Have you swam any OW where you could see the bottom? Where was it and how deep was it? What was down there? See anything interesting?
Former Member
The only place in WA where I've seen much of the bottom is Lake Chelan. It's crystal clear with a rocky bottom, and full of fish.
I had the opportunity to swim at La Jolla this year, and loved it. Leopard sharks, garibaldi, bass, sardines, stingrays, guitarfish, and yellowtail were some of the things I saw. Plus kelp. Lots and lots of kelp, which to me is the scariest thing out there. I always have thoughts about what might happen if I got too tangled up in the stuff.
I think the swim from the cove to buoy B was the hardest one I did, psychologically. Once you get out past the shelter of the cove into the ocean currents, and the water turns black.. it's hard not to think about what might be lurking in the huge expanse of water between you and the bottom. Then the current makes the swim back more difficult.. which is actually perfect from a workout perspective - easy warmup followed by a harder swim - but still a little disconcerting.
The trip from buoy B to C looks scary indeed. I bet it's hard to sight too.
What a great thread. Things I have seen on the bottom:
Lakes in Maine:
Old ice harvesting equipment
Lots of fishing lures
Ocean in Maine:
Submerged lobster buoys (shocking and sometimes painful)
Lobsters swimming fast, backwards
Thousands of mackerel, chased by hundreds of striped bass
Ocean in British Virgin Islands:
Huge colorful coral reefs
Aquarium quality fish
Scuba divers, 30 feet below, a bizarre sight.
Not one shark.
Hopper
www.swimvacation.com
Chris
Last Sunday when I swam to the B bouy, there was alot of kelp on the surface,..swimming thru it was a bit strange,..sometimes I was ablle to find a path around the paddies. I got worried when my wet-suit came unzipped,..I think the lanyard got caught in the kelp and as I swam opened the back all the way,..it was like dragging a coke machine. To my surprise I was able to zip it back up ( I can`t zip it myself on land ). Swimming is exciting!
Ron %%%%%%%%%%%%% ><>
Ocean swimming is definitely exciting. I had a few minor tangles with kelp wrapping around my arms this year, but nothing too serious. I just relaxed and kept swimming through it. My most adrenaline-filled moment was on the way from La Jolla Shores out to one of the buoys, when I swam over a column of bubbles and saw (or imagined that I saw) a large, shadowy shape about 15 feet below. I pretty much sprinted all out for 20 yards or so after that :laugh2: Even though I knew it was probably just methane bubbles and my imagination, it was hard to prevent the panic reaction.
Overall though I think the ocean is a relaxing place to swim. The rise and fall of the swells is peaceful, and the added buoyancy of the salt water feels comforting. Alas, I only get to swim there during the summer when I'm on vacation. Around here it's lakes in the spring time, then once the weeds grow up to the surface and the water gets murky those are pretty much off limits.
I too have swam over the column of bubbles,...the water was very clear and I was in about 30 feet of water. Looking below, I saw three divers, slowly "walking" towards the shore.
The best OW swimming for visibility I have ever seen was in Palau when I was working as a Navy diver. We used surface swimmers - basic swimming 'cept with a Nikonos camera - as photographers as we surveyed Japanese wrecks lying in around 110 feet of water. The visibility was so good, I could see divers on the bottom taking measurements, while the ROV flew around with its headlights on. Ping on my e-mail; I'll send a pic.
I agree with the fellow who found the Med to have great vis too. Nadine Day and I were swimming in the bay near Athens where they had just held the Olympic triathlon that morning. We did not need to sight the buoy at all, just look for the anchor on the bottom! In contrast to a cool sunken ship, though - just old tires and other trash... John
My top 10 interesting things sighted during my open water races, clinics and training around the world:
1. Pearl divers in Toba, Japan.
2. Purple coral and yellow-striped sea snakes in Iriomote-jima in Okinawa.
3. Whale (large, type unknown) between Maui and Lahai in Hawaii -- with loud whistles.
4. Large blue blubber jellyfish in Melbourne, Australia.
5. Schools of 100s of hammerhead sharks in Yonaguni Island between Taiwan and Okinawa.
6. Sea lions playing many times off along the coast of California. They tend to stop and want to sniff and stare at open water swimmers for a bit, then swim off.
7. Dolphins swimming alongside open water swimmers many times in Huntington Beach, California -- sometimes for 5+ minutes in length.
8. Trash in the Charles River in Boston and along the Barcelona coast.
9. Many sea turtles everywhere outside the surf break in Waikiki.
10. Black sand off the coast of the Big Island in crystal-clear water.
But, probably the most exciting is watching world-class open water swimmers racing and sprinting to the finish in international championship races (www.10Kswim.com).
Ya'll are missing out. Check out Randy's swims (randynutt.com) The 10k (and smaller distances for the less patient) Bonaire race this year was the best yet for underwater scenery. Especially since the chop made you want to hug the shore on the return swim. Nothing like waving coral, sponges, sea turtles following you and swimming through big schools of brightly colored fish to help you forget the pain in your arms.
Took a long walk today, April, along the southern Lake Michigan shoreline, where the water is approaching 50 deg F. I'm looking forward to getting back in and seeing what's new! Earlier I pulled out a homemade anchor with mussel colonies (invasive species) clinging to it. I looked for last year's path down to the water over a series of setback stone blocks and it was gone; winter storms wrested those huge stones out of position and sent some out to sea. A few minnows, seabirds bobbing... pretty soon now!
:fish2:
Hope the Chesapeake Bay swimmers, Mackinac Strait swimmer, and others come back with underwater trip reports!
VB
