First Open Water Swim

Here I am, only a few weeks away from my first triathlon.  I decided it was time to really get my feet wet, so to speak, and see how different the swim portion is outside of the local pool.  I headed down to Crystal Cove, in southern California, not too far from Laguna Beach.  The water was a crisp 56 degrees with unusually rough surf.  I donned my brand new 2XU T:0 wetsuit (which I guess is a good one as I lack any frame of reference to know the difference) and headed out for a buoy about 275 yards out.

First big problem: my goggles were no where near tight enough.  The wave action immediately started filling them.  Also, my goggles have a neoprene gasket that seals them to my face which are practically useless in the ocean.  

Second big problem: the water was so damn cold that I struggled to even put my face in it.  Really.  I couldn't even muster enough willpower to try and freestyle while side breathing.  The water hurt to the point where some hardwired part of my brain actually started interfering with my ability to make myself swim with my face in the water.  

Third big problem: I headed out and made pretty good time.  I lost sight of the buoy as soon as I got in the water (something to think about, the waves do a good job of obscuring long distance vision).  I covered about 180 yards and stopped to spot the buoy through the swells.  I found it and then looked around.  

I was totally alone.  There wasn't anyone anywhere near me.  In fact, the shore looked a pretty good distance behind me and very uneasy feeling started to settle in my brain.  See, I've had this feeling before but not in the same context.  My family and I enjoy vacationing in the Redwoods in the extreme northern part of California.  The trees there (if you've never visited) grow to immense proportions.  The largest tree I've ever seen is over 300 feet tall and over 30 feet in diameter.  The feeling of peaceful insignificance is the only way I can describe it.  And insignificance is exactly what I felt nearly 200 yards from the shore.  But not in a good way.  

I felt like I would make an easy meal for some wayward sea creature.  Needless to say, all it took was a bit of kelp touching my foot to trigger a panic driven sprint for shore.  The waves heading back in were much less forgiving than on the way out.

Has anyone else here had problems with fear of the ocean and if so, how did you deal with it?  Do I just keep heading out or maybe I should team up with someone?  Any advice is welcome.