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

[Russell Whitaker]

At 12:56 PM -0700 8/21/04, Kennita Watson wrote:
>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!

Properly geared up, with fins and wetsuit, and not swimming against a
longshore current?  I can, and have.  It's no big deal.  As Mark pointed out in
an earlier reply, you're not swimming for speed.  It also helps that with snorkeling
gear, you can keep your face down in the water, not moving it to break surface
during a stroke cycle.

Also, you're not using your arms.  It's not like "swimming" per se.  The right
gear helps out a lot.

If I had to do the same, doing front crawl or breast stroke, I suppose I could
do a mile out there... but if and only if I wore a wetsuit.  It would be a bit more
difficult too given the way that wetsuits distort conventional swimming
dynamics.

Russell

>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"
>
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-- 
Russell Whitaker
http://www.survivalarts.com/