In order to qualify for the English Channel, I need to have a 6 hour swim in water below 60ºF within 1 year of my Channel window. This was that swim.

I got Joe Butler to pilot a zodiac for me, and we set out to make a round-trip Angel Island. We went along the coastline to Anita Rock, and then pivoted north. We may have turned too early, and landed along the south side of Angel Island, instead of going around north. We made our way around, and at around the 5hr45min mark, got close-ish to Alcatraz so we agreed I’d swim in to the island and touch it to finish.

At 6hr3min, this was by far my longest Alcatraz swim ever! It was a great swim! The only bummer was my watch losing it’s GPS, so the map below is an approximation of our route that I drew on top of what the watch was able to get. Luckily the watch still kept time without issue.