No Buoy

More May Gray this morning and I wonder if we will have a repeat of yesterday where it burns off mid-morning. I certainly hope so. Well at about 8:30ish, things are starting to look promising. I can see blue sky out my window and the sand on the beach web cams is looking more bright and golden in color. I’m out the door a little after 9:45.

Once I am approaching The Strand on Selva Road, I can see blue sky above the water, but it does not get very far. In the not too far off distance there is this hazy nothingness. It looks like it could possibly be fog but it’s hard to say for sure. Maybe it’s just the receding marine layer? Looks too thick for that. I am consoled by the fact that it is fairly far out. It is certainly well beyond where I will be swimming.

Maybe this will all dissolve soon. By the time I am walking down the stairs there is that foggy haze off shore, a marine layer burning just inland of the bluff, and a thin strip of blue sky in between. I am hoping the blue sky wins.

I can see waves moving east over the water. There is a south swell due to peak today. It’s not very big but it’s something. Those swell lines look impressive but then when they break, you can tell that the wave is not nearly as big as you thought it could be. Still what is not to like here. You have water and sky and blue and white and cliffs and expansive shoreline. Pretty much everybody likes this stuff and there is a reason for it. It’s because when you look at it, it makes you feel good. So I’ll just keep looking.

I get to the beach and I’m not so sure the blue sky is winning. It feels a little drearier here than it did up at the parking lot. The tide is low and there is lots of sand. The water feels cool on my feet and it’s hard to tell how it feels compared to yesterday. I am confident I will be comfortable in the water.

I get to my usual spot and turn 90 degrees to the left and start to head out into the water. It’s fairly calm right here and then a larger set wave comes but it appears to be the only wave in the set so I start to swim once I am up to my waist. It doesn’t take long to realize the water is quite comfortable. I’m hardly half way down the beach before it is obvious that the blue sky has lost the fight and exiled itself to who knows where. The sky here is completely gray. Well the water feels great. It feels so pleasant on my skin and my muscles love the feel of moving through it.

When I reach the south end of the beach and look north, the point at the end of Monarch is obscured in fog - obscured but thankfully visible. There is definitely fog here but it’s not so thick that it eliminates visibility. I am happy for that.

I head north and the water feels great all the way to the Ritz. I see a small group of solo outrigger canoes paddling from the harbor out to Salt Creek and then I see them again on their way back. I say hi and one makes a comment (I think) about me not having a buoy. It’s true. I don’t use one and the paddler might be upset that it’s hard to see me. I’m sure we would both be upset if he actually hit me. For those who do not know, the buoy I am referring to is a small, red, floating sack that many swimmers tow behind them to make themselves more visible. I think they serve other purposes as well like being able to put stuff in them or using them to stay afloat during a rest.

I love the minimalism of just me, my trunks, goggles, and camera. A buoy just feels like one more thing to buy and haul around. I see so few ocean craft out here that it doesn’t seem necessary. However I do see them sometimes and it just takes one collision to ruin everyone’s day. Perhaps I should get one. I’ll add that to the to do list I guess.

I finish up this wonderful and delightfully dreary swim. I wonder if I will intersect back with the sun at the top of the stairs. This does not end up happening. I drive home and find it just about at Golden Lantern and here I sit now looking at blue sky. Checking the web cam now - still gray at the beach.