Heavenly Body

Next swim: Friday 5:30pm

Last swim: Friday 6am
Water temp: nice, warm, not shocking in any way, probably 70
Water quality: can't-see-your-hand murky
Waves: none, flat
Kru: Drangonfly Riffraff, Mr Bubble, Magic Mike, Forger, Scuba, with Diablo on the early shift (as he was yesterday, as he often is), and another swimmer who went out before we got there, swam north and came in after we went out. Linda?



As this heavenly body was coming out of the water, our decidedly human bodies were going in. We swam south (except the mystery swimmer, and perhaps Diablo). Some swam to Love Rock, some swam shorter, some longer. After a few days of high energy water, it was nice to be in a calm swimming environment. I swam out looking for clear water and didn't find any. Perhaps I should have been more persistent. But at 350-400 yards out, the water was just as murky as at the rock piles. So I angled back toward shore and joined the rest of the Kru.

At the beach, the clouds had begun to move in and the swimmers, with one good thing done for the day, slowly moved out.

Feliz Cumpleaños

Water Temperature = 71℉

Last swim: Thursday, 6pm
Next swims: Friday, 6 am and 5:30 pm
Water quality: various shades of light brown, some plant junk floating near shore
Waves: 1-2 feet 
Kru: Sir James (early shift), Patriarch,Itch, Kahuna, Handyman Hank, Wet Taco, Stickler, Liz, Super Hera (late shift)
Shore support:  Wet Taco's mom

YES! It finally happened!  The water temperature was above 70℉ - as confirmed by 3 different readings by two different people using two different instruments.  Unanimous consensus of those present was that it was the warmest swim of the year.

Looking down on the water from the bluff, you could see that the first 80 yards from the beach was a total sandbox, than tapering off to a diluted brown in the midst of blue, then bluer blue and finally crystal blue out on the horizon.  Waves rougher closer to shore, as usual, and pretty steady further out.  

Another novelty besides the warmer water - today is Itch's Birthday.  His gift to all of us were little Pay Day candy bars and pre-mixed Margaritas - very tasty Margaritas in fact.  Super Hera, who normally declines Killepitsch, was more than happy to be offered a Margarita before her swim.   Itch also left one for her post swim, which she posted about on Facebook!

Super Hera Making a Post Swim Toast to Itch's Birthday

In honor of Itch's birthday, Mr Bubble sang Las Mañanitas, the Mexican birthday song.  Wet Taco shared a story of being down in Mexico and being surrounded by people who were singing Las Mañanitas and she had no idea what it all meant.  Fortunately, Mr. Bubble could only recall the first three verses from his high school Spanish class, and no one was clamoring for an encore.  

Congratulations Kahuna, and thanks

Next swim: Thursday, 6pm

Last swim: Thursday, 6am
Water Temp: 66, per the macho-meter
Water quality: very cloudy, but very clear out further
Waves: 1-2 feet
Kru: Patriarch, Capt’n, Showgirl, Mr. Anonymous, Snap, Josh, Pool Noodle, Magic Mike, Ziggy. Shore support (and more!): Kahuna

Celebrating six years of successful legal practice—making the rent and making payroll!— Kahuna treated this morning’s swimmers to a frothing cup of hot coffee, a croissant, and some berries as we stepped out of the water. What a pleasure. Read Showgirl’s tribute haiku in the comments on the previous post. There were plenty of us who benefitted from the breakfast largesse and felt similarly. Thanks.

The spread

The Kru (in part)

Also, the clouds provided another diversion from the usual routine of drying off and heading back up the hill. They did not move in the manner typical of clouds over the lake. They just drifted slowly from north to south covering and uncovering the sun, in turn. And generally looking impressive.

The clouds: pre-swim

The clouds: post-swim

There are haiku at the end of this post

Next swim: Wednesday, 6pm

Last swim: Wednesday, 6am
Water Temp: 70
Water quality: clear, then murky, then clear
Waves: big 3-4 feet
Kru: Linda the Lamprey, Magic Mike, Moondaug

Light rain broke out as Linda and I made our way down the path. Once on the beach, Moondaug magically appeared behind us. Big waves reaching high onto the beach greeted us as we slid into the water. The rain stayed steady and light the whole swim.

By the time I reached a point a little beyond birches, I looked out for the other two swimmers. They were hard to find because of the large waves. Moondaug said he thought the waves were ocean-like, because they had a particular power behind them. Agreed. I found that as I scanned the water for the other swimmers, a steady current pushed me further north along the shore. So, despite the fact that the waves were coming in from the north, the current was pushing in from the south. Does that even make sense?

Here’s a haiku-

Droplets on the beach

Changing in the rain’s a pain

Its all just water

Here’s another-

Mini centipedes

Ugly little “wormy things”

Crawling on the beach

Post yours in the comments. Or, if you are Kahuna, post an epic poem.

Warm and wavy

Next swim: Tuesday, 6pm

Last swim: Tuesday, 6am
Water temp: probably near 70, but Showgirl will have to correct in the comments
Water quality: generally clear
Waves: 1-3 footers
Kru: Showgirl, Mr. Anonymous, Pool Noodle, Magic Mike

Seems like there is some energy building out there in the lake today. Walking down the path, I could hear small waves, the ones that only break right at the shore and that you don’t really notice until you get close. I saw the other swimmers in a line headed toward sewerpipe with about 40 yards between them. They each had a barbie bobbing behind them, and the waves were bouncing them around a bit. As I swam out, considerably behind the others, it seemed I had to bust through some larger waves to get beyond the rockpiles. And by the time I was midway through my swim, I was up and down in pretty big waves. On shore, it was evident that some sizeable waves had recently reached a place higher on the beach than the rest. It might be an active afternoon swim, if this keeps up.

Another odd feature of the swim was the patch of turbid waters between the rockpile and sewerpipe. Otherwise really clear, the waters were stirred up enough that I could not see bottom in this patch. This was also the spot on the swim where there was a lot of flotsam to dodge: leaves, sticks, branches, small logs, etc. It’s never the same swim twice.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Last Swim:  8/12 @ 6 pm

Water Temp:  69

Clarity:  very clear.  Quagga and Zebra mussels  are on the clock

Waves:  Flat at first, picked up a tiny bit of chop as it got later

Kru:  Patriarch, Sir James, Itch, Mr. Bubble, Super Hera

Next Swims:  Tuesday @ 6 am and 6 pm

The same feelings were expressed by all five swimmers when they came out of the water - "That was really nice!".  It was.  The only thing lacking was some sunshine.  Few raindrops before we went down the hill and a few when we came back up.  Tiny bit foggy at first but it cleared.  It was so calm, it was almost like an early morning swim. 

I'm still in possession of the neoprene shorts that were left at the beach on Sunday and which allegedly belong to Reid.  Reid - if you read this, please leave a comment to let me know if they are yours and when you might be coming to swim again.  

Sometimes it's better not to know

Next Swims:  Tues-Fri 6am, Tues-Thurs 6pm, Fri 5:30pm

Last swim: 6 a.m. Monday

Water temp: low 60's (toemometers), colder around the rocks
Clarity: Very clear 
Waves: nearly flat, minor north-south current

Crew: early shift:  Julie Pool Noodle, Forger, Magic Mike, Drangonfly.  later shift:  Patriarch

How better to start the workweek than with an excellent, invigorating sunrise swim with comrades?  And it smelled like Up North...except for a few strokes near sewer pipe on the return trip, where it smelled briefly like something decidedly more urban.  Forger recommended staying near shore in case fog rolled in - good advice, and I noticed new landmarks - Mike pointed out three-four trees that appeared to be growing out directly out of the beach (just north of the trees beyond Birches)...and I also saw the new staircase on the way to Mudslide. The clear, relatively still water at 6 a.m. (compared to midday) is really special, and I find myself mesmerized by the ever-changing bottom topography.

Walking down to the beach, Magic Mike pointed out the multitudes of tiny non-woolly millipedes blanketing the pavement – slender, black things about 1/2 inch long, evenly spaced about 8 inches in every direction. I tried not to inquire too closely, but it was difficult to see how one might completely avoid stepping on any. So I carried on,  simply telling myself I was actually stepping between them.

“Thanks for showing me,” I said to Mike. 

“I’ve noticed them before,” he said. 

I never had.  

"Just hope they don't get into our clothes," he added.

When we spread our things out on the sand, one immediately appeared on his towel!

"Stay away from my clothes!" he commanded as he headed toward the water.