That Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’...

It’s a relatively small group of swimmers who regularly drag themselves out of bed at dawn or thereabouts for early weekday morning swims before work, but the peace and beauty of the water in the early morning usually makes it worth the effort...Not so much yesterday, though, when the water, although flat and calm, was dotted with piles of floating sludge, which had us tacking and jibing like a fleet of Sunfish...It was an unappetizing introduction for "newbie" Will Spencer, who only learned to swim in September (by watching YouTube videos!) and who was joining us for the first time. Will’s autodidactism was obviously effective, though, and he not only handily survived his first "buoy swim," but plans to return on Thursday morning, apparently undeterred by the unprecedented sludge-fest in the harbor...

 

This morning’s early swim, by contrast, was glorious, the water clean and clear and sludge- and jelly-free, with just enough of a pot-stirring westerly wind to make it interesting... Joye Brown, Carole and Kathy Wickham, Karen Ruth, Bill Byers and I were joined by Greg Kahwaji, a visitor from Central Illinois who is in Glen Cove for a few days on business and found us through the West Neck Pod Facebook page. Despite living in a landlocked state that doesn’t offer much opportunity for open-water swimming, Greg was able to leave the rest of us in his formidable wake as he swam the full 1.5 mile buoy-to-buoy-to-buoy route in what looked like record time. He’ll says he’ll be back tomorrow, too – and so will I, for the 6:15 ("in the water") swim...

If a Thursday morning 6:15 swim doesn't appeal to you, there's a second group going out at 7:30...

 

For Friday’s 7:30 a.m. swim, Karen and I are planning to "go long" – swimming from West Neck Beach to the South Buoy to the North Buoy to the Sailboat and back to the beach (est. distance 2.25-2.5 miles). Feel free to join us for all or some...

 

See you in the Salt!