Eventful Weekend

Next Swim:  Monday 7/28 5PM, forecast says waves 3-6 feet are possible

Last Swims:
Sunday 7/27 1:00PM
Water Temp:  mostly 50 or below, but a few warmer spots too
Waves: Calm at the start, but sudden heavy weather forced us out (see below)
Water Clarity:  OK
Crew: Diablo, Neo, Cobbie, Cathy, Panini, Gumdrop, Phil, Patriarch, with special guest Capt'n
Wetsuit/Skin: 6/2
Pitsch Count: 9

Saturday 7/26 11AM
Water Temp: 51 at the beach, maybe colder away
Waves: Calm
Water Clarity: OK
Crew: Mike, Mike, Bill, Brian,Tim, Monica, Julie, Showgirl, Panini, Andy, Diablo, Patriarch, Capt'n
Wetsuit/Skin:  12/1
Pitsch Count: 8

Despite the cold water, a wonderful and amazing weekend.  On Saturday we met this incredible woman Abbey Brau who swam for an entire hour in 51 degree water without a wetsuit and only a single latex cap!  When she emerged from the water she wasn't even shivering or slurring her words like we do in much shorter and warmer swims.  Abbey is from Minnesota and she is training for the 10K "Bridge to Bridge" swim in San Francisco (Golden Gate to Bay Bridge) on August 9th.  On the event webpage it says, "This legendary swim is recommended for elite swimmers wanting to race between two landmark bridges in the exciting bay waters".  Pleased to meet you Abbey, good luck in in San Francisco.

Our Sunday our swim started uneventfully enough.  It was sunny and warm, the water was flat.  We could see rain on the lake far to the north, it didn't seem like a threat.  But what we didn't see, because it was "hiding" behind the lake bluff, was a violent storm furiously bearing down from the west.  Cobbie and I were just finishing our swim and just barely made it back.  But Phil and Gumdrop got caught and had to bail out.  One of the great things about Klode is the long sand beach.  If you get in trouble you just get out and walk back, which isn't possible in most places along the shore.  Phil wasn't too far away, but Gumdrop had to walk almost a mile back.

From the shelter above the beach we watched a huge wind pick up the flat water, toss it into a spray and push it rapidly south.  It almost seemed like a herd of invisible buffalo stampeding across the water.

Another amazing but disgusting thing was all the brown foamy gunk gushing out of the street sewer just north of our beach.  Although it's not raw sewage it might be worse in some ways, heavy with all the foul stuff running off the streets and people's lawns.  Fertilizers, insecticides, road oil, and God knows what else.  Yuch!  Hopefully it dissipates quickly.