[Exi-bay-announce] Re: Snorkeling in Point Lobos

[Kennita Watson]

On Saturday, Aug 21, 2004, at 05:59 US/Pacific, Mark Galeck wrote:

> Hi BA extropes,
>
> In the long-standing and mildly successful tradition of posting
> extropy-enhancing activities other than devouring sushi...  (drums)
> Snorkeling!
> ...
> What do you need?
> ...
> Competent swimming ability - the snorkeling is at most 150 yards from 
> the
> shore on the reef, but we may have to swim as much as 700 yards to get 
> there
> from the beach, and this is in the ocean not in a swimming pool.  In 
> short,
> you need to be able to swim a mile or so, without getting tired.  You 
> don't
> really need to have snorkeled before, if you swim well, snorkeling is 
> easy.
>
Independent of how many can make it to this, how many 'tropes
do we have who can swim a mile in open ocean?  My hat is off
to you!

There is no way I could do this.  But in the spirit of making
sure it works out well for all concerned, I'll point out that
being able to swim a mile (in a pool) wouldn't cover it.
If the tide is not favorable, you could end up swimming the
equvalent of much more than the 700 yards out to the snorkeling
site, and if you're not careful with tide timing, it could be
unfavorable both ways. Or not, if the tides are with you.

Question:  is the looking-at-fishes part like resting, or like
continuing to swim slowly?

Assuming Mark is the strongest swimmer, he can help you out:
from www.mbcc.org/swim/train_tips.htm -- "Unlike racing in a pool, you 
can draft off faster swimmers in open water. "It makes swimming a lot 
easier," says [Olympic medalist Sheila] Taormina. "If you're drafting, 
you can use 70 percent of your energy and maybe swim five seconds 
faster per 100 yards without feeling like you worked at all," she says. 
The trick is to get behind someone of comparable speed or slightly 
faster and stay just behind without touching the other swimmer's toes."

I found a page with some snorkeling/diving safety and performance
tips:  http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/res/gi/gidive.htm

Best to you -- I suppose a camera would be out of the question?

Live long and prosper,
Kennita
--
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
none but ourselves can free our minds.
           -- Bob Marley, "Redemption Song"