Alcatraz!

Crabcake - no need to be humiliated. Your situation wasn't a sighting issue - it simply was a matter of physics: you can't swim against a body of water that's moving faster than you can swim into it. World class swimmers can swim perhaps right around 4 mph and the waters in the bay can move as fast as 6-8 mph - no way to swim against something like that. At the beginning of the Sharkfest this Sunday the currents will be ending their cycle of flooding (filling up the Bay - moving to the east) and sometime during the second half of the swim will begin ebbing (emptying from the bay - moving west to the Golden Gate Bridge). The race director will tell you the appropriate landmark to sight on east of the opening - listen to whatever he tells you. Just remember that during the 2nd half of the swim the ebb should kick in & you want to be well east (left) of the opening since it's easier to swim an extra 100 yards with the currents than to be 10 yards the other side of the opening & fighting a current you can't swim against. And please for your safey do not swim outside the cove even with a group unless you're accompanied by an escort boat or kayak. There's too much boat traffic out there that's not looking for swimmers and as you learned the current is overpowering - you could get outside the opening and then get swept east or west depending on the current and not be able to make it back in. Play it safe. Regards & good luck Sunday,:wine: Gary

Crabcake - no need to be humiliated. Your situation wasn't a sighting issue - it simply was a matter of physics: you can't swim against a body of water that's moving faster than you can swim into it. World class swimmers can swim perhaps right around 4 mph and the waters in the bay can move as fast as 6-8 mph - no way to swim against something like that. At the beginning of the Sharkfest this Sunday the currents will be ending their cycle of flooding (filling up the Bay - moving to the east) and sometime during the second half of the swim will begin ebbing (emptying from the bay - moving west to the Golden Gate Bridge). The race director will tell you the appropriate landmark to sight on east of the opening - listen to whatever he tells you. Just remember that during the 2nd half of the swim the ebb should kick in & you want to be well east (left) of the opening since it's easier to swim an extra 100 yards with the currents than to be 10 yards the other side of the opening & fighting a current you can't swim against. And please for your safey do not swim outside the cove even with a group unless you're accompanied by an escort boat or kayak. There's too much boat traffic out there that's not looking for swimmers and as you learned the current is overpowering - you could get outside the opening and then get swept east or west depending on the current and not be able to make it back in. Play it safe. Regards & good luck Sunday,:wine: Gary