Big waves and blueys

Good morning and happy weekend, dear reader. This (gorgeous) morning I arrived just in time to follow the 6:30 starters down to the water, and on the way met up with the ever photogenic Michele and Martin

This pooch was waiting patiently for its human

Down on the shoreline I took a close-up of these blueys and captured a runner who turned out to be none other than our very own Lainey. Run, Lainey, run!

I caught up with Cheryl as she was heading out for a long swim

Meanwhile back on the path and under the tree……

The water temperature looked very passable

Stories were exchanged (no word of blueys that I could hear)

The crowd was growing

The fund raising stall was being set up (note the fine knife technique)

Today’s was for Fighting Chance, a charity that supports people with disabilities.

Newbies were being inducted

Lifeguards were starting their work day

JK was providing an update. The 6km and 10km swims scheduled for today have been postponed until next Saturday. Even though next Saturday will be in March, these will count for a summer badge. JK also advised to look carefully at the conditions and head to half way if we felt at all unsure. I looked out at the waves and thought pffffft. More on this shortly.

Looking at next Saturday’s forecasts, it seems the conditions will be better than today’s for a long swim, but really it’s too early to tell. I’m asking Huey and Dolphy ever so nicely for a small swell with lots of South in it, light off shore breezes, clean water and no blueys. Let us all ask nicely.

Heading down to the water I spotted blog tarts extraordinaire Gillian and Jonathan, flanked by 2 of DYSLSC’s finest, Roz and Jacqui.

I tried to capture the movement and energy of the water this morning

This person was trying to get onto a wave to body surf it.

There was quite a bit of water movement along the beach towards the rocks this morning and I decided to follow some swimmers who were heading out wide for the start, only to be confronted by some rather large sets. Getting out was a bit of a challenge for me but eventually I managed and headed towards Shelley.

It must have taken me a while to get out to the point, because on my approach to Shelley people were already swimming back.

A few people lagged behind to enjoy  the Shelley ambience

The visibility was poor today but I did manage to get a shot of this numb ray along the wall not far from Shelley. Note it doesn’t have a long pointy tail. Instead, if it touches you (or you touch it), it delivers an electric shock that can leave you feeling numb, hence the name.

The word on blueys from the earlier swimmers was that there were none in the water, but I guess that larger numbers means a higher chance that some poor unfortunates will come into contact with them and this did happen to a few swimmers today. The current advice for bluebottle stings is to remove the tentacles with your fingers (fingers are tough enough to do this without hurting) and applying hot water to the stung area as this kills the proteins in the toxins. After this, the application of ice packs can help ease the symptoms, and there are other treatments available from the chemist, health food shop or outdoors shop. The symptoms generally fade after 2 or 3 days but if you have any symptoms other than local ones, especially after you are first stung (and this is very rare) you should seek medical attention.

And now a word or several from management

Next 10km badge swim

Next 10km (and 6km) badge opp is on Saturday 03 March 2018. 10km swimmers need to bring food and drink for the break at the 6km mark.

Royal Far West

Royal Far West was delighted last year with the response of B&B swimmers to their request for assistance with their activity programs. This year RFW is looking for volunteers to help with their beach games on Wednesday afternoon 3.30-5 pm They run beach volleyball, sand play, volleyball, cricket and soccer. Children are of all ages and abilities and love the help and positive attention. If you can assist with this very rewarding program, please contact Anna Bowden at  annab@royalfarwest.org.au.

Also,

A friend of a B&B’er is organising the Manly Inflatable Boat Race 2018 on Sunday 25th February. All proceeds are going to Tour de Cure. Surf life savers are lined up for the day.

However help is needed with the following roles:

Blowing up inflatables

Selling raffle tickets

Helping set up tents, setting up posts and tape to section off areas

Helping clean up at the end

Ideally 10-20 volunteers are needed. 

Contact details are: Dee Montague-Jones Tel: 0403 864 947.