dolphin club alcatraz

The day started very early for flipper and tiny seal as they knew they had to be at the Dolphin Club by 6:15. Flipper arose at an unbelieveable 4 am after a very restless night and left promptly (for once) at 5:15 to be at Bubbles's pad by 5:30. Surprising there was quite a bit of traffic on the way up to the city for that time of day but parking was a snap. For the first time ever we saw people parallel parking along the end of Van Ness and we still are not sure what was up with that.
After the sea lion attack last week we were both apprehensive about swimming and scoped out the scene in the park. There he was waiting no... lurking... next to the flag. This was going to be a stressful day. As we walked closer flipper called out to him to see how sensitized he had been made by helpful humans and he seemed to perk his little ear slits and paddle closer. "Here Puppy. Here Puppy..." Yes, he was either waiting for us to get in and be his breakfast or to provide breakfast. Neither seemed particularly appealing to us so we headed to the club and he followed us along as we walked...
As we entered the club we realized that astonishingly we were actually very early and flipper was the second person there to swim. flipper received a big number 2 on her right arm which kind of freaked her out because she had never had such a low number before. Perhaps this was an omen of things to come...
Bubbles headed over to the kitchen to whip up some of her famous race rice porridge and race rice soup!! Yummy yummy!! We all need recipes of this tradition south indian swim race breakfast fare. flipper had 4 cups of the soup after the swim it was so yummy!
And so flipper hung out at the greeting table trying to help out the sign in folks and fight with the head timer over getting to write numbers on all the cute guys (straight and gay) who were signing in. Eventually flipper was relegated to checking the stopwatches and then told to get some personal time before the swim and take care of my personal prerace stuff. Whatever.
So up those foreboding stairs she went and filled her swim coat pockets with gu and G2 and power drink and goggles and earplugs, 3 caps and whatever else might possibly be needed in any eventuality including unexpected snowfall on the bay. She was ready. Politely no one asked her if she was pregnant but with pockets bulging no one looked more like a pregnant porpoise than she did.
As she waited and tried to get into the zone in the staib room vicky bialis and her friend from seattle paige arrived. They were a welcome addition to the scene and fit in like pros. In fact, the swim commissioner put them to work with official help tasks on the boat.
The briefing began at 7:30 with a whistle from the commish and roll call. Everyone who checked in was there and ready to go. This would be a classic ebb and then flood situation but... there was this slight hitch... there was this large vessel scheduled to come in. So we needed to leave early and jump early and if the boat didn't stop outside the gate some of the slower swimmers might get pulled. But it wouldn't be a sudden thing we would be pulled with plenty of warning. Most reassuring indeed.
We headed down to Capurros and made a left and found the Miss Farallones. The other boat with DC swimmers was the Silver Fox. And at the end of the pier just lounging on the dock were a half dozen sea lions who were apparently starting to use that area as a new colony. flipper wondered if they would be there to greet her as she went through the opening. she hoped not...
The ride out was swift and cool. It was foggy and rather breezy and once off alcatraz island there was a little bit of rocking back and forth. We stripped off our warm clothes and waited, freezing in the wind, for the signal to jump in. flipper had selected the Miss Farallones because she knew there was a good aft swim ladder from which to jump. "Don't jump off the stern...." Nuts. Now she had to sit on the rail somehow and spring off into the water. Oh sure. After some consternation and leg entanglement off she went and quite surprisingly the water was way warmer than the air.
There was a horn blast and away we went, arms flailing, water splashing, kicking, flipper gets punched and accepts the apology and off they go again. Sort of. There was a considerable washing machine at work in different parts of the bay today. As best she could, despite the swells, she aimed for the balclutha. Big mistake. As in the previous 4 attempts she should have made for the Jeremiah Obrien but the commish had said balclutha.... she forgot he is fast swimmer. grr. The ebb is pushing her to the right, seriously right, time and again.
Well there is not too much to report about swimming in gray green water with swells. You keep your head down, your butt up and count your strokes and at whatever interval you choose you check your line. Swimming swimming swimming. She stopped to check her line and feel the current and aha!! The flood. Oh yeah, baby. Time to make for the Fontanas and catch the flood and push you inside. Off she went. Swimming swimming swimming.
Just out of the corner of her eye she saw a kayak. It was a pilot. hmmm. Pilot signals to swimmer. Swimmer stops. "You are too far west..." "what???" Minutes pass as they try to communicate. "But I feel a flood." "NO... that is the wind. There is no flood. Follow me and I will lead you in." Now what does one say to an offer like that one?? "Cool." Private pilot.
Swimming swimming swimming. At one point flipper is doused a good one by a swell and checks to find her pilot, nowhere in sight. Oh there is the pilot behind her on the wrong side. The swell had turned flipper completely around. Oh yes, it was a wicked day on the bay for slow swimmers!! Head down and just swim. Keep the kayak in sight and focus.
Well eventually after much effort the pier is in sight. And I mean really in sight. It is closer than flipper has ever been to that scuzzy, barnacly, mossy, stinky, falling down ucky pier. "The flood is really moving you!!" Yah no sh** sherlock. flipper is now west of the opening and moving east like a freight train. "You have to swim and hard. Straight into the pier." Holy cr**. "Do you want me to swim under the pier or through the opening?" Nothing would surprise the intrepid porpoise at this point. "Through the opening." Praise the lord. Nothing would be ickier than swimming under that pier. And God alone knows what is under there lurking....
It was hard swimming around the end of the pier trying to hug it and not be blown into the balclutha but flipper still had some diesel in the old tank so she pulled hard and went with everything she had left for the flags. (After 3 years of trying she has finally figured out how to sight for the finish.... always a challenge for the porpoise.... finding the exit...)
She went right for the flags and kept on swimming until she was just under them and the water at that point was about 3 inches deep. Time to get up.... Unfortunately the wiley porpoise had become so accustomed to being in the water that standing was a bit of a challenge. So she sat for a few moments and chatted with friends then finally stood and exited not maybe the most graceful of exits but an exit nonetheless. Place 33 of 40.
It was a great challenge and one of the most unique alcatraz swims I have done. The time of 62 mins was way slower than I had hoped but all of the times were slow with the winning swim of around 30 min and the fastest female in at 34. But it was a lot of fun and a really memorable way to spend a sunday morning. Hope to see you all in the bay soon!!