Coots Cold water swim and Big swim test day Saturday, March 12

We’ll be testing about 20 swimmers this Saturday, March 12. The testing is due to start at 10 AM. If you are not a memeber yet, why not come down and join the fun.

For information about previous Coots Coldwater swims see here: Coots Inaugural Swim

Anyone not a member yet is welcome to sign up just let us know if you are interested ahead of time at: sign_up@shadowcliffsorcas.com

Thanks,

John and Al

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Full Moon Swim August 2010 : instant replay

2010 Full Moon Swim collage

To quote Tom Waits, it looked a lot like the old Madame La Rue pinball
machine out there in the water, fluctuating, bobbing and flashing red-blue-green-orange-purple-pink-turquoise glow bands!

Thanks again to all that made it out for the third Full Moon Swim for the Shadow Cliffs Orcas. We again had a good number of people out there, it was a little windy and cooler than in the past two swims, but the water was a wonderful temp. There were many faces from last year, but we also had a good number of first timers. We had two canoes and two kayaks and 30 swimmers in the water.

I hope the pizza was not too heavy a meal for folks, of course no one sank, so I guess we’re all okay. We tried getting a jump on the meal this time so that it would give folks about an hour and a half to digest their meal. I didn’t see too many leftover pieces out of the 6 large pizzas, so I think that is a postive vote overall.

Thanks for doing the beach clean up, it helps the park staff out and they have to make a personal sacrifice to stay late until we are out of the park, thank you Chris on the park staff for sticking it out.

I would be remise if I did not thank the canoe and kayak pilots. You did a great job overseeing the swimmers, you folks make it all possible, I hope you had as much fun as those of us in the water. Again, thank you so much!

Start of the swim

I want to personally congradulate the last three swimmers that came in, I’ve tested all three of them, they’re pretty new to swimming, their original goal was to get through a tri-for-fun (400 yards) in water along the shore, broad dylight and water that gets no deeper than 8 feet and in most spots you can “walk” the swim course. Well 1,600 yards in the dark is a big jump, I think it is great you stuck it out and have a new personal record and experience under your belt; thanks for coming out, this is what it’s all about!

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Dawn Patrol report

The first Dawn Patrol Swim-Breakfast turned out nicely, despite the fact the month of May was still behaving as if it was March. We all had a nice swim (water was an exhilarating 63F) and a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast followed. Al had the BBQ cooking the fresh sausage, while he made to order eggs and pancakes with hot coffee to bring one’s internal temperature back up. Can you beat that?

We also had the our new t-shirts available, we still have a supply, so let us know if you are interested we’ll set one aside for you. I’d like a T-shirt

Thanks to all that attended. Keep posted for more fun events.

Al and John

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Dawn Patrol Swim/Brunch Get together, Sat. May 22

**** Breaking news, the T-shirts are here! ****

The term Dawn Patrol referred to the fly boys of WWI that would head out before sunrise on their patrols. Now in skiing, surfing, mountain biking (and in this case swimming) it refers to those who head out at sunrise or at least early, to beat the crowds.

Al and I would like to celebrate the opening of the new swim season with a Swim / Brunch on Saturday, May 22. You don’t have to arrive at dawn to participate. We plan on having hot coffee and the BBQ fired up around 9:30 – 10:00, just as most of you will be getting out from your swim. It’s pretty casual, but it should be a chance to see some faces from last year and open the season on a fun note. We are also hoping to have the cool new Orca’s T-shirts by then ($5)

Let us know if you think you can participate, Just click here: I’d like to attend the swim brunch

We will be testing new members that day too, for those who would like to join.

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Testing on Saturday, April 10, 2010

We’ve got a number of folks signed up for testing on Saturday, I’ll be down there, so if you’re on the fence, it’ll be a good day to come on down and get a jump on the season.

I am planning on getting down to the lake around noon time, but might be able to be convinced to show up earlier.

If you’r a new member, contact us so that we can make arrangements, or just go here and follow the directions.

For existing members, if we still owe you one of our fine silicone caps (the limited edition Inaugural Member version no less), drop me an e-mail then swing by Shadow Cliffs and I’ll hand it over…..

See you all there.

John

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Inuagural L’Esprit du Coots or the Coldest Day Swim Event Sunday, February 21, 2010

Well, the stars have aligned, no Superbowl to distract us, perfect Coot weather, and, the L’Esprit du les Coots and 2010 swim season high silicone quality swim caps arrived.

We’ll be meeting at Shadow Cliffs near the bench starting at 11:30 AM. We’ll have warm drinks on hand for after the swim and we expect most people won’t be hitting the water til about noon (it takes awhile to chip a hole big enough to fit through, in 3″ thick the ice). We’ll update the post tonight with the latest water temp. measurements.

The the 2010 member and the L’Esprit du les Coots swim caps, heavy duty, high quality pure silicone

How do you score one of these caps? We’ll we’re sneaking up on renewal time, or if you’re not a ShadowcliffsOrcas member yet, it’s time to become one. Existing members merely need to renew for the 2010 swim season ($25) at this event and they can get a limited addition Coots cap to add to their collection. (renewing now for $25 you save a $3 over buying a replacment cap for $8 and renewing at $20 in May). If you are not a member yet and are planning to join us now (2010 season) membership is $25 and includes the cap of your choice (see above). Your membership will be good through a May of 2011, such a deal. Everyone New members and renewing members will need to submit waivers (available here:

The waiver that needs to be filled out is on the second to last page.
More information on the swim test is here: https://shadowcliffsorcas.wordpress.com/about/ under the swim test heading.

Back to the event
The details:

• Start time we’ll be setting up around 11:30 am, swimming a little later, if you’d like to help, it’s much appreciated
• You can swim as much or as little as you like, but you ain’t getting a Coots cap unless you swim at least 1 lap in the lane line (300 yards) . 🙂
• We’ll have warm water, coffee and tea, maybe cocoa, we ain’t Starbucks® ya know, if there’s something you like, bring some extra and share, that’d be nice!
• I’ll try to set up an area for the food and piece of carpet instead of standing on the cold cement, maybe a propane heater setup
• We’ll have some loner insulated caps on hand, of very limited quantity and size range
• We’re trying to line up an escort kayak for those wanting to cross the lake, no quaranties though
• New member sign ups are welcome, print and fill out a waiver and bring your payment
• (john) will be on hand to give some tips on cold water swimming

Hope to see you there!

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