Farallon Islands swims

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Comments

  • SharkoSharko Tomales BayGuest
    Two fins up!!!! This is great swim!!!

    "I never met a shark I didn't like"

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    Holy crap. Incredible time and incredible swim. Congrats Joe!

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited May 2019
  • heartheart San Francisco, CACharter Member
    Amazing! Congrats Joe!
  • WalterWalter Southern CaliforniaMember
    Awesome! Inspiring! Congratulations, Joe Locke!

    I'm not very popular around here; but I've heard that I'm huge in Edinburgh!

  • Leonard_JansenLeonard_Jansen Charter Member
    Fantastic achievement! Congrats, Joe!

    -LBJ

    “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde

  • smithsmith Huntsville, AlabamaSenior Member
    I never would've dreamed we'd have two successful Farallones attempts in the same year, and a speed record to boot.

    Then again, I never would've thought we'd have a slew of successful North Channel attempts as we experienced last year.

    The sport is changing................

    Keep moving forward.

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited July 2015
    Here's the observer report for Joe's swim:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2014/locke-farallons/
  • loneswimmerloneswimmer IrelandCharter Member
    A super report! Great job well done by swimmer, crew and whoever the observer fella is.

    "one got in my mouth". I've been stung what must be many hundred of times. Never got one of the little bastards in my mouth though! That's an experience I will happily forego.

    loneswimmer.com

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    ... have been in the water 3 hours now, making 3.33 miles of progress from the islands.

    Water temps hovering around 49F (9.5C), but on the bright side the winds have finally calmed down.

    Enhanced tracking at MSF SwimTrack.

    More info at:
    http://greatbritishfarallonswim.com
    and
    http://twitter.com/farallonswim

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Swim aborted after ~4 hr 40 min. Everyone is safe and heading back to SF, according to a source on the boat.

  • AnthonyMcCarleyAnthonyMcCarley Berwyn, PACharter Member

    With all respect, I must say: Why anyone would attempt these waters in a month that doesn’t start with the letters J U L Y is beyond me.

    Maybe on some years late June is reasonable. Yes, I know Craig swam in April last year, but he got incredibly lucky on the conditions. His conditions were not normal for April.

    (I try to only say nice things and I know this isn’t – sorry.)

    evmosuziedodsmiklcct
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    AnthonyMcCarley said:
    Why anyone would attempt these waters in a month that doesn’t start with the letters J U L Y is beyond me.

    From what I understand, this team actually had quite nice weather conditions (winds < 10 knots), but at least one member had trouble coping with the water temperature (49-50F at the islands) for their one-hour legs.

  • AnthonyMcCarleyAnthonyMcCarley Berwyn, PACharter Member

    Bet the water won’t be 49F in July. For Craig’s swim it was between 54-57F. (Very nice to have that documented and immediately accessible :) )

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited May 2015

    AnthonyMcCarley said:
    Bet the water won’t be 49F in July. For Craig’s swim it was between 54-57F. (Very nice to have that documented and immediately accessible :) )

    I have an app for that!

    b46026

    You're right, there does typically seem to be a jump around the 1st of July.

    malinakaAnthonyMcCarley
  • suziedodssuziedods Mem​ber

    I am just curious, From the webpage , this was the first non-wetsuit swim for one of the members. Does that really make sense? Either that or they have not updated their webpage recently. If @evmo has the temp data available, did they not inquire as to avg water temps? It just seems a long way to go, and alot of money to spend for a ~ 5 hour swim. Perhaps they didn't do their research? It's such a dicey swim to begin with one would hope that they had properly researched it.
    Maybe all the press they were getting in the UK ( they certainly didn't get any here(?) forced their hand at an attempt?
    Does anyone know who the swimmers/coach/boat were?
    I hope maybe they'll get another chance?

    evmo
  • mauprietomauprieto New Orleans, LAMember
    edited May 2016

    Tonight at 11:30PM Simon Dominguez will jump in the water and attempt to be the first swimmer to swim from the GG to the Farallon Islands. Four other swimmers have completed the swim from the Farallon Islands to the SF coast (2) / Golden Gate (2). Good luck Simon!

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited July 2015

    mauprieto said:
    Tonight at 11:30PM Simon Dominguez will jump in the water and attempt to be the first swimmer to swim from the GG to the Farallon Islands.

    I've been following the news coverage of these upcoming Farallon attempts with interest. There was one, shall we say, "interesting" development that was mentioned in two of the articles:


    http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2015/07/when-sharks-appear-in-open-water.html?m=1

    Daily News of Open Water Swimming: "If or when a shark is seen near a swimmer, whose choice is it to get out: the pilot, the crew or the swimmer? Is the swimmer informed of an approaching shark or are they just pulled from the water? How is the swimmer informed (e.g., three short whistle blasts)?"

    Vito Bialla: "Captain is always in charge. I make the call if you are on my boat. I honk the horn three times. Swimmer comes over, gets out as I stop the boat. I say you now have ten minutes to think about the situation. After ten minutes your swim is over. I will encourage the swimmer to take up golf at that point. There is no real need to push the envelope."


    https://rootsrated.com/stories/bay-area-athletes-attempt-28-mile-swim-to-the-farallon-islands

    "Crew members dedicated to shark spotting will be aboard the boat that will follow alongside them; if one is seen, the swimmer will get into the boat. But, according to the regulations of the Farallon Islands Swimming Federation regarding open water swims, he or she will have 10 minutes to decide whether to continue the swim—a rule that applies to only one other swim in the world, the Cook Strait in New Zealand."


    mauprieto said:
    Four other swimmers have completed the swim from the Farallon Islands to the SF coast (2) / Golden Gate (2).

    For the record, these previous swims were conducted according to standard channel rules, without the option of a mid-swim R&R on the boat. I was the official observer on the most recent two:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2014/locke-farallons
    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2014/lenning-farallons

    I know there has been some pushback behind the scenes... it will be interesting to see if there is any public clarification from FISF on the issue.

    ssthomasJenAloneswimmer
  • Leonard_JansenLeonard_Jansen Charter Member

    Tracking seems to be offline. Don't know if that means it's over and a success or over and didn't happen or if it's just technical issues or if sharks ate the swimmer and the boat. Last tweet I saw was from 6 hours ago and he was 9 miles from Farallons.

    -LBJ

    malinaka

    “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited July 2015

    Looks like he's been in the water now for nearly 18 hours, with 4 statute miles remaining to the islands. Here's a plot of his speed per trackpoint. 6 kph at the start, with the ebb out of the Gate. 1-2 kph for the last 9 hours or so.

    download

  • ninkasininkasi mill valley, caMember

    fisf does not allow breaks on the boat.

    i do have a question for you evan. looking at the tracking info, how far from the islands do you estimate simon to be. they are in the dead zone for cell coverage and last message received was 4 hours ago and position stated was 5.9 nm from the islands. i'm not nautical expert by any means, but i don't see how that can be based on looking at the position 4 hours ago. not sure if the tracker is working correctly or what. does your handy dandy tracker tool load up quickly?

    now simon is as tough as they come, but after 17 hours in the water, he is butting up against the limits of human physiology. i do not know his weight (which i know has limited influence on water temp tolerance), but i do know he has done at least a couple 8 hour bay swims. i do not recall his ec crossing time, but the temps here are probably cooler. he's got to be in uncharted waters in regards to his swimming experience (as many of us would be at this point!).

    i hope to hear from them soon. and will pass along any messages i get (if they are for public consumption, praying no injury, etc.)

    cheers-

    loneswimmer
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    ninkasi said:
    fisf does not allow breaks on the boat.

    thanks for the public clarification phil.

  • ninkasininkasi mill valley, caMember

    according to spot tracker, the boat is heading back to land. i do not have an official word on the hows & whys of simon being pulled.

  • ninkasininkasi mill valley, caMember

    official word from the boat:

    simon was pulled due to a shark sighting. shark circled the area for a awhile and the captain made the call to pull him.

  • ninkasininkasi mill valley, caMember

    Just caught up with Simon and the crew as they came into harbor. It was an estimated 14-15 foot great white who came around a couple times. They assume it was curious because Simon was bleeding from some pretty good chaffing around his neck.

    loneswimmer
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited July 2015

    Can't wait to see what the documentary crew does with that material! Seriously though, glad Simon is safe. 18 hours is the longest time-in-water I've heard of for a SF Bay area swim...

    loneswimmer
  • HelbeHelbe Senior Member

    Heartbreaking end so close to the finish of an impressive swim. Congratulations.
    Perhaps if a boat break for sharks was allowed, as in the Cook Straits...

  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member

    If he was bleeding, I would think that would increase the level of risk--just my less educated perspective. Would the shark even have shown up if he didn't have an open cut? Tough to have to stop so close to one's goal but wise to err on the side of caution in that situation. He himself seemed to have a pretty philosophical attitude.

  • SharkoSharko Tomales BayGuest
    edited July 2015

    Round Trip Farallons Relay…nearing completion
    South End Rowing Club members
    John Sims
    Amy Gubser
    Kirk McKinney
    Les Mangold
    Andrew McLaughlin
    Jeff Everett
    Are nearing the finish of their Round Trip (San Francisco to the Farallons and back)…were stalled for a while until the flood kicked in…see their progress on the spot tracker below:
    http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0S6eqroepGLsMserSJLWcpJHvcBMpNFql

    "I never met a shark I didn't like"

  • SharkoSharko Tomales BayGuest
    edited July 2015

    This from one of the crew members.....Victory at sea! Our heroic relayers just completed the swim. Jeff Everett, Swim Commissioner emeritus, was the last swimmer, finishing with two minutes left on his leg. Total elapsed time: 34 hours, 58 minutes.

    "I never met a shark I didn't like"

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    To kick off what promises to be an active Farallon swim season, here's a beautifully written NY Times "Travel" section article on the Farallons:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/travel/san-francisco-farallon-islands.html

    A fun quote:

    The strangest vagrant species of all, though, was Homo sapiens: A man wearing a fluorescent pink swim cap — no wet suit, despite the 53-degree water — suddenly emerged from a small boat drifting near us and swam off to a buoy on the southeast side of the island. He seemed unconcerned about sharks. As we watched the swimmer front-crawl his way toward shore, Capt. Nazar shook his head. “When I was a kid, people used to come and shoot sea lions off that rock from the back of their boats,” he said. Now the sea lions are back in force, he added, and we humans look for other ways to get a rush.

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