Now THIS Will Get You To Swim In The Open Water
Two triathletes took the idea of the Kona coffee boat and translated it to their own workouts in Santa Monica, calling it the Buoy Café.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Even if you haven’t personally swam out for your own shot of caffeine during Ironman Hawaii week, you’re probably aware of the famous coffee boat in Kona. (Relive it here!)
Two Los Angeles-area triathletes took the idea of the boat and translated it to their own swim workouts in Santa Monica, calling it the Buoy Café. “There was a group of us that swam most mornings and we got a little bored with our workouts and wanted to do something fun,” says one of the creators Tyler Olson. “So we thought, why don’t we bring coffee and donuts to the water?”
Olson and co-creator Alison De Lucca bring coffee and donuts (and not just grocery-store donut holes, we’re talking the gourmet bacon maple kind) out on an intertube and a surfboard, and serve it to swimmers in the water. There’s no charge to swimmers, and they’ll do the Buoy Café swim about four times this summer (check the Facebook page for latest updates).
The Friday swims start from Santa Monica’s Tower 26, the same place where coach Gerry Rodrigues starts his open-water swims mid-week. They usually start at 6:15 a.m., in the water by 6:30 a.m. Although it started as a casual thing last summer, the group has already doubled in size with more swimmers joining every time. Check it out if you’re in the area!