You want to start your New Year right. Maybe you have a resolution or two, or maybe you want to challenge yourself, have some fun, and enjoy nature.
If you know how to swim and can handle a mile of ocean swimming, be sure to join us. We’ll meet at 10 am at Tower 9, about 1/2 mile south of the Huntington Beach Pier. We’d love to have you.
At 10 am, we’ll discuss conditions and pair up. As per safety regulations, we’ll stagger the start so there’s 10 seconds (at least 6 feet) between each swimmer.
New Year’s Day Swim Route
We will either use the northern route or the southern route. This all depends on where the current is from on New Year’s Day. If it’s primarily from the north, we’ll head north. If from the south, we’ll head south. Both routes are shown in the pictures below.
First, we’ll head out straight for the waves. Once we’re beyond the breakers, we’ll head either north towards the pier, or south towards Newport. Regardless, we’ll be swimming parallel to the shore. For the northern route, we’ll swim as far as Tower 1, just south of the pier. For the southern route, we’ll swim to Tower 17.
Once you’re even with Tower 1 (or 17), you can turn back the way you came, parallel to the shore. As soon as you’re even or near even with Tower 9, turn back in. Celebrate once you’re back on land!
Cancel Conditions
The following conditions can cause a cancellation of the event:
Rain, high surf, high wind, fog, or a beach closure.
Rain: if it’s rained as late as the afternoon of December 29th, the event will be canceled. Just want to swim when the ocean is relatively clean.
High Surf: if the waves are 6’+, we will cancel. We don’t want to make it hard for the lifeguards to spot us.
High Wind: if the wind is 10+ knots, we’ll cancel. Again, as in high surf, tt’s just harder for the lifeguards to spot us. We’ll err on the side of caution.
Fog: if you cannot see Tower 9 (due to fog) from this Surfline camera, the event is canceled.
Beach Closure: if the beach is closed, due to a shark sighting or some other reason, the event will be canceled.
According to MagicSeaweed and Surfline, the conditions look good. The waves are 3-4 feet. We’ll know more the morning of.
Final Notes
Let’s hope the conditions are good for swimming, as they are about 300+ days of the year in Huntington Beach. Bring in the New Year right and make some new memories and some new friends. Swimming is healthy and being outdoors is great for your mental health.
Feel free to contact me at oceanswimoc@gmail.com if you have any questions.