Such a gorgeous morning… Around 70 6.30am swimmers head to Shelly Beach in calm, warm and silky smooth water! We’ve had the 4 ‘S’s lately, stingers, swell, salp and sharks but today was pretty much perfect. Thank you Henrietta for letting me take the shot above from your balcony.
More 6.30am swimmers than I’ve ever seen before, wait at The Point. Their leader, Drinky, isn’t there though as he has headed North with a smaller group for a Bolderdash.
At the Surf Club it is great to see the return of Ms Annie Larkin! The Manly Daily is The Annie Daily today as she is featured twice. You must go to one of the workshops she is doing with a few other inspirational ladies at The Little Love Inn!
Xavier jumps in for a photo.
Shannon and Alex off on an early swim before Shannon hops on a plane back to Canada for a holiday!
Life is good!
Our lovely Pauline comes in from her really early swim to take over from hubby Ian and be the welcoming face of the B&B outside the Surf Club.
It’s 7am and there must have been almost 200 swimmers! The salp from yesterday hasn’t deterred many.
Edwina and Aly
What a happy lot! Annie, Lips, Kerry and Aly. The water is the warmest it gets, almost 24 degrees!
Scott pulls me aside to snap some newbies. His visitors arrived at 8.30pm last night from freezing Scotland and he got them up for this morning’s swim! We hope to see you again Bella, Beau and Baubles (couldn’t remember the last name!)
Lisa, Jane and Emma. I love hearing the heart warming stories of how people came to join the B&B. I have Lisa’s permission to mention she had aggressive cancer and would never have dared do the swim. After her recovery and what she had gone through she had a new outlook on life and decided to do it. She’s been coming ever since, loves it and cheers us all up with her friendly nature and smile! That’s inspiring for us all. It’s really worth pushing yourselves out of your comfort zone as you might find yourself doing something you absolutely love.
Lesbubbs is a pro at smiling underwater, the others… not so!
Forgot my camera was on underwater setting at Shelly but still a happy shot!
Duncan with his son Barney.
Let’s Go!
We swim the scenic route back close to the rocks.
Unfortunately not as clear or so many fish as yesterday. Wilf photobombs my underwater mermaid shot!
A special ending to a magical swim. We see Ed and he announces, “The Doc says I’m in remission!” Sarah throws her arms around him and our smiles get even broader!
Photos below are from yesterday’s amazing swim through salp but so many fish!
I emailed Jane to find out what theses are. She replied, ‘these are Leaping Bonito, Cybiosarda elegans. Go to OzMus link https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif They are tropical and relatives of Tuna. SOOOOO handsome.’ Come back Jane. We miss you!
Loads of Old Wives around, looking very beautiful!
Blackfish and Luderick in a clear patch near The Point. Shane said he saw the biggest Blackfish he’d ever seen.
Salp, salp and more salp!
Dusky Whalers are back!
Jane identifies the cutie above as a juvenile White Ear. (Damselfish family)
Stats:
Swimmers 170 ticked but more like 270 inc early swimmers!
Water temp 23.7 C (!)
The Monthly Dinner is back – Guest Speaker!
The first B&B monthly dinner for the year will be on Tuesday 9th February at 6.30 pm at Bluewater Restaurant. Our guest speaker for the night will be our very own Michelle Sparkes. The title of her talk for the night is “Illuminating Anorexia and other eating issues”. Michelle, who has published a book on eating disorders, will talk generally about the subject and will share her personal experiences.
The cost of the dinner is only $25 a head and includes shared entrees, a selection of mains to choose (incl a vegetarian option), corkage (for byo wine only) and a little thank you for the staff. Glasses of beer or wine and desserts are also available at the special price of only $5 each. Numbers are limited, so bookings are essential: To avoid disappointment and secure your spot please BOOK HERE NOW,
Long Summer Swims
6km swim every Saturday and on 13 February there is a 10 km swim. There’s a badge for these.
If you want to do a VERY slow 10 km swim,there will be some slower swimmers at the back of the swim group on 13th Feb
Staying safe
Remember that there are no badges for scaring yourself silly! While it is great to extend your boundaries, it is important to know your limits. Also, if you have a bit more experience, keep an eye out for new swimmers who might need company. Do read these excellent tips on staying safe in the surf. To read, or even download, click here.
Bold and Beautiful is owned and operated by Bold and Beautiful Swim Squad Pty Ltd.
Signing off
Lainey Loo (with some other Old Wives 😉 )
27 comments
Simon Cowell
03/02/2016 at 11:36 am
Nice Blog yet again Lainey
Lisa B
03/02/2016 at 12:26 pm
I don’t know how you manage it Lainey, yet again you have delighted us with funny, amazing, beautiful and educational photos and info. It was a brilliant swim this morning and you just reminded me how much I loved it
BrianP
03/02/2016 at 12:32 pm
Super Blog Lainey! V special to get the Leaping Bonito, I think they’re only in and around Sydney Harbour for 2/3 months this time of year.
Elizabeth Stewart
03/02/2016 at 12:59 pm
I love the underwater shots – people and fish!! Yay Ed! Best news. Keep the swimming up. You are a champ.
Cathfish
03/02/2016 at 1:19 pm
Lovely blog Lainey. I was so pleased to see Annie in the Manly Daily today – gorgeous, talented and kind. Also so lovely to hear such inspirational stories of friendship, encouragement and courage. We are so lucky.
Fiona logan
03/02/2016 at 1:19 pm
Great blog lainey, love the photos and the identification of the fish, always good to know what we saw!
Lips
03/02/2016 at 1:25 pm
Superb photos Lainey. And congrats Annie! Shaun’s look in that 3rd photo. Priceless.
I missed the Boulderdash. Heard it was utterly boring without me.
Shelly
03/02/2016 at 1:46 pm
Consistently great blogs Lainey ! how do you do it ?
Congratulations Annie on great spread in the daily, hope it works out for you.
Great news about Ed ! but think the fact of the massive support, Kindness & encouragement he has had from B&Bers had a hand it too ! we all know what a great tonic vitamin sea is and B&Bers are
What is it with that look Shaun is giving ?
Boulderdash was the best yet for some reason I’ve heard.
.
Love you all
Shelly
xoxoxo
Kerry
03/02/2016 at 1:49 pm
Great blog Lainey. Think by the time I have swum 1000 or so more Km’s I’ll have perfected an underwater smile like Lesbub’s!
Lesbubs
03/02/2016 at 2:05 pm
Kerry we need to talk about yr underwater modelling!!
Lol
I actually learnt from a Pro.. Lucy! So i can give u top tips! 😉
Lesbubs
03/02/2016 at 2:07 pm
Elaine that first photo is superb!!
All yr photos are! 🙂
Lainey aka E-laine
03/02/2016 at 2:28 pm
Thanks Lips. I meant to comment on Shaun’s expression. Obviously he is jealous as Annie got half a page and the Racing Rainer story only got a quarter! Any captions anyone?
Lainey aka E-laine
03/02/2016 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for your lovely comments folks. I was lucky to have my camera working the last 2 days, very photogenic mornings!
Shelley K
03/02/2016 at 2:45 pm
Those leaping bonito had me stumped yesterday, had never seen them before and they’re so distinctive…now I know, thanks Lainey
alyson
03/02/2016 at 3:05 pm
Great blog with great news for many people xx
Jenny-Sue
03/02/2016 at 3:08 pm
What a gorgeous, happy blog! thank you Lainey
Swimming with sharks
03/02/2016 at 3:34 pm
Great blogging Lainey! I think I saw Shane’s giant blackfish at the point. So many fish around – makes for an amazing start to the day.
JK
03/02/2016 at 4:23 pm
Great news Ed, you’ve put a smile on a lot of faces
AnnieYay
03/02/2016 at 4:30 pm
Thank you also for your words lovely people. Being in the Manly Daily (twice!) created an ego that almost didn’t fit into my swimming cap for the DrinkieEx !
Great blog the Laine-star and inspiring images of the community, marine life and sunrise Manly style. You are a great endorser too and grateful you did a shout out to the Miss Valentines workshop.
Yes Shaunie just envious of the large gold hearts in the MD photo… but little does he know, they aren’t chocolate anyway!
Suzie P
03/02/2016 at 6:13 pm
Wow, some AMAZING photos on today’s blog Lainey!! Just magical..
DWSS
03/02/2016 at 6:20 pm
Lainey – Your blogs are superb.
Always sunny and bright.
Dare I say, even better than Ian McKnights!
Congrats, to Annie,
The world is starting to see
The treasures we have in the BandB!!
DWSS
03/02/2016 at 6:23 pm
Great news Ed!
I am looking forward to your cheeky daily commentary back in the swim.
Awesome news.
DWSS
03/02/2016 at 6:24 pm
We spoke about this Annie.
You were standing in the way of the sports section!!
Edwina
03/02/2016 at 7:10 pm
Congratulations ed, wonderful news. I saw the hugest fish today, was too fast for me. Either huge fish or small baby shark! 😜
Kristyn
03/02/2016 at 8:18 pm
HI just wondering if you will be swimming as normal on Sunday with the Cole Classics?
Lainey aka E-laine
03/02/2016 at 9:12 pm
Just checked with Ian F and he says we should be finished before they start so should be Ok.
Kristyn Ibrihim
04/02/2016 at 6:59 pm
Awesome thanks, hopefully I can make it down for the perfect start to the day!