Glowing skies for those who arrive early. I have to admit Lainey sent me the first couple as I’m not that timely.     The mermaids and manmaids getting ready.   Michael, Peter and Ian, in his warm oodie, welcoming but didn’t see any newbies. My last shot of Ian on duty before he...

To follow on from my English as a second Language class last night, where we talked about comparatives, it seemed appropriate to do the same this morning. The water was a little cooler than yesterday at 17.7C but as flat and clear as the last few days. Spectacular both in and out. It seemed a...

There’s certainly a chill in the air and the winter gear is reappearing but it seems to be turning into a gorgeous day.   Temperature is still OK but it’s the cold air when you bring your arms out of the water that cools you down. Viz still isn’t great, with that milky feel so...

After quite a week last week with big surf and strong rips, it was lovely to come down this morning and actually swim from Manly. The temperature was up on yesterday at 21.3c but numbers of people were way down so it was pretty quiet in the bay.   A gorgeous, sunny morning but air...

Morning darkness will soon end with the clocks changing on Sunday (except probably the Manly surf club clock which definitely has a mind of its own!) but so will those sunrises, which have been spectacular of late. Always hard to decide when’s best, summer, winter, in between… Guy’s chalk skills have also been spectacular recently,...

It felt like an autumn morning, being a bit cooler and the rain held off but the rip was roaring, even more so than yesterday. It looked fairly calm but you needed to swim very wide to get back in, although we did watch some who got in after looking like they weren’t moving for...

It all started well, looking like a lovely morning air and sea.   The yogis doing their thing.   A balmy 22.5 in the water and flat seas.   Sally, Jo, Rob and Karen of the mer/manmaids prepping at their spot on the silver bench. Normally they are a much bigger bunch?   Lindsay and...

A relaxed start to the day for those doing yoga. For those swimming, or deciding whether to swim, it was not so relaxed. Tim, Brian, Inge and Ian assessing the conditions. Andre, in the middle, lightened the mood by providing Haigh’s chocolate hearts to celebrate Valentine’s Day, with Chrissy, Nicci, Louise and Sam F. Shelly reporting...

I wonder whether the overnight rain also put people off as it was quiet outside Manly surf club this morning. Maybe it was also the 39 “Bench swimmers” who have mostly all left for a Kangaroo Island adventure (we’re very jealous!), hence an empty bench.   It was a lovely swim, although a bit bumpier...

It seemed like no one was sharing my hesitation as Clare queried, was I tired,  no, were the waves too big, no. So in I went, hoping not to see anything,  or at least nothing fast moving. The temperature was lovely at 22.1 and viz was good, thankfully. A few lice though.   A gorgeous...