Warmer & Very Pleasant

Linsday, Mathew and I arrived at Klode around 12:15pm under cloudy, rainy skies. The rain that was falling nearly the entire day seemingly halted the moment I stepped out from my car. The air temp was around 75 and the wind was non-existent...certainly a nice day for a swim.

With yesterday's swim still fresh in my mind I came prepared today with a wetsuit. As it would turn out, the water temps have rebounded to about what they were on Thursday evening. Swimming without a wetsuit would have definitely been possible, but hanging with the group was my goal today.

The water turned out to be absolutely spectacular with only a slight ripple of waves along the surface moving up from the south east. Water clarity was superb....crystal clear for the most part with a slight cloud hanging just above the lake bottom which would sporadically hide the lake bottom. As we swam off of north beach, rather than follow the shoreline today we opted to swim straight towards the beach drive point. This path took us about 200-250 meters from shore at our furthest point.

Upon reaching the rock wall (in just 13 minutes) Lindsay and I paused for a bit to look for Mathew. Assuming he would arrive shortly after us we took the opportunity to see if we could touch the lake bottom...despite wearing wetsuits. Amazingly, even though we were about 200 meters from shore the bottom was only about 12-15 feet down. After a few trips to the lake bottom there was still no sight of Mathew. We swam a bit towards shore...still no sign. We even sent up water 'smoke' signals by plunging our hands in the water to create huge plumbs of water spouts. ....still no sign.

So we decided to swim out a little further. We ventured to the end of the rock to no avail. Perhaps we'll find him on the way back? The journey out at this point took nearly 20 minutes of swimming. The return trip took nearly 25 minutes of continuous swimming...except for one instant near the 'garage' when Lindsay ventured too close to shore and was tackled by a wave as it crested over the first sandbar....I did manage to catch the entire incident out of the corner of my eye and I must admit, it was pretty comical. :)

Lindsay and I arrived back at Klode and there was still no sign of Mathew. We were baffled...but not concerned. Surely he'd return soon. ...and that he did....coming in straight from Michigan. As it turns out his route took him half way to Michigan before receiving direction from the Lake fairy that he was half way to Michigan. ....err, at least I think that's what he said.

In all, the conditions today were absolutely phenomenal!

Anyone interested in coming out to play Sunday? Perhaps at 10:30 or after the Packer game around 3:30?

-Capt'n