Coastal Water Temperature

I will be tracking and creating a weekly almanac of temperatures from the California coast. Here are a couple of links to the areas I'll be tracking and recording. Watch for a graph in a couple months once I get some data. The reason for doing this is so that I can really know what to expect (roughly) what water temps are for 2011/2012 when I really get serious.

This is a great site for getting the current water temperatures from San Francisco area -> http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/PZ/530.html
From LA/San Diego Area: http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/PZ/655.html

Where does this data come from? Well it appears to come from the National Data Buoy Center. I don't think someone goes down to the water an plops in a hot tub thermometer and reads it every day. The link for showing all the buoys in the Southwest California area is: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Southwest.shtml

The reason I'm doing this is to get an idea of a location of where to do some serious training. There are many factors to consider, and one of them which I can monitor from my seat here is temperature.

Coach Pedro told me:

The temperatures vary from year to year. By roughly estimating the temperatures until May, because of the montains runoff, can be in the low to mid fifties. By May the temps start climbing to the mid fifties..By June, or July they may start reaching the high 50's. August September and beginning of October some years goes to 60 or low 60's.

Another major thing to consider is support. I'll need to find a group of swimmers, or another support system. Preferrably something cheap. I can't afford $200 - $300 excursions and only 3 miles at that. I just need either a buddy in CA who has OW experience and either has swum or plans to swim Catalina Island. Who lives along the coast somewhere who already has a group established that swims together and doesn't charge people to join.

Is that me being in dreamland?