Blown out, no swimming

OK, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. Bad weather, torn up gear, and work are keeping me out of the water.

It's hard to sit on the shore and look at the water, but I don't want to swim when I can't see the bottom. I've had a couple of chances to go out but the wind was up every time. I actually went to the beach twice, and turned away from the blown out murky water (photo top right).

And since I'm complaining, let me take this chance to moan about my torn up gear. Here's my beloved drysuit (left photo), sadly cut open when the zipper froze up and broke, locking me in the suit. It's a fantastic O'Neill windsurfing drysuit, probably 18 years old. It never got a lot of use, but it served me well when I was doing active things in cold water. The zipper got stiff over the years, and finally just quit moving. It might be dead, since it would cost a pile of money to replace the zipper.

And here's my fantastic O'Neill wetsuit (right photo) which has seen a lot of use, and is torn nearly to shreds. Those cracks on the shoulder and neck go all the way through the rubber to the nylon backing. Swimming in this suit sends icy sips of water through these and other cracks with each stroke.

I'm not sure what to get to replace these suits, and I don't have the money to spend on swimming gear right now anyway. I have my eye on a Patagonia surf suit, but it's a bit costly. Any advice on the best for swimming but also doing a bit of diving? I don't swim hard enough to stay as warm as an all-out ocean swimmer, I do a lot of looking around.

Any sponsors out there who want to donate some gear?? O'Neill, I've got a great story for you.