Amazing Swim!

Last Swim:  6:00AM, Thursday 05/29

Next Swims:  Mon-Fri 6am, Sat/Sun 8am, noon   (all times subject to change)

    

Water temp: 54, but felt cooler further out

Air Temp:  mid 50's and rising

Water Quality:  flat, clear, and beautiful

Clarity: Like glass friends, like glass

Kru:  Lt. MJ, Showgirl

Shore Support:  just the birds

I don't know what everyone else in the world was doing this morning, but you missed a great swim.

It was cloudy with a west breeze.  The bluff sheltered us from the wind, and the water was totally flat.

We swam north to the Two Cute Chairs, and then because that wasn't enough, on the return trip we swam to the (landmark formerly known as the) picnic table.

It was so great.

The New Season

 Last Swim:  Sunday, 5/25, 12 a.m. group swim.  

Next Swims:  Monday, Memorial Day, 5/26, 8am and Noon (for the most part),  Weekdays are still spotty, but you may find people at 6 or 7 a.m. or in the early afternoons Tuesday and Thursdays.

    

Water temp: 57 immediately inshore, 49 further out

Air Temp:  low 60s, clear sky and bright sun

Water Quality:  Chop, chop, choppy chop from the Southeast

Clarity: Strong demarcation between the beige water near shore and blue further out.  Beige and very murky near Klode, but warm(er) and clearer and colder south past Sewer Pipe.

Kru:  Itch, Brick, Mr. Anonymous, Dragonfly, Diablo

Shore Support:  The Captain, with some finely aged Killepitsch, Showgirl, Scott, Nathan

Swims have been happening all weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Showgirl completed a badass solo swim at 7 a.m. Water has been crazy cold, but Klode is as beautiful as ever. My swim Sunday afternoon felt like a battle into the waves going south.  It seemed to take forever to reach Sewer Pipe and of course I had ambitions beyond that.  As I got further south into the blue, I could start to see my watch; however it was much colder! Turning was a relief, and coming back was faster - and warmer - with the chop providing a push and a surprise mouthful of (murky) water.  Good thing there was 'Pitsch back onshore, to kill the germs.

Much lounging took place after the swim as people caught up after the long winter.  The iron wall provided just the right amount of shelter from the gathering breeze so one could actively bask in the sun.  I layered up, but in cotton layers as opposed to wool, another signal of the new season. The Sauna Tent went up at the back of the beach, but aside from a bit of side-eye, no actual hostilities broke out.

Big Bay update - check it out the sinkhole remediation on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/WFBVillagers/permalink/10163627751247189/?app=fbl

Thanks, Scott, for taking our picture - l-r back row Diablo, Itch. Front row:  Dragonfly, Showgirl, Mr. Anonymous, Captain, Nathan, Brick

New Construction

Last Swim:  Saturday 5/24, 8am, (plus others, undoubtedly)

Next Swims:  Sat/Sun 8am and Noon (for the most part), weekdays are still spotty, likely 8am/noon on Memorial day

    

Water temp: high 40's

Air Temp:  50-ish and rising

Water Quality:  delightfully flat

Clarity: very murky

Kru:  Lt. MJ, Showgirl

Shore Support:  nobody we knew, and a person with a dog getting annoyingly close to our blankets

Okay, so the 2025 swim season is starting to ramp up.  Or at least get close to the ramp.

Lt. MJ and I swam this morning.  It was really pretty amazing-- sunny and flat the whole time.

We swam to the Mudslide/New Mudslide area.  There is some kind of construction happening between these two landmarks.  It looks like a new staircase and a new path down the hill.  With the right combination of careless landscaping and a well-timed rain storm, we could have ourselves a New-New Mudslide!  Stay tuned, friends, or swim there yourselves.

It was a great swim, and the water was just starting to get choppy as we headed up the ramp.

The Atwater Buoy May Not Be Graphing This Summer

Updated, 5/24/25:

According to a relatively recent article in Michigan Live, proposed cuts at NOAA could result in all NOAA buoys in Lake Michigan not being placed or activated this year.  (The web address for the article is at this link: https://www.mlive.com/environment/2025/04/severe-cuts-at-noaa-would-kill-great-lakes-data-buoy-network.html.) More information about these buoys and what they do is available at this link. 

I know, we often in years past have complained about the Atwater Buoy, and how useful (or non-useful) it can be in predicting what nearshore surface water temperatures are going to be for us swimmers when we get to the beach.  But it's always been nice to consult, to get a general idea of what to pack for a trip to the beach.  

The Atwater Buoy is currently out there and active.  If you want to know what surface water temperature it is sensing, text "45013" to 866.218.9973.  But unlike in year's past, the Buoy's data is not being graphed and reported online (so the link on our webpage doesn't get you anyplace useful).

Maybe there is a better, and lower-cost method of collecting and reporting the data that has traditionally been collected by these buoys.  But I've not heard that the federal government is going to replace the current buoy system, with some new-and-improved, and/or lower cost system.  I think that would be a shame if the folks who use this information are no longer going to have access to it (or are going to have to subscribe to some private, for-profit service that will collect/report the information).  

If you like me would like to see this NOAA buoy program continue, you may want to send an email to your federal elected officials (Senator Baldwin, Senator Johnson, and whomever your congress person is). I can't guaranty it is going to do any good, but I don't think it will do any harm.  Maybe it is the case that our elected officials are simply unaware of how many people currently rely on this information, and want to see it continue to be available.  

 Looking forward to seeing folks as the season gets going again.