She's Lost That Lovin' Feeling

gone...gone...gone, the warm water is gone, ran away with that lousy bastard West Wind.

The water temp was 51 this morning, almost twenty degrees cooler than Friday!  We didn't even try to swim.  Oh well, just like any love affair, we have our ups and downs.  She'll be back. How could she possibly stay away from studs like the Capt'n and me?

In the meantime, we'll take advantage of this break in the action to introduce a new feature, the 2009 Lake Michigan Swim Counter. The Swim Counter currently stands at 13.

Next swim:  4:30 PM Monday at Klode, hopefully it will be warmer in the afternoon.  

Klode / Big Bay Swim at 9am Sunday

With the Pleasant Prairie Open Water Challenge / Aquathon today The Patriarch and I unfortunately did not have a chance to jump in the lake today. The map looks absolutely phenomenal though...mid to upper 70's?

We did, however, cash in on our double dip opportunity on Friday afternoon. The official reading from the Patriarch's thermometer read 69 a few feet below the surface. The surface temperature was most likely a few degrees warmer. As you can probably guess, swimming without a wetsuit for us was a real no brainer. :)

Friday's swim was an easy one for us. From Klode's south beach we kicked around the bay a bit and retrieved a floating walking stick. Ventured down to south-south beach and then returned to kick around the Klode bay a bit more to retrieve the Captn's pistol that floating about 150 meters from shore. "Exhilarating!" With the sunny skies and warm air temps to go along with the warm water temps it was a real challenge to motivate us to get out of the water.

This morning's aquathon was an absolute blast! Haven't seen the official results yet...but the Patriarch's mile swim was in the neighborhood of 36 and mine was around 28...approx. 8 minutes faster than last year! (...many thanks to the Schroeder Swim coaches Jessica, Dave, Adam and Chase for their words of wisdom over the winter!!)

Also saw Megan, James and John Jones at the Open Water Challenge. All three completed the the 3 mile event...amazing!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Klode!
~Capt'n

Double Dippin' at 4pm

Beach: Klode
Water temp: 61 (am), 69 (pm)
Waves: gentle 1ft waves
Current: none
AM Crew: The Patriarch, Mathew, Linda, Robin, Brenda, Capt'n
PM Crew: The Patriarch and Capt'n
Water Clarity: (am) clear, (pm) cloudy
Next Swim: Friday 4pm Klode

What a sharp contrast to last nights conditions. Gone was the near shore tree debris...as well as the bath water like temperatures. Instead the water was clear and refreshing. With a wetsuit it didn't take long to acclimate to the conditions.

This morning's swim took us from north beach to the rockpile and back. Conditions were beautiful, gently rolling waves, clear water and occasional schools of minnows swimming along the lake bottom.

The plan is to swim again at 4pm from Klode's south beach. "NO WETSUITS OR BUST"...is our moto. :)

Current proposal is to do a Klode to Big Bay swim Sunday morning at 9am. Distance is 1 1/4 miles one way..2.5 miles round trip. Any takers?

See you on the beach!
Capt'n

Bath water? ...in June???

Beach: Klode
Water temp: 58 (am), 72-80???
Waves: none
Current: none
AM Crew: The Patriarch, Senor Loco (James), Steve, Capt'n
PM Crew: Synergie, Capt'n
Water Clarity: (am) clear, (pm) tree pollen and other gunk near shore, very clear out a bit
Next Swim: Friday 6AM Klode

C-r-a-z-y!! That's the best way to summarize today's swimming adventure. The unscientific toe test this morning was so numbing I was nearly convinced that this morning's swim wouldn't happen. But The Patriarch's thermometer this morning read 58. Being hard to argue with technology we decided to pull on the wetsuits and give it try. It did take awhile for our faces to acclimate this morning but when they did The Patriarch and I did manage to log a Klode South Beach to Sewer pipe swim.

Despite the frigid water temps this morning, James was determined to swim without a wetsuit. And that he did...out to around the stair case and back from Klode's south beach. (approx. 1 1/4 miles round trip) The achievement was so crazy that I hearby dub James the nickname "Senor Loco". As crazy as The Patriarch and I can be sometimes, James' feat this morning was absolutely c-r-a-z-y!

But wait, this story gets crazier! For anyone who took a glance at the colored lake temps map this afternoon you probably saw the "purple" water color indicated for the Milwaukee shoreline. As I've never seen this I couldn't resist the temptation to return to Klode this evening. Could the water temp really be near 80?

Similar to Tuesday evening's non-wetsuit swim the water was calm and littered with tree pollen and helicopters. The toe test at Klode's south beach indicated a much warmer temp than this morning but nothing that felt like 80. Upon entering the water it became clear where this morning's cold water went....while the surface water was pleasant the water about 1-2ft below the surface was considerably colder.

Swimming out about 100-150 meters from shore was absolutely astonishing...the surface water actually felt warm against my face. The 80 degree water indicated by the water color map was indeed true! In all the swims I've done in Lake Michigan I don't think I've ever experienced the feeling of warm, bath like water, against my face.

I've got my fingers crossed that this water hangs around for a bit so everyone can enjoy it!

Future Swim Opportunities:

Friday: 6am Klode

Saturday: Pleasant Prairie Aquathon
http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1664503&assetId=F7FA88C1-1317-4CC0-AF2B-A6B4FA7351EB

Sunday: Klode to Big Bay Swim (...time is negotiable. Interested??? Let us know what time you'd like to start. 9am? 10am? noon?)

-Capt'n

The Science of Swimming

Beach: Klode
Water temp: 58, few pockets of warmer and cooler water
Waves: calm
Current: none
Water Clarity: Excellent
The Crew: Patriarch, Nahi, Linda, Mike, Capt'n
Next Swim: Thursday 6AM Klode

What a difference 12 hours can make. Unlike yesterday evening's wetsuit optional conditions swimming without them this morning would have been quite a challenge. (...the thought did cross our minds though...) Despite the cooler water temp it didn't take long for everyone to acclimate to it. Remnants of yesterday's warm water temps could still be found scattered between Klode's north beach and the rockpile....although they were few in numbers. Perhaps signs of the conveyor belt theory?

Good news is today's sweltering hot weather forecast should warm the lake surface up quite nicely. Looking forward to tomorrow's 6am swim.

Future Swim Opportunities:

Saturday: Pleasant Prairie Aquathon http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1664503&assetId=F7FA88C1-1317-4CC0-AF2B-A6B4FA7351EB

Sunday: Klode to Big Bay Swim (...time is negotiable. Interested??? Let us know what time you'd like to start. 10am? noon?)

-Capt'n

Double Dippin'

Beach: Klode
Water temp: 61 (am), 63+ (pm)
Waves: calm (am), 1ft from the south (pm)
Current: none (am), from the south (pm)
Water Clarity: FANTASTIC!
Next Swim: Wednesday 6AM Klode

Ahoy mates! The Lady of the Lake be treatin' us to some fine early season swimming. Me and the Patriarch took the plunge from the north beach this morning and enjoyed some of the finest sights of the season. The water was crystal clear, the lake surface had a slight ripple and the skies were sunny. Fan-tastic!

This morning the water temp was slightly cooler then Monday evening so we walked the plank clad in wetsuits. After a few minutes of swimming our faces easily adjusted to the cool water and we were off to the rock pile. Not content to just swim to the rock pile and back we ventured a little further this morning up to the end of the rock wall...which is about 3/4 mile north of Klode. As was the case the past few days we were accompanied by several schools of minnows who would occasionally grab our attention by darting through the glimmering shadows created by the sunrise illuminating the rippled lake surface.

Unable to resist the temptation to take the plunge again due to today's summer like conditions, I ventured this evening down to Klode's north beach. Without the Patriarch, (...who I think was on a recruiting mission of sorts at the zoo...) and his handy dandy temperature gage...I would place the water temp around 64. Slightly warmer than Monday evening and definitely swimmable without a wetsuit. Compared to this morning, walking the plank was relatively easy. Without the wetsuit and with the current pushing slightly from southeast to northwest the swim to the garage and back was a bit more of challenge....but a nice change of pace from the pool. :)

We'll be back at it again Wednesday morning at 6am. Nahi is rumored to be planning a visit.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the beach!
Capt'n

No Wetsuit Required

Beach: Klode

Water temp: 63, pockets of warmer and cooler water

Waves: hardly any

Current: none

Water Clarity:  A lot of tree pollen and other gunk near shore, very clear out a bit

Next Swim:  Tuesday 6AM Klode

John and Mike joined the Capt'n and me for a nice swim from the south end of the beach to "sewer pipe" and back, about .8 mile if I recall .  It was great to see those guys again, it's been a while.   We seemed almost too warm in our wetsuits so when we got back, Capt'n and me decided to ditch the wetsuits and swam another fifteen minutes.  It was definitely cool, but we could have swum further I think.

When we returned to the beach Matthew was there to greet us.  Hopefully he'll be joining us soon.   Nahi said he'd join us Wednesday morning and James on Thursday.  It would be great if we could get a regular group going.   

Wow, it's only the 22nd of June and we're already swimming without wetsuits.   That's almost a month ahead of last year!