Wow. Getting your own NSW can be very exciting, especially without a boat.
Sick of waiting for my neighbor's truck and this and that, I put my foot down, got a bunch of five gallon water bottles and said today was the day. I was going to get my NSW if I had to swim for it. And that's what I did.
I think I just earned the 'Your insane about aquariums' merit badge.
I had already mapped out a nice somewhat isolated beach up north of the lighthouse in Pt. Reyes. It's pretty pristine up there. (Check it out on a map.) And I think it gets some nice water from where the continental shelf drops off into the deep. But that might be wishful thinking. Regardless the lack of development and open water seemed good to me.
The first lesson was that the Pacific Ocean in Northern California in pretty damn cold. Maybe high 50's.
The second lesson is the surf here can beat the pants off you. And it did me, several times as I got blindsided by more than one wave. A couple made me do summersaults under water and bashed me in the sand. I later discovered that my knuckles were bleeding.
So what followed was an hour match with the surf and I came out of it feeling like I did 12 rounds with Rocky.
Imagine going out with a five gallon plastic bottle. Getting past the waves and then doing a balancing act in deep water with the bottle between your legs trying to get the air bubbles out. The last thing you want is a big floatation device with big undertow. When I was too deep to touch the bottom, The undertow would suck me out and I would have to ride waves back and time my return so I could carry the filled bottle past the breakers and out of the water while fighting the current and waves.
Now imagine doing this six times! [smiley=freak3.gif]
Fatigue kicked in and I started getting wacked by waves. I lost the bottle a couple of times.
I did get some inspiration when I saw my first California Sea Lion spying on me not 10 yards a way. NO BS! It was a big one with a head the size of mine hehe and it was trying to figure out what the heck I was up to.
I shouted to Laine and she got a look. She was amazed. That made our trip. We had never seen one on many trips to the beach.
This made me feel good until I remembered what's in the water that eats Sea Lions. White sharks!
[smiley=wreck.gif]
I tried to put that out of my head and finish the job, little did I know I was bleeding in the water. Yikes.
Fortunately today was not my day to live my worst nightmare and I got all six filled after 45 minutes or so. I had to take a break a couple times with Laine to warm up a bit. My feet felt like bricks. And we had to carry all the bottles up a sand dune to the car.
On the way out, we saw this sign and had a good laugh:
Thank God I did not see that on the way in. I am insane. What was I thinking!! [smiley=uhoh.gif]
The other triumph of the day was how our little hybrid car handled the load. Like a champ. Check this out:
What a fit!
We made it home, and I carried it all in and proceeded to fill the tank. Luckily no surprises there and I am now looking at my first salt tank in a while.
I am totally exhausted and beat up pretty bad. But I am smiling!
Bad flash pic, but you get the idea.
I Swam For My Natural Sea Water. 
