Attempting a shore traverse

During my first ocean swim, I failed to traverse Wreck Beach against a strong current and I was freezing cold and disoriented when I emerged from the ocean. Nonetheless, the experience was invigorating and I was eager to go out again.

My second swim was three days later on Friday, June 30th. Just before finishing work for the day a deluge of rain began outside with strong force. I decided to change into my swim gear at work, in UBC's Forest Sciences Center, and then run the kilometer or so down to Wreck Beach in my bare feet. I rationalized that not only would my things stay dry inside the building but a wetsuit seemed like suitable attire for running in rain and I hoped my body temperature would increase from the run before entering the frigid water.

The beating rain sounded like soft drums hanging from the forest canopy as I sprinted down the Wreck Beach stairs and onto the desolate beach. The ocean was so calm amidst the torrential rain that it looked somewhat sheltering so I eagerly jumped in and headed towards the outer buoys. In the absence of any current or waves to challenge me, I arrived with ease in the open sea. I was curious if venturing north towards Tower Beach was feasible but was totally unsure of what to expect.

Peering around the Wreck beach point and seeing new shoreline ahead was too enticing to resist so I swam onwards embracing the unknown and letting the tingle of adventure trickle through my body. The tide was extremely low so I kept quite a distance off shore to dodge the boulders along the beach. I hit a rock with my hand and then swam further out to avoid more submerged rocks.

Stopping for a moment I removed my goggles and gazed at the surroundings. Across the glassy sea from me and towering above the beach was a verdant jungle cloaked in patches of hanging mist, a few tall conifers pierced the continuous canopy of maples and alders.  Echoing with the rising melodic song of singing thrushes, the forest appeared to be thriving in the rain, just as I was thriving in the water.

While stopped I noticed that a current was actually helping me forward along the shore as if I were swimming down a slow moving river. With this realization it seemed I could swim forever, if only it was not so cold.

My hands and feet were going numb as I passed the bottom of trail 6 and continued towards the World War II light towers at Tower Beach. While passing the first tower, the water transformed dramatically. Suddenly it became much saltier, clearer and warmer. I realized that I had been in the water coming from the north arm of the Fraser River, which is diverted by a 7km long jetty to meet the ocean at Wreck Beach. I guessed correctly that the water also became cleaner at this point, later I looked it up to see that Wreck beach at that time had one of the highest coliform bacteria counts for Vancouver area swimming beaches. It was still decent (about 30% of the safe swimming limit-- Vancouver Coastal Health), but the water around Tower Beach and many Vancouver beaches is apparently much better.

Finally, I arrived at Tower Beach and cautiously clambered my way across the slippery boulders towards the trail. I had a deep chill so I charged up the stairs at full speed then kept running at the top towards the Museum of Anthropology. Inspired, perhaps by the totem poles, Haida longhouses or the curious looks given to me by a couple tourists outside the museum I sporadically decided to run down trail 6 before circling back up at full speed. I was beginning to build some comforting warmth so I continued running along in my bare feet and sprinted once again down the Wreck beach stairs and across the beach and into the ocean. I swam quickly out to the outer buoys before circling back ascending the stairs and jogging back to my work place for a warm shower.

I covered about 1.7km on my swim and a few kilometers running. The entire experience was incredible for me. I got to see the beach in peaceful solitude and the trees in their true rainforest element all from the perspective of a seal. Exploring the outer shoreline was a new experience and dodging boulders and running like mad in my bare feet through torrential down pour added extra excitement. That was enough for me to be completely stoked on ocean swimming and I knew I had much more to experience, considerable more distance to cover.

My route showing running in red and swimming in blue. The photo shows the Point Grey Peninsula jutting off the main land into the Salish Sea, with UBC then Wreck and Tower Beach at the end.