The Pathos of "Eos"

For years, "The Sailboat," whose sleek, towering mast is plainly visible from a distance even in rough seas, has been both a beacon and a favorite destination for the West Neck Pod in its northerly swims along the Causeway.  Its stylized image adorns the bathing caps of Pod members, whose message exhorts them to swim "To the Sailboat and Beyond..."  Indeed, achieving the first "Sailboat swim" marks a badge of honor for "newbies" and a season-opening milestone for returnees.  So when several weeks into the 2013 open-water-swimming season the Sailboat still had not taken its customary place off "the house at the end of the Causeway," and even its mooring ball was missing, the West Neck Pod was left disoriented and discomfited. With no Sailboat to sight on, swimmers zigged and zagged their way north to the "virtual-Sailboat," eventually assembling in a ragged cluster somewhere in front of the house....

That house -- still colloquially known as "the Billy Joel house" -- has always been a mystery to us swimmers, who see only the water and sky reflected in its blank windows...Its current inhabitants were unknown and unseen, and as we rested alongside their magnificent and -- as far as we could tell, little-used boat (since it was always there when we were!), we often wondered if they ever saw us out there and if so, what they thought about the fact that a dozen or more oddly coifed and -suited swimmers would regularly come stroking up the Causeway to loiter in their littoral back yard....

So when Sunday morning's pack of virtual-Sailboat swimmers converged in front of the house, tuckered out from a challenging swim northward against the incoming tide, we were shocked to see a woman's tiny figure waving to us from atop the seawall. Too far away for conversation, Susan Robinson and I quickly swam towards the narrow beach at the base of the wall, while the woman (to our alarm and consternation), commenced climbing down the rocks to meet us. She greeted us warmly and introduced herself, then "Cathy" told us the sad fate of her -- and our -- beloved Sailboat, "Eos II."  With the approach of Hurricane Sandy, the boat had been moved to a sheltered marina deeper in Oyster Bay where they thought it would be safer, but Sandy's high winds and violent seas tore the boat loose from its mooring and smashed it to smithereens....

Carol and Cathy getting acquainted

 

Susan, Karen, Eliana, Ken, Brandon & Margot at the "house at the end of the Causeway"

"Eos II"

 

Farewell, "Eos II"

 

Though the West Neck Pod is deeply saddened by the loss of "Eos II," we were heartened by Cathy's news that the "virtual-Sailboat" will soon be replaced by a real sailboat, as "Eos III" takes its place at the mooring alongside the "house at the end of the Causeway." But now, when we swim north "to the Sailboat," and look up at the windows of "the Billy Joel house," we'll smile and wave to our new friend within -- now an honorary member of the West Neck Pod!

 

See you in the Salt!





Happy Fourth of July!

The parking lot at West Neck Beach was chock-full of cars when I arrived there shortly before the scheduled 8:00 group swim on this "Fourth of July" Thursday morning. A large flock of early-birds had already finished their swims and were off to run or ride, but there was still a record-size crowd gathered under the overhang of the lifeguards' station and spilling onto the beach to suit up for the 8:00 swim. In addition to the "usual suspects" there were a number of Pod returnees, here for their first open-water swim of the season, as well as a new crop of "newbies" joining the Pod for the first time....Because it was the Fourth of July, before we headed into the water we assembled on the beach in a solemn circle to honor the memories of the three children who drowned last July 4th in a tragic boating accident here in our harbor: Victoria Gaines, Harlie Treanor and David Aureliano....

Ceremony over, we unceremoniously jumped into the water,which was delightfully warm and clear, the surface only slightly ruffled by a westerly wind. As the "Big Dogs" again set out northward to the Sailboat while the main group headed south to the buoy and "New Beach," dozens of pairs of churning arms and beating feet inaugurated the West Neck Pod's 2013 "Froth of July" swim....

Happy Independence Day, everyone! See you in the Salt tomorrow!

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!

"Like a Fish Out of Water"

Steven Levey

Nancy Reycraft, whose last open-water swim of the early season was five days ago at her home beach, Centerport Beach, where the water quality after the week's rain remained questionable,  reported that she was beginning to twitch and flop about and gasp for air, so she was somewhat desperate to rejoin the Pod for its 8:00 open-water swim at West Neck Beach this morning. Nancy was not the only "fish out of water," as the freakish rainstorms and continued cool temperatures that have held the 2013 open-water season to a stuttering start have kept many a Podder from the Salt.  But this morning's warm sunshine and clear blue skies drew a few more Podders out for their first-swim-of-the-season.  Among the returnees: Chris Vasallo, Nancy Aboff, Steven Levey, and Margot Edlin (who actually went in above the knees this time and swam all the way to the South Buoy, proclaiming the water "just lovely"!).  Also joining us for the first time today were  Lorraine and Dave (whose first attempt last week was aborted by the cold water), and Gregory Nieratka, who accompanied regulars Carole Wickham, Joye Brown, Gae Polisner, Annmarie Kearney-Wood, E.J. Voss, Magda Petryk, Marc Leahy, Rob Ripp, Paul Coster, Tim Sullivan, Don Bond,  and me for either a short jog to the South Buoy and back or a more extended swim to New Beach and back (with some tacking on a jaunt to the North Buoy just to show off)...There was virtually no wind and the 63-degree water was calm and flat, and relatively clean and clear, though a fair amount of seaweed dredged up by the outgoing tide peppered the water, along with the occasional dead horseshoe crab.  I collided with one of these monstrosities despite Don Bond's best efforts to warn me, and was astonished by how solid and unyielding it was when I hit it with my outstretched hand (and screamed like a girl when I realized what it was!)  

 

At New Beach, the usually squeamish and delicate Gae surprised the assemblage when she plopped a huge clod of pungent seaweed on her head and commenced prancing around like Esther Williams (whom she was perhaps channeling),  but she was promptly disciplined by former teacher Nancy Reycraft, who commenced hurling wads of seaweed in Gae's general direction (perhaps the now-retired Nancy misses the cafeteria food fights....). 

 

Esther Williams lives

Joye at Muscle Beach (I mean, "New Beach")

  

Tomorrow promises to be as warm and beautiful as today -- at least in the morning -- so we'll be back at 8:00 to do it all over again!  See you in the Salt!

Rain Washout...Again!

Torrential rains driven by tropical storm Andrea drenched the east coast all day yesterday, flooding roadways and basements -- including my own! -- which Carole and I spent the evening pumping and bailing. By morning the storm was over and the sun was shining brilliantly in the cloudless sky as we made our way to West Neck Beach with the dogs "just to see." Though I am not usually squeamish about runoff, I felt no inclination to swim after such a massive rainfall (especially after seeing what was "swimming" in my basement!), but I knew Marc Leahy and at least a few others would be itching to get back in the Salt....Sure enough, Marc was already there, with a cluster of  hopeful "Posties": Stuart, Dave and Lorraine; and then Orlando arrived to survey the possibilities.

Stuart, Lorraine, Dan and Marc 

Orlando

But the skies had already filled with clouds again, driven across the Sound by a strong northwest wind, and last week's almost-comfortable water temperature had dropped back down to 61 degrees when I waded in for a reading. The remnants of the storm were evident in the copious strands of seaweed and beachgrass that wrapped around my ankles as the waves slapped the shore and in the murkiness of the water that hid my feet from view though I was standing little more than ankle-deep. 

 

 

  

 

I'd had no intentions of swimming today anyway, so I wasn't disappointed when the rest of the assemblage reluctantly opted against swimming, though Marc seemed particularly stricken...Tomorrow's forecast is for sunshine and warmer temperatures -- and hopefully for me, a return to blogging about swimming rather than about not-swimming....See you in the Salt!