A Little Too Much Biergarden Perhaps?

Next Swims:   Tue, Wed, Thu 6AM & 6PM

Last Swims:
Mon 7/31 6PM
Water:  74 Gently rolling, clairity improving - I could see my hand!
Crew: Handyman Hank, North Shore Nancy, Magic Mike, Phoenix, Panini, Nanook, Lorraine, Itch, Patriarch

Mon 7/31 6AM
Water: 68 flat calm, milky
Crew:  Scuba, Diablo, Forger, Patriarch

Apparently a few of you stayed too long at the Biergarden Sunday, as attendance was sparse Monday morning, especially given the awesome swim conditions.  Too bad, you missed a good one.

Apologies to Itch, Nanook and Lorraine, we did not wait for you Monday evening, but you guys were a long way out and the flies were hungry and so were we.

Lesson Learned

Next Swims:  Mon thru Fri, 6AM & 6PM

Last Swim:  Sunday July 30th 1PM
Water: 74 still murky and a bit choppy
Crew: Ziggy, Capt'n, Wet Taco, Magic Mike, Eric, Foxy Roxy, Diablo, Kahuna, Molly, Panini, Phoenix, Lorraine, Showgirl, Sir James, Handyman Hank, Anna, Drangonfly, Itch, Patriarch

A beautiful day on the beach and afterwards at the Beer Garden.  Tales of adventure were shared by participants in the Riverwest 24 bike and the Point to Lapointe and Great Lake Plunge swims.

Special thanks to Mitch who loaned me a pair of shorts at the Plunge because I had forgotten to pack dry shorts to change into after the swim.  Moral of the Story:  Pack your bag the night before and take your time rather than rushing at 4AM.

Sunday is Robin Appreciation Day

Next Swim:  Sunday July 30th 1PM, and after the swim come to the Estabrook Park Biergarden to celebrate "Robin Appreciation Day" to belatedly celebrate the 24th birthday of our favorite swimmer.  And don't forget to bring or buy your Friends of Estabrook beer mug, it will save you money on beer and help out the park. I will be happy to tell you about all the good things happening in the park.

Last Swims:
Sat 7/29 1PM
Water:  Murky but improving, 72, 1 foot waves, very choppy
Crew: Drangonfly, Showgirl, Diablo, Capt'n, Patriarch, plus a large contingent providing shore support.  Also I'm not sure but Itch and the Plys (all four of them) may have swam earlier.

Friday 7/28 5:30PM
Water: 71 very murky brown near shore, 2-3 waves with heavy chop and big current
Crew: Wet Taco, Itch, Drangonfly, Don Diego, FBM, Capt'n, Kevin, Erin, Moondawg, Jim, Patriarch

Surf's Up

Next Swims:  Friday July 28th 5:30PM
* Sat 1PM
* Sun 1PM

Last Swims:
Friday 6AM
Water: 68 cloudy, 2-4 ft rough and disorganized waves,
Strong current pushing south
Crew: Scuby, Capt'n, Kahuna, Showgirl, Diablo, Sir James, Big Show, Patriarch

Thursday 6PM
Water: 72 cloudy 2-3 foot waves, very rough, strong current
Crew: Itch, Danielle, Kevin, Patriarch

If big waves and rough water are your thing, now's your time.  Personally I like rough water, up to a point.  Today's surf was rough, but not crazy out of control rough.  Swimming north was quite a struggle.  It seemed to take forever just to go a few yards.  But on the way back south it felt like an engine was strapped to my butt.  Yeeeeehaaaaaa

We had a new swimmer last night, Kevin who read about us in Milwaukee Magazine.  Despite having no experience swimming in the lake he jumped right into the heavy surf and seemed to have fun.  Welcome Kevin, and come back when the water is calmer, and we will actually do something more like swimming and less like playing in the waves.

Here's Capt'n doing the "Let Me Go", as the lake tries to pull him back in

Gusher

Next Swim:
* Thursday July 27th 6PM (3-5 foot waves are predicted)
* Fri July 28th, 6AM & 5:30 PM

Last Swim: Thu 6AM
Water: 67 gently rolling, clear enough to see your hands but not the bottom
Crew: Diablo, Magic Mike, Itch, Showgirl, Patriarch

Last night's swim was washed out by heavy rain and thunder.  Itch and showed up hoping it would pass over but it just got worse right at 6PM.  So we stood under the shelter, popped open a beverage and enjoyed the majesty of a storm on the lake.

The beauty was marred however by a huge gusher of runoff (from the streets, not sewage) pouring directly into the lake from the concrete drain just north of the beach (what we inaccurately call "sewer pipe").  It created a huge turbulent river extending perhaps a hundred yards into the lake.  Even though the water seemed clear coming out of the drain, it turned ugly brown when it hit the lake, perhaps it was scouring out sand and dirt.  The current then carried the brown water south for a mile or more.  Not to mention of course all the gunk that might have flowed from streets yards and roofs.

It's sad to see our beautiful lake abused like this.  I'm no engineer but you would think something could be done to mitigate the problem, perhaps a retention pond?

P.S.  It's still possible to sign up for Sunday's Great Lake Plunge in Evanston.  I will be driving and could take two more riders.  greatlakeplunge.com

We're in Milwaukee Magazine

Next Swims:
* Wed July 26th 6PM
* Thu 6AM & 6PM
* Fri 6AM & 5:30 PM

Last Swims:
Tue 6PM
Water: 70, clearing, choppy
Crew: Sir James, Itch, Drangonfly, Patriarch

Wed 6AM
Water: 66, clearing, a little bit choppy, with a noticeable current pushing north
Crew: Laura, Showgirl, Capt'n, Diablo, Patriarch

Check out the very nice article in Milwaukee Magazine about us.  It's not available online yet but it should be soon.

Laura Makes It Official - Almost

Next Swims:
*Tue July 25th 6PM
*Wed 6AM & 6PM
*Thu 6AM & 6PM
*Fri 6AM & 5:30 PM

Last Swim: Tue 6AM
Water:  68 with 1 foot gently rolling waves.  No visibility because of stirred up silt and sand from yesterday's big waves, but not gunky like yesterday and much less debris.
Crew: Panini, Mr. Anonymous, Scuby, Laura, Mr. Anonymous

Today Laura acomplished a major step towards becoming a full fledged Kru Member.  She completed the round trip to Sewer Pipe.  Congratulations Laura!  But of course before we can consider her an official member she needs a swimming nickname.  The sand is open for nominations.