I missed my morning swim to pick up Kevin from the airport. He’s been in Australia all week and got in early this morning, which is kind of a great time to arrive after a really long flight. He’d slept and was ready for a full day and I was glad for the chance to reconnect after being apart. We decided to go sailing, which won’t be the slightest bit surprising to anyone who knows Kevin. Angie and Johnny joined us and we headed out across the bay to Aquatic Park in San Francisco. It was a beautiful day for it: windy with clouds coming and going, making for a dramatic sky. 

In Aquatic Park, we dropped anchor, and Angie and I went for our swim.

The water was a bit colder than the Albany Bulb has been (59) and much clearer. It felt fresh and clean. There was a little bit of a current swimming in from the boat and we had to work hard until we got closer to the shore. We swam along the beach and out to the Balclutha—the big wooden tall ship where I’d once been a parent chaperone on a field trip and had first seen swimmers in the bay. 

There were lots of other swimmers out; in groups and pairs and swimming solo. There were also a couple of seals (or possibly sea lions—they seemed very big), but somehow it’s a lot less intimidating when there are lots of other swimmers around. There were also paddleboarders and folks frolicking on the beach. It was a festive scene all around. Festive and iconically San Francisco: Alcatraz in front of us; Ghiradelli square behind; the ships on Hyde pier to one side and the Golden Gate bridge (appropriately ensconced in fog today) on the other. 

After a half hour or so we swam back to the boat, not wanting to get too cold since we wouldn’t have a shower to warm us up afterward.

We warmed up as best we could and then resumed our sail, stopping at the ferry building for some food before heading back to Richmond. It was a lovely day; topped off at the end with an incredible, seemingly neverending squadron of pelicans.