By the time I arrived at L1, I had already caught several good glimpses of the lakefront – and none of them were very encouraging. In short, the lakefront was a mess with sustained 15mph northeast winds stirring up heavy waves and chops.
The lake temp came in at a crisp 53F with the air slightly cooler at 45F. However, the very brief but glorious sunrise had long since disappeared behind the slate ceiling, leaving a very dismal and uninviting scene out at L1. I relocated down to Ohio Street Beach hoping for better conditions within the break wall. But the waves were actually slightly worse at that site due to the more shallow water.
As luck (?) would have it, I left my thermometer up at L1 and had to return again to retrieve it. By then, the sky had started to clear and the sun had actually reappeared. I had decided to just grab my thermometer and go, but the wave action had coiled the thermometer rope around the base of the ladder. Bottom line, the only way I was going to get it back would be to climb down and manually unravel it.
Given that requirement, I shucked off my sweats and climbed down the ladder in my jammers and rash guard. Several swells doused me while I was freeing the thermometer, but the water was not as bracing as I had expected. So I decided to get my goggles and swim cap and see if I could get in a quick swim to one or more of the ladders.
It was a bit tricky getting in the water since I had to time the waves – and they were definitely pretty heavy. But once I got in, I was not uncomfortable at all in just my jammers and neoprene swim cap. Since it was just me out there, though, I didn’t want to press my luck. So I just stayed fairly close to the wall and got out at the third ladder.
And that was more than enough for today!
Late October sunrise
The mess at L1
The sun returns!
Looking back
Today’s video compilation: