Goleta Beach

Date: Monday March 14th
Time 12:00pm
Air Temperature 60 degrees
Water Temperature 55 Degrees

We are up early Monday morning, first on the list is a run and some strength training with my sister Robbin, a second breakfast and then we hit the trail for Santa Barbara, I am thrilled to be swimming again today, we arrive at Goleta beach and begin checking out our new surroundings, there is a wonderful grassy area adjacent to the beach, public rest rooms, some cool scupltures and even an outdoor shower to wash off the sand post swim, FANTASTIC, this is quite the setup.
 We meet Tim near the showers and get ready to swim, he gives me the run down of this new turf, " it gets warmer down the other end of the beach, we swim to the shaded part of the cliff, there near the trees" , I see where he is pointing out, but still plan to stick to him like a crutch to be sure I am heading to the right land mark, " we turn around there and we swim  back, the current picks up on the way back"

Me and Tim ready to swim

 We head into the water, there is a big long Pier to our left, " that is going to be a great landmark from the way home" I think to myself. This time I am ready to dash right into the water as Tim does and I am thrilled to find that the water feels even better than it did yesterday, we quickly stroke down to the far end of the beach, past the grassy verge, pass the sculptures spinning in the wind and past the beach front where kids are hanging out playing, the area we swim too is in fact quite deserted and it feels like that in the water too.
 We turn around and stroke back towards the pier, just as Tim sad it would the water gets warmer down the far end and the current gets stronger on the way back to the Pier, I find myself having to stroke harder the more we turn towards shore, before I know it I am striding out of the water and onto the beach, today my teeth are not chattering, 1 Mile, a little under 30 minutes, I feel great.


After the 1 Mile swim

 I rinse off in the outdoor shower and nip into the public restrooms to change out of my suit, minimal shivering which I am happy about. Tim and I chat with Dean another Santa Barbara swimmer who also swam today, Tim asks me if I am swimming on Wednesday, " regretfully no" I answer, " I am heading to San Francisco for a conference", " have you ever swum Alcatraz?" he asks, " no, but I have a Golden Gate Bridge swim set up at 7:00am on Friday morning"
 Both Tim and Deans eyes get wide, "THIS WEEK" they exclaimed, " well yes" I replied. " It is very tough and cold out by the bridge, much tougher than Alcatraz" Tim states, "49 degrees" says Dean. " They look at me like I was a lamb going to the slaughter and didn't know about it, and I guess they were right, I booked the swim only 9 days ago, it is an " Expedition swim" simply listed as Golden Gate, it is led by Leslie Thomas of Swim Art, the timing was perfect for my conference, I jumped at it with very little research. I make a mental note to go online tonight and study the San Francisco Bay a little more closely, check out the water temperature for sure!
 We say our farewells, Tim and Dean give me a warm farewell and a "will she survive San Francisco Bay "look! I promise to come and swim with them again if I am out West.
What's up next.....Pool training swim tomorrow.


Tim( left), Me and Dean( right) Goleta Beach