I had a plan to swim over at the St. Francis Yacht Club midday today in order to suss out the waters there; it’s where we swim to from Alcatraz tomorrow. But, as 8:00 approached, I felt I couldn’t wait until midday and so I popped down to the Albany Bulb for a quick dip.

The water was clear and gorgeous and I paddled around a little, but mostly floated and took it all in. 

At noon Angie, Arwen, and I headed over to San Francisco to meet Sheila at Sir Francis Yacht Club. My first reaction upon seeing the beach was shock at how close the Golden Gate Bridge seemed.

I could see how, if you don’t cross the currents correctly, you could get swept out the gate (in theory—in practice, one of the many boats accompanying our swim would reposition us). Then a couple of seals popped their heads up as if to remind me to keep that fear in mind as I’m swimming tomorrow. 

But once in, I was transported into a state of bliss by the cold, clear water. 64 degrees, which is cold enough to bring on the cold water glow, but not so cold that it’s difficult to get into. We swam back and forth along the beach, easy and slow.