I don't know why but when I read this post the word that speaks loudest from it is "unafraid".

THis is serendipitous for me, because I was in that ocean on that day too, a few miles from you (at Mission Bay, though on the ocean side). I didn't stay in long because it was very cold (coming there from Arizona, it was *very* cold) but being cold struck me as less painful than not getting in at all, so I rode a couple of waves and got the taste of ocean in my mouth.