Good Luck

I left at 7:00 this morning. The sky was completely cloudy and I had expected nothing less. I knew the water was going to be at least 70 degrees and somehow that translates in my head and body as partially sunny. So lets go to the beach.

There are not a lot of people about on this Sunday morning here at The Strand. I hear someone close behind me heading down the stairs to the shore. Someone else is on the way up and says “good luck” to this guy behind me. I’m wondering why he needs luck. I want to look behind me to see what it is about him that would cause someone to tell him good luck, but I don’t want to stare. Does he have a surfboard? Does he have open wounds? When we get to the asphalt road that is so rocky that I slow down my walk, he passes me and I see he has a fishing pole. Ok. This all makes sense now.

When I get down to the beach, it looks like the surf is down another notch from yesterday and the water looks smoother too. My feet get hit by the oncoming water and it feels like a heated pool. I see something in the shallow water right in front of me. It’s a seal just poking about. I watch it’s head go below the water and then come back up a couple of times until I don’t see it anymore.

I head out into the water and look around for the fisher guy so I don’t get caught in his line. I don’t see him around. Maybe he went south after reaching the sand. I do see someone else casting a fishing line close by but not close enough to be concerned about. The water feels super good. I’m concerned I’m going to get so used to this that I won’t be able to bring myself to getting into the water when it gets cold. Of course this isn’t true. The water will get cold and when it does I will get in it. What else would I do?

I head towards the south end of the beach and feel a small amount of resistance as I swim against the current. This is all so nice and almost luxurious. Oh who am I kidding, it is luxurious. And it cost me nothing to come here.

I hang out near the headlands for a couple minutes and then head back north. After several minutes I see a helicopter out of the corner of my eye. I question if this is so because it sounds silent. I stop and pop my head above the water and now I can easily hear it. It passes and I see a buoy just about 30 feet north of me and I wonder if this is the inside or outer buoy. I'm just about to swim to it and I spot the outside buoy. Of course I must swim out to it which takes a few minutes but well worth the trip.

I'm heading north again and keep veering towards shore which is fine given that I have come quite a ways out. The water is fairly clear today and I love watching all the kelp in this rich sky blue water. I swim around and through the vines and feel them brush up against me.

I'm at the north end of the beach now and I am looking for the northern buoys. I'm parallel to one of the inshore ones and then spot the outer Big Bob buoy. Again I feel compelled to swim to it even though it's a bit out of the way. Why not? It's a Sunday and this water clearly wants me to stay.

When I get to Big Bob I can see some other object a little further out. Is it the death star buoy? No. It's some small green kayak accompanied by a diver flag. No one is in the kayak and I figure they must be in the water. I find the little lifeguard station at the bottom of the asphalt road and plot a course in its direction.

Before I know it, it's time to head to shore. There are waves and surfers and breaking white water and the excitement level rises just a bit until I am back on the beach and walking up the stairs.