Perhaps the initially dismal weather forecast accounted for the surprising dearth of boats on the water, but the mooring fields at Lloyd Neck Bath Club and Lloyd Harbor Beach which bookend West Neck Beach were both virtually empty throughout this Memorial Day weekend. The stone jetty flanking the far end of "New Beach" was plainly visible -- and beckoning in the distance -- and with virtually no boat traffic, an outgoing tide assuring a swift return, and "Chairwoman of the Board" Cammy to protect us and guide us safely to our destination, more than a dozen swimmers set out Sunday morning in the direction of New Beach (Scott, Kathy, Rob Ripp, Rob Todd, "newbie" Rob McCarthy, Tom Sherman, Karen, Bonnie, Marc, "Tattoo" Paul, Armand, Ken Longo, Liz and I). Those who completed the roughly 1.25-mile roundtrip (including late arrivals Gae and Annmarie) were greeted on their return by the day's first rays of sunshine, which finally burned off the granite clouds that had shrouded Long Island for days... 
Monday, Memorial Day, dawned bright and sunny, and the biggest crowd of the weekend -- 20 swimmers -- assembled at West Neck Beach for the 8:00 swim in picture-perfect conditions. The infamous "North Buoy" and "South Buoy" had mysteriously reappeared overnight, and each had their share of visitors as the assembled swimmers split roughly in half, with one group heading north to the Sailboat and the other south to New Beach. Margot, Joan, Sue Robinson, Susan McCane and her daughter, Paul Coster, and Tommy Capobianco made their Memorial Day debuts, bringing the total number of Memorial Day Weekend swimmers to nearly three dozen -- not counting the myriad swimmers -- wetsuited or otherwise -- who swam "outside the lines" throughout the long weekend.... 
Weekday morning swims resume this week, with group swims planned (weather permitting) for Wednesday (May 30th) at 5:45 and 6:30 (in the water!), and thereafter as posted on the Blog and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WestNeckPod). Be careful out there -- don't forget your "Safe Swimmer" orange flotation buoys (available at http://www.ishof.org/safety/ssd.htm) and "West Neck Pod" brightly colored swim caps to help make you visible to boaters and other watercraft...!
See you in the Salt!
(More Memorial Day Weekend photos available at https://picasaweb.google.com/101213847005616295077/MemorialDayWeekend2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink)
lOVE THESE PHOTOS. We're like water confetti. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the Water-blog. The recaps are nearly as wonderful as the swims.
Thanks, Gae! Did you look at the photos on the Picasa Web Album link? There's a great one of you lolling on your back, wearing your delicious looking ice-cream cap... (Don't know why I can't embed a link to a Picasa web album slide show anymore...I've reinstalled Flash and Java, rebooted numerous times, and still can't get it to work. Any helpful suggestions out there??)
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