutes.

niel

Sunday, November 6, 2011

2011-11-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

It was sunny and about 60 degrees at Avila today. The water was clear and clean with nice transparent waves and a temperature of 56 degrees. There was a gusty offshore breeze that was blowing towards Pismo Beach that was rippling the surface but not putting up any real chop . I was the only one swimming today. I did the triangle counterclockwise without stopping at any of the turns. I was swimming for 30 minutes.

niel

Cal Poly Pier Open to the Public This Weekend!

2011-11-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody, just a not that the Poly Pier is open to be toured this Saturday. They only do this once or twice a year and it's very cool, I highly recommend checking it out. The New Times has more info here and you can see some of my pictures from the last time they did this on my blog over here.

Rob D.

Nothing Wrong With This

2011-10-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Just two days before Halloween and we had a beautiful summer day at Avila Beach for today's swim. It was sunny, calm, cloudless and warm with an air temperature that started in the 70"s and headed into hot later in the day. There was no surge or current in the water and the temperature was in the high 50"s, I'd guess 57 - 58 degrees a glassy surface. I'm guessing about the temperature because my new calibrated thermometer arrived Saturday and I switched it out without checking it over carefully enough. At the beach I found out that about 10 degrees worth of the medium had separated and was stuck up at the top. Bummer! In any case the lack of a definitive number couldn't detract from such great swimming conditions. Swimming today were Yvonne, Sylvia, Duke, Amy, Dale and Niel. Chad and Casey were at the beach but going on a run. The tide was just before full and with only small waves it was a good day to swim down to Fossil Point. This swim is a short mile and consists of heading down the buoy line to the left (east) from the pier and continuing past the last buoy parallel to the beach until reaching the rocks of the point. There is a nice photo of this swim on the opening page of our web site; SwimAvila.com. We grouped up at the first buoy and again at the last. Dale decided to turn back at this point and the rest of us swam to the point. We returned to the pier in one leg and headed in. It was so comfortable in the water that we spent a lot of time gabbing after regrouping so we wound up in being in the water for 43 minutes while our swimming time was closer to 23. The sun had warmed up the wall behind our chairs so it felt great to lean against after showering off.

niel

Wednesday Evening, October 26, 2011

2011-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Rob and I met up for our last evening swim of the season. It was sunny, about 70 degrees and calm. I saw one otter along the buoy line on the east side and one pelican resting on the water inside the surf line. The water temperature was the same as Sunday, about 58 degrees. General agreement that the new replacement thermometer that I have been using seems to be reading high has prompted me to order a more accurate, certified thermometer. In the mean time we will go with the toe test method.
As we were getting ready to get in there was a surprise appearance by the Avila Beach AQUAMAN! Dressed for this final swim of the season he was ready to carve a path through the ocean in search of evildoers, or dolphins in need of instruction on their swimming technique.
In such company Rob and I humbly swam out to the buoy line, hung a left and swam to the end. After a brief reconnaissance of the conditions we headed to the end of the pier. When we paused at the end of the pier the sun was just slipping behind the hills behind Port San Luis. We swam in the shadows along the pier to the beach. As we were drying off a dolphin came in along the buoy line, possibly looking to do some speed work with AQUAMAN.

Rob and I will continue swimming on Sundays at 11, canceling only when storms cause the water quality to deteriorate.

niel

Sunday, October 23, 2011

2011-10-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

Avila seemed to be its normal self when I arrived this morning. It was sunny and calm, with no wind and some fog hanging way off over Pismo Beach. Sylvia and Rhonda were already here. The water looked clear and fairly calm, with some small, close packed ripples coming in out of the SE. I got a water temperature reading of 60 degrees. I always take the temperature on the left side of the pier because the usual NW wind will push the thermometer away from the pilings. Today I had to drop it in on the right side because the water was moving in the opposite direction. There was one fisherman on the pier, one seal in the surf line and nothing else to be seen above or in the water. High tide had been just before 8 AM but the water seemed to be really high, still almost near the high tide line. The significance of this would soon become apparent. Swimming today were Bill, Amy, Sylvia, Niel, Dale, Duke and Rob. We decided to do the triangle route counter-clockwise starting on the east side of the pier. I started straight out from the beach and when I cleared the surf line the push from the waves toward shore didnt' slack off, but got even stronger. The short swim out to the buoy line felt like I was in a river swimming up stream. WE gathered up everyone at the buoy line and headed under the pier and towards the last buoy at the mouth of the creek. This leg was surprisingly rough, with water water trying to get in my mouth no matter which side I breathed on. The leg to the end of the pier was straight into the chop, which seemed to be building even though there was still no wind. Duke likened this leg to a round in a Maytag. It was a lot of work against a current in rough surface conditions. Also, the fog that had been hanging over Pismo Beach had moved in and was warping itself around Fossil Point. The third leg was across the waves and current which I found to be easier but still a workout, getting bent all over the place by the chop passing underneath. Half way there the fog moved over the cliff and covered my siting point. The last leg parallel to the beach seemed easier, with a little push from the left rear quarter. The swim is about a mile. We finished in 42 minutes which seemed reasonable considering that it felt like I did enough work for a mile and an half. By the time we were all out and cleaned up the beach was all fog thick enough so that you could not see the buoy line from the beach. It was even starting to spit so nobody hung around too long.

Rob and I are still swimming Wednesday's at 5:30 until it gets too dark.

niel

Wednesday Evening, October 20, 2011

2011-10-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I pulled up at the same time and the water looked fabulous so we decided to not wait and to just jump in. The wind that had been blowing in San Luis Obispo and out on the mesa was not to be found at Avila. It was sunny and warm and the water was flat and glassy. The only thing that was off was the color of the water; it was dark as if there was a mild red tide. We decided to do a repeat of last Sunday's swim so we headed out to the buoy line and turned left. I got comfortable really fast so I'd estimate the water temperature was 60. The water was so flat the swimming was great. From the last buoy we turned to the pier and swam directly into the glare from the setting sun. On the third leg towards the creek the water warmed up even more and actually felt warm to the touch at times. We finished off by swimming along the buoys from the creek, under the pier and turning in to the beach where we entered the water. We were in for 34 minutes.

niel

Sunday, October 16, 2011

2011-10-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Niel, Sylvia, Rob and Duke swam today. We all did the triangle route clockwise. The water was 59 degrees with a small ripple that was pushed up by a light breeze out of the SW. But the time we finished the wind was starting to pick up and shift into the NW. At 12:30 there were whitecaps in to the surf line. We had a real nice swim. We saw one seal. It looks like the baitfish/shark season is over. The water was comfortable enough that we spent a lot of time at the turning points visiting, taking 44 minutes to cover a mile and having a great time. Before we swam Chad and Casey took Duke out on a short run and dropped him off before doing the rest of their 8 miles. They looped back and soaked up some sun with us before we all headed home.

niel

Wednesday Evening, 12 October 2011

2011-10-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Rob and I swam this evening. It was hot at Avila with an offshore wind that was veering from NE to NW. There were some large waves but the biggest sets were spaced well apart so getting out was just going to be a matter of timing. Low tide had been at 4:44 and the larger waves were beginning to break just inside the buoy line. There wasn't much out there; a few gulls and one seal. Rob and I swam out on the east side of the pier to the end with the thought of going to either the poly pier of the end of the buoy line at the creek, depending on what seemed like a good idea once we got there. I had measured a water temperature of 61 but it felt a lot colder once I got out to the surf line. At the end of the pier my feet were cold and I could still feel the water moving around in my suit. Idling at the end of the pier we were rising and falling 4 or 5 feet with the swells. We agreed to swim to the end of the buoy line at the creek and come back towards the pier. When I breathed on the side towards the ocean during the leg along the buoy line towards the pier I would be looking way up at the face of the incoming waves. Our timing was good when we headed in towards the beach and we both got in just ahead of the next big set.

niel

Sunday, October 9, 2011

2011-10-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

I got to Avila about 10:30. It was beautiful, clear sunny and just a bit cool from the wind off of the fog bank. The water was calm with very few birds, no seals or bait fish. I had done the City to the Sea 1/2 earlier and came by to stand in the water for a while. Chad and Brittany had also done the race and were going to come by but not swim. Duke and Sylvia were there and getting ready to jump in. Rob was swimming support on a Catalina Channel crossing attempt. The water felt very cold on my legs but I stayed in with my top half in the wind and my bottom half in the water until I started feeling chilled.
Rob, Ryan and I will be back to swim on Wednesday evening at 5:30.

niel

No Posts for a While

2011-10-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

I have missed several swims lately. I was out of town last Sunday. Rob, Ryan and I skipped Wednesday evening thinking that the creek flow from the rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday had probably made the water at Avila toxic. I'm doing the City to Sea 1/2 this Sunday morning and Rob will be in the Catalina Channel supporting a swimmer attempting a channel crossing. The weather should be nice so if anybody swims let me know how it was. We should be back in the water on Wednesday the 12th.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

2011-09-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

It was gray all of the way down to the horizon and all of the way around this evening. The surf was not large but there was a minus tide at 5:30 PM so the waves were forming up to break just inside of the buoy line. The water was clean and 61 degrees. The ocean was very empty with only no birds except for a few gulls and one lonely seal. There were small wind waves form the south. Rob and I got in on the west side and swam down to the creek and came back to the pier. We had planned to stay close to the beach in case the clouds and fog settled in and we lost some visibility The surge was exposing 3 to 4 feet of mussels and barnacles on the pilings so we declined swimming under the pier and instead went out to the end and around. Swimming out along the pier into the incoming tide and the south swell took a surprising amount of extra effort. We rounded the end of the pier, waved to a woman who was crabbing from the end of the pier so she could shoot some video of us and took a wide swing away from the pier into the beach.
We covered less than a mile but it felt great to get and enjoy the favorable swimming conditions.

niel

Sunday, September 25, 2011

2011-09-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Avila Beach was a big surprise today. I was expecting a foggy/gray/overcast day but it was sunny and warm when we got there. There was a breeze from the SE and some small chop on the water but conditions looked nice. Sylvia and Yvonne were already out along the buoy line. I checked the water temperature and got a 61. The water looked very clear and clean. There was one seal on the left side of the pier but no sign of bait fish or other 'attractive' activity to make getting in questionable. Sylvia and Yvonne were just getting out as Kim and I got in. We swam out to the buoy line and turned left. We went parallel to the beach to the end of the sea wall and came back to the pier. Kim headed in and I continued under the pier and down to the last buoy at the creek. Just short of the last buoy the water jumped up in temperature and then started tasting real bad. The creek gets stagnant for its last 1/2 mile before the ocean and attracts a lot of roosting birds, which seems like a recipe for bad water quality, so I reversed course and headed back to the pier. The water was clear enough that while I was swimming under the pier to thought that I could see some dark rocks or starfish on the bottom. By the time I was out and settled down to lunch the wind had died and shifted into its usual direction from the NW and kicked up a bit, with whitecaps forming offshore.

We are still swimming Wednesday evenings at 5:30.

niel

Sunday, September 18, 2011

2011-09-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

Gerry and I swam today. The early fog burned off before 11 and left it calm and sunny at Avila. The surf was 1 to 2 foot, the water was very clear, and about 58 degrees (my new thermometer is in transit and will be on duty soon). There were no signs of any bait fish or birds rafting on the water. There were three seals playing in the surf. There were small wind waves, about 6 to 8 inches, moving toward the beach from the SW. We swam the buoy line end to end and a bit more, probably about 1.25 miles, and were in the water for 40 minutes. The swimming conditions were very comfortable with the little waves just enough of a ripple to mess with my breathing and make it interestnig. It was nice and warm and relaxing next to the wall after we got out.

niel