HOW GOOD IS ASH BARTY?

Who else watched this epic match? What a legend, nerves of steel, brilliant all-round game, no tantrums, a class act. Look out Wimbledon!

OK fangirl moment over. For now.

This morning’s sunrise made getting up after 3 hours’ sleep worthwhile. One of the great things about winter swimming is you don’t have to get up super early to catch it. How good is sunrise over the ocean?

The 6:30 folks set out in near darkness

The water’s still warm – 20 degrees today, but the air is getting progressively colder as winter gets a grip.

Here’s a quiz for you. Check out these 3 swimmers. Can you guess which footwear each one is wearing?

a

b

Post your answers in the blog post.

Candice, Jane and Robyn. Robyn has recently returned from a fabulous trip to the USA

First ever swim for Wendy on the right. Hope you loved it.

Reasons to be cheerful

Chanel thinks it’s hilarious that she gets to be dog of the day so often. By the way, some people are looking for dog minding work on the Manly Living FB page – it could be a good way for dog owners to get their pooches out for some morning socialising, just saying.

So many happy faces!

Fran took this photo of Cheryl and Peter before they set off on one of their epic marathons. Yesterday someone shared an article about the benefits of swimming on social media. ( I mean swimming, not swimming on or in social media). Apparently swimming between 3 and 4 km (or thereabouts) a day a few times a week extends your lifespan. If this is true, Cheryl will live forever.

Into the blue yonder. Another long low tide walk. The soprano squeaks of coldness are becoming more frequent. Time to remember all the health benefits of cold water swimming.

And we’re off!

We have a birthday – Happy birthday Kerrie! Splashes, the birthday song and the Let’s Go.

Someone else is celebrating a birthday this weekend (even though it’s not her real birthday) and is important enough for this to warrant a Day Off. However she didn’t swim today so she didn’t get to do the Let’s Go. Next year maybe…

The residents.

This rock cod photo from Frances. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think it’s gorgeous but then I don’t think there’s an ugly fish in our Bay

I saw one dusky but wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of it.

This is not a fish, but a piece of pretty orange seaweed growing on a rock at Shelley. Orange seems to be in fashion at the moment. Unfortunately orange makes me look like a 2 day old bowl of Fancy Feast. The photo is not that clear. I went to take another shot of it but I must have floated away from the rock and couldn’t find it.

This flathead was swimming quite close to Shelley.

My mate Cthulhu. Obey Cthulhu.

The crimson banded wrasse are quite shy. I got close to this one but it was moving too fast.

Sergeant Baker

Dinner:

The Next B&B monthly dinner for the year will be held on Tuesday 11th June at 6.30 pm at Bluewater Restaurant. Our guest on the night will be B&B Swimmer, Pam Greening, who has recently completed a climb to the Mt Everest Base Camp. Pam describes this adventure as the best experience of her life (apart from swimming with the B&B). Come along and hear about this exhilarating and life-changing experience. If this is on your bucket list, you will learn about the logistics, costs, accommodation and other details such as the best time to go, what clothes to take etc. Don’t miss it!

Please book early for this event as it is sure to be popular. The cost of the dinner is great value at only $25 a head, which includes shared entrees, and a selection of mains to choose from (including a vegetarian option). Glasses of beer or wine and desserts are also available at the special price of only $5 each. Numbers are limited, so bookings are essential. To avoid disappointment and secure your spot please book at www.boldandbeautifulmanly.com.au/bb-bluewater-monthly-dinner.html

Winter swimming

The B&B Winter swimming season starts on 1st June. Although the water temperature may be a little colder than you might like, there are several advantages of swimming in winter, including flat seas, good visibility and no bluebottles. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that you can also qualify for a winter badge by swimming a minimum of 20 times between 1st June and 31st August. You must also swim in at least 7 different weeks. If you manage to do all of your qualifying swims without a wetsuit (or other thermal enhancing equipment), you will also qualify for the coveted WWW badge (Winter without wetsuit). Start now, and don’t forget to log your swims to qualify.

What am I reading? I recently went for a job with one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I didn’t get it but I made it to the 3rd round of interviews which I thought was OK seeing as I hadn’t applied for any jobs for quite a few years. I’m reading a book called The Big 4 which is about those firms and their origins. It’s quite interesting. They go back to the times of the Medici in Florence and beyond.

What am I listening to? This (the first track) has been running around my head since the calamitous events of a few weeks ago.

Enjoy the rest of this lovely day.