161 pink capped swimmers felt glad to be alive this morning after another swim down in stunning Manly. It was cloudy and dull driving down from Avalon, but there was a break in the cloud over our favourite corner of the world and as usual the sun did it’s best to light up our swim path!
IMPORTANT NOTICE for SATURDAY
Due to a huge Surf Carnival at Manly we will be meeting at Shelly Beach and swimming from there to The Point and back to Shelly. You can park at Shelly Beach Car Park. Please do not leave stuff outside Surf Club!!!
Even the ABC decided to broadcast live from Manly. ( I photobombed in the background just after I took this pic!)
Here are 2 special people for those of you who are new to the B&B. Lovely Ian who organises all attendance, welcome emails etc and Vicky who buys and pays for all the free pink caps we wear. Here she is dishing out a stack to Ian telling him another 300 will be arriving shortly! Please support her business Access Communications. (See left hand side of blog.)
I missed Chris T and 5 other Bolderdashers leave at 5.50am today, but caught The Drinks Expressers leaving at 6.30am and reflecting off the sand…
Photobomb of the day goes to Robert, a rising Blog Tart but doing well for a newcomer!
He’s had some tips on blog tarting from Rusty, (below!)
Jeff Parsons described the swim as ‘sensual’, as in… being in that vast ocean, underneath beautiful skies and above land, we feel connected to our natural environment and it ignites all of our senses. That’s how I feel and on days when the sea is wilder it’s magic!
My photos are uploading weirdly today so I have to delete them and try again but I’m leaving this as it shows our inspiring swimmers Jane and Jenny in B&B pink bottom halves!
Sarah has only been swimming for a month but wanted to get on the blog. Here she is with Hugh and Rachel. (Rob insisted I get in the photo too!)
Doing Lesley’s trick of an arty far away shot and zooming in for a different perspective!
A bit of trepidation as we venture in …
We had been warned by Ian to go from Halfway if we were unconfident in the surf as there were some ‘rogue waves’ and big sets.
I stopped to get a photo of beautiful St Pats on the hill (where my daughter is going to college soon) and got this happy swimmer as well!
It’s great to see yourself on the blog. Hopefully most of you can see yourself today!
Kriszta is an amazing PT and run coach for CanToo. Here she is with her kids.
Jane Stevenson, our Marine Expert, blog tarting again!
It’s great hearing what people say about the swim. Mike said he found the water soft today even if choppy and he loves the vertical lift you get as a wave rises you upwards. Sparkles described the swim as ‘lumpy, clean and marvellously refreshing!’
It was quite clear today but not much marine life about on the swim route but if you went over the white rocks on the way back, a different story…
Jane is really pleased with her purple swimming hoody towel!
Before you get excited (if you’ve managed it this far down the blog that is 😉 Silky the lone dolphin was not with us today but I did get to see her near Castle Rock beach last riday and she is still coming up to swimmers and playing with them! She is healthy and I even got a photo of her with a luderick in her mouth!
Time to finish! Have a great day!
Lainey Loo (swimming in grass after a 20km run in the rain!)
Stats
161 swimmers inc 6 Bolderdashers and 16 newbies
Water Temp 21.4. I-loggers 65
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
17 comments
Snorkles
23/01/2014 at 12:59 pm
What’s the course for Sat 6km please? Corinne and I need to set off waaaaay before everyone else otherwise we’ll be there still at midday!
Jane
23/01/2014 at 1:18 pm
Such lovely photos Lainey – and catching Silky with a fish in her mouth is very clever.
Anne E
23/01/2014 at 2:04 pm
I spotted “NO DUSKY WHALERS TODAY”. Please blog if you spotted any.
Renae Fowler
23/01/2014 at 2:07 pm
Great blog Elaine and amazing sunrise photos.. See you tomorrow.
Simon Cowell
23/01/2014 at 2:53 pm
Great blog as usual Elaine. Loved the silky pictures, how did you know she was at Castle Rock beach?
JeffwithaJ
23/01/2014 at 3:21 pm
Hi Lainey! Thank you for yet another enjoyable blog. Loved the pics and well done on getting some new faces in there.
lesbubbles
23/01/2014 at 3:43 pm
Snorks – I think the 6 KM will be to the Point and back 6 times ! so you won’t be left behind…
Elizabeth
23/01/2014 at 4:01 pm
I really enjoyed reading the blog again today. The beach, the people, the ABC TV crew and the fish. Just fantastic
Elizabeth
23/01/2014 at 4:04 pm
Also the 3 young children who swam again today are just inspiring. Well done
Lainey
23/01/2014 at 4:51 pm
I’m hoping it will be harbour side to Little Manly and back twice. Ted, Krystina, Vanessa and i did that last year and it was really nice and a bit different. Then we will be well out of the way of the Surf Carnival. I want to do it with you and Corinne, Snorks.
Lainey
23/01/2014 at 5:06 pm
It’s funny Simon…I had a dream the night before that Mike Stacey and Louise would take us out on their boat around Middle Harbour. I’d call ‘Silky’ and make a few clicking sounds, jump in the water and suddenly she’d appear. And that’s pretty much what happened…
Lainey
23/01/2014 at 5:08 pm
Thanks for your nice comments folks. I need to hear them as have low self-esteem issues 😉
Lips
23/01/2014 at 5:48 pm
Great blog Lainey!
Love your poetic interpretation of Jeff Parson’s ‘sensual’.
Lindsay
23/01/2014 at 7:08 pm
Love the blog and especially the sunrise pics Lainey!
Alyson
23/01/2014 at 8:45 pm
well that is a bloody good blog Lainey loo! Great to see you and your family swimming Kriszta! come back soon!
Slow Ian
23/01/2014 at 10:08 pm
Spooky
Brian P
23/01/2014 at 10:55 pm
Terrific blog Lainey, always look forward to them.