First Day of Spring

Last Swim: Sunday 03/20 @ Noon

Water Temp: 36.8 per itch-o-meter
Air Temp: 51 and no clouds in sight
Waves: flat, almost glass, occasional light ripples
Clarity: clean but a bit cloudy
Kru: Lydia TTL, Itch,
Shore Support: Mr. Bubble

Really beautiful day to head down to the beach!

New Year's Day - NOON

 Calling all Klode Kru! Come one, come all.  

Where:  Klode Beach

When:  High Noon, New Year's Day, January 1, 2022.

Who:  You, in all your inherent awesomeness.  You know who you are.

What:  Swim in your wetsuit, plunge in your skin, support from the sand.  Toast the Lake and the New Year. Rick from Boston has procured a new bottle of Killepitsch.  Expect the usual suspects.  Wash away the crust of 2021.

Why:  YOU know why, don't you.  I don't have to explain it!  If you don't know why, you probably won't be showing up.

Weather predictions:  28 degrees, wind NE 15 mph, gusts to 26, cloudy.  3-6 cm of snow.  Water this morning (the 31st) was 38.7 degrees.

Door County Cherry Pancakes

Kru at the Solly's Counter:  Synchro, Julie, Ice Dawg, Mary Jo, Scooby, Linda da Lamprey, Dragon Fly, Nancy NorShore, Showgirl,Magic Mike, Kahuna

Kru in the Lake:  Mr. A.

We gathered at Solly's at 7, for breakfast and a Holiday Celebration of sorts.  Good to see all the cheery faces.  

Kwyte a Krowd

Last Swim: Sunday 11/21 @ Noon
Water Temp: 45 per brick -o-meter,
Air Temp: 52 and no clouds in sight
Waves: flat, almost glass, occasional light ripples
Clarity: almost perfect, Caribbean  
Kru: Lt MJ, Dragonfly, Lydia TTL, Mr. Bubble, Blake, Moondoggie, Diablo, Itch, Brick,
Shore Support: Linda the Lamprey, Showgirl & Squeeze

and I thought yesterday was a great day for a swim!  Yesterday was great but today was perfect!  And there was kwite a krowd Klode Kru Komrades there to enjoy it.  

Photo Credit:  Lt MJ

Also turns out a year ago today was a beautiful sunny day - except that the air was cooler.  Here's a photo from November 21, 2020.

There was a bunch of talk about when the Kru should assemble at the beach on Thanksgiving Day.  Times between 10 am and 11 am were proposed.  

Looking forward to being in with the Klode Kru Krowd on Thanksgiving Day

I'm in with the "in" crowd
I go where the "in" crowd goes
I'm in with the "in" crowd
And I know what the "in" crowd knows (how to have fun!)

Any time of the year, don't you hear? (how to have fun!)
Dressin' fine, makin' time
We breeze up and down the street
We get respect from people we meet

They make way day or night
They know the "in" crowd is out of sight

Musical accompaniment:
The 'In' Crowd, by Bryan Ferry, circa 1974
cover of the original version recorded by Dobie Gray in 1964

Who Loves the Sun?

Next swim:  Sunday 11/21 @ Noon

Last Swim: Saturday 11/20 @ Noon
Water Temp: 46 per mitch-o-meter, 44 per duck-o-meter
Air Temp: 44 and mostly sunny
Waves: light, gentle swells with occasional 1-2' rollers
Clarity: Pretty good - could see bottom near shore
Kru: (in order of appearance) Mr. Bubble, Blake, Moondoggie (topless), Diablo (skin)

Got to Klode parking lot just before Noon - only 2 cars in the lot and none of them looked like Klode  Kru Kars.  Headed down to the beach when the church bell rang.  On arrival, there was just one person on the beach, wearing a winter coat, hat and gloves.  

It was another one of those days where I debated whether it was wise/safe/appropriate to swim solo.  But like the other recent days of indecision, I couldn't resist once I actually arrived at the beach and saw how beautiful it was.  Blake arrived as I was getting in my wetsuit.  We swam out at about the same time, heading south.  Like other beautiful days when I couldn't resist going in - I didn't want to stop.  

When I got back, Blake was getting changed and Moondaug and Diablo were on the beach, already changed back in to street clothes.  Moondag reported that he swam with "bottoms only" and Diablo swam skin.  

Sunny skies continued until the four of us started heading back up the hill.  

Musical accompaniment - 

Who Loves the Sun, by the Velvet Underground, circa 1971

  

Let the Sunshine In

Next swims:
Sunday:  7:30 and Noon

Monday-Friday: 6:30 am and ?

next Saturday/Sunday: 8 am and Noon

Last Swim: Saturday Noon
Water Temp: 52
Air Temp: 58 on arrival, 61 on departure
Waves: light, mostly 4" swells, occasionally up to 12"
Clarity: Very good off shore, see bottom
Kru:  Sandy, Mr. Bubble, Itch, Blake, Sunny Luna, Diablo
Late Shift: Diablo
Shore Support:  Blake's bike

Just a quick post for those of you looking for info on temp and conditions.  

Flirting With Hypothermia

 Next swims:

Monday-Friday:  7 am and 5 pm
Saturday/Sunday:d Noon

Last Swim:  Friday morning

Water Temp:  53

Air Temp:  lower 40's?

Waves:  calm and placid

Clarity: SO CLEAR

Kru:  

Ala Mode, Lt. MJ, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Dragonfly

Shore Support:  Showgirl (contact lens malfunction), Blake and an enormous blond puppyish retriever

Coffee Support:  Mathilda, Crazy-Love Bulldog

I was headed toward the car this morning but found my steps heading back to the house.  Hot snaps.  And a good thing.  They were totally my salvation.

We gathered in the pre-dawn under a perfectly clear sky and almost perfectly calm water, just inviting little finger-sized ripples lapping the shore.

Ala, MJ and TTL suited up.  I chose skin, with socks.  Being last to get ready, I splashed in & dove before I could think.  WOOOOOOOEEEEEEE!!!!! As Geena Davis says so memorably in Thelma & Louise, "I'm AWAKE."

My next thought was, "I will not be able to get out.  Ever."  As I made my way north toward Sewer Pipe, I thought I might not be able to stay in, either.  My toes, in spite of socks, felt numb and my old friend Hypothermia  wrapped his arms around my mid-section, disconcertingly familiar.  But I was only on the edge of his territory, and needed only a light amount of self-talk for the return trip. I even had time to appreciate the sun peeping over the horizon as I headed back.

MJ and TTL went to the Birches, where they found a new sand bar.

Back on land, Ala & I began the losing race against time to get into our clothes while our fingers still worked.  It always seems that the skin thinks it is still under water and is oblivious to the fact that it is now covered with high-tech warming fibers.  I struggled to bend the little shred of metal that activates the Hot Snaps. I thought later one could use one's teeth in extremis. 

I have felt colder and shivered harder, but the pain in my feet this morning was notable.  I deployed the now-hot Hot Snaps over my toes, then put them in my pockets and gripped them obsessively.  We struggled up the hill toward coffee on the icy blocks that were our feet.  Hypothermia  and his  buddy Afterdrop crept up beside me, slyly squeezing my lungs and stomach til I almost started to maybe think about what it might be like to throw up.

But as I say, this was only a flirtation.

We celebrated being alive over coffee and bagels.  Suddenly Mathilda the massive, love-mad bulldog was in our midst, wriggling, giggling and shedding.  Just as abruptly, she got her fill of affection and lurched away with her owner in tow.  Life was good.

MJ & TTL

The author with MJ in background.