Saturday, August 30, 2008

Shot Out of a Cannon

Cap'n and I egg each other on in different ways, so that we each do stuff we wouldn't do normally.  The other day, for example, I convinced him to do a lunchtime dash-n-splash to Bradford Beach. 

Today it was his turn to instigate.  I had suggested a Klode to Big Bay swim, and his reply was "and back!".  I said, "Are you nuts?  Two and a half miles in Lake Michigan without a wetsuit!?".

He insisted.  I gave a noncommittal, "Let's see when we get to flat rock".

So off we went, accompanied by Josh and Robin.   Josh was quickly far ahead of us, out of sight.

It was probably the best swimming conditions we had all summer in terms of water quality and temperature.  I don't know the actual temp, but it had to be well into the 70s.  And it was so clear you could probably see 100 feet along the bottom.

About 200 meters into the swim I spotted something odd on the bottom in about 7-8 feet of water.  At first we thought it was some sort of kids toy.  But we dove down and saw it was made of steel!  It looked like a cannon! It had wheels and a barrel.  But the end of the barrel was buried in the sand so I can't say for sure.  Whatever it was, how did something like that get out there?  (Crackpot theories welcome!). 

We continued on, stopping a couple times to climb on and jump off the rocks from the crumpled cement piers along the shore.  And we stopped to admire some of the biggest and oldest north shore mansions up on the bluff.  They are even more impressive from the lake side.

We got to "flat rock" and ran into Josh already on his way back from Big Bay (meaning he was at least 3/4 mile ahead of us).  

At this point I expected Cap'n to stop ask if we should continue on to Big Bay or head back.  He didn't say a word, he just continued swimming towards Big Bay.  It was such a beautiful day how could I refuse the challenge?  With current against us, and with all the screwing around, it took us over an hour to reach Big Bay from Klode.  Robin was already there. 

We walked out onto the beach for a minute and then headed back.  Getting more serious now, and with southerly waves and currents building behind us, we headed back at a much faster pace. It felt like we had been shot out of the lake cannon!  Only 45 minutes back to Klode.  Josh was there, having shaved, showered, taken in a movie, and eaten lunch.  (A little humility is good for Cap'n and I.)

Tomorrow (Sunday) we plan a 10AM swim at Klode, and then we'll go out for lunch.  Please join us!  This will definitely be a shorter swim, no matter what Cap'n says.

P.S.  I formally apologize to Mr. Josh Gordon Esquire, swimmer extraordinaire, for the "vicious slur" (his words) of insinuating in a previous post that he swam one day in a wetsuit.  It's bad enough he kicks our butts, we have to apologize too!  Cheeeezzzz

    

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