It's the most wonderful time of the year

Next swim: Mon - Fri 6am, 5pm; Sat & Sun 8am and noon

Last Swim: Wednesday, 6 a.m. 

Air temp: 63.

Water temp: 64.   

Waves: Flat.   

Clarity: Clear. 

Kru: Showgirl, Dragonfly, Super Hera, Cardinal, Greg, Magic Mike, Kahuna.  

Huge number of high school girls on the beach this morning.  School starts tomorrow.  Fyi, Cafe Kahuna will be open on the beach on Friday morning.   

Dragonfly Magic

Next swim: Mon - Fri 6am, 5pm; Sat & Sun 8am and noon

Last Swim: Monday, 5 pm. 

Air temp: 80, with a bright sun after a generally cloud day.

Water temp: 65 at beach but noticibly cooler once away from the rocks.  

Waves: Flat, with some slow lazy swells from the South.   

Clarity: Nicely clear away from the beach.

Kru: Itch, Rosie, Mr. A, the complete Family Laguana, Kahuna.

As I walked down the path, I was greeted by what I percieved as a historic number of dragonflies, hovering over the hillside, above flat reasonably clear Lake Michigan.

 According to Stacey Kayne in an online essay, “a dragonfly can hover, fly sideways, stop on a dime, change direction, and even spurt backwards at astonishing speeds. Rather than slipping air smoothly over sleek airfoils as birds do, dragonflies create furious vortices which swirl much faster than the surrounding airflow around the surface of the wings.

"The speed of the air immediately adjacent to the wing produces lift in both planes. The wings vibrate as fast as 1,600 times per minute, allowing the dragonfly to reach speeds of over 30 miles per hour."

When a male has attracted a receptive female, he grasps her behind the neck with a pair of pincers. The female then curves her abdomen under the male's so that the sperm can be deposited. In this locked position, they often take flight in an aerial "mating circle" that's said to be unique among animals.

Good for them, say I.

Here Come Ol' Flat Rock

 Next swim: Mon - Fri 6am, 5pm; Sat & Sun 8am and noon

Last Swim: Wednesday 6 a.m. Big Bay north to Flat Rock

Air temp: 70?

Water temp: 70 per TTL

Waves: Flat as a pool with nobody in it.  Everybody with their own lane.

Clarity: Nicely clear

Kru: HFON, Corryn, Holly, Hollywood Abby, Showgirl, TTL, Lt. MJ, Drangonfly

Shore Support: Sunrise watchers, Klode Kru hopefuls, Pfister chef

                                                                    TTL takes temperature.

Flat Rock grooved up pretty quickly as we were lifted north by a gentle current past the stairs (more beach than last year) and past the Great Wall of China at the Herman Uihlein residence.  (This future Klode Kru clubhouse is listed at a cool $7 mill, give or take.)

The Great Wall of China.  Photo and arrow courtesy of Showgirl

Naturally "Lakefront Privacy" doesn't apply to the Kru, who were already scoping out possible chairs for sitting on and stairs for access to chairs.

The water was warm and comfortable.  A few swimmers overshot Flat Rock  (got to be good looking cos he's so hard to see) but were recalled by the triumphant cries of those already surmounting it (come together...right now....over me!) We stood in a row, gilded gold accented with bright green, pink, and orange caps & barbies.  If only someone had been there to capture it.  

The Kru was in full outreach mode, as sunrise watchers inquired about our times & places.  A gentleman who gave his occupation as "Pfister Chef" walked with Showgirl and MJ up the hill.  He was assured he could join our group...especially if he brought breakfast!

Golden arms

Next swim: Mon - Fri 6am, 5pm; Sat & Sun 8am and noon

Last Swim: Monday 6am

Air temp: 65

Water temp: at least 70. Nobody bothered to measure, to my knowledge.

Waves: flat

Clarity: 7/10

Kru: Wendy and Elizabeth on the earlier shift, Dragonfly Riffraff, Showgirl, Linda the Lamprey, and Corryn, who I failed to introduce myself to (my apologies) on the main shift, Magic Mike, Mr. Anonymous and Super Hera on the later shift.

Shore Support: 2 WimHoffers documenting their art on video and, later, a guy named Greg inquiring about Klode Kru logistics.

The photo above was taken one year ago this week (thanks Google Photos!). Still, it seemed a suitable illustration of this morning's delightful swim. The sun rose in a very similar manner. While the water was warm and smooth, it may not have been quite so perfect as this photo from last year. But it was close. 

I got up late this morning, arriving at the beach about 6:20. Wendy and Elizabeth were already swimming, others were preparing to enter the water. Mr A was fairly close behind me, and Super Hera arrived after I swam out. 

As I left the cove between the rock piles and began the swim north, I paused once or twice to get my bearings vis-a-vis the other swimmers. Typically I see the bright colors of our fellow swimmers' swim caps and buoys. This morning, as I sighted north, I saw the swimmers' arms bathed in the golden glow of the rising sun. Those familiar triangles slicing the surface of the bay. So glad we get to do this every day!

Lets keep these conditions rolling into September!

More Amazing Swimming

Next swims: M-F: 6am and 5pm, Saturday: noon; Sunday: 8am and noon; 

Last swim: Friday 6am (and other, un-blogged swims) 
Air temp: 70?
Water temp: 65
Waves: small chop out of the south
Clarity: clear-ish
Kru: Abby, Corryn, HFON, Super Hera, Rachel, Dragonfly. Lydia the Tatto'd Lady, Showgirl, Kahuna, Laguna Mike, Luna Laguna, Tattoo Lady, two un-affilliated swimmers, plus three who launched WAY early, others?
Shore Support: 2 Wim Hoffers unable to get their Wimhoffer-y mojo going due to the warm water <insert single tear emoji here>

I'm mostly blogging to post these amazing photos that our long lost Super Hera took this morning. We rarely get pics of us swimming because.... we're swimming.

Anyway, the water wasn't quite as ideal today as yesterday, but it was still awesome.  

Everyone swam skin to the cute chairs and beyond.  The sunrise was amazing, and the water was still delightful, though the a-hole who said we should swim north should be punished severely.

Plus.... an amazing sunrise courtesy of Abby:

Yes, it really is all that.

Cute Chairs, Epic Stairs (tl;dr: we sat on the Cute Chairs!)

Next swims: M-F: 6am and 5pm, Saturday: noon; Sunday: 8am and noon; 

Last swim: Thursday 6am (and other, un-blogged swims) 
Air temp: low 60's
Water temp: 69!!
Waves: flat as glass
Clarity: crystal
Kru: Mr. Anonymous, Laguna Mike, Luna Laguna, Tattoo Lady, Showgirl
Shore Support: 2 Wim Hoffers, and later a couple making out on the beach

After yesterday's rough, wavy swim, today's amazing flat, warm, water was a fantastic reward.  Only a small crew took advantage of these rare conditions.

The Lagunas took off like a shot, and Luna Laguna made it a truly epic swim to the concrete bags.

Laguna Mike turned around somewhere around Mudslide(?).  

Mr. A has been double-dipping, and I last saw him around the snowy peaks of Mt. Jackass.

I struggled to haul my body to the two cute chairs, trailing TTL the whole way.  I felt like I had used up all my arm-energy on yesterday's choppy/wavy swim.  However, the magical conditions of today were not to be wasted.  

By the time I arrived at the chairs, I didn't see anyone.  For a few years, the chairs have been a delightful swimming landmark.  Last year, the homeowners (chair-owners?) graciously built a stairway from the water up to the level of the chairs.  Today it was an invitation that could not be refused.  I swam to shore, climbed the gigantic stone steps, and sat in one of the two cute chairs.

"What makes these chairs so cute?" you ask?  Well, what we learned today, is that some crafty person constructed the chairs out of colorful retired downhill skis, even adding cup-holders out of bindings.

The stairs leading to the chairs are gigantic, and a bit hard to navigate with sea-legs. Anyway, I sat for a moment, and then carefully descended.  At about that time, TTL was returning from her destination (red kayak?).  She, too, climbed the stairs and sat on the chairs.  After this fun moment, we strolled south in the shallow water for a bit before swimming back to Klode.

TTL's visit to the Chairs

Along the way back we saw Laguna Mike walking north, wondering where the heck LL had swam to.

This was definitely one of the best swims of the season, with a delightful reminder to stop and smell the roses, savor the swim, and sit on the chairs.

Itch's B-Day? Get the Flock Outta Here!

Next swims: Saturday: noon; Sunday: 8am and noon; M-F: 6am and 5pm

Last swim: Tues. pm. 
Air temp: 70?
Water temp: measured at 68 at the beach (in the silt); felt like 70 getting in; out 50 yard (in the blue) abrupt temp drop to like 65?
Waves: little riffled, with current coming in from the North
Clarity: Not at all closer to the beach; 5 of 10 in the blue water
Kru: Itch, Synchro, Squeeze o’ Synchro, Handyman Hank, Kahuna, Luna Laguna, Rosie, We’tac, and newish-guy Andy (forever n/k/a "Pool Boy"?).  
Shore Support: SheWhoMustNotBeNamed 

First, Happy Birthday to Itch!  We wish you many joyouse returns of the day!  Party person that Synchro is, she brought a delicious cake to share, and Itch brought Payday bar and margharettas, to add a tropical flare to the festivities on the beach. 

 

Kind of weird conditions as we came down to the beach.  There was a tan-colored strip of water all along the beach, about 50 yards from beach out.  After that, the water was blue.  The water near shore didn't look bad, and it didn't smell bad, and there hadn't been a big rainfall recently, but nevertheless, it caused some of the Kru to pause before setting out, and several of us back stroked for the first 50 yards East.  

The weirdness continued as we got ready to swim as a small flock of turkeys can wandering over by us as we were changing, then warily scurried up the hillside.

 

Tom, Helen, Jake & Jennie-o

Not quite to the buoy...

 Next swim: Saturday: noon; Sunday: 8am and noon; M-F: 6am and 5pm

Last swim: Sat 8am, Atwater beach buoy swim
Air temp: 65F
Water temp: 61F
Waves: 2-3 footers building out of the south
Clarity: 8/10
Kru: Brick, Sandy, Linda the Lamprey, Holly, Brian, Moondaug, Magic Mike, Dan, Wendy, Michael, Dr. Dave
Shore Support: Eric, Kalani the black lab, Cheryl
Boat support: Joe, his first mate whose name I did not catch, and Hank, our honorary lifeguard. Without these people our event would not have happened.

Four of the six swimmers who eventually met the boat, then turned around and swam back.

The swim today was a mixed bag. On the one hand, the water was rough, the goal was not accomplished, and not everyone was comfortable enough to strike out for the whole distance. On the other hand, a dozen of us got in a really nice swim, explored the beautiful aquatic environs of Atwater beach, and returned safe and sound to the sand. There, Sandy treated us to delicious coffee cake from National Bakery. So thoughtful of her. Thanks Sandy!

I may not have gone today, had I just showed up with the thought of swimming out to the buoy. But the presence of a boat with a lifeguard aboard, and several determined swimmers compelled me onward. A mild threat of rain lingered at 8:00 this morning. A small craft advisory was queued up for 10:00 am. Once we swam out past the point south of Atwater, the swells increased significantly. At one point, those aboard the boat proclaimed that the buoy was not to be found. There were charts that indicated we were at the spot but no buoy was visible. I wasn't gonna argue as the waves provided enough of a challenge for the swim today. We hung out, snapped a picture or two and headed back through the swells to the beach. There we peeled off our neoprene and chatted with friends, dreaming of the next chance. 

Mean time, noon today at Klode, 8 and noon Sunday and 6am & 5pm each weekday. There's a lot of swimming in front of us!

Full Moon Swim

 

Full moon swim: Thursday 8:10 pm

The forecast is for warm water, warm clear air, and 1-2 foot moon waves. Full moon rises over the lake at 8:22 pm, with a sunset at 8:00 PM.  Come on out and swim in/to the gravity feed pull sway of pulsating waves, with an after-swim twist of Pitsch if you choose. Or maybe just watch the waves roll and glow in the light of the full moon.

Also, consider the boat escorted  Sat swim out of Atwater (8 am) to the weather buoy, as mentioned in the previous post

An escorted buoy swim from ATW this Saturday (8/13) at 8am

You can't really see the buoy in this picture:)

 

Look out there. See that? That's the buoy. The UWM buoy that gives us all our temperature and wave information (and chlorophyll fluorescence and turbidity and incident solar radiation). Isn't it about time you went out and gave it a closer inspection, perhaps even waved at the camera in person? Now's your chance. 

Dan DeWeerdt has organized a swim out to that buoy. Joe Wilson, the coach for the summer swim program at the Fox Point pool, will provide a boat escort. This will keep us visible to any other boat traffic. You will provide your equipment and sense of adventure. Many times, on our June shipwreck swim, some consider taking the further swim out to the buoy. This year nobody did so. But here's another chance. 

Gather at 8:00 am at Atwater Beach on Saturday, August 13 and we'll evaluate the conditions, suit up, and strike out for the 2K swim out to the buoy. That makes the round trip approximately 2.4 miles. Sounds like a distance triathletes and Bayfield swimmers can easily conquer. 

Hope to see you there!

Point to La Pointe Recap (we were cheating on Lake Michigan)

Next swims: Sun 8am (?) and 12noon, M-F 6am and 5pm

Last swim: Saturday 7:30AM, Bayfield, WI, Lake Superior

Water temp: 65 with plenty of chop

Air temp: 70's and overcast

Waves: building chop

Clarity: meh

Kru: Lt. MJ, H-FON, Mermaid Princess, Showgirl, Dragonfly, Corryn, Abby, Stephanie, Danny, Brady (the Milwaukee Mermen!), Kathy, Jill, Brian, Lydia the Tattoo'd Lady

Shore Support: Mr. Dragonfly, SOS, Josh, Alex, Tom, Dan-O, Dan, and Andy, who are Squeezes of Danny, Corrine, Abby, TTL, Lt MJ, Cindy (aka HFON), respectively

In the previous blog post, Kahuna wrote so very eloquently about the how-to's of swimming with the Klode Kru in Lake Michigan.

However, this weekend, a sizeable contingent of the Kru abandoned the frigid waters of Lake Michigan and headed into the great Up North to Bayfield, WI to swim in the balmy Lake Superior.

We were swimming in the Point to La Pointe race, which is (theoretically) a 2.1 mile swim between Bayfield and Madeline Island.

Several members of the Klode Kru finished impressively:

Cindy (aka HFON) finished THIRD in her age group, followed by Mermaid Princess at 5th.  HFON is pictured below holding her fabulous trophy--- a P2LP coozie.

Cindy holding the 3rd place trophy, wearing her trophy from a previous year.

Corryn and Abby also finished in the top ten of their age group.

Brian (does Brian have a nickname?) finished FIRST in his age group and 5th OVERALL!

Some of the group have done the event many times-- Cindy is on her 8th P2LP.  Several of us were anxious first-timers, nervously watching the water temps in the days leading up to the event.

Fortunately, the water turned warm, pushing hypothermia further down the list of worries.  During the race there was increasing chop, and a current that pushed many swimmers off course.  I was thrilled just to finish the race, though if I could have swam in a straight line I would have finished significantly sooner.  Nevertheless, I will wear my P2LP hoodie with pride.

Here are some pics before the race:

And here is one post-event pics:

Let's All Gemuetlichkeit the Hell Out of This Weekend

To all those coming to Milwaukee this week to compete or watch the USAT races:  Welcome!

Milwaukee takes pride in "Gemuetlichkeit" (ga-MEET-lick-kite), which is a German word meaning roughly hospitality, good food, good beer, and good times with family and friends (old and new). 

We hope everybody has a great time while they are here.  

If you have stumbled across this page looking for information about swimming in Lake Michigan in the Milwaukee area, boy, are you ever in luck.  

Lake Michigan Swimmers (a/k/a the "Klode Kru") is an eclectic, large but not-particularly-organized group of open water swimmers, who have been swimming together and encouraging others to try open water swimming for some 15 years.  We blog our experiences here.  Some of our members are highly accomplished open-water swimmers and highly experienced triathletes, and some are just getting into the sport.  

If you have any questions about swimming in Lake Michigan or Milwaukee, that we might be able to help with, click on the "comments" word at the end of this post, and post your questions in the comment section, and someone in the group will respond.  

A word about Lake Michigan water temperatures.  Our group (or at least some of our group) swim in Lake Michigan in a broad range of temperatures (from the rare tropical mid-70's, to the headache inducing 30's).  Swimming can be done in cold water, but we caution that if you are not accustomed to it, it can be unpleasant (or, potentially) unwise.  We note that in the last 24 hour period (8 a.m. on Monday, to 8 a.m on Tuesday), the buoy we refer to for surface water temperatures recorded a low temp of about 44 degrees, and a high temperature of about 67 degrees.  Swimming in 67 degree water is quite different than swimming in 44 degree water. 

Conventional wisdom is that near-shore water temperatures in Milwaukee beaches are strongly influenced by wind direction, with a strong west wind in the summer likely to cause low water temperatures.  Such fluctuations may not happen as rapidly in the Milwaukee harbor, but there is no guaranty.  

Looking at the wind direction forecast over the next several days, you may be in luck, if you are swimming on Friday or Saturday.  The wind direction forecast is for winds generally from the East on Thursday and Friday, and then from the South on Saturday.  Watch out for Sunday though, as the forecast is for West winds from 10 to 15 mph that day.  That could affect near shore temps on Sunday (but again, there is no guaranty, because water temp is affected by speed and direction of wind, and speed and direction of currents in the Lake).  

If you are racing on Sunday, and worried about water temps, you may want to (in addition to using a full wetsuit), use  or purchase neoprene gloves, neoprene booties and a neoprene swim cap (all can be obtained from Xterra).  Many in our group regularly use one or more of the above, when water temperatures go below 60 degrees.  Others in our group swim skin in the 50's and 40's, but they are experienced swimmers who are accostumed to such conditions.        

You are more than welcome to come swim with us whenever you are in town.  No parking fees, admission fees, membership fees, registration forms or reservations required.  Here are the details regarding swims this week:  

Location:  Klode Park Beach in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin (15 minutes North of Downtown Milwaukee).  

Times:

--  Mon.-Fri.: 6am and 5pm

--  Sat.-Sun.: 8am and 12noon

Swims:  No set workout.  Swimmers tend to swim North or South from Klode Beach along the shore, for up to 2 miles a swim (but some members of the group swim shorter distances).  Doing that tends to have you traveling over a sand-covered lake bottom, which does not vary dramatically in depth.  (If you run into a problem, stop swimming, and walk back to Klode Beach.)  If the water is flat, and there are boats around Klode Beach, we recommend you swim with a inflatable swim pull buoy, to make yourself more visible to boaters.  Water quality at Klode Beach tends to be excellent (with the exception being shortly after heavy rain falls, which are not forecast this week).

Again, welcome to Milwaukee, good luck this weekend, and if we can be of any help, let us know.