The swimming part is only one of the reasons I love this amazing daily drama. Mostly I do it so regularly because of the quirky and kind, weird and wonderful, friendly and fearless, bold and beautiful creatures and characters we meet before, after and during the swim!
Here some of our swimmers get up close and personal with a pink, fluffy looking jelly fish!
You never know what you are going to come across swimming Cabbage Tree Bay! This wobbegong swam below me just leaving Shelly…
And the mullet love swimming at eye level!
Just around the rocks at The Point there were green gropers, morwong, wrasse and this beautiful Spangled Emperor…
And this stingray hiding in the sand looked at me with his big eyes.
It is fascinating swimming in this aquarium but even more amazing are the human characters!
King Neptune aka Derek photobombs a photo of the sign on book showing the ‘scorching’ water temp, 21.2! He is kindness personified.
Some characters heading out for the early ‘Drinks Express’ including Inez, all the way from Concorde and swimming a double lap. She is bold…
One of our more senior in age, but young at heart characters Greg, brings along Barry the Pie Man. They have been friends for 60 years and Barry now has a gourmet pie making business. Red Neds Pie Shop’s speciality is lobster, prawn and barramundi in garlic and coconut. Discounts with a pink cap next time you are at Nelson Bay!
Birthday girls this week, Renae Blogger Princess Saturday, and Julia today! Julia has a Beauty Therapy business but moonlights as a belly dancer.
Two more inspiring ladies, Cathy and Julia.
Our wonderful Ian and Lesley who both do so much to keep this amazing group going…
Some of our Bold and Beautiful original swimmers hit the (gentle) waves, Jenny Knapman, Jenny Menzies and Vicky started swimming with Jules when it first began.
Yes Elaine, we love your new pink flippers!
The lovely Nicolee and James Goins, pecan pie bakers extraordinaire wait at The Point before a swim to Shelly under a dramatic sky.
More quirky, friendly, warm and gutsy swimmers at Shelly!
Our birthday girl does the ‘Let’s Go!’
And we are off. For some like Tim, Stirling, Dave and Scotty it’s a race, for others it’s a slow fish hunt back, but what we all have in common is ‘spunk’, a bit of grit and determination to get out of bed whatever the weather and swim at 7am or earlier. Some swimmers are facing fears of stingers, waves, sharks, the distance… but they push themselves through it knowing they will reflect on the swim as being the best start to the day.
This was the weirdest creature I came across today…
Here it is again!
Our slice of heaven…
Oh and can’t forget the sunrise photos. I did set the alarm at 4.50am to get to Manly to see the sunrise and the Bolderdashers!
One last photo…A weird and wonderful Manly character that I tried to persuade to try a B&B swim, Polish high heel collector Ella…
Must sign off now, keep swimming and smiling!
Lainey Loo aka Elaine
Swimmers 144 inc 38 Drinks Express 5 newbies
Bnb team up with Ocean Care Day – Sunday 1st December!
Cabbage Tree bay where we swim every day is pretty unique – there are not many places like it in the world – especially so near to a big city!! So please say thanks ‘for having us everyday’ by teaming up with Manly Environment Centre’s 20th annual Ocean Care Day and doing a “Clean-up the Bay” swim on Sunday 1st December. Anyone who wants to participate is asked to bring a net bag (or simply stuff your cossie) with whatever rubbish you find during our regular 7am Sunday morning swim. We’ll pile it up before distributing it to rubbish bins to see how much we collect!
There are no official prizes for who collects the most, but we know our fishy friends will be grateful (as will every environmentally savvy person who appreciates the treasure we have in our beautiful bay). Stick around to enjoy the festivities. Go this link for more information / full schedule: CLICK HERE
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About Bold and Beautiful – Where your money goes from the fund raising:
For those of you curious why we need funds to keep Bold and Beautiful going the following is a breakdown of what has to be paid per year. Speak to Ian / John if you would like to know more:
Insurance
Typepad (blog)
Mailchimp (newsletter)
Weebly (website)
Domain names
Renew Business Name
Stationary etc (printing of attendance sheets and so on)
Manly LSC & Locker
Limousine each A.M for Ian and John
Massages for management
Tahiti ‘business trip’
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For your diary and other stuff:
B&B “Mad Hatters” Christmas Party
The B & B “Mad Hatters” Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday 3rd December at 6.30 pm in the Moonshine Bar (2nd Floor) at the Steyne Hotel. All swimmers and partners/friends are welcome (no under 18s unfortunately). Wear your craziest hat or other headwear. No need to be shy as we will have the whole bar to ourselves. Finger food will be provided and drinks will be at bar prices. Lots of fun and dancing are guaranteed, with a band featuring one of our very own swimmers. Come along to find out who it is. The cost is $10 per head, with all proceeds going to the running costs of the B&B. Don’t miss out. Bookings are essential. Book HERE now so you don’t miss out!
B&B Attendance Login App
The B&B Attendance Login App is the perfect way to avoid queues!! Log your swim (only if you did swim), between 5am and 9am for the easy way to ensure your swim is recorded in the daily attendance and on the Pacific Challenge.
To get started, please send an email to Ian Forster (ugoboyo@gmail.com) requesting to have your account activated. Ian will then send you info on how to get started. No badge, but bragging rights for being an early adopter. Happy ticking.
Badges, badges and more badges!!
Summer Badge season is just a couple of weeks away!! The sign of a committed ocean swimmer is a B&B 6km or 10km Summer Badge. The 6km swims take place every Saturday in summer. The first 10km swim is proposed to be held on 14 December.
Have Fun more with the Pacific Challenge
Our website guru, Magnus Butlin has developed a fun new page which shows a different take on the Pacific Challenge. The new page shows each swimmer’s progress over the last week (or fortnight/month/two months) in terms of their position on the leader board.
The bumps chart can be accessed from the Pacific Challenge page via a button in the top right hand corner. Take a look and see how many people you have passed in the Pacific Challenge in the last few weeks:
http://www.faulconbridgesoftware.com/bb/pub/bumps.htm
The ‘divisions’ listed are the columns currently shown on the Pacific Challenge page. At this stage, only the first five columns (300 swimmers) are shown.
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. Do read these excellent tips on staying safe in the surf. To read, or even download, click here.
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21 comments
lesbubbles
21/11/2013 at 1:06 pm
I think the ‘weirdest’ I saw today (Midge saw as well) was a guy with clearly a very damaged/broken leg was JOGGING on the sand and then instead of walking up the ramp to exit the beach he climbed up and over the wall and then shuffled off JOGGING! WITH 2 completely different shoes on! 😀 awesome!
Good blog Lainey Loo – That jelly was scary i think some people got stung!!
Secret squirrel
21/11/2013 at 1:26 pm
Elaine,
I love your energy!
Nice happy blog, jelly images and scary hi-heels.
Happy birthweek Julia and Renae.
Apparently Barry the Pieman’s also good mates with ‘Our’ Binnsy.
I understand that due to an overpopulation of Lemurs in Burma resulting from the success of Binnsy’s hand insemination program they are currently collaborating with experimention on different ingredients and flavourings for Wide Eyed Lemur Pies (patent pending).
Fifi LeMur is looking forward to the inaugural Lemur Pie Tasting Luncheon following after the B&B “Clean-up the Bay” swim at Shelly.
Michael [EX CI]
21/11/2013 at 1:27 pm
Lovely blog Elaine as usual. Dramatic skies and creepy looking jellies.
We really only have white pointers over here.
Renae Fowler
21/11/2013 at 1:41 pm
I saw him too. 10 points for determination. It looked awkward and difficult.
Renae Fowler
21/11/2013 at 1:43 pm
Awesome blog Elaine. I always look forward to seeing your blog. It’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
Renae Fowler
21/11/2013 at 1:43 pm
We have white pointers here also, but not sure if we are talking about the same ones Michael. 😉
Lindsay
21/11/2013 at 1:58 pm
Great blog Elaine. I love the way that you have a great mix of all of the different sea creatures, human and otherwise. Very inclusive!
Sky
21/11/2013 at 2:27 pm
Sounds like the guy with MS. Did he have one knee strapped? He’s absolutely amazing!!!
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 2:34 pm
Just call me Mrs Gump!
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 2:36 pm
I’ve seen him a lot lately and thought he looked weird at first and then thought he must be pushing himself through some kind of rehabilitation.Amazing but maybe we should get him to join us as would be great for him.
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 2:37 pm
Boring boring, same old white pointers! 😉
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 2:40 pm
Yes I thought I’d base it on the quirky creatures after seeing the jelly fish. So many to choose from though, the blog took me all morning and I still didn’t mention Wilf, Izzy, Jane, Storchy, Miles etc etc (meaning quirky/inspiring!)
Sky
21/11/2013 at 2:48 pm
Absolutely! He’s seems like a pretty approachable guy.
lesbubbles
21/11/2013 at 2:57 pm
oh really? yes that makes sense now – yes to that determination then! I am even more impressed now I know that!!
Lips
21/11/2013 at 3:16 pm
Nice work Elaine. I’m always looking forward to Thursday blogs. Especially on Mondays!
Blog spreddy points for today:
Mr Fuzzy (pink jelly) – 6 points
Lips – 1 point
Well played Mr Fuzzy, well played.. You’ve out-tarted me once again!
PS: Love the poo-pants sign off Elaine!
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 3:36 pm
I did give you a special mini blog on Facebook yesterday Lips, Return of Rainer!
LSA aka HKTQ
21/11/2013 at 5:38 pm
Yes, like a box of weird and wonderful chocs!
So hard to choose the most delicious:-)))
Thanks for all your hard work, Laineyxxxx
john.s
21/11/2013 at 8:11 pm
who’s this Rainer then?
Elaine de Jager
21/11/2013 at 9:30 pm
Thanks LSA, looking forward to seeing you next week! I swam twice without flippers this week. 🙂
Neil Richardson
22/11/2013 at 9:05 am
Great blog Elaine, lovely to be kept in touch 12 months on. There seems to be even more fun during B&B swims these days.
Marije/Mariah
22/11/2013 at 10:57 am
I’m glad I didn’t get stung by one of those weird looking jellies. Lets hope they disappaear soon!