Saturday, July 18, 2020

Knucklehead Swim!!

Next Swims:  
     Mon-Fri @ 6 am and 5 pm, 
     Saturday/Sunday @ 8 am and Noon  
Last Swim: Saturday @ Noon
Water Temp:  70
Air Temp:  upper 80's/low 90s and muggy on arrival
Clarity:   getting there, maybe 5/10
Waves: 1-2 feet
Knuckleheads:  Itch, Karen & Dave, Brick, Mr. Anonymous, Mr. Bubble, The Other Dave, Fred, Sandy, Pool Noodle, Capt'n, Diablo, Kahuna, Parker, Chris, Scooby Dan, Ala and Carolina, 

Knucklehead Swim! That was the Killepitsch post today!
It was a knucklehead swim because some knuckleheads were actually swimming during a thunderstorm!  But there were extenuating circumstances 😇

  • Extenuating Circumstance #1 - Thunderstorms were not forecast for today!  This a grievous violation of the Meteorologist's Code of Professional Conduct - to whit; 
    • False positive forecasts are always acceptable.  
    • False negative forecasts are never acceptable
  • Extenuating Circumstance #2 - Some Knuckleheads actually got out of the water for 10 - 15 minutes to wait for the storm to pass.    
  • Extenuating Circumstance #3 - Some of the swimmers actually got out of the water and hightailed it off the beach before the thunder and lightning started. 
Watching the Time Out Knuckleheads get back in the water and head back to the beach was quite a sight to see.  Especially when we saw these big bolts of lightning striking the surface!  However, the delay between seeing the lightning bolt and hearing the thunder was 5-10 seconds, so we figured the lightning was several miles away.  Also saw several impressive lightning bolts strike the shore, but still didn't hear the thunder for several seconds.  Tried to capture one of those lightning bolts on video - only managed to capture some video showing the clouds light up.

The other impressive thing to watch, which I had never seen before, is the gusher of brown water coming out of the pipes running along the steel barriers.  Apparently, that's rain water that's been drained off the streets through the storm sewer. There was a whole plume that came rushing out of the pipe at the southernmost steel barrier.  Diablo successfully got the attention of the knuckleheads who were swimming right towards the brown plume, and managed to re-direct them to come ashore on the little beach, just south of the barrier.  The last group coming out of the water said the same thing happened with the sewer pipe south of Love Rock.  The brown plume from the water coming out of that pipe could be seen from the beach - it must have extended a half mile off shore.

There's only one song that can do justice to today's swim
Thunder and Lightning by Chi Coltrance (1972)
Ooh! What a good thing I've got
Oh it's such a good thing I've got
I don't think I can stand it
Thunder and Lightning
I tell you it's frightening
It's thunder and lightning
And you're in control
.

I thought my life was complete
But look what you've doin' to me
Oh! You're makin' me crazy
Thunder and Lightning
I tell you it's frightening

It's thunder and lightning
And you're in control
.

I don't know how to handle it
It's more than I would dare
I wouldn't try to run from it
It reaches me everywhere
.

I'm feelin' dizzy and weak
You make me forget how to speak
I can feel it happening
Thunder and Lightning
I tell you it's frightening
It's thunder and lightning
And you're in control
.

I don't know how to handle it
It's more than I would dare
I wouldn't try to run from it
It reaches me everywhere
Ooh! What a good thing I've got
Oh it's such a good thing I've got
I don't think I can stand it

3 comments:

Kahuna said...

Hats off to those who went to shore, to try to avoid the worst of the storm/lightening. Better safe than sorry. Can anyone view the video? For some reason, I can't. Anyone have any suggestions?

jamie said...

Best swim of the season!!

Mr. Bubble said...

Kahuna - Try looking at the video now. I uploaded it to YouTube and then uploaded the YouTube to the blog.