English Channel Swim

2 hours

After a bunch of 4 hour swims, it was fun to drop in a 2 hour swim.  Not that it meant that I was any less hungry or ready to nap afterwards, but I think the body appreciated the lack of abuse, and I feel like I am finally over the cough.

Michelle, Karah, John Walker and I started at the Golden Gate, with the erstwhile duo of Diesel and Bill in the zodiac, after a Club Crissy Field.  We flooded down to Pier 39, and then fought the tide back up to the inside of the breakwater, and to shower, sauna and a relaxing Sunday.

Karah and John were a welcome addition to the team.  The variety of stroke-rates is stunning.  I was a plodding 60 per minute, Karah a streamlined 55, and Michelle managed to churn out 80, with a max of 83.  I don't know how she does it.  We all managed to stay together, which made things manageable for Laurel and Hardy :)

thanks Johnny D, hope the house sold Bill

Pilot training

The marvellous thing about the South End Rowing Club, is that there is no shortage of passion, enthusiasm, or helpful advice.  We had Tom and Bill the firemen in to help us with some emergency situation planning, and basic education on CPR, hypothermia, and so on.  The collected students then proceeded to offer helpful advice to the firemen on a wide range of topics..

It was a very worthwhile event, and thanks to Jon M, Bill W, Bob R and co.  I feel a lot more comfortable with the knowledge of what to do in an emergency.

Messing around

In advance of training to be a boat pilot for future swims, Melissa, Karah, Michelle and I jumped in for a quick swim.  I let the girls warm the cove up, and then joined them for a game of "sprint to the nearest boat".  I have rarely deserved a shower or sauna less, but it was a lot of fun.  The rationalization of this as a part of training would be that it's better than not doing anything, there's some argument that sprinting 40 meters could come in handy, and it was a lot of fun :)

South End Club Bay Bridge Swim - Happy Birthday Joe

Since it was Earth Day, we celebrated our communion with Nature with some naked swimming.  It's not clear that Nature appreciated it that much.

Paul Springer directed a great race, and I hope that we get some pictures of everyone jumping off the fire boat by the Bay Bridge in the early morning sunlight, which was beautiful.

Here are some photos from Colin at Flatstar

http://www.flatstar.smugmug.com/gallery/2746749

and Kevin Buckholtz

http://homepage.mac.com/lookmanohands/PhotoAlbum50.html

The objective was to try and swim as close to your estimated time as possible.  There were 2 divisions - the Earth Children (naked) and not.  With the starting horn, I was out of my speedos and in the water before getting embarassed, and set off as fast as I could.  Devon Spicer was there, and has quite the swimming pedigree, so I knew I had to take advantage of the start I had from being dropped further out from the shore, and closer to the helping ebb current under the Bay Bridge.

Other than the usual amount of verbal abuse I received from Bobby (great to see you back), and a close encounter with a ferry, it was pretty smooth sailing to Pier 39, and then a bit of a slog through the chop to get in only 39 seconds behind my estimated time of 45 minutes.  It took me the usual amount of time to actually stand up and jog up the beach, so 45 probably wasn't too bad a guess.  I chivalrously re-entered the water after rediscovering clothing, and stayed in the shallows to hold (small) towels for the naked females

A great swim.  Joe must have been excited to have folks celebrate his birthday in their birthday suits.

Bobby dedicated the swim to Tim Spicer, may he rest in peace, and he would have been very proud to see his son carrying on his fine tradition.

Santa Cruz to Capitola - Round Trip

So we ventured away from San Francisco Bay - crazy.

Two of Michelle's friends - second timer Katrina and Loren - kindly agreed to kayak for us.  We drove down to Santa Cruz, rented some kayaks, and swam from the pier to Capitola and back.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=884949

It was a slightly weird experience, because after swims around the Bay, where you have a lot of familiar landmarks to guide you, the unchanging backdrop of sandy coast and beach homes gave no indication of any progress in the swim.  The only time I knew I was getting anywhere was when I brushed past yet another piece of kelp, although when my mind started playing tricks on me, I fancied I had seen particular pieces of kelp before, and that I was being swept around in circles by the current, only to revisit the same kelp bed....

It was really cold.  It must have been low 50s.  Occasional outriggers and a sailing race provided some drama, and Katrina and Loren did a fine job of regular half hour feedings, and protecting us from over-inquisitive harbor seals and recreational boats.

It took us 1:55 to get from the Santa Cruz pier to the Capitola beach, probably half a mile from the pier.  I fantasized of getting out and going to Zelda's for breakfast, but apparently it's not the season for speedo-clad diners.  We turned around and got back to Santa Cruz in 3.5 hours total.  Instead of climbing up the ladder to the pier, we swam to the beach and had a Baywatch moment running back to the pier to keep warm; a Baywatch moment, if the actors on Baywatch were hypothermic and unable to speak due to their chattering teeth..  We also had trouble picking up a dropped ear-plug.  The combination of dizziness and stiff lower backs made us look like we were doing an unkind imitation of drunk geriatrics.

A fine swim, and I dare say that the 3+ hour swims are getting easier as they become more commonplace.

Thanks to Michelle for organizing.

Pauli's Birthday Pier 7

Pedro messing around with the motor gave Pauli and his friends who had driven to Pier 7, the opportunity to enjoy the gray drizzle while the zodiacs pushed slowly against the ebb around the piers.  A few startled pedestrians edged nervously away from the group of chattering speedo-wearers.

We finally jumped, and with a strong ebb, frolicked around to the club.  Ginger and Sam were drying their fur coats off in the sauna, and looking as happy as snoozing golden retrievers can look after a long swim.

A fine swim.

Pier 35.5

I really have no idea what pier we were dropped off at by the zodiac.  Somewhere South of Pier 39.  A quick float around to the club, with some practice of naked swimming for Sunday.  Makes one more watchful for seals.

Not a triangle

Still tired from yesterday's 4 hour swim.  Decided just to do yoga today.  Turns out I wasn't meant to be a triangle, and that the bit that I am best at is the relaxing poses...  Felt good to stretch though.

Tuesday morning Alcatraz

I feel somewhat spoilt being able to jump in at Alcatraz, and swim to the most beautiful city in the world, gazing right at the Golden Gate, and breathing left to see the Bay Bridge, before work on a Tuesday.

Thanks to Bill and Colin who piloted today, Gary who organized, and all the other folks that volunteer and make the swimming possible.

It was a beautiful morning, and it was fairly slack tide with the merest hint of chop, which led to a fast swim - about 31:30.  Michelle and Karah kept pushing me, and we came in to the beach in a line.  It's really cool having such great swimmers to swim with.  Darren came in a few seconds later looking relaxed as usual.

We saw a curious seal who brushed us a couple of times, but was just inquisitive.

Gate to stick

We did another 4 hour swim, and got all the way from the Golden Gate to Candlestick Point.  Willhelm (our trusty feeder) and Joel (the nicest man in the world and star pilot) suffered heavy rain for most of the swim after the Bay Bridge.  Rain is one of those things that makes you happy you are swimming, since it's hard to get a lot wetter than you are already, and staring at those huddled under umbrellas with rain dripping off the peak of their caps makes one feel comparatively well off.

I was feeling good until about 3.15 in, when my back started niggling a bit, and some tiredness set in.  Adding some protein drink into the sugar-fest of gatorade and gu seemed to help, and the variety was good.  The value of a well-placed banana somewhere in the every-30-minute feeding cycle, cannot be underestimated..

Michelle was her usual indestrutcible self, and wasn't even cold on the long boat-ride back to the club, in the rain.

We set a fairly consistent speed on a building flood, from roughly slack when we got in - 30minutes to the Palace of Fine Arts, 1 hour to the club, 1.5 to Pier something before the Ferry Building, 2 to beyond the Bay Bridge, 2.5 to the twin navy transport ships (Cape of something), 3 to the smokestack, 3.5 to Hunter's Point, 4 to Candlestick Point.  The tide started pushing us back a bit at the end on the beginning of the ebb.

Thanks Willhelm and Joel.