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.