Grab yourselves a nice warm glass of Mulled wine, sit yourself down beside the fire and enjoying the destruction of a classic Christmas poem by Clement Clarke Moore…..
Twas the last swim before Christmas
– By Robster the Blogster
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Manly
Not a creature was stirring, not even the Bold & Beautiful family.
The pink hats were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Santa, or John Bond would be there.
The swimmers were nested all snug in their beds,
While visions of “the point” danced in their heads.
But Julie in her pink swimsuit and Michael in his pink cap,
Had just finished a double to Shelly and back.
When out on the water there arose such a clatter,
It was DWSS and a pod having some Dolphin chatter.
Away to the beach, I flew like a flash
But all I did, was give myself a nasty wetsuit rash
The moon on the crest of the still Manly water
Gave a reflection of Joan Isbill and her wonderful daughter
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
Its Ian Liddel and the boys who are out on the beer!
There was also LSA, so lively and quick (he he)
I knew that the next person had to be Nick
More rapid than eagles the rest of them came
Ian whistled and shouted and called them by name
Now Snorkels! Now Sparkles! Now Attracta you Vixen!
So slow in a race, that Wilf would blitz them!
To the Boat Shed with Elaine, before we hit the wall
Boulderdash away! Dash away! Dash away all!
And then, on Manly Surf Club, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of a big scousers hoof
As I took off my goggles and was turning around,
Down the boat ramp John Kelly came with a bound
He was dressed up like Santa with a smile ear-to-ear
And his clothes were all stinking of whiskey and beer.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back
Then he tripped on his beard with an almighty whack!
His eyes how they twinkled, he was certainly very merry
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
Ian Forster was with him, his ally in tow,
With both of them together, the Christmas cheer did flow.
Gaetan was there, leading another early lap,
Dr John was there too, what a lovely Welsh chap.
He has a silly face and a little round belly,
That shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly!
Stephen Coulter took some photos, he’s a jolly old elf,
I laughed at the underwater shots, in spite of myself!
A wink from Bruce Baird and a nod of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread
Jules sprang to the front, to the team gave a whistle,
And away we all swam like the down of a thistle
She said “LETS GO!” as she swam out of sight
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”
We had a great swim this morning with a big surf and lots if people taking the half way option. (Including me!) Here are the photos….there are comments if you hover over them as usual!
And happy birthday to Sofia Max!!!
Even though Jules explained the surf was pretty gnarly, a few brave souls gave it a crack
At halfway, we had incorrectly calculated that it was easier!
Someone decided the big bloke with the Tats should be our guinea pig! 😉
All was calm again once we got to Shelly. I do really love the fact we wait for everyone to get in before we head back…very comforting for really slow swimmers like Rainer.
Then it was back again for more craziness!!
Now you see them…
Jules was like Noah, marshalling everyone in one by one and two by two…
You always look pretty when coming out at half way!!! I particularly love the water up the nose! 😉
I hope you all have a cracking day tomorrow. Be safe, happy and keep smiling and swimming.
Merry Christmas from Robster the Blogster
The calendars are selling out fast!!! See Jules immediately to avoid dissapointment!!!
Below is a photo sent to us by Ragnill Stallvik and the all year round Norweigian swim group. There were no pink hats, but Ragnill did wear pink swimmers in honour of B&B…beanie hats are the order of the day in Norway! This photo was taken at the Trondheim Fjord on the darkest day of the year and it was a chilly -10 degrees in the air and the water was +1 degree!!!! While there was plenty of screaming apparently (LOL), they had a great start to the day and it was fantastic to hear from our friends abroad. Thanks for the photo guys….Merry Christmas to you all in Norway.
Brendan Maher is haing a BBQ on Thurs 27th December from noon onwards. Everyone (All 4000 of us!) is welcome. BYO food and drink. Give Brendan a shout if you are keen and he will give you address/directions. His email is brendanm@jdemco.com.au
FYI, Bluewater is open tomorrow but there is no B&B special on….we’ll all be over at the brekky BBQ at Shelly anyway though, see you there!
Today’s stats:
Almost 200 Bold & Beautiful swimmers
4 Bolderdashers
***
Water Temperature 21.2
Air Temperature 21
Sunrise 5.42am
Sunset 8.06pm
Low Tide: 1.01pm
High Tide: 6.45pm
36 comments
Lesley
24/12/2012 at 10:37 am
Ooh love the little piccie of you RtB at the end …I think I will do it too!!
Great photos at half way …so dramatic!!
LaneyLoo
24/12/2012 at 10:44 am
Love it, love it, love it!!! Fantastic work Robbie. What a blog and what a great swim! Happy Christmas everyone. Trying to work on the kids to come with us tomorrow as would so like to have a swim and breaky with our B&b family tomorrow!
Michael [EX CI]
24/12/2012 at 11:08 am
Lovely blog Robbie. You’re quite a poet [cough,cough]. No really well done!
Numbers were 180 swam with 4 brave bolderdashians and five did the double.
Don’t forget the breakfast at Shelly tomorrow for all the orphans and social rejects like myself who have nowhere else to go. We’ll have a Christmas breakfast straight after the swim. Bring some food and drink to mix and match with everyone.
Jalna
24/12/2012 at 11:23 am
Mauricio the name of the music track is Ocean by John Butler Trio. It’s about 8 mins long so lots to choose from.
Loving the Go Pro videos.
Great blog too Rob.
Ho Ho Ho Happy Christmas
Lesley
24/12/2012 at 11:25 am
Er…absolutely no mention of me in the poem…cough.. Well come Wednesday there will be NO PHOTOS OF ANY IRISHMEN!! Even if you not there..humpf …robster the lobster!!
Robbie Byrne
24/12/2012 at 11:47 am
You got your own photo and comment! Sheesh!! 😉
Alyson
24/12/2012 at 11:52 am
I love thechristmas poem, particularly chuckled at Santa smelling of whiskey and beer! Can’t wait to rejoin you all after Chrissy. Hope everyone has a very merry and safe one! X
Dolphin Whisperer
24/12/2012 at 11:59 am
Now now Leslie. I think Rob did really well. My mention was just after Julie, Michael and Mr Bond. I think the order of priorities is about right. Haha
Question – is John Bond going to be creeping into my house tonight?
If so, John, can I ask your intentions?
Mauricio, those videos rock. Keep them coming.
Note, Im calling in the dolphins for tomorrow. If anyone wants to swim with dolphins, ditch the family, get into the spirit of Chrismas and come for a swim.
"Snorkles"
24/12/2012 at 12:18 pm
GREAT BLOG Robbie!
Enjoy the Christmas cheer and I’ll keep an eye on the blog whilst in the UK …look out for some BnB on tour pics!!
Merry Christmas BnB xx (oh and Rainer!)
Emer Byrne
24/12/2012 at 12:49 pm
Now if that doesn’t get you into the festive spirit i don’t know what will. Great poem blogster!
Also, i picked up a pair of ladies sunnies at the Wharf bar yesterday. They were left on the table after most had left – brown Dior’s (i think). Let me know if they belong to any one.
See yall tomorrow.
Brendan Maher
24/12/2012 at 1:06 pm
Great poem Rob, WB Yeats eat your heart out!
mauricio
24/12/2012 at 1:13 pm
Thank you Jalna,
I will try to find it to use it in our future videos.
For those interested, check out todays “dry” version of the B&B epic swim:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un1TuL9JREA&sns=em
Regards
Mauricio
Lesley
24/12/2012 at 1:40 pm
Yes but shocking photo..luckily noone will spot me coz of my new blue rashie ..giving two thumbs up on stairs at half way..cough…. Heehee .. RtB I have a little ‘revenge’ for u Wednesday hohohohoho
Little Sarah Abbott
24/12/2012 at 1:49 pm
Great job Rob – love the poem and the pics….thx for appreciating my liveliness and speed in the water:-)
Do hope lots of B&Bs come for the swim and brekkie tomorrow and manage to persuade teenagers and kids to come along too…. Laney Loo, good luck:-)
Jack & Christian, how about another race? Let’s make it a flipperless one this time, Jack. If you insist on bringing flippers, I’ll wear them this time:-)
Pacific Jules
24/12/2012 at 2:11 pm
Great blog Rob. A poet too… bloomin’ brilliant. Just loved it !!! I hope everyone reads the blog today, very clever, love it Rob, thank you 🙂
Looking forward to seeing you all for the regular 7am swim followed by, grab your clothes and food and then meet you all for a BYO BBQ shared brekkie and Christmas cheer on Shelly Beach 🙂
Pacific Jules
24/12/2012 at 2:12 pm
Another great video blog of this morning’s swim. Thanks so much for creating and sharing them Mauricio
Robbie Byrne
24/12/2012 at 2:48 pm
Bring it on!
LaneyLoo
24/12/2012 at 3:03 pm
Come to think of it John Kelly does remind me of Santa! (Warm and approachable not large and reeking of beer!)
Joan Isbill
24/12/2012 at 4:44 pm
Loved the poem Robbie, well done.
Have a great Xmas everyone and happy new year to all.
Elizabeth
24/12/2012 at 5:52 pm
Yes, please do. I don ‘t know what the bloggers look like otherwise!
'The Lips' formerly known as Rainer
24/12/2012 at 5:53 pm
I hear you Lesley. No mention of the Lips either! After all we’ve done for the blog this year.. see thru rashies, human pyramids, sea weed facial hair, you name it!!
Rob, seriously, well done! Love your work. As always. 🙂
Happy Xmas to all BnB swimmers!! Missing you already.. See you on Thursday!
Lips (which rhymes with nips, dips, flips, pips, hips, rips, tips, zips.. just to name a few obvious options, Rob!)
Robbie Byrne
24/12/2012 at 6:09 pm
Thanks Joan, we all still miss you like crazy!
Robbie Byrne
24/12/2012 at 6:11 pm
Dammit, I couldn’t think of anything that rhymed with lips!
Little Sarah Abbott
24/12/2012 at 6:44 pm
But you did get a mention in the Shelly wait pic caption!
Very rough now, but by Thurs should be perfect for a Bolderquick for me and Bolderslow for you:-))
Anna Alvsdotter
24/12/2012 at 7:10 pm
Love the poetic offering, Rob. A+ for effort and light hearted wit. Multitalented you!
Little Sarah Abbott
24/12/2012 at 7:11 pm
Oh and just noticed, you’ve made L2…..just!
'The Lips' formerly known as Rainer
24/12/2012 at 7:28 pm
Yay!!!
'The Lips' formerly known as Rainer
24/12/2012 at 7:31 pm
Oh the trash talk.. alright then, see you for Boldercrawl Thursday! 🙂
Little Tiger
24/12/2012 at 8:00 pm
Great poem, well done Rob.
Michael [EX CI]
24/12/2012 at 9:38 pm
Ragnill, Hi. That’s very impressive swimming all year round. How far do you swim and do you wear wetsuits??
Laney-Loo formerly known as E-lane
24/12/2012 at 9:52 pm
Happy Christmas to you Joan and we look forward to seeing you in 2013? (Has anyone in Manly got a bed for Joan to crash while Jules and Michael are away?) I’m sure she would make an excellent house/apartment sitter too!
secret squirrel
24/12/2012 at 10:25 pm
yes pls a buttiliscious image!!!!!!
secret squirrel
24/12/2012 at 10:31 pm
great vid,
Mauricio
whose the cute doggy?
Neil Richardson
25/12/2012 at 3:47 am
Today’s pictures of the waves and surf look frightening -including at Halfway!
Merry Christmas to all B&B swimmers from a very wet South Cerney in England. We’ve got flood warnings for part of our village today – I trust Christmas is much better with you.
Michelle
25/12/2012 at 3:17 pm
Only seeing this now…great poetic creativity there Rob the blogster …well done and merry Christmas all..
Ragnill
25/12/2012 at 8:18 pm
Hi Michael.
It is not as impressive as it sounds really. We are a small group who started to meet once a week at 7 am to have a bath in the fjord before work. There is a facility in the middle of town that have wardrobes, showers and stairs to get into the water. And it is beautifully located, so we would have our breakfast on the bench there, overlooking beautiful scenery. After november it was harder to meet up as it would be still very dark at 7 am, so we decided to meet on weekends a bit later but not as often. Point is to be in the water every month in the whole year (Hilde and I have done that now!), so we can call our selves “all year bathers” There is no cafe right there so we bring our own coffee and breakfast. We have been 7 people at the most, usually only 3 of us meet, and the water never really warmed up this summer, so we don´t really go for a proper swim – we plunge in, swim out a little and back just yo have that cold rush, fresh feeling afterwards and the social bit. We don´t wear wetsuits. I guess acclimatizing to really swimming in this cold water at winter takes far more time and commitment than we have! The other day when the water was only 1 degree it was quite unbearable only to have a few seconds under the water, and the hands and feet really hurt afterwards!
I would love to have a group to swim (wearing wetsuits) with though, here in Trondheim. Between may and september when we have lots and lots of daylight we could e.g. swim late at night. There are a few bays by the fjord that looks nice to do a swim in, and the water is very inviting (if you can tolerate the low temperatures) and there are generally less sharks and nasty stuff in the water. Only problem norwegians generally don´t use the fjords for swimming like that, although more and more people have taken up kayaking so maybe it is a change in how people make use of the water for recreation and work out. If only Julie would move here, I am sure she would have managed to start a swimming group here! Needless to say I miss the B&B a lot!