First Fun Ocean Swim
Being the land-lubbing sort, and having started some triathlon-type activities, it's taken me a while to adjust to open water swimming. My first full-ocean swim, at Santa Cruz, CA, was on a dark morning when the water was black, freezing, and not placid. Despite ingesting a cup of near-boiling hot oatmeal-soup just before jumping in, it took me about a quarter of a mile to just warm up to the point where I could get a full breath of air.
Today was such a contrast. The water was a fair bit warmer, the sun was out, the water was a light, friendly green, and was fairly placid, save for the swells. Swimming into them is the equivalent of running or biking uphill.
I've always loved to look out into the ocean, as do, it seems, most humans. The majesty and vastness of it seems to communicate to all of us in some unheard, unseen language. However, to be part of that scene, versus merely an onlooker, was even more engrossing. I never imagined before that I would be!
So it was fun to finally open up to the adventure and freedom of the open water. I imagine it must be akin to what a newbie pilot of a small, maneuverable aircraft must feel. The day looked like this photo of the location:
Our group went from buoy to buoy, regrouping at each buoy on the way out, and then swimming straight back. It was cool to see how people in the group have improved over time, with the practice effort they have put in. At one point, our coach-lady was a dozen feet or so from the group, telling us about something, when I abruptly said (as riveted as one can be in deep water), "There's a sea lion right behind you."
I would have said "large", "1000-lb.", or at least "big", since I do love to ham things up when possible, but there simply wasn't time. However, it probably was at least a 500-lb lion. (Here is a file photo of a smaller one, below:)
The sea lion seemed to be in a completely placid mood and reminded me of a good-tempered dog, except that it wasn't bobbing at all as it swam -- it moved like a ship with its neck cutting the water as a boat prow would, and it moved as fast! Another exception would be the fact that you don't give wild sea lions any s*** whatsoever, ever. Anyway, our coach-lady got herself well out of the way and the sea lion cruised by unperturbed. At most it would have brushed up against her, although she did remark about the wave it left behind!
Comments
Nice job on the swim. The shark attack numbers are 100% accurate; therefore, it is very, very rare to get bit. You can't be one of those people who argue that even our sense of time is wrong because the atomic clock is not accurate enough for us to know what time it is. SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE SHARK. I was surfing this morning and heard a story about a guy who got bit last year up at the Klamanth river mouth, prime shark habitat. The thing was he surfed for five days in a row knowing there was a shark in the lineup, meaning he saw it several times. On the 6th day it bit him. Also the sea lion is your friend. If anything, it wants to see if you are a possible mate.
And doesn't UCSC really work better as a country club?
Jay Scrivner
As for the shark attack stats, they can't be accurate if they do not start from a basis of hours-in-the-water. And, many attacks take place in areas with poor or no reporting facilities, and also in areas that wish to suppress attack reports for fear of disrupting tourism. To be moved from my skepticism, I'll have to see some numbers with references.
I would imagine that in the rainy season up there, the Klamath mouth is not a great shark habitat, because of all the silt. I hear it makes it hard for most kinds of sharks to breathe, which is one reason why they are rare in the San Francisco Bay.