Faahany backs up after an early hour adventure. Smelt of pubs and wormwood scrubs. The smell of brown leather. A takeaway curry. Too tricky to put on a wetsuit, I watch him for 10 minutes trying to put on his cap. Halfway around the world, daughter Brooke channels him in a London pub. Talk of something about igniting or exploding.
Andre is here early, flexing his muscles, but doesn’t go the 609 route. Telling tales of the large Wobby in shallow water at the point. Andre is off to Europe for 2 months. Who’s going to bake the cakes?
Guy phones the Huey the Weather God, after another magnificent temperature recording. Huey reckons the Magic Seaweed guys are probably smoking some seaweed.
Congo lines form for the large 7am contingent.
Rusty and Caroline’s Pitch Report
Meant to be 3-5 foot but Magic Seaweed has it wrong. Pulsing bigger but otherwise flat. Had a chat to 2 guys at the point about wetsuits and hot water bottles. Super clear today. Bit of a grey outlook. Lots of fishies. Faahany has seen 2 big duskies. Mid ocean we bump into the yellow capped Chippo. He stops 100m short of Shelley, don’t tell the Auditor General Stealthy The Hun. I detour over to the boulders to check out the foam out at Deadmans but no warm wash. Not much swell to catch. Maybe tomorrow. Caroline reports bubbles at Shelley. And lots of muscles.
The 609 gang (The Rebel Alliance) is growing. Freedom fighters. Dissidents. Arcing up against the right wing meetings of the Drinks Express.
You might see 2 blokes (Mark and Mat) running up and down Manly Beach for 24 hours for Bear Cottage. They start at 11am Friday. Mat is husband of BNB regular Meredith, often seen keeping Zig Zag on track. If you want to cheer them on check out their FB link below:
https://www.facebook.com/24hr-Charity-run-for-Bear-Cottage-102454625930090/
The Empire Strikes Back. The core of the Drinks Express. 
Faahany finds his mojo. Contemplating whether to wear his socks on the swim.
Luna the Dog. Worn out from a big 2 days with her brother.
Thanks for the swim and coffee Team. Don’t let your true love run cold!
Rusty The Fish & Carolinebythebeach
“I think a lot of the punk songs, including Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, picked up on that mood as everything’s getting tense, everything’s getting fractious.”
“So you’ve got these competing ideologies, trying to trying to tap into youth cultures and pop music and align their politics with the politics of certain subcultures
6 comments
Elizabeth
02/09/2022 at 1:18 pm
Wide ranging cover of a great swim day. Beautiful photos as always. Who knows who all the people mentioned are but they sound valiant. Lots of fish to see today
Sarah from Sales
02/09/2022 at 1:40 pm
Beautiful pics and commentary as always! We’re still on the late shift – glorious, refreshing swims every day! Just as we’re contemplating returning to our 6am shift, Andre and Kylie are leaving. May just wait for their return! Have a good trip all those having a break from the chilly mornings!
Melissa
02/09/2022 at 3:34 pm
Great photos! Thank you for the commentary. Hilarious though a tad cryptic for newbies. As a newbie I’m wondering :-
Do the Drinks Express offer Gluwein, a Hot Toddy or Medicinal Brandies post swim to help the 7.00am swimmers warm up???
Or I am wondering with the analogy to the Star Wars Rebel Alliance etc that they are a breakaway rebel group of swimmers who swim earlier becos they are REALLY fast and fit.
Love the flashback songs from the 80’s and the analysis of punk rock’s ideology.
Rustythefish
02/09/2022 at 4:37 pm
Thanks Melissa. Our group the Machine Men do partake in the odd nip of rum or gin to take chill off. Normally accompanied by some random milestone. The Guv from the Drinksy gang seems to always hover near us when the home made gin surfaces. Almost all of the Drinks express are Olympian in their physique and speed, except for some stragglers like me that try to keep up (sometimes I cheat with a flipper which the lads give me shit for). The 609 are actually just a splinter group who swim to the pipe then join the rest at 630 at the point. The Jam song 🎵 double meaning some pretend tension in Drinksy gang… and also similar to faahanys drunken adventures. Kudos to.him for backing up and hitting the water. Hope that explains, come and join us for a nip one morning …Cheers Rusty
Melissa
02/09/2022 at 5:14 pm
Thanks for the explanation, Rusty! Not so cryptic now!
Elizabeth
03/09/2022 at 7:04 am
Michael you are a good person