28/12/2016 – A Wet Swim

Lainey here blogging quickly as we realised we had no blogger after the swim. I had a few photos so here they are! Bumped into Lips at The Point declaring, ‘I love swimming in the rain!’ It was pretty calm with a few bumps, a tad chilly and not too clear. I’m guessing there were still 280 swimmers though with 25 newbies!!!

Lovely Charlie Sedanayasa, an angel with a heart of gold, who with her friend Caryn has set up a charity to help struggling Mums on the Northern Beaches. (The Facebook page is Northern Beaches Meals with Love.) With a team of Mums they organised and delivered loads of hampers over Christmas.

I dove down and took a photo of the water surface with  raindrops looking up.

Not very clear today but I did see some Old Wives over the flat rocks.

Great to see Paige back in the water and Kelly the first time without a wettie!

Swam into a school of Mullet…

and over hundreds of Yellowtail

Back at the Surf Club it started to rain really heavily.

Michael got his whip out! He made it by hand at 6am this morning and handed it to me to give to Natalie. He is now taking orders.;-) Louise Stacey wants one. Anyone else? (There’s going to be a few Lion Tamers at the New Years Eve ‘Twisted Circus Party’ at the Skiff Club on Thursday!)

Stats

A few swimmers

25 newbies (well done!)

20.2 degrees (felt like 19 to me!)

B&B Notice Board

2016 Calendars

The 2016 B&B calendars are on sale. Get your copy from any of the helpers at the swim, or order online HERE. They make a great New Year gift for family and friends, here or overseas. This year the calendars are even more impressive in a larger A3 format, all for the same cost as last year – just $15 each.

Parking

B&B members do not have permission to park in any car spot or bay that belongs to the surf club. Please adhere to this rule. There is plenty of parking in the Council car park at no charge to you.

Summer Badges

There are now three badges available for those swimming in summer:

# 1: Saturday 5 December kicked off the 6 km summer badge swims. These are on every Saturday during summer.

# 2: There is one 10 km swim in December, February and March 2015/16. The first 10 km swim was on Saturday 12 December. Watch the blog for details of the second 10 km swim, to be held in February.

# 3: Our new badge, the Shelly Triple, involves a triple lap of Cabbage Tree Bay (i.e. swim to Shelly Beach and back to The Point three times – total 3.5 km). This swim can be completed any day and should be logged on the i-log system. Since this is designed for those who are unable (or unwilling) to do the longer swims, this badge is only available to those who haven’t completed a 6 km or 10 km swim during the season.

Really important with the big waves we’ve had recently! 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.

Signing off

Lainey Loo