Buoy Hopping
I leave my apartment at 6:45. Everything is different on the drive to the beach. My son and I moved yesterday out of Capo Beach and into Dana Point “proper”. Boy I sure did love living in Capo (also “technically” Dana Point) for the last 5 and a half years, but we are entering a new season now. We got this awesome two bedroom place with a view and lots of light. It feels almost too good to be true. Well another perk is that it cuts my commute to The Strand in half. I got from my garage to the beach parking lot in 6 minutes.
It feels weird because other than the final drive past PCH and into the parking lot, the route is completely different. No more drive by Doheny. Instead I head through the Dana Dips and descend Selva. I used to take this approach all the time as a kid growing up in San Juan. I even remember before they leveled out the dips when they were more “dippy.” It’s interesting how you can live somewhere and yet never ever drive down certain main thoroughfares because of where in the town you reside. If it wasn’t for the fact that my ex-wife and two younger kids still live in Capo, I might never ever drive in Capo now. When I grew up here in the 70’s and 80’s, I never drove through Capo. Just never needed to.
So I am loving the wide open vista of the water I have coming down Selva. It’s another cloudy morning but the water looks bright and the silver light shines on the surface. I super love the quick drive. I have a 9:00 meeting and having an extra 15 minutes shaved off the total drive time gives me extra breathing room.
I park and head down the stairs and then touch my feet to the water. It feels cool but the coolness has a soft texture to it. I can tell that once I am off and swimming, this is going to feel good. So here we go and I am off and swimming and indeed the water feels good. It’s perfect.
I head south and just stare into the water below me. I let my mind sink into blue and dark shades from the rocks beneath. My thoughts fall like silt all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. I wish they would rest on the floor but they are extremely sensitive to the movement of the water and kick up what looks like dust clouds that swirl and twirl all over. They may settle for a moment or two but then quickly rise back up and dance circles around the swaying kelp.
Oh the kelp. It reaches out towards me and brushes against my limbs and tries to grab hold of me. I wish I could stay but I have that 9:00 meeting and just can’t tarry here for long. I see their vines like shadows from several feet away and then they quickly sharpen into focus seconds before I am just above or beside them. I love the feel of their slippery leaves underneath my fingers.
When I get to the south end of the beach, just before I begin to swim back north, I spy another buoy about 100 yards to my north west. I have been wondering when I would find this buoy. The jr. guards always place at least one in these parts. I plot a course to intersect and need to stop several times along the way to right my trajectory. Eventually I meet it and it is the same buoy with the same markings as I remember from previous years. I am truly happy to see it. Then just before I continue I think I see another buoy about another 100 yards a little further north and way inshore. I’m not certain I actually see it but I make headway in that direction to investigate.
Yes! There it is. I see it and establish a lock on its coordinates. When I arrive I recognize this as Bob Marley #2. There is not a “#2” actually inscribed on the buoy but I do know there are two Bob Marley buoys. I have to wonder what happened here. Was this a mistake or oversight? Surely whoever named this buoy was not aware of Bob Marley #1. I imagine how clever they must have felt thinking of this name and then the disappointment when they discovered the lack of originality. I assume the markings are permanent. They are in water after all. So there is no going back and renaming the buoy.
I head all the way to the other end of the beach at the multitude of northern buoys. I don’t have time to visit all of them. I do swim by Bob Marley #1. It is absolutely beautiful out here and this water is so incredibly delightful. I can tell I am getting used to this. I think of the next cold water season and cringe. It will come soon enough but let’s just enjoy this water while it is here and we are just getting started.
