An Alternate Sauna

Rare Footage From The Sauna

With Aquatic Park's closure due to the biting sea lion, we needed another place to swim. Pacific Open Water Swim Co., www.pacificswim.co, run by South Enders Sylvia and Bryan offered safety coverage for an early morning swim along the San Francisco Marina. It seemed like the perfect solution - swimming with safety support in the open Bay, first with the current, and then returning against the current. 

Reid and Lucy happily joined me for the swim. We met in a dark, cold, windy parking lot near the St. Francis Yacht club. The wind blew fiercely, creating choppy waters with three-foot swells. We walked over to the beach and shined our green safety light at Sylvia and Bryan's boats. Sylvia answered back with a howl and hoot of delight. We knew we arrived at the right place.

When we swim in the early mornings before work, some of us like to minimize our sniveling and get in the water quickly. Taking too much time on the beach reduces time in the water. We agreed to swim at 6:15 a.m. - PONR - Point Of No Return. Why Point Of No Return? Because when your body passes the PONR you're committed to swim with no turning back. The time was 6:14 a.m., destiny awaited.

Sylvia and Bryan had placed orange buoys with bright lights along the City Front to create a safe route for the swim. We jumped in and swam out to the first buoy, maybe 25 yards off the beach. We fought the waves and the chop and regrouped at the buoy. 

Entering the cold water shocks my system. My skin and face hurt. My body then goes into hypothermia prevention mode and concentrates the blood in the core to protect internal organs. My arms and legs become numb as my breathing establishes a regular rhythm while I relax my mind and body. After a few minutes and as long as I keep moving, I don't notice the cold anymore.  When I reached the illuminated orange buoy, I was ready to swim eastward with the current.

As we swan, we podded closely together. When swimming in the dark, we wear waterproof safety lights attached to our goggles strap. Reid wore a white light and Lucy and I wore green lights. With the larger waves and chop, you can't see the swimmer in the trough of the adjacent wave even though they are right next to you.

We swam with the current, getting battered and rolled with the active waves, wind, and chop. When we turned back, we swam uphill, against the current. We clawed and crabbed our way toward the beach where we entered. Swimming closer to shore mitigates the effects of current. Under ideal conditions, swimming close to the shore isn't so unsettling when you can see the boulders and crashing waves. Today wasn't about comfortable, it was about adventure, survival, and being on-time for work while we swam in the dark with no visibility.

The return trip went well until the last fifty yards. And that's where this story really begins. As we approached the beach exit, still fighting our way along the rocky shoreline, Mother Nature stepped up her game and began to taunt us, as only she can do.

We recorded what really happened in the next three videos, at about 5-minute intervals after exiting the water

Enjoy the tale!