Garage Closed for the Season?

Next Swim: 2011?

Last Swim: Saturday (10/30) 1PM
Water Temp: mid 40's
Water Clarity: cloudy
Waves: calm
Crew: Diablo, Capt'n

It appears as if the Lady of the Lake has closed the Garage for the season. It's also appearing less and less likely that Diablo and I will be seeing any swim suit clad women on the beach. Developments that have prompted Dr Diablo to sadly declare the unofficial end to the 2010 swim season. Of course the swim season can only be 'officially' closed by official proclamation by Professor Patriarch along with a celebratory round of Killepitsch. (...stay tuned on this developing event...)

The El Cap-i-tan Toe Test yesterday placed the water temp in the mid to upper 40's. Today was a completely different story. Keeping the toes in the water this morning for more than 10-15 seconds proved to be quite challenging. Upon checking the lake temps website upon writing this blog entry it appears the water temp is around 40. Could the water temp have dropped that much over night? Oh where-o-where is the Patriarch-o-meter???

From here on out for the remainder of 2010 it appears that it'll be nothing but viking swims for the Klode Kru. Stay tuned for more details...

PS. Congratulations to Sonofkahuna who led his Shorewood High School Cross Country team to the Division 2 State Cross Country Championship Saturday. Story and picture of Sonofkahuna appear in this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinal sports section.

Consecutive Day Streak Ends at 158

Next Swim: Saturday 1pm?

Last Swims: Sat 10/23, Sun 10/24, Mon 10/25, Tues 10/26, Wed 10/27, Fri 10/29
Water Temps: Sat-Tues low 50's, Wed upper 40's, Fri. mid-upper 40's
Waves: relatively calm (even on the really windy days!)
Water Clarity: Sat-Mon clear, Tues-Fri cloudy
Crew:
Sat: Diablo, Capt'n
Sun: Diablo, Gumdrop, Capt'n
Mon: Diablo, Gumdrop, Capt'n
Tues: Diablo, Capt'n
Wed: Capt'n (Gumdrop & Beth at Bradford)
Thurs: Capt'n toe test only
Fri: Gumdrop, Capt'n

Well, all good things must come to an end, right? On Thursday evening the air was cold, the wind was colder, the skies were getting dark, the water temps had plummeted into the 40's and I was all set to take the plunge....but I just couldn't pull the trigger. Not sure why I couldn't...but then again I'm not sure why I would. We had reached 159 consecutive swim days (...actually, it was only 158 but when you're wimping out you'll convince yourself of just about anything....) but it just didn't feel right to reach milestone 160 solo....or perhaps that was just my excuse for wimping out. Sorry folks....that's all she wrote for that record.

So now it's on to extending our swim day count. I wasn't planning on swimming this evening but thanks to Gumdrop dragging my sorry butt out to the beach we're back in business....well, at least for now.

Sounds like Gumdrop is out for this weekend. I'll swim if anyone else is interested...1pm Saturday? Please comment if you're interested....would be nice to get an official water temp reading vs. the El Cap-i-tan Toe Test. (hint, hint....nudge, nudge...wink, wink....)

Full Moon Swim

Next Swim: Saturday 10/23, 1PM

Last Swim: Friday 10/22, 5:30PM

Water Temp: 54

Waves: a little choppy

Water Clarity: Stirred up sand

Crew: Blondie, Gumdrop, Beth, Diablo, Cap'n, Kahuna, Lane, David, Patriarch

A fantastic swim as the full moon rose over the lake. Lots of times the moonrise is obscured by fog or low clouds over the lake, but not last night. It's quite a site to see the moonbeams reflect at a low angle off the lake. Moonlight imparts a eerie translucence to the water, another unique experience that makes Lake Michigan swimming so enjoyable.

Five of us headed over to the Pizza Kitchen, the rest claimed to "have plans". Yeah right. Cap'n wins the prize for the lamest excuse, he said he needed to complete a status report. I can do it for him in one short sentence: Outstanding full moon swim.

Rainbow Swim

Next Swims: Thursday Oct 21, 5:30

Full Moon Swim Friday 5:30, followed by pizza

Last Swim: Wednesday, Oct 20th, 5:30PM

Water Temp: 56

Waves: Calm

Water Clarity: Crystal Clear

Crew: Diablo, Patriarch

As we walked down the bluff to the beach we were treated to a gorgeous rainbow over the lake, made doubly beautiful by it's reflection in the water. For a couple minutes there were two rainbows and two reflections.

But after the rainbows came the storm. By the end of a short swim, it was dark, raining hard and the wind was howling. We hurried back up the bluff as quickly as we could.

But the cold rain couldn't extinguish reflections of rainbows.

Swim Streak in Danger of Ending at 150

Next Swim: Thursday, October 21st, 5:30PM

Last Swim: Tuesday, October 19th, 5:30PM
Water temp: 58ish
Waves: none
Water Clarity: crystal clear
Crew: Diablo, Capt'n

Danger, danger...our consecutive day swim streak is in danger of ending at 150. Unfortunately I am unable to swim this evening and it remains uncertain as to whether or not Diablo will be able to make it. Can anyone else swim this evening to keep the streak alive?

Both Diablo and I will be back at Klode Thursday evening to resume our daily swims. See you then...as well as Friday for the Full Moon Swim! :)

Professor Patriarch vs Dr. Diablo

Next Swim: Tuesday, October 19th, 5:30PM

Last Swim: Monday, October 18th, 5:30PM

Water temp: 58ish

Waves: not quite calm

Water Clarity: good

Crew: Diablo, Gumdrop, Capt'n

Minus the Patriarch-o-meter this evening we had to resort to El Cap-i-tans Toe test...which placed the water temp in the upper 50's to around 60. Without a doubt the water temp this evening was warmer than the air.

The big debate this evening...who's smarter. Professor Patriarch (...who's wisdom enlightened us yesterday on the fact that the Rockwall is closer when standing on Klode's north beach vs south beach...) or the self proclaimed doctor of love, Dr. Diablo (...who's brilliant insight this evening enlightened Gumdrop and I that if you wave at a very attractive woman while her back is turned and for some odd reason she does not wave back it's definitely an indication that she's attracted to the guy standing next to you.)

Why do they pick on me?

Next Swim: Monday, October 18th, 5:30PM

Upcoming: Full Moon Swim & Dinner Outing - Friday Oct 22nd

Last Swim: Sunday Oct 17th, 11:30 (Cap'n swam later)

Water temp: 56

Waves: Two Foot Rollers

Water Clarity: the waves stirred up the sand

Crew: Cap'n, Blondie, Diablo, Patriarch

How easily amused they are. I make an innocent comment like how the rock wall looks so much closer from the north end of the beach (which of course it is by a hundred meters). That's all it took for them to get all over me, with comments like "Master of the Obvious", the "Perceptive Patriarch", the "Lake Michigan Einstein".