Three shots of Pitsch to the wind

Next Swim: Klode, Sunday 3:30pm
Today's Water Temp: 49.9
Today's Air Temp: 54
Killepitch Crew: The Patriarch, Diablo, Capt'n

Mother Nature and the Lady of the Lake showed no signs of ending their seize on summer today. Regardless, we still found reason to convene a meeting of the Klode Crew and raise 3 shots of Pitsch to the wind. The Patriarch sported his new TriWisconsin swim threads today. Perhaps this combined with his magic love lube will bring cause for both Mother Nature and the Lady of the Lake to take notice and warm their spirits? Stay tuned....

End of Summer(?) Swim Saturday

Next Swim: Klode Saturday (6/11) 2PM
Today's water temp: 49.2
Today's air temp: 51

Could it be that summer's come and gone already? The exceptional summer like 90's enjoyed earlier this week now feel like a distant memory. Now we just have.....flaw, flaw, flaw!!!!

Well, if summer is indeed over let's celebrate what summer we did have with a dip in the Lake! 2pm Saturday. Perhaps The Patriarch can try to woo Mother Nature and the Lady of the Lake with his 'love lube' to coax a few more summer like days out of them? :)

Cold, colder....really cold

Next Swim: Friday 6PM

Last Swim: Wednesday 6/8 6:00AM
Water temp 6am Thursday 46! :(

Water Temp 6am Wednesday : 50 (considerably cooler away from Klode rock piles)

Waves: Calm

Water Clarity: Excellent

Crew: Diablo, Lane, Jodi, Capt'n with Special Guest Appearance by The Patriarch

We were greeted on the Klode shore Wednesday morning by the M-Power fitness crew and 3 new triathletes who had driven up from Bayview for an early morning swim. (...sorry, in all the excitement I don't think I caught your names...) As was the case Tuesday, the Klode beach water temp turned out to be considerably warmer than the water just 25-50 meters down shore. (...could it be that The Patriarch doesn't event need to apply his 'love lube' to entice the Lady of the Lake to warm the water underneath his feat???)

As we've already completed several journey's this year at the 50 degree water temp we walked the plank without even batting an eye. Clad in socks, multiple neoprene and silicone swim caps were able to complete a journey from Klode's south beach down to south south beach and back before calling it a day. Only Lane (...who shared with us his trade secret of practicing by soaking his hands in ice water...he had a more 'technical' phase for this practice but you get the picture...) had the desire to press onward. If I had to guess, the actual water temp was probably in the 45-46 degree temperature range. For those of you who decided not to swim today, your choice was certainly a sane one. Warmer water days are certainly ahead for us...it's out there. Perhaps it will be here Friday? :)

Deceptive

Next Swims: Wednesday & Thursday 6AM Klode

Last Swim: Tuesday 6/7 6:30M

Water Temp: 61 (considerably cooler away from Klode rock piles)

Waves: Calm

Water Clarity: Excellent

Crew: Patriarch, Diablo, Gumdrop, Crash, eRun, Dave, AJ, Nick, Capt'n

A delightful air temp hovering around 90. A downright hot breeze from the south. A water temp pushing 62 degrees. Should be a no brainer for ditching the wetsuits....right? Well, at least Gumdrop, Diablo and I thought so. The rest, however, weren't quite as ambitious this evening.

As fate would have it, our journey southward quickly revealed that the water temp at Klode was more the exception than the norm.....and not by just a few degrees. If I had to guess, the actual water temp was probably in the low to mid 50s the further south and north from Klode you swam. (...but the bay around Klode was downright delightful for a skin swim!) Ah....the joys of how unpredictable the Lady of the Lake can be....even when you have technology on your side.

THEORY ALERT: Now, if you love to theorize....which I definitely do...you might question why the water was only warmer around the Klode beach this evening? Could it be that The Patriarch's 'love lube' IS actually enticing the Lady of the Lake??? Hmmmm...

The Lady Beckons

Our next swim was planned for Wednesday morning, but this being such a godawful hot day, how can we resist the call of the cool beautiful Lady? 6:30 PM today (Tuesday) at Klode.

We'll be there tomorrow morning too (Wed 6/8 6AM).

Morning Swims to Begin Wednesday

Next Swim: Wednesday 6AM Klode

Last Swim: Sunday 6/5 1PM

Water Temp: 54

Waves: Calm

Water Clarity: Excellent, bottom clearly visible even in deep water

Crew: Patriarch, Gumdrop, Cap'n, Kahuna, Beth, Jodi, Lane, Sarah

If it were up to me, we'd swim every day at noon, but since everyone else is a working slob, I must sacrifice my leisurely mornings for the crew. We'll start regular morning swims on Wednesday at 6AM. Don't expect me to be cheerful though.

Today was another beautiful sunny day, and the beach was littered with sunbathers, kids and dogs. We had a delightful swim in calm clear water that was teeming with huge clouds of minnows, so thick they often obscured the bottom. Some of us swam to Cedar Grove (maybe 3/4 mile round trip?), and rest continued on to Rock Wall (over a mile).

It has been rumored that Kahuna is some kind of giant freak. If you look at the pictures that accompany this blog, the third picture has Kahuna standing in the water on the far left, appearing to be twice the size of everyone else. Is that just because of the perspective of the picture? I think so. (I better think so, or the giant freak will beat me to a pulp.)

Late arrivals miss the Pitsch

Next Swim: Sunday 1pm
Last Swim: 1pm Saturday
Water Temp: 55
Waves: calm
Clarity: good...turquoise blue water with hazy view of bottom
Crew:
1st Shift - The Patriarch, Diablo, Gumdrop, Capt'n with special guest Crash
2nd Shift - Slip-n-slide, eRun, Steph

Ahh, what an exceptional day to be at Klode beach! The call of the Lady of the Lake this afternoon was nothing short of mesmerizing. Brilliant blue waters along with plentiful sunshine and air temps in the 80s made it down right impossible to resist walking the plank....despite a water temp of just 55.

The seas were calm....quite the stark contrast to yesterdays turbulent adventure. Water clarity has improved significantly from last weekend and now the lake bottom can easily be seen in 10 feet of water. Pockets of warm water were sparse today but were sufficient to encourage Diablo to swim our mile long journey down to the "sewer pipe" and back with a sleeveless wetsuit. (It would appear that Diablo intends to compete with Kahuna for the title of "Badass".)

Upon arriving back at the Klode beach we were greeted by a second shift crew of Slip-n-Slide, eRun (....known by some as Feldy or Erin...) and Steph. They were a bit shy at first to walk the plank....but that may have been because they knew there were missing out on an exceptional round of Killepitsch. Next time mateys arrive a little earlier so ya' don't miss out. :)