Rainy Goodness

Next Swims:  Mon-Fri 6am

                            Weekday evenings 5? 5:30? 6? 
                            Sat/Sun 8am and noon.  

                            (All of these are weather and people dependent)  

Last Swim:  6am Wed 6/25, plus others    

Water temp: 57 

Air Temp:   lower 60's and raining

Water Quality:  waves/chop out of the north

Clarity:  crystal clear

Kru:  Lt MJ, Lydia the TTL, Showgirl

Shore Support:  nope

So one of my rules of swimming is that there has to be some goodness for me to get in.  Warm water or flat water or warm air, etc.

As we walked down the ramp in the rain, and heard the waves, there was skepticism about this swim.  

We stood under the shelter of the overhang as it continued to rain.  TTL was all in, and headed down to take a temperature.

As you may or may not know, Lake Michigan has been on its usual roller coaster of water temps.  Monday and Tuesday of this week saw water temps in the 40's, and people did swim these days.  MJ and I joked that we'd only swim if the temperature started with a 6.

 

TTL returned:  57.  

TTL was definitely the most enthusiastic, but we all suited up and headed to the water's edge.  We walked in.  MJ began swimming while TTL and I struggled with goggles.

Anyway!  We swam to the garage.  The water felt pretty good!  The rain continued.  TTL and I LOVE swimming in the rain.  The clarity was amazing.  The choppy waves were annoying yet also kind of fun.  

We lollygagged and chatted a bit at the garage while the waves pushed us back towards Klode.

The whole swim felt kind of ridiculous and great.

New art installation

Post-swim happiness

Summer's Sure Here Now

Next Swims:  Regularly scheduled Klode Swims:  Mon-Fri 6am, Sat/Sun 8am and noon.  (All times subject to change; check comments for details.)  

Request to Kru members who are swimming in the evening:  Please indicate in the comments whether the regular evening swim is at 5:30 or 6:00 pm.

Last Swim:  Sat. 6.21.25 (there's a lot of unblogged swims these days) 8:00AM,    

Water temp: 55?  56?  Something like that. 

Air Temp:  HOT.  HOT.  And sunny.

Water Quality:  good, waves out of the south, not nearly as wavey as expected, what with the strong winds

Clarity:  6  or 7 of 10 

Kru:  Mr. A, Showgirl, Laura, Kahuna

Shore Support:  Lots of Wimhoffers.

Newbies:  Folks who are interested in open water swimming in Lake Michigan are always welcome to come swim with us.  To see the answers to frequently asked questions about swimming with us, scroll down past the pictures in the rignt hand column, and click on "Kru FAQ's." If your question is not answered, put your question in the comments, and a member of the Kru will probably reply.  

Pro tip:  if the wind is strong and out of the West, don't forget to pack your wetsuit, as you prepare to go to the beach.  

Shipwreck Swim + Men's Club BBQ THIS SATURDAY

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

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ALSO - don't miss the Shipwreck Swim and Men's Club BBQ this Saturday.

    We will meet on the bluff at Atwater Park in Shorewood at 10AM. BBQ starts serving at 11:30. More details below.

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Last Swim:  6:00AM, Monday 06/09, and others   

Water temp: high 50's

Air Temp:  60-ish?

Water Quality:  clear, waves out of the south

Clarity: ?

Kru:  Lt. MJ, Lydia the Tattoo'd Lady

Shore Support:  no

So I didn't actually swim yesterday morning, but I heard it was great.

Waves out of the south persist, so they went that way.

But the REAL purpose of this blog post is to alert you to one of the best swim days of the season-- the combined events of the Appomattox shipwreck swim followed by the Shorewood Men's Club chicken dinner.

Here is a loose itinerary for the day:

10:00AM - Atwater Park, Shorewood - Meet at the overlook. Engage in idle chat.  Keep in mind that parking will likely be a sh*tshow, so plan accordingly.  Maybe ride your bike.  Carpool.  Whatever.

10:04AM - Head down the ramp. 

10:07AM - Set up camp on the beach.  Someone will take a temperature.  Put on your wetsuit (or not!) and other accoutrements.  Continue the idle chit-chat.  Greet old friends.  Go into the water.

Now.... here's a caveat:  we know the shipwreck is out there.  Wikipedia says it's 150 yards out, in 12-15 feet of water.

Will we swim directly to the shipwreck?  No.  

Will we ultimately find it?  Yes.  

There is inevitable bumbling around, looking here, looking there, until some lucky swimmer spots the shipwreck.

What to look for:

NO, NOT THIS:

This is NOT the shipwreck. 
It will not look anything like this. 
Adjust your expectations down.

It's really more like this:

Or.... just a tiny bit like this:

Some additional frolicking, chit-chat, lollygagging may occur.  Maybe even some serious swimming executed by serious swimmers.

All this depends on conditions.  But it will be a delightful swim with friends, regardless.

Ultimately, folks will return to the beach, put on dry clothes, and proceed up the ramp for some amazing food.  We usually grab a couple of picnic tables and eat together.

11:30 - Shorewood Men's Club begins serving an fantastic chicken or rib BBQ meal.  Tickets can be purchased from our very own Kahuna or Moondaug, or from the SMC dudes selling them at the event.  

There is also beer!  And ICE CREAM!!!  Also live music.

It's fun.  You should come.

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.