Swim cancelled

Unfortunately, after we got out to Anacapa Island, the weather got worse instead of better, as forecasted. Winds were 20 knots and waves 4 to 8 feet with swells in different directions. We waited a bit, but it only got worse. We also knew that the winds would pick up even more in the afternoon.
The first thing we saw, was the waves bombarding the cliff that I was supposed to touch to start. Then we saw that the wind direction was northnorthwest,  instead of west, which would have considerably slowed me down. We listened to the weather and there was a small craft advisory. The surf was also forecast in the dangerous level for the finish, at 7 feet.
Heading home tomorrow without a swim.
on to Lake Superior next month.

Anacapa Island swim is on

Captain Dawn just confirmed that the Anacapa Island swim is on. I will start at the island from the arch at about 3 a.m. California time or 6 a.m. Ontario time.
Wind is light until about 10 a.m., then building to 10 knots from the west. It will be in my rear left quarter.
Water and air will be warmer this time. I'm predicting it will be a fun swim.

Anacapa Island swim on Tuesday

We have confirmed with SBCSA and Captain Dawn for an Anacapa Island to mainland swim leaving around 2 to 3 a.m. California time or 5 to 6 a.m. Ontario time on Tuesday July 24. There is a chance that we may swim the other direction from the mainland (Silver Strand beach) to Anacapa Island, depending on the winds. The swim is 20 km and is expected to take 9 to 10 hours.
We are hoping that a new route will not go anywhere near the shark's territory. Also, a shorter swim is more doable physically after my effort yesterday. The starting point at Anacapa Island is the iconic Arch rock at the east end.
Tracker is already set up, at the same link
https://track.rs/sbcsa/

Shark videos

Here are the links to two videos of the shark.
https://youtu.be/3M2sIjHJEj4
https://youtu.be/sviMiq_WiiQ

Marilyn's story of the Santa Cruz Island swim

We started the swim just before midnight. I swam up to a cliff on Santa Cruz Island that was covered with kelp and touched it. The water was magical at first, fairly warm, by my standards, quite calm, and full of bio-luminescence. Paula said it looked like I was swimming on a sparkling cloud.
That lasted about an hour before the cold air started to chill me. As you can see from the tracker, I sprinted for about 3 hours. It was too cold to zone out mentally. It was a constant struggle with the mindfulness skill of "let it go" whenever a worry thought or quitting thought popped up. With sprinting and warm feeds, I was able to hold my core temperature steady. Five or ten minutes before each feeding, I would start to get really cold.
We dangled the shark shield from the kayak for 6 hours until it ran out of charge. The shark shield is a flexible electrode about 7 feet long that emits a low voltage current that is specific for the nose semsors of  predatory sharks. The current is effective up to a 15 foot radius.
My paddlers did 3 hour shifts, first Paula, then my son, and finally my husband. They gave me 4 feedings each (every 45 minutes), so I had a pretty good idea of the time by counting feedings. Shortly after 5 a.m., I started to be able to see outlines of people so I knew that sunrise was on its way. It was a relief to have the night behind me. However it took another hour before the air warmed up to the point where I didn't feel the desperate need to sprint anymore.  It was still overcast but still nice and calm.
There was a deep sea oil drilling rig named "Gail" lit up like a Christmas tree, that took us forever to pass.
After about 8 hours of swimming, when my husband was paddling, he stopped me and told me to swim to the boat and wait while we put the shark shield in the water. Evidently some "animal life" had been spotted. Even though the shark shield hadn't fully recharged, the light was green, so we kept swimming. I stuck close to the kayak for about 5 minutes when we got word to return to the boat and we were given the instruction to get out. It was definitely a shark. At first, I was told that the 10 minutes rule would apply, which was a relief. That meant I could sit on the boat for 10 minutes without penalty and get back in if the coast was clear.
That was when I saw the shark. You could see its' dorsal fin, in the classic triangle shape, followed about 6 feet later by the top of its rear fin. It was swimming in circles around the boat, investigating. Evidently, the head and mouth are about the same distance in front of the dorsal fin as the tail is behind it, making it about a 12 foot shark. In the photo, the head would be near the left side of the picture. It swam in the area beside the boat in which I had just been swimming, looking around. We continued to watch it swim around the boat and under it, even as my 10 minutes was long elapsed.
Captain Alicia was the one to spot it. She says that at first it was swimming around fairly far away (about 200 yards away), in the direction of the Gail oil rig, but then it made a sudden left and swam deliberately for us. Not fast, but in a straight line. You can see this in the video (that I will be uploading shortly). She caught a glimpse of the white markings, confirming it as a Great White shark.
Yes, very disappointing. I've had 15 successful swims in a row, most of them luckily on the day that was scheduled. I figured I was overdue for an unsuccessful swim. I console myself by saying that I did not fail, the circumstances were beyond my control. All the safety systems that the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association has in place, in the event of aggressive shark behaviour, worked well today. The observers and captains were knowledgeable and reacted quickly with safety in mind. Evidently, this is the first time in SBCSA history that they have had to pull a swimmer out because of a shark.  I continue to feel confident in the system, as a swimmer.
We are trying to regroup for the shorter 20 km Anacapa Island swim in a few days. Stay tuned.
Thank you to my crew, Dave Van Mowerick (chief observer) Charles Slosberg (assistant observer), Captain Alicia and Captain Dawn Brooks. You guys are the best. Marilyn

We have had significant interference with very sad results. The appearance of black fins and white markings that circled us in smaller and smaller circles was positively identified as Great White Shark.  We had the shark shield in the water beside us but the shark was doing the classic "investigate whether the disturbance in the water was food". So we had to get onto the boat as the shark continued his search pattern in the area where Marilyn had just been swimming before finally turning and swimming away. So that was the end of the swim, just past halfway point after 8 hours of swimming and 8.5 nautical miles (15.6 km) from the start. We are all safe and heading back to marina with great disappointment.

After 4 hours of swimming in 65F water Marilyn has covered 5 nautical miles or 6.1 regular miles. Her stroke is regular as usual around 60 per minute. Beautiful star filled night with calm water. She is nearly 1/3 across and had predicted that the swim would take 14 hours. She is on target to make that time. Shark shield is working but will need recharging soon.

Marilyn started from Pedro Point Santa Cruz Island at 11:37 pm. Water is chilly 64F and the seals were calling arf arf as we set off. Crossing to the start took longer due to large waves and rough water. We are on a beautiful 38ft sailboat with Captain Dawn Brooks who has been wonderfully accommodating and understands marathon swimming.

We just left the harbor.

Getting ready to go tonight

Our bags are packed, we're ready to go. The crew is practicing blog updates.

Getting organized day

Yesterday was windy and partially sunny. We were able to make out Anacapa Island, 20 km away. We could only catch glimpses of a large dark mass that was Santa Cruz Island. Not ideal for pictures. I went for an hour swim yesterday morning and I hope to swim for 20 minutes today. The surf was fairly big and I had to swim out from shore a bit to stay out of the surf zone. No flora or fauna. Water temperatures was comfortable at 67 deg. F. We are all having trouble getting used to how cool the air is here after weeks of sweltering in Ontario. We saw the dock where our 38 foot Hunter sailboat is docked but couldn't get a good picture. We touched base with Captain Dawn and the official observer from the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association, Dave Van Moewerick. We are on for a 10 pm Wednesday night California time, and 1 am Thursday Ontario time start. The wind, at WSW 10 mph, is forecast to be the least on Thursday of any day this week. The wind direction is perfect. Low of 66 deg. F. overnight and high of 76 and sunny on Thursday. The rest of our crew is coming in today, so we are going back to L.A. and buying last minute supplies. Then packing the bags in a manner that makes sense in the dark and rolling seas.

Greetings from California

Woke up to a foggy morning here on Hollywood Beach in Oxnard, California. I am hoping to land on this beach to finish off my swim. Our 38 foot Hunter sailboat is based in the harbor that runs on the other side of the beach. Too foggy for pictures.

Tracker link

It seems that the tracker page is already set up for my swim so I can give you the link. https://track.rs/sbcsa/

Information about my 2018 swims

It has come to my attention that cell phone users don't get the background information paragraph popping up at the top of their screen. You can get this information by scrolling to the very bottom of the page and clicking on View Web Version.

Captain Dawn's prediction

Captain Dawn is predicting that my Santa Barbara channel swim will take place as scheduled on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. That would be 1 a.m. on Thursday in Ontario time. I will confirm that after we meet with her on Monday.

2018 Sashbear donation page

I am pleased to report that the 2018 Sashbear donation page is ready for donations! http://sashbear.org/en/events-main/events-2/making-waves-4-sashbear-lake-superior