Sensational Start to Labor Day Weekend Swims

 Capt'ns log Saturday August 31st - 2024

Me Last Swims: 

    Fiesta Friday Swim 8/30 5pm

    Saturday 8/31 - noon 

Me Next Swims: Sunday 9/1 - noon & Monday 9/2 - Noon

(note:...regular 8am & 6am swims are likely also to occur...)

Water Temps: (per itch-mometer) 74ish both days

Weather: 70's & Sunny Friday / 80's & Sunny Saturday

Water Quality / Clarity:  Crystal  Clear

Waves:  Amazingly flat with very slight current from north

Kru:

   Friday: Itch, Luna Lagoona, Ziggy, Syncro, Diablo, Wet Taco, Kahuna, Capt'n with shore support from She Who Shall Not Be Named

    Saturday: Itch, Syncro, Diablo, Brick, Ziggy, Wet Taco, Peaches (a.k.a. O'Rando Boom), Mr. Bubbles, Billy Bobber, Bakhtiari, Capt'n

Ahoy Mates!  If ya haven't been to Klode fer awhile you've been missin' out on some of the best swimmin' conditions...ever!  Not only have we been spoiled with water temps consistently above 70, we're also having a remarkable stretch of flat water conditions...fer our PM swims!  Rumor has it tho, that if ya like a little rock-n-roll fer your swim conditions, ya may be in luck Sunday.  I'm plannin' ta come out both Sunday n Monday at Noon...hope to see ya on the beach!

In case ya missed it... here are a few snaps from some of our August Klode Kru adventures...

8/30 Fiesta Friday Highlights

Saturday's 8/31 Search for a Ripple in the Lake

8/18 Post Swim Rehydration at the Estabrook Bier Garten 

8/4 Klode Kru does Das Fest Adventure

Kahuna Kafe Kaptivates Klode Krowd

 Last Swim:  Friday, Aug. 22, 6 a.m.

 Upcoming Swims:  The Typical/Regular Schedule (all at Klode Beach):  M-F 6 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.;  Sat. & Sun.  8 a.m. and noon.  (Check blog comments, for additional "impromptu" group swims.)    

Water temp: 70.7 per Lydia the Tattooed Lady

Weather: Low 60s at sunrise, slightest zephyr from the SE          

Water Quality/Clarity:  Crystal clear.    

Waves:  Flat, amazing, near-perfect

Kru:  Captain, Mr. Anonymous, Magic Mike, Danny, Ziggy, Cindy, Lt. MJ, Michelle, Showgirl, Tattooed Lady, Sunny Luna Laguna, Fin-Fyn, Hollywood, A la Mode, Michelle's friend (Svetlana?) Dragonfly, sorry if I missed anyone!

SHORE SUPPORT +PLUS:  Kahuna providing waterside cafe service, as well as beach-side coffee and Kringle

Pre-cafe swimmers saluting the sunrise. Photo by A la Mode.

Ahoy! What a welcome sight! Kahuna rolling down to the beach lugging a crate of goodies.  All enthusiastically joined him in celebrating 11 years in business with his own law firm - including never missing a payroll!  This day marked the 10th annual Kahuna cafe.  The cafe typically takes place on August 15, but was postponed this year because of bad weather,  and thus took advantage of near-ideal conditions:  Caressingly warm, flat water with only the slightest of SE breeze and current on the way back--which did manage to chill my arms on every stroke.

As each swimmer churned to shore, the great Kahuna himself stepped out to into thigh-deep water to greet them, cafetiere and cup at the ready, ready to fuel everyone up with freshly-brewed java juice.  As you made your way to shore, you could stop at the rocks on the south side of the iron barrier for more hot brew, a choice of lighteners including cream or half-and-half, and a delicious slice of cherry Kringle. 

Truly, one could get used to this!

Here's to many more years of success, Kahuna, active and responsible citizen of village, state, nation and globe - stalwart upholder of Klode Kru lore and tradition -  both on and off the beach!! 

Thank you again for so generously inviting us all to caffeinate and celebrate with you!!

Klode Kru Mermaids Swim to the Moon in Hell!

Swim:  Swim to the Moon Open Water Swim Festival, Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18,

Hiland chain of lakes (Patterson Lake, Round Lake, Watson Lake and Half Moon Lake) near Hell, Michigan

Water temp: High 70s - HOT! - (what do you expect in Hell?)

Weather: Mostly cloudy, gray and drizzling        

Water Quality/Clarity:  Crystal clear, some weeds but not too bad

Waves:  Mostly very flat, a few ripples and tiny bit of intermittant chop in Half Moon Lake

Kru:  Showgirl, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Fin-Fyn, Holly, Marion the Librarian, Dragonfly

Shore Support:  Dragonfly (Saturday) Mr. Dragonfly (Sunday); Showgirl and TTL volunteered handing out finish awards on Sunday

The Klode Kru Mermaids represented in a big way at the 2024 Swim to the Moon in multiple events (all places are in age groups.)  

On Saturday Fin-Fyn and Lydia the Tattooed Lady each placed 4th in the 10k - TTL's first 10K swim!  Fin-Fyn returned Sunday to claim 2nd in the 5k. Holly also swam the 10k on Saturday, and on Sunday won the 1.2 mile ("I just kept swimming past slow people," she explained.)  

Also Sunday, Dragonfly placed 2nd in the 5k--her first 5k! Showgirl made a triumphant return to swimming after major joint replacement surgery with Saturday's 1-mile swim.

Showgirl captures 10k start.

One of Fin-Fyn's highlights was at the 10k turnaround - participants were required to exit the water and cross the timing pad at the 5k half-way point.  Here, they also had access to refueling food and beverages, plus whatever they had packed in their individual "special needs" bags (event term, not mine.)  Fin-Fyn was astonished to see a woman at this halfway point actually putting ON a wetsuit!!  For us Klode Kru, as I mentioned, the water was already nearly uncomfortably warm)

In its 15th year, Swim to the Moon drew participants from as far away as California.  The renowned Marathon Butterflier John Batchelder swam the event's inaugural 15k ALL FLY.  (What struck me most was his happy grin at the end - he did not even look tired!)

l-r:  Fin-Fyn, Tattooed Lady, Dragonfly, Holly, Showgirl.  Someone forgot the Killepitsch but we managed a few celebratory beverages

Showgirl and Amelia volunteering at the finish:

Although the event organizers encouaged emoting at the finish for the express purpose of photo opps to promote future Swim to the Moon and other Epic events, this moment seemed a little beyond Showgirl and TTL's expectations....

Fin-Fyn shows off a prized Swim to the Moon backpack award while TTL samples some post-race pancakes.

Klode Kafé Slated to Return

FYI, Klode Kafé (a/k/a "Kahuna Kafé" or "Kahoonapalooza") will return this Thursday, August 22nd.  Have a nice morning swim, then have a nice cup of coffee.  Please spread the word.  Hope to see you on the beach.  --  Sandie    

Das Fest Outing Sunday... cuz Das water unt Vonderful!

 Captn's Log Saturday August 3rd, 2024 - Noon

Last Swim:  Saturday, Aug. 3rd, Noon

  

Upcoming Swims:  The Typical/Regular Schedule (all at Klode Beach):  M-F 6 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.;  Sat. & Sun.  8 a.m. and noon.  (Check blog comments, for additional "impromptu" group swims.)    

Water temp: In the mid-upper 70's per me toe-mometer 

Weather: 85 & abundant Sunshine          

Water Quality/Clarity:  Crystal clear.    

Waves:  light chop/current from the north

Kru:  Diablo, Kahuna, Mr. Anonymous, Ziggy, Billy-Bobber, Capt'n and sightings of Magic Mike and Eric(?) with shore support from She Who Shall Not Be Named

**LATE BREAKING SOCIAL OUTING NEWS** - Following Sunday's (8/4) Noon swim at Klode, join us for a round of grog (...or two...) at Das Fest!  Das Fest is going on this weekend at the Bavarian Inn Bier Garten.  As das vater conditions are vonderful at Klode, vy not join us to celebrate, ja!    

 (**side note:  "The Alex Meixner Band" taking the Main Stage at 4pm is perhaps the best German Oompa-pa-pa band I've ever heard...bring family, friends and your favorite stein to join in on the fun!**)

Here are a few snaps and video from Ziggy and Captn's Das Fest adventure from Friday...

It's All Rainbows & Unicorns at the Beach!

 

Last Swim:  Thursday, Aug. 1st, 6:00 a.m.  

Upcoming Swims:  The Typical/Regular Schedule (all at Klode Beach):  M-F 6 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.;  Sat. & Sun.  8 a.m. and noon.  (Check blog comments, for additional "impromtu" group swims.)    

Water temp: In the 70's per my toethrometer. 

Weather: Air in the 70's, with a bit of haze on the horizon (which made it nice, not having to look into full sun), and some interesting fog banks moving up the bluff several places south of Klode.          

Water Quality/Clarity:  Crystal clear.    

Waves:  Flat as a pancake run over by a steamroller operated by a really fat guy

Kru:  Diablo, Lt. MJ, Cindy, Magic Mike, Two Unknown Swimming Females, Assorted Teenagers, Kahuna and some Wimhoffers.

Ya just never know what you're gonna get, if you get out of bed, and go down to the beach on a summer's day.  Today, the "well, that's weird" thing was seeing something floating out towards Michigan, away from Klode.  The folks on the beach (all of us of a certain age, and therefore squinting), were trying to determine whether the floating thing had a teenager connected to it, or not.  We guessed not (as said imaginary kid was not calling for help).  

Never a man to leave a mystery unsolved, Diablo (unicorn wrangler extraordinaire), swam out there, and led back to shore the Kru's new mascot:

Turns out our new mascot was not yet broken in, which led to some riproarin bronco-busting, rodeoing on the beach:

Contest:  Name that mascot.  Submit suggestions in the Comments.

Post-swim and bronco-busting, it started to sprinkle on us in the parking lot, which led to the appearance of the above rainbow.  Who needs a pot of gold, when you've got a golden sunrise, and flat, perfect water to go for a long swim in?  Truly a magical morning of swimming at the beach today!

P.S.:  Good luck to all who are headed Nort this weekend (including Cindy & Lt. MJ), to take on the Point to LaPointe Challenge.