I love this state and in MOST cases (aside from this and prop 8) we are open-minded, ahead of the game, progressive, and lead other states to similarly adopt positive measures. But in this instance, we have fallen miserably short: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-environment-20100902,0,5195731.story
Banning the bag in California was widely assumed before the summer to be, well, in the bag. Everything was looking upward for AB 1998, including the govenator’s support. Sadly, the big money lobbying of corporate interests (aka plastic bag producers, possibly the ONLY entity in the world that benefits from plastic bags), reversed the political climate and opinion of the bill, which was subsequently defeated. Somewhere, an albatross is crying for the weak will of California politicians: http://chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24
Big swims, as with many other big life events, can leave a feeling of emptiness when they pass for many people. Yes, there is the immediate feeling of euphoria, that all of your sometimes years of hard work and training has finally paid off and you have accomplished this huge and consuming goal. But once that wears off, you’re left with that now what feeling. Will I ever be that focused? Will I ever feel that great about anything else? How do I go back to my normal pre-event life? Do I want to go back? No doubt that my love of marathon swimming drives me to continue to do marathon swims, but those questions are definitely a part of why I keep doing this. I can’t imagine not.
It’s been almost a week since the four of us swam the Kaulakahi, the channel between Kauai and Niihau. After a few relatively short swims, my body feels completely recovered. Well, almost - my lips are still blistered over, but almost healed. Because the entire swim was during the day, that was the most in-water sun exposure I’ve ever experienced, and although I put on a ton of ‘waterproof’ sunscreen, I still got burnt. My back was red and is now peeling, but the burn on my lips is the worst I’ve ever gotten. They were swollen for some time, and began to blister a few days ago. Now the blisters are peeling off and almost gone. Lesson: zinc on the lips for Catalina, as that swim may also take place mostly during the day.
My experience seeing the man in grey did not cure me from my fears, and I’m not sure why I thought it would. I suppose when the swim was over, I was ecstatic that I’d seen my greatest nightmare and faced it without getting out, and everything was okay. And yes, that is comforting and I feel good about how I handled it, but now I know that I can see them. My last few swims, although short and in a semi-protective cove, I can’t help but expect to see one, and it makes me tentative. I’m working on going back to the way it used to be; when that thought jumped up in my head while swimming, I remind myself that it’s no more likely to happen just because I’m thinking about it, and that chance is incredibly slim, so no use wasting my energy on it. It will be a struggle to get back to that place where I almost never think about it, but for now I have things to go to when I do.
Another thing I got out of that experience is a more realistic outlook on the whole thing. We all made the decision to do this swim, knowing the risks, and when faced with potentially dangerous things that we knew we were getting ourselves into, the guys had a much more realistic reaction. When the taxman was checking us out from below on one of our feeds, Quinn kept putting his head down and watching it, seemingly fearless. He was appreciating it. Why not? We have already assumed the risk, let’s at least enjoy this. Bill did the same, popped his head back up, and said “I’ve had a good life.” Wow. It wasn’t negative, or dramatic, it was realistic. We all knew the risks and chose to swim anyways, and now when faced with one of our risks, these guys were composed, awaiting whatever mother nature would do to them for attempting to cross one of her beautiful obstacles. We had no control over that, so doing what I was doing - frantically getting near the kayak with a look of fear and whimpering about what should we do - clearly was not helping the situation. Not that I can just immediately switch my reaction, but it’s something to work on moving towards.
Final lesson learned: When you have an idea and you really want something, go for it, despite what others say. Appreciate those around you who are supportive and take those who are not with a grain of salt. I keep a folder of emails and materials for each of the swims I research, and then execute. After completing the swim, it’s nice to take a look back and see the process unfold; it’s usually a pretty emotional and gratifying thing to watch something grow from just a thought, maybe a curious question, to something that has actually been completed, and remember all of those who helped along the way. That was of course the case for this swim, but I noticed this swim was a bit unique: there were numerous naysayers. People who said, that’s impossible, that’s too tough, do an easier Hawaiian channel, do a more frequently crossed Hawaiian channel, etc. Of course, I just avoided conversation with these people, but part of their attitude almost fueled me on. I’ll show you kind of mindset. And then there were the encouraging people, people I trust, and people who helped me accomplish my goal; those were the people that mattered in my quest in the end, and those are the people I will remember in the long run, when my folder is just another file lost in my computer.
For all the crazy adventures, I must say that while that was definitely the most challenging swim I’ve done, it was so much fun. Even the not-so-great parts, like the man-o-wars at the end. That was just part of the whole experience, and I wouldn’t trade it. I liked it all so much, I just may have to do another Hawaiian channel swim sometime soon :)
Plastic bags are being banned or taxed in several places around the world, significantly reducing their extremely negative impact on the environment. Only 10% actually get recycled, and the rest do not decompose. This is a huge problem. Encourage your local representatives to push for bag bans in your area, and bring your own bags to the grocery store. Keep a few extras in the car for those spontaneous trips or when you forget. It’s only a matter of time before plastic bags (and water bottles!) are looked upon the same way cigarette smoking is, so we might as well change our habits now!
Yesterday, Quinn Carver, Bill Goding, Brian Denaro, and I became the 5th-8th people to swim from Kauai to Niihau. Jeff Kozlovich paddled the entire distance with us as well. My mom kayaked half of the swim, due to difficulties with a very small kayak. We covered significantly more ground than the 17.5-mile straight line distance, mostly due to the huge swells and currents we encountered. Although shorter in distance than my other two marathon swims (Catalina and MIMS), this was by far the longest amount of time I’ve been in the water. I cannot even begin to describe the adventures that took place yesterday, but below is my best attempt.
The sky was just beginning to lighten up as the five of us and my parents stood on the beach at Barking Sands, the military base we stayed the night on. Captain Donny motored his boat around to our starting spot, and the shuttle began. Jeff, my mom, and my dad swam out with a few things. My mom got in a tiny kayak and Jeff returned to begin our crossing with us. It was 6:10am when we started swimming away from Kauai. The pace was quick, must faster than I normally would have taken it out, but soon enough I fell into a rhythm and felt better. It was clear that I was the weak link among this group of experienced athletes. Quinn and Bill have crossed many other Hawaiian channels. This was to be Brian’s first long swim, but he has done several triathlons and is a fast swimmer. As we came in close to the boat for our first feed (we fed every 45 minutes), Captain Don barked at us to get in close to the boat and stay there. We did as asked, but I worryingly questioned why and what was going on. When he told us he just wanted us to be close for the feedings so as to keep track of where we all were, I decided I’d wait until after the swim to ask again. Did I really want to know right now? It turns out, a large shark had swum up to Brain’s feet, within nippable range, and then swum back down. I was glad we were not told during the swim.
We began swimming again, and at this point were hitting jellyfish all over the place. Little no-see-ems zapped us and soon I did not have a single limb that had not gotten hit. I also noticed tiny thin purple strings that clung to my arms, stinging and leaving perfectly straight red lines on my skin. The stings were not terribly painful, but I hoped they would not follow us the whole swim. Even at such a low intensity, being stung so many times can cause toxins to build up, making the swimmer very ill and potentially ending our attempt. Thankfully, after an hour and a half, the jellies became a very rare encounter, and mid-channel they were nonexistent. However, before that happened, we had a few other wildlife encounters. During our second 45-minute stretch, I saw a big shark swimming about 30 feet below us. I lifted my head while swimming and asked my mom to stay by my side (we had a Shark Shield attached to her kayak). She was experiencing difficulties in her tiny kayak, so I slowed down to be near her and the shield. This was the first time I’ve ever seen a potentially dangerous shark in the water. We later learned it was a Galapagos shark; typically non-threatening but still something to be very cautious about. The shark came up about 10 more feet to check us out, and swam below us in our direction for about 5 minutes before leaving. Finally I could breathe again…at least for a moment…
At our next feed our friendly ‘taxman’ was back checking us out. Again, I inched closer to my mom in the kayak. I looked down at it and it seemed pretty deep, so I continued to feed and pretend it was not there. Just as I thought I was coping much better, I thought I saw a large gray object just a couple feet below me. I still don’t know if it was anything other than a shadow, but I momentarily freaked out. Once the guys heard me, I tried to calm down and reassure them - and myself! - that I just thought I saw something but it was nothing. And along we went.
There were no more interesting wildlife encounters for quite some time, now that we were far away from the Kauai coast. The bright blue water extended far below us. The surface, however, was not as beautiful. We were very lucky in that there was not much wind, but we were swimming in large swells. The swells pushed us for a couple of hours, creating a false sense of hope that we were on track for a 7:30 crossing. Mid channel the currents can do crazy things, and they did. Our pace slowed to 45 minute miles, and I had to wrap my head around the fact that we were now on track for an 11 hour crossing. As we neared Niihau, the currents became less volatile, but the wind picked up. We were able to bring our mile pace down to 30 minutes, but nothing faster. The end was grueling, especially for Brain, who had never come close to swimming that distance, and stops were frequent and long. I felt surprisingly good most of the way, and was only really hurting after particularly long breaks, when my muscles would tighten up. During the last hour or so we had some white caps, but at that point we knew we were getting in, it was just a matter of time.
Now that we were approaching another island, there was the opportunity for wildlife. There was one final shark sighting, but I was unaware of it. Tiny zapping jellies returned, but not quite as painful as they were before - I assumed my skin was somewhat numb. That assumption was woefully proven wrong when, as I approached the boat for the final time before heading into shore, I ran into a Portuguese man-o-war. Apparently, the Hawaiian ones are not as deadly, so I cannot even imagine hitting one elsewhere. All of the sudden, my face, arms, and legs were covered in the most painful series of stings I have ever received. I screamed and frantically tried to escape the area where I was being stung. At the boat, my screams turned to sobs. Everything still hurt - everywhere. And of course, in my mind, was the fact that man-o-wars had ended Penny Palfrey’s epic attempt to cross the longest and only uncrossed Hawaiian Channel: Kauai to Oahu, 72 miles. I was too close to get out, I knew I was going to Niihau. I went around the boat the other way, in hopes of avoiding the same man-o-war, but it was for naught. I hit more, all over my body again, and as I reached the guys I was back to screaming and sobbing, slapping my limbs wildly trying to get it off. Bill came up to me and started slapping my face; there was a tentacle stuck there also. Finally, tears aside, we moved closer to shore. Everything stung but I did not care, we were right there.
Unfortunately, landing on Niihau was not going to be simple. There were no guards there preventing our landing, which was cheerful. However, the bottom was covered with rock and coral as far into shore as the water went, and then the sand begun. The 6-8 feet waves were dangerously pounding on the rough bottom, and at 3-5 second intervals. It was determined unsafe to exit the water. I was worried about breaking a bone or injuring myself and jeopardizing my next Catalina swim, only one month away. Quinn, a much braver, fearless, and experienced surfer and swimmer, got to shore, but we all knew we would not be so lucky. Bill, Brian and I touched the bottom with our feet, in as shallow water as we could safely get to, and called it a success. Not official in terms of English Channel rules, but we completed the crossing. Congratulations were all around; we had swum to Niihau, the forbidden island. Our official time was 9:56:40 and the distance swum was 19.48 miles. Pictures are below.
Hello from Kauai! My family and I have arrived at Kauai and are loving it here! So far the vacation is going wonderful, and today I’m doing the final preparations for my big Hawaiian swim tomorrow. Unfortunately, I cannot post all of the details of this swim online, although some of you already know what it is. For the rest of you, tomorrow morning I will be swimming a distance of over 15 miles with three other experienced Hawaiian swimmers, and will be able to comment further on Monday. Scott will be posting a link on this site later where you will be able to track my progress live! This is an experimental run with a new device, SPOT, so we’re hoping for the best.
Also, if you have not checked it out yet, visit http://www.swim22.net/ for information on my final marathon swim of the season: another Catalina crossing as part of Swim22 - The Ultimate Endurance Challenge! Our event is fast growing, and has already gathered significant media attention (visit the “fun stuff” tab on the website). Check it out and our team would greatly appreciate any donations - large or small. We are also seeking corporate sponsorships. Thank you all for your support!
Throw some reusable bags in your car and bring a stainless steel water bottle with you next time you head out the door. Sometimes it’s easy to think that I’m just one person and it won’t really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. That argument won’t work here: how many water bottles do you use a week? How many plastic bags? Other single-use plastics? How much is it a year? What would all that look like if it were in one pile (it is somewhere!), and where do you think it is? Sadly, we HOPE it’s in a landfill, where it will remain for hundreds of years, failing to decompose. We hope it’s in a landfill because the alternative is worse: in the ocean, looking like a jellyfish, waiting to be consumed by a turtle who is waiting to die because his poor stomach is stuffed with plastic and he cannot digest real food.
As sad and morbid of a picture this is, it’s reality. But it does not have to be. By making a few changes you can significantly decrease - if not near eliminate - your plastic pile. And others will notice and begin to chip away at their piles. Now that’s empowering.
On Sunday I met two CSUF professors, Lenny Wiersma and Clay Sherman, at Bolsa Chica for a swim. The two professors were there to surf, but not before a quick swim/kayak. Lenny kayaked while Clay and I swam. The water was rough, even past the waves, and it was quite a bit of work. Great training for my Hawaii swim this Sunday, and for the afternoon parts of my next Catalina crossing. After Clay went in, Lenny and I continued on south. Almost immediately after our turn around, Lenny stopped me and calmly informed me that there was a playful seal just ahead, nothing to be scared of. I’ve gotten much better at dealing with seals, and when this one jumped through a swell right in front of us, all I thought of was how cute it was! Moments later, I was stopped again - there were sea birds everywhere and you could just tell something was going on. Three dolphins popped up super close. We swam towards them quickly, in hopes of intersecting their path. As I swam, on one of my breaths, I saw a fin glide through the surface right next to us, maybe 5 feet away. It was incredible; we were actually swimming next to it! That was the most sea life either of us have encountered in any 20 minute period of time; we were just so lucky to be in all of it. What an experience.
For some reason, this summer (or winter should we say?), when you swim south from Cliff Drive there is very little space between the rocks along the shore and the massive, thick kelp beds. To avoid swimming too far out to sea, we typically do our best to weave our way in between, but today got a bit hairy. Kurt kayaked, while Marlena, Uncle Dan, Madison, and I swam. Madison braved the cold for 12 minutes today, a huge improvement on her Tuesday swim! Today was Kurt’s first time guiding us on his own, and we got stuck in some seaweed on the way out. It’s not the end of the world, but not a super pleasant experience. Uncle Dan, who hates seaweed with a passion, was not happy at all. After a brief period of frustration, he came around to take some lovely pictures at our half way break (below). We discussed the route we wanted to take with Kurt on the way back and set off for a rematch with the seaweed.
Madison and Marlena hopped on the kayak. They were both cold, and Marlena had encountered her first jellyfish sting - ouch! We swam back the most perfect route we have ever taken - I did not hit seaweed once! Amazing improvement; nice job Kurt! As we got closer to Cliff Drive, the water became ice cold again, as it has been about 3 degrees colder in that cove than out at sea. Tired from what I felt was a fast first half, I was struggling to keep up with UD in the last ten minutes. He was not feeling like it was a great swim for him either. It was just not our most consistent swim, but we can both feel good about the average speed - 2.5 mph - not bad!
