Ocean Swimming and South Shore MA

Weekend Swims on Assuming no T-Storms/New CB Caps Arrived

/ Tom Baker / Leave a comment

The weekend swims will be the same times/same place this weekend so long as they are not interrupted by any T-storms. Water temps are supposedly in the high 60s, so it this holds, it’ll be very warm and comfortable.

We just received a new shipment of the limited edition Crusty Barnacles swim caps if you need another or if you have yet to receive one.

Otherwise, I hope everyone is enjoying and/or trying to stay awake to watch the Olympic swim events. As entertaining as they are, we all know the real swimming events don’t begin until Aug 9 & 10 when they host the open water races. Stay tuned.

And if you’re ever traveling to San Diego, I strongly suggest seeking out the swimmers from La Jolla Cove Swim Club. We now officially have informal reciprocity with the La Jolla Cove Swim Club. Here’s a photo from this past Wed. Lot’s of colorful fish, a few dark purple jellies, clear water, and a sunrise over the mountains (odd it didn’t rise of the ocean).

 

Weekend Review; Weekend Preview

/ Tom Baker / 1 Comment

Another wonderful weekend of swimming with swimmers coming out Sat and Sun.

We still haven’t heard how the triathletes did this weekend. Share the good news if you got it. Meg and her friends Jane and Greg completed a 2.4 mile ocean swim from Peaks Island to Portland ME – this will make for a run road trip next year (see their photo below of the impressive feat).

Kimberlee was awarded  Dolphin Dave for swimming strongly sans wetsuit after a multi-week sabbatical and rumor has it, and there is photographic proof below to substantiate it, that Vic is now a grandpa.

Otherwise, we’re on again this weekend at the usual times, 7:30 am Sat and 8:00 am Sun from Nantasket.

Lastly, the order for the famous CB Swim Caps went in officially today and should be arriving in a couple of weeks.

Open water race in Boston Harbor – Aug 19

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I just learned that the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay organization is hosting its 1st Annual Swim for Boston Harbor Sunday Aug. 19. It’s a 1-mile competitive (more importantly fun) swim, with wet suit and non-wet suit divisions. It’ll start from the L Street bath house, South Boston. Here’s the website with all the details – www.swim4bostonharbor.org.

It’s a great organization especially for those of us who appreciate the relatively clean and getting cleaner waters in our area. Some of our brave members supported their April Save the Harbor / Save the Bay Cupid Splash. I recall, based on the attire that day, that the conditions were borderline tropical, like most April weekends in Boston. Here’s a photo to help prove it and to bring back those memories.

Like the Cupid event in April, the race in Aug has post-event activities sponsored by Harpoon Brewery with prizes from Jet Blue, my favorite being the best costume/swimsuit (Jane L, that means you).

July 21-22 Open Water Swims @ Nantasket Beach

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Welcome to all the new swimmers who joined the swims this weekend. Congratulations to all those who participated in the Swim Across America one mile charity swim at Nantasket on Sat and for all the awareness for and contributions to such a great cause supporting cancer research and prevention.

Also, kudos to Chris D for bracing the frigid waters on Sat. in York Maine for the Nubble Light Challenge, a 2.4 mile swim to support the Maine Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We have confirmed from two very reliable sources he completed it sans wetsuit.

Swimming times/locales are the same for this weekend and as mentioned previously, are merely guidelines as we know how busy everyone’s schedules are. To remind everyone, Sat, we meet and try to quickly get into the water around 7:30 ad Sun meet around 7:45 and get in the water around 8:00 am. Sunday’s have been known to have fresh fruit, pastries, bagels, animal crackers and coffee available following the swim. We will try a swim either Sat. or Sun to Gunrock Beach to change things up a bit depending on conditions.

The water temps right now are reportedly 72 degrees, which is unusually warm this time of year and if they hold, make it easier to head out swimming without a wetsuit. However, we strongly encourage you swim in whatever makes you most comfortable and we are in no way sole adherents to the bare skin doctrine adopted by other admirable but masochistic open water swim groups.

To maintain our fearless leader/swim recruiter Vic’s tradition, here’s the “random” photo from last weekend taken by none other than a friendly officer that checks in on us from time to time to ensure we’re safe.

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the day:

“Did you know that dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?” Anonymous (or I’m too lazy to research who said this – anyone know?).

Lots of Happenings: New Summer Hours…

/ Tom Baker / Leave a comment

Unseasonably warm waters made it a perfect weekend for swimming for the Crusty Barnacles on both Sat and Sun.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Cohasset Tri and/or Mile Swim Off. See the photos below (if you have more that you want posted, send them along or if possible upload to the comments section).  Sufficed to say we had a good turnout and even a first place finish in the swim for Andy Strehle.

Too early to predict next weekend, but we are now enacting our new summer hours – this means meeting around 7:30 AM at Nantasket on Sat. morning and around 7:45/8:00 am Sun. Of course, these are merely guidelines and we encourage everyone to show when it’s convenient as there are sure to be swimmers coming or going. Just arrive before 8am, as that’s when the parking lots begin charging. But no worries if you arrive before 8am and leave your car. They will not charge for parking once you’re inside the gate.

Summer Reading: NPR had an interesting interview today with an author of a new book titled Swim: Why We Love the Water. I can’t speak intelligently about the book, but the interview is worth reading or listening to. here’s the link – http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/06/25/swim-lynn-sherr. I’ll post a review if someone else doesn’t beat me to it. For anyone who does swim, I suspect it’ll be something we can all relate to in some way.

Enjoy the week…

Quote for the day: “I’d far rather be happy than right any day.” Douglas Adams

And now some of the photos (reminder: send more if ya got ’em)

Disclaimer: The image with a likeness to Senator Brown may or may not be him and if it were him, which we’re not saying it is, doesn’t swim with us, but he would have an open invitation. That said, this website takes no political position nor does it affiliate itself with any political party, other than as a generalization based on no scientific fact we would venture to say the political leanings of the collective organization are fanatically moderate.