Drain the... hot water heater

Next Swims:
* Saturday & Sunday 2:00 PM

Last Swims:
  Friday 6:15 AM
  Water: 58-ish, clear, with a bit of a current out of the north
  Crew: Milkman, Showgirl

  Thursday 5:30 PM, no details

I was on the beach alone this morning, starting to talk myself out of getting in the cool water, when Milkman arrived.

And so we swam.  I continue to be delighted by the Big Tree, so that's where I went.  Milkman zoomed past me as usual, and then did the same on the return trip.  The sunrise, water, peaceful beach... were all lovely.

My water bill and gas bill will be soaring this month due to ridiculously long post-swim hot showers.

Always Rewarding

Next Swims:
* Thursday  5:30PM
* Friday September 29th 6:15AM and 5:30PM
Note that evening swims now are at 5:30PM

Last Swims:
Thursday 6:15 AM
Water: 58.9, clear, with slow swells stirring up the sand on the bottom
Crew: Mr. Anonymous, Panini, Showgirl

The air was cooler than the water this morning, and we all agreed that the water inside the rock piles was significantly cooler than the water outside.

It was shivery getting in. We sucked it up and headed north.  I visited the Big Tree again, and persuaded Mr. A to take a look, too.

Back on shore, we were positively gleeful over the fact that we had managed to drag ourselves out of bed, made it to to the beach, and had been so perfectly rewarded with a great swim and awesome sunrise.

4-Plys

Next Swims:
* Thursday September 28th 6:15AM and 5:30PM
* Friday September 29th 6:15AM and 5:30PM
Note that evening swims now are at 5:30PM

Last Swims:
Wednesday 6:00 PM
Water: 63 small waves
Crew: Drangonfly, Wet Taco, Cool Hand Luke, Itch, Patriarch

Tuesday 6PM
Water: 62 calm
Crew: Abe, H2, Capt'n, Itch

Monday 6PM
Water: 63 choppy
Crew: Handyman Hank, Drangonfly, Cool Hand Luke, Itch, Liz, Nanook, Wet Taco, Capt'n, Patriarch

Hearty congratulations to the Plys on the birth of twins Hazel and Emmett!  Itch informed us that mother and newborns are doing well.  Not so sure about dad. Itch also said that mom is looking forward to doing flip turns again.  What's a flip turn??

Big Tree

Next Swims:
 * Monday September 25th 6PM
 * Tuesday September 26th 6PM
 * Thurs, Fri 6:15am

I won't be there Wednesday morning, but I will be swimming Thurs and Fri at 6:15am.

Last Swims:
 Tuesday 6:15 AM
 Water: 60F, flat and clear as glass
 Crew: Showgirl, Amelia, Bart, Kathy, and two other swimmers... sorry, I   don't have the names with me, but I will update later.

Today was the first Klode swim for a few of the swimmers this morning, so... welcome! In their honor, I got out my thermometer. It tipped down to 59.9, but let's just call it 60.  It was another lovely morning at the beach, and the sun started to peek above the horizon about halfway thru our swim, though it was plenty light before that.

Everyone made it to mudslide. The new swimmers brought a dazzling array of post-swim refreshments which tragically, I could not stay for.

My most important topic for the morning is that I saw the big submerged tree again. It's large enough to be pretty surprising to swim up to.  In case you want to see it for yourself, here are the directions: swim north to the birches. Keep swimming.  A tiny bit farther is that stand of trees that look like all their mid-trunk branches have been removed. Keep swimming just to the far end of those trees. The submarine tree is oriented perpendicular to the shore, trunk to the east, at the north end of that stand of trees, kind of close to shore.

Thanks, Hank and Nancy!

Next Swims:
* Monday September 25th 6PM
* Tuesday September 26th 6PM

I'm not sure if there's any interest in continuing morning swims.  If so post a comment or let me know.

Last Swims:
Sunday 9-24 noon Atwater Beach Shipwreck Swim
Water: 63 a little copy, clear enough to see the shipwreck
Crew: Diablo, Magic Mike, Thelma, Forger, Dave, Julie, Drangonfly, Capt'n, Ziggy, Kahuna, Panini, Showgirl, Dave, Not Dave's Wife, Moondawg, Jackie, Niche, Itch, Wet Taco, Patriarch

Saturday 9-23 1PM
Water: 65 choppy
Crew: Showgirl, Panini, Diablo, Handyman Hank, Jack Frost, Itch, Molly, Lorraine, Moondawg on  his SUP, Patriarch

Friday 6PM
Water 68 choppy
Crew: Drangonfly, Magic Mike, Diablo, Synchro, Itch, Patriarch

Friday 6:15AM
Water: 66 small waves less than 1 ft
Crew: Showgirl, Panini, Dave, Cool Hand Luke, Diablo, Patriarch

BIG THANKS to Handyman Hank and North Shore Nancy for hosting the Close to the End of the Season Lake Michigan's Swimmers Celebration at their new digs on Brewer's Hill.  We got to see the fantastic job they did in renovating a house that was essentially stripped bare.  It's beautiful!  There is no doubt Hank deserves the nickname Handyman.

We lucked out with a hot sunny day for our shipwreck swim.  There was a little bit of chop but not enough to bother us and the water was clear enough to give us a good view of the wreck.   A couple of swimmers dived down to try to touch the wreck. Watching them gives perspective, the wreck is deeper and bigger than it looks from the surface.  Quite the sight!

Party on Sunday!

Update:  Sunday's swim will be at Atwater Beach at noon.  Meet at the flagpole.  Hopefully the water will be clear and we'll be able to see the large shipwreck that is just a couple hundred yards offshore, but if not we'll just swim along the shore.

Next Swims:
* Thursday 9-21 6PM
* Friday 9-22 6:15 AM & 5:30PM
* Saturday 9-23 1PM
* Sunday 9-24, Swim at Noon, followed by:

CLOSE TO THE END OF THE SEASON LAKE MICHIGAN SWIMMERS CELEBRATION

2141 N. BUFFUM ST, MILWAUKEE WI (Handyman Hank and Northshore Nancy's new home--you can take the girl outta the Northshore, but you can't take the Northshore outta the girl). HH and NSN will provide burgers and brats, beer, and soda/water.  They ask that people bring a dish to pass.

Last Swims: 

Thursday 6:15 AM

Water: 63 Gently Rolling, No Chop, Mostly Clear

Crew: Cool Hand Luke, Showgirl, Patriarch

Wednesday 6PM

Water: 67, 2-3 ft swell

Crew: Itch, Liz, Wet Taco, Mr. Anonymous, Patriarch

Tuesday 6PM

Water: 68 Chop on Top of One to Two Foot Swell

Crew: Handyman Hank, Itch, Drangonfly, Panini, Patriarch

After Sunday's 58 degree water the temperature has remained above 60.  It's supposed to be hot and humid the next few days, come down to the beach to cool off.

And on Sunday continue cooling off with some cold brews at Hank and Nancy's party.  They are self-professed beer snobs, so I expect we'll have a nice selection of craft brew.  

The Nose Knows

Next Swims:
* Tue September 19th 6PM
* Wed 6:15AM & 6PM

Last Swim
Mon 9-18, 6PM
Water: 65 1-2 ft waves clear
Crew: Drangonfly, Capt'n, Itch, Patriarch

I was not at the morning swims Monday or Tuesday so I have no report.  If anyone was there and has a moment please let us know.

There has been much speculation of late as to the large descrepancies between the water temperature and wave conditions we observe on the beach versus all the various graphs, buoys and marine weather reports on the web. After long observation I can say the websites can be very helpful, and are often correct, but sometimes they can be misleading too, especially when the lake is in transition in spring and fall.

It's not that they're wrong, it's because conditions can change rapidly, with transient large local differences between one spot and another.  The only way to really know the conditions at the beach is to go to the beach.

But wait!  All is not lost!  There is one sure fired method for predicting the water temperature - Capt'ns nose.  We're walking down to the beach Monday evening when Capt'n says, "Warmer water has blown in, I can smell it.  It smells like 65 degrees.".  This of course elicited much ridicule from the rest of us.

But I'll be damned.  Not only was Capt'n right, he was exactly right.  It was 65 degrees.   I hate it when he's right!

So tell us Capt'n, what does your nose tell you today?