Bewitched

Beach: Klode

Water temp: 54

Crew: Capt'n, Lindsey, Sandie, Brian, Patriarch

Water Clarity: Very clear

Next Swim: Monday 4:30PM Klode

The lake was bewitching this morning, a beautiful summer day, sun shimmering on clear navy blue water.  Despite sewage dumping, storm runoff, invasive species, and various shoreline "improvement" projects, the lake is still drop dead gorgeous, and despite the general impression that it's an open sewer, the water is very clear and clean (at least it was this morning).  It makes me think all is not lost.

And maybe one of these days it will warm up.  The water is colder than a witch's you-know-what.  Getting in was very difficult, but after a couple minutes of flailing as hard as we could to generate heat, it was tolerable enough in our wetsuits.  I recorded the water temperature at the shore at 54, but there were pockets of water that felt much warmer and much cooler.  Hopefully the sun will win this battle.  

When we arrived at "rockpile" we were greeted by a lady in a kayak.  She invited us to her house on Beach Drive for a hot drink.  "Anything we want", she said.  This was of course very tempting.  But wait.......  could she be the ghost of the infamous Witch of Beach Drive?  Luring us to certain doom?  http://www3.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=11655  

We turned back, not because we were afraid of the witch but because it would have required another mile of swimming in the cold water. Really, honestly, we were afraid of the cold water, not the cold heart of the witch (or her you-know-what).  Really!

In any case, the forecast for the next few days looks very promising, very warm and sunny.  

Temps down but rebounding

Beach: Big Bay
Water Temp: (am) 51, (pm) 55ish
Waves: none
Crew: Senor Loco (James), Capt'n,
Water Clarity: Clear
Next Swim: Sunday 10AM Klode

The Patriarch's 10am water temp report: A woeful 51....and too cold to log a swim adventure. Could our goal of logging a swim every day for the month of July be in jeopardy...on only the 4th day of the month?

Fortunately the sun peaked out a bit this afternoon and the breeze blew gently from the east....just enough to raise the water temps to nearly yesterdays temps. As usual James took the plunge from Big Bay this afternoon in nothing but a speedo, swim cap and goggles. Not being as senor on the loco scale I walked the plank clad in a wetsuit...

Despite the cool water temps the conditions were, as usual, picturesque. The water clarity was crystal clear, the lake bottom at Big Bay was an unblemished bed of rippled sand and occasionally a minnow would swim up and say 'hello'.

This afternoon's adventure lasted approximately 20 minutes and went from Big Bay south towards flatrock. With the elevated lake levels this summer flatrock is not as visible as it was last summer. Judging from the familiar shoreline I would approximate that Senor Loco and I were about 50-100 meters from flatrock when we turned around.

Tomorrow's swim is planned for 10am from Klode. My pre-swim forecast puts conditions similar to Friday's. (mid-to-upper 50's) ....but then again, you never know...the Lady of the Lake has proven to be a difficult one to predict. :)

-Capt'n

Just a tad warmer...

Beach: Klode
Water Temp: 56
Waves: none - slightly rippled surface
The Crew: The Patriarch, Brian, James, Lindsey, Mathew, Robin, Brenda, Capt'n
Water Clarity: Clear
Next Swim: Saturday 10AM Big Bay & 3PM Big Bay

The official reading on The Patriarch's thermometer read 56.9 a few feet from shore but that didn't deter the season's biggest group yet from walking the plank. ...it also didn't deter James from swimming 15 minutes WITHOUT a wetsuit!

For the rest of us though...the wetsuit and multiple swim caps were a necessity. This morning's adventure took us from Klode's south beach north up to the rock pile (wall) before turning around. The water clarity was superb....at 200 meters from shore you could still see the sandy lake bottom as if it were just a few feet underneath you.

Traditionally, Klode's beach is closed on the 4th as they stage fireworks along the shore. As a result Saturday's swim is planned for Big Bay Beach which is about 1 mile south of Klode. The Patriarch will be swimming at 10am and I will be swimmin' at 3pm. (Doing the Firecracker 4 at 8am and New Berlin National Dash at noon.)

There is also talk to doing a point to point swim from Klode Sunday at 10am....bring yer runnin' shoes and join us. :)

Hope to see you on the beach!

-Capt'n

Upcoming Swims:

Saturday from Big Bay @ 10am
Saturday from Big Bay @ 3pm
Sunday from Klode @ 10am

Double Certification at 55

Beach: Klode
Water Temp: 55
Waves: slightly rippled surface
Current: none
Crew: Patriarch, Brian, Capt'n,
Water Clarity: Cloudy at South Beach, Clear at North Beach
Next Swim: Friday 10AM Klode

This morning's swim was essentially a carbon copy of last night minus the rolling 1ft waves. The water was a picture perfect turquoise blue but at 55 degrees there wasn't much of a temptation to sight see while swimming.

Our swim this morning took us from Klode's south beach to south-south beach and then up to Klode's north beach before deciding to retire for the morning. As was the case yesterday, the water off of south beach sported the Caribbean like blue hue but was mysteriously a bit cloudy while the water to the north was crystal clear.

The weather forecast looks very promising the next few days and the Klode Crew expects a nice warm-up for the near shore water temps. Our next planned swim will be Friday morning. (10am...unless someone would like to propose a different time) Although if the water warms into the 60's this afternoon it's entirely possible you may see another post here this evening. :)

See you on the beach!
-Capt'n

Double Dog Dare

Beach: Klode

Water Temp: 55

Waves: One Foot Rollers

Crew:  Cap'n, Patriarch, Brian

Water Clarity:  Clear 

Next Swim: Thursday 6AM Klode

The Capt'n and me headed down to the beach on this cool and cloudy afternoon, we measured the water temp at 55, and decided to be sensible for a change and try again tomorrow.

But as we started heading up off the beach, we met Brian coming down who said, "You guys aren't wimping out, are you?".  Capt'n's eyes narrowed.  My whiskers started twitching.  Scrawny ignorant punk didn't know who he was talking to.  But Brian didn't stop there.  "If you guys don't swim with me I'm going straight to the pool and telling all the masters that you guys are wimps, posers, and fakes."

That was too much!  In no time we were "walking the plank" into the frigid water.  It was hard to keep my face in the water for the first minute, and by the second minute my hands were numb.  And the rollers added a little spice of nausea to the mix.  But after a few minutes we actually started to warm up (or maybe our brains went numb too).  We managed half a mile before staggering out.

Happy Birthday Robin!  Come and join us!  It will be warmer soon, I promise.

Trying again at 4pm

According to the colored lake temps map it appears the lake temps are making a slow recovery. The Patriarch and I are optimistic that the water temps have rebounded to the mid to upper 50's?

Wishful thinking? We'll find out at 4pm!

-Capt'n

Suffering For Her

Beach:  Klode

Water temp: 60, but it felt colder

Waves:  small chop moving north to south

Crew:  Capt'n & Patriarch

Water Clarity:  Clear

Official Speedo 2009 Lake Michigan Swim Counter: 14

Next Swim: Tuesday 6AM Klode

Today was about showing her we still wanted her, that we were willing to suffer for her.  It was a crummy day; cool, cloudy, threatening.  60 degrees should have been tolerable in our wetsuits, but it felt colder, especially in pockets.  Twenty minutes was plenty today.

It's frustrating to look at the water temp chart and see a ton of warm water just offshore. Blow East Wind, blow!

We're going to give a shot again tomorrow morning, even though there's no reason to believe it will be any warmer.  But, as we've learned, the lady is unpredictable.  Will she demand more suffering or reward our persistence?