The 'Au'au without the OW! OW!

I think I always assumed that I would swim in the Maui Channel at some point.

5 years seemed like a good goal, so I set up a swim for 2016.

The weather didn't cooperate and it didn't happen.
It did give me a chance to stand on the shore of the KBH, look out at the water and wonder what it would have been like if 2 people had acted differently. (Picture plenty of gulping and a few tears)

The next day was quite different because I was able to have a long lunch with Bill and Greg.
I hadn't seen these two since I was in the hospital, but they were on jet skis with Grant and were part of my rescue team in 2011.

It's strange to meet people that you owe so much to, but they quickly made me feel comfortable and both shared that they'd really like to help me get across the channel safely whenever I was ready.  

A handshake turned into a hug and we had a plan.

That plan was to go stealth and lean; 

Bill, Greg, and Grant would be on jet skis, and maybe we would have a boat captained by Nalu.

It's hard to keep things from your friends and family, but I needed to release all control to Greg and Grant so that there would only be one plan/one purpose - for me to safely swim in the channel. Swimming the entire channel was secondary to getting a good long swim in and then clawing my way up on to the beach in Ka'anapali.

I know that this has hurt some of my friends (and family), but I hope that they will forgive me.

The swim was better than I could have ever asked for;  Sunny skies, no wind and no swell for the entire swim.  Best of all - I didn't think about 2011 until we reached the point that I was hit.

Grant and I chugging away

Wiki says 'Au'au translates to "to take a bath" for the calm bath-like conditions between Lana'i and Maui can have.  I'd seen glimpses of these conditions, but never for this long.

I am so grateful for all the support that I had in Hawaii (Scot, BL, Chris, Judith, Greg, Bill, Grant, Nalu) and my great group of friends in CA.

5 Years Later

I wrote this last year shortly before my first trip back to Maui.

I'd planned to swim the channel and it forced me to reflect on the swim and how I was hurt.

When I showed the draft to a friend, she asked me "What is your goal in writing and sharing this?".

I gave her an answer, but I am not sure why I feel the need to post this.

Maybe it's because it changed my life, my future and every relationship I will ever have.

Or maybe because it's because I still meet swimmers who think my injury was due to some freak accident.

Whatever the reason...here it is.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wj8mfr5p36vxnvp/5%20years%20later.doc?dl=0

And this past weekend I swam the channel.

The Green Gong (and more)

I have been lucky enough to swim in the ocean 5 days a week for quite awhile and although all the swims have been great I have a few that I wanted to post.

1st.  The Green Gong.

Yeah, I know I told you that we swam the "Bell" not too long ago, but a few weeks later Bill motored us out to the "Gong" and we swam into Kelly.  

The Green Gong.  Note the three upside down bronze saucers with the 2 mallets.  The Green Bell has a small brass bell.

Tom and Gabor

The swimmers and Capt Bill pre-swim  (from left:  Dan, Tom, Bill, Joel, Randy, Gabor)

 These two buoys are always on my mind when I'm on the beach or bike trail; On some days they seem so close and easy that an out-and-back seems do-able, but other days they might as well be the Farallones.  For this swim it was perfect.

We didn't have much sun, but the water was flat and slightly warmer (55?) and we could SEE!

Swimming in Hawaii and SoCal you are spoiled by great water visibility.  SF Bay swimmers and HMB swimmers rarely can see 6 feet below, but out at the buoy we had +20 and were able to see (and touch) a dozen moon jellies - they are white/bluish and semi-transparent and I think they feel like touching a water balloon in a bucket of water.

The ice baths in New Mexico did the trick for Joel.  He was still smiling at the end.

Walking in at Kelly (A rarity)

2nd:  Candlestick to Ocean Beach Relay
This one was nuts!

Gabor swam the entire distance and was so strong and comfortable in the water that even after 4.5 hrs of swimming he told Roper that he didn't need to turn on the cars heat for the way back to the Club... because he was "fine".

For the rest of us (A relay of 11 swimmers - swimming in pairs and a trio) the dark o'clock wake up was harder than our 30 min legs.  Great fun.

Gabor stretching before getting in

(Most of) The 11:  Tom, Jim, Nicole, Doug, Kique, Joel, Judith, Lezlee, Bill, me  (Nancy is behind the phone/camera)

Joel, Nicole, Bill after 1st round

Judith (My swim buddy)

Kique, Jim and Gabor outside the Gate (Look how smooth it was!)

3rd:  Golden Gate Swim with Joel and the SERC
Joel wrapped up his crazy swim week (the above swims,a SMAC pool workout, a jetty swim and theTrans Tahoe Relay) with a GG Crossing.

Who wouldn't enjoy a swim under the Golden Gate Bridge?
I have zero pictures of it, so you'll have to trust me that everyone had a great time.


I am so lucky to have found people who love this as much as I do.
I hope the swim adventures keep coming. 

The Green Bell Swim

For years I have stared out at the buoys off the coast of HMB and dreamed of swimming them. Sometimes the buoys seemed so close,  not many swim in these waters and less want to swim over a mile offshore to a shallow reef in sub-55 degree water.  And conditions (fog, swell and wind tend to define HMB swimming) are additional obstacles.

In 2011, I went so far as to purchase the NOAA nautical chart for the area and measured out the distances to shore:

* about 1.5 miles from the Green Bell to Surfers Beach (our old "clubhouse")
* about 1.5 miles from the Green Bell to the Miramar Restaurant (the new "clubhouse")
* about 1 mile from the Green Gong to Kelly (Francis State Beach)

My thinking was at that time was:
This is like doing an Alcatraz.
The Gong is closer, but the Bell should normally be easier (Kelly can get downright nasty).

The plan was that I'd finish the Maui Channel (2011) then we'd tackle the buoys when I got home.

So much for that plan.


On Tuesday afternoon five of the Crew (Gabor, Joel, Kenny, Randy and me) rode out of the harbor to the Green Bell on "The Good Life" (Bills boat).

The buoy to the right of the boat is the Yellow Buoy.  The buoy on the horizon is the Green Bell.

Conditions were almost perfect:

• Clear skies 
• Swell and wind were from the NW giving us some help towards shore
• Water was that clean green/blue that you don't get near shore
• Water was +52-53(?).  Not perfect, but it had been 49-50 not too long ago. 

It was a great swim.

Thanks to Bill and the guys for putting this together and letting me still be a part of it.

Now I'm looking forward to the Green Gong

 ======================================================================

Joel is moving to New Mexico today. 
I wish him good luck on this new adventure. 
I will really miss our impromptu swims together, his infectious smile and laugh, and his positive spin on the worst of conditions, but I refuse to get too sad because I know that he can't stay away for too long - We wont let him!

Goodbye Newport Beach...and your warm waters

I know I have not been blogging very much, but I have been having a lot of fun including a great snowboarding trip with friends in Park City, UT....

and LOTS of ocean swimming.

I have always preferred swimming in the ocean vs pool, but living in HMB it's not always an option.
This past winter I was living near the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach and the lack of a south swell and little rain made it possible to swim almost everyday even when I couldn't find a swim partner.

Conditions changed over the eight months, but the water temperatures only dropped to 53-54 for a few days and for most of the time were +60 making it pleasant to swim the 2 mile loop down to Tower 10 and back after work (For my last week the water was up to 68!)

Thanks to all my SoCal swim buddies:  Jeff, Darwin, Mike, Robin, Isabel, Colby.

Here's a shot of one of the many sunsets I was able to enjoy from my porch

Hey Coach - There's a whale in my lane

For the last few months I have been living and working in SoCal and taking advantage of the warmer weather and water (we are almost back to 60F ocean temps while HMB is still in the low low 50s) with daily ocean swims.

Although I sometimes go it alone (this section of beach allows me to swim close to shore in 8-10ft of water), my regular swim partners are Jeff and/or Mike.

The swims are typically about 2 miles and uneventful (if dolphins and seals don't rattle you), but the swim yesterday was enough to make me want to share it with the internet.

When Jeff and I got to the shore he spotted a large discolored area about 75 yds out and near the pier.
While we were trying to figure out what is was - a whale surfaced!!!
The whale was less than 25 yds offshore and showed us at least 10ft of his back.

We looked at each other.
Laughed.
And decided to let him/her have a 5 min head start before getting in.

Wish I had pictures, but more grateful that we were not in the water when he/she was passing by.

Will Swim For Food Update

The "Will Swim For Food" swim around the Santa Cruz Pier happened several weeks ago (Dec 14)

No, I did not drown or get molested by marine mammals.
I wanted to be able to post some photos and needed to get them off my moms phone/dropbox (which took awhile)... then my laptop started to fail.
(Sounds like "The dog ate my homework", but it's true).

Ok, enough excuses

The details:

• There were +70 swimmers
• The event raised nearly $73K for food banks (each swimmer selected a local food bank)
• My team of six raised $3,095 for the HMB "No Strings Attached Breakfast"
• The water was cool (about 51 degrees), but the winds were light and the sun was out
• There were plenty of ducks

But my favorite was the one made by Ann that I towed (until we were separated) around the Pier.

Yes, those are nuts (Our team name was "the Frozen Nuts").
Although he didn't make the full swim with me, we were reunited on the beach.

•  And we all had a blast! 

 The team:

Kique, Nicole, me, Joel, Lezlee, Gabor

 my buddy Chris (who prefers to be "on the water" vs "in the water")

Chris

 and my parents (that made the trip, but somehow dodged the camera).

Thanks again to all that donated and/or swam - especially Nick (that set this all up).
I'm already looking forward to Dec 2014.

Unbelievable

Hector Picard changing a flat tire on his road bike
...without ANY fingers!!!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV4H04Rmkrw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

He makes it look easy, but I know better.
I hope my riding buddies never make me do this.

Help me swim for food

On Dec 14th I will be joining a bunch of people who think that swimming in 50 degree water is fun.

Wait... I do that every week.

But this will be the annual "Will Swim For Food" event in Santa Cruz that raises money for food banks.

I will be raising money for the "No Strings Attached Breakfast" program that offers a free meal every Saturday to anyone that shows up at the Senior Center in Half Moon Bay.

Here's a link to an article about the program:
http://www.coastsidehospitality.org/media/HMBReview_4.html

I know the holidays are coming up,
but if you can donate $5-10 it will add up quickly
(and it's amazing how far $5 can go in the hands of this program)

Here's a link to the site:
http://www.willswimforfood.com/swimmers1.php

Select:  "Pledge a swimmer"
Find and select me: "John Caughlin"
Click "Donate"
Fill out the form and you're done.
Yep, it's that easy.

If you've read this far - thanks.

Catch Up: Part 1 - SERC Alcatraz Invitational

It's been a busy few weeks, but I had some fun too.

After getting home from Portland I headed up to San Francisco for a long weekend.
I was honored to be selected as the guest of the South End Rowing Club for their Alcatraz Invitational.
I wasn't sure what this meant, but was not about to miss out on back-to-back Alcatraz swims.

Saturday was the Test Swim (they use swimmers as rubber duckies to determine where/when you should start off the masses and where they should aim to reach the finish) and I was with my wing men Gabor and Randy.  We were told to take it easy and we did.  Water was right around 60 (warm by HMB standards) with no wind and we even had some sunshine.

After the swim we had a great breakfast across the street at the Blue Mermaid.

I spent the rest of the day walking along the shoreline with my mom and was able to see the remnants of the Americas Cup festivities - I can't believe how big those boats are.

The evening brought us back to the Club for beers and BBQ.

Sunday morning I realized how big this event is.
The swim draws +500 swimmers every year many from outside of CA.
I wished everyone a great swim then the crowd humored me and sang Happy Birthday to my mom.

Picture credits to my mom

On this day I decided I'd swim with someone who was extra nervous or someone who had the right spirit.
Annabelle was definitely the later.

 
We met at the BBQ and she was so excited to share stories about her daily swims that week with SERC members that it took hours to find out that she is a doctor from Amsterdam.
Definitely has her priorities in order.

I can't remember having a bad swim* and this one was no different.
Every few minutes Annabelle would stop and point out the landmarks TO ME.
"There's the Golden Gate.  The Bay Bridge.  The Balclutha.  The Jeremiah O'Brian..."   
I loved it.

I am so grateful to all of the SERC members, but especially Ann, Gary, Suzanne, Stevie Ray, Wayne B (the bad one), and Kathy.

* I still separate the Maui Channel swim and my arm being taken.

Catch Up: Part 3 - CAF

On Fri (Oct 18th) I attended Surf City Cyclery's benefit for the Challenged Athletes Foundation at their Costa Mesa shop.  I had not heard about the event, but Shawn (the bike guru that created my new bike) works at the Surf City HB shop and invited me to join him and Bernadette. 

Let's see:
Friends - Check
Bikes- Check
Beer- Check
Great cause - Check

It was nice to meet Jason Wallen and see his new racing chair, Dawn (triathlete and big time CAF supporter) and many others.
I also had enough beer from Cismontane Brewery that I was willing to share some of my story with the group (Bernadette promised that I didn't embarrass myself).

Finished the night by closing down the corner Mexican food restaurant.

The most important thing...
I found out that I had the date for the CAF Triathlon wrong - It was in two days and not on the 27th!

So I woke up early on Sunday, picked up Mike and made the trek to La Jolla.
I know I say it all the time, but I LOVE going to this event.

Becoming an amputee SUCKS!!! 
But having this community as peers is awesome and I hope I can earn my place in their ranks.

I have thought about signing up for the event, but the reality is that I don't see myself as a competitor.
I entered (and still enter) "events" vs "races".
I like like challenge much more than the competition and most of all...

If I entered the tri I'd miss the Kids Sprint and Run and that's not going to happen.
Words, pictures and video can not do this event justice.
Witnessing it let's you see humanity at it's best (paralympians and little kids with some miles on their blades helping those that are a bit wobbly on new prosthetics.   Young kids running and smiling like all kids should.

Here are some clips of Breezy - CAFs 2013 Young Athlete

Breezy s story
http://vimeo.com/68728268

Breezy at CAF's Heroes, Heart & Hope gala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU5KtxxMH5g

Catch Up: Part 2 - Hawaii

After my long weekend in SF it was time to pack up and drive down to Orange County.
The 6 hrs on I-5 is rarely fun, but driving it when you're coming down with a cold sucks.
Flying to Oahu was even worse.
(I apologize to all my fellow passengers that I may or may not have infected).

The trip to Oahu was a mixed bag:
The weather was great.
The mediation was successful.
I was able to have breakfast with Grant (the guy who saved my life on his jetski) and one of his sons.
But I was sick the entire time and rarely left the hotel room.

A big thank you to my mom and dad for coming out to Hawaii for this.

Right now I don't have a lot to say about resolving my legal case.
I am relieved that there are no more lawyers in my life, but money does not:
- give me back my hand
- give me back my arm
- stop the pain in my arm and remaining hand
- erase the images of what happened to me or what I've been through.

I have a working bike arm

I'm back from Portland where I had the folks at Advanced Arm Dynamics build me the socket for Will Craigs bike arm.  The arm works great.  I got in two rides while I was up there - one with Kerstin (the OT) around part of Lake Oswego and one solo ride along the river.  They wanted to finish the arm (make the socket out of carbon fiber and paint it to match my bike), but I wanted more time in the saddle (and socket) before we made the jump from working model to final product.

Last week I went out on two rides and everything worked great.
My left hand did get sore so I might get stuck with sub-1hr rides, but at least I'm out again.

Here's a short video (1 take with no editing so dont expect much) of me putting on the arm.

To see the inventor using the arm check the 3/3/13 post - "Trailblazer"

One fast Irishman

It's work to swim 400 yds in sub-4:56 (with hands and feet), but Darragh made this 400m look sooo good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al4kAsThBzg
(Paralympic champion swimming the 400m free in the S6 classification last year)

Part of me wants to believe that this is proof that there's no excuse for mediocrity,
but the reality is that he is just plain amazing.

More from Darragh
http://vimeo.com/66073908

My new ride

My buddy Shawn spec'd and built up an amazing bike for me at his shop (Surf City Cyclery in Huntington Beach).

 For the non-techies out there:
- the bike is carbon fiber (super light)

- has a single break lever that works for both front/rear breaks (they are independently adjusted)
- grip shifting (no need to take my hand off the handle bar)

  

- has hydraulic disc breaks (great stopping power even with my 3 finger grip strength)

 

- a rear cassette (rear gears) that gives me maximum range for hills/flats without using a double/triple front chain ring that would complicate shifting for me. 

...and it looks sweet.

Off to Portland soon to have my bike arm prosthetic made soon.

Thanks Shawn.
And thanks to all that donated to me. 
Getting back on the bike has been expensive, but with your help it is happening.

Board Short Mile 2013

The Board Short Mile is back!

When the guys organizing the event wrote me last year saying that they were looking for a reason to host an event (I've never had a tough time finding a reason to get in the ocean) I was happy to point them to CAF (http://www.challengedathletes.org).

The swim was great (my 1st ocean swim sans fins) - warm, flat water with lots of sunshine and lots of smiling faces (The SoCal crew are soooo spoiled).

I'm glad to see this swim back for its second year.
Here's the link:
http://beta.active.com/hermosa-beach-ca/water-sports/swimming/the-board-short-mile-2013?cmp=39-28&ltclickid=08_48815453_f65ea633-7972-46e1-a3e6-69c5f41b3e58&ltcmp=194590


Start: Saturday, September 14, 2013
Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA
The Hermosa Beach Pier | Hermosa Beach , CA
Registration Closing Date Friday, September 13, 2013 @ 10:00 pm

Still have my piggies

My franken-thumb started acting up a few weeks ago so had to make a trip to see the doc.
His comment?
"Know what would make this better?  A toe!"

Yep, he still wants to re-locate my toe.

I'm still not ready for

• a week in a hospital bed, 
• month(s?) in a wheelchair and 
• months without a hand.

It might happen, but I can happily report that I went under the knife today and came back with a slightly stubbier franken-thumb and all 10 toes. (and he does not think the bone infection is back).

Next couple of weeks will be out of the water and restricted hand use.
Luckily I have my mom up again to help out.

Default setting

I don't usually pass around links to speeches or videos, but I think this would be similar to what I would say to h.s. and college graduates if I was a better writer & speaker and it's a way of thinking that I've worked on since before my injuries.

http://www.theworldsbestever.com/2013/05/08/this-is-water/
David Foster Wallace 2005 commencement address

If you don't need the visuals, here's the full speech
http://web.archive.org/web/20080213082423/http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

 I'd love to read or hear your comments on this (Even if you think he's an idiot)
==================

I was not familiar with the speech or the speaker, but I think at that moment he "got it".
The strange thing is that he reportedly suffered from depression for most of his life and hanged himself at 46 yrs old - only 3 yrs after giving this speech.

I'm grateful that my default setting is much different than his, but I constantly work to stay aware.

Test Swim

"It's not what you know,

It's who you know"

Couldn't be more true for me on Friday.
In this case (and many others), my "who" was Joel.
Joel knows a LOT of people and also happens to be close friends with the legendary Bob Roper.
And when you're friends with Bob, you get to do some very cool things - including "test swims".

For those of you that don't participate in ocean swims - "test swims" involve throwing out a small group of swimmers into the water the day before an event to confirm the jump time and course.

On Friday, our "test swim" was an Alcatraz to the South End Rowing Club (SERC) showers...
And it was amazing.

Thank you so much Joel and Bob.
And thanks to all those that shared the water with me (Nancy, Randy, Gabor, Jim, Lezlee, Denise, the Arizona swimmers, Kathy and Susan from the SERC and the crew of the Hyperfish).
  

 

 

 

We did know that this big guy was passing through.

  Thanks go to Jeff  for driving me to/from HMB, for keeping us straight, safe, and for the pictures.

Oh yes I did

Today I tried a new recipe: "3 Finger brownies"

You'd think cracking the eggs would be difficult...and it is.

But not as hard as stirring the mixture and transferring it to the pan.

And then I nearly dropped the 350F pan.

 

 

They are not the best brownies I've ever had, but I'm proud of them.