Sunday 7 February: Harbour swim

Cole Classic at South Steyne today, so it wasn’t the day to swim oceanside.  I popped down to see what conditions would be like for those taking the challenge.  Yesterday’s nor-easters had subsided, and taken the blueys with them (according to the announcer):

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I walked down Ashburner St and found the regulars getting ready for a harbour swim.  Danny:

 

Jo, Martin and Michele:

 

Juliette and Andrew (I wasn’t quick enough to catch their two camera-shy sons).  They were planning to head out through the boats to a reef:

 

Penny was saving herself for the 2km Cole Classic:

 

Penny’s a marine biologist and knows a thing or two about blueys.  Here’s yesterday’s article: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/large-numbers-are-being-stung-bluebottle-invasion-hits-sydney-s-beaches-20210206-p5706f.html.  That photo of the pool at Bondi is seriously scary!

Peter joined us for some laps:

 

Dynamic duo Sue and Greg. (Greg – you seem to be in Sue’s shadow.  Just sayin’ …)

Greg was heading out to the toilet roll:

 

Jo and I decided to do some laps along East Esplanade.  I gave Jo strict instructions that, given we weren’t in the fishy paradise of Cabbage Tree Bay, she would need to act as my fish spotter, and that today’s blog depended on it.  Jo seemed quite relaxed about this responsibility – maybe too relaxed?

 

On our first lap, Clare turned up.  Thank goodness, I thought – with two spotters, I can’t fail to find fish:

 

Clare took her new role seriously and took us straight to an octopus.  She said there was one just there:

 

I said I couldn’t see it and asked Clare to show me again:

 

After amusing myself for a few minutes, I took some octopus shots:

 

 

On the next lap, we bumped into Janet:

 

Janet told us about the swim lane through the boats, where she’d seen lots of wildlife.  Clare could sense she had competition, and reverted to some old-fashioned blog tarting:

 

Things didn’t start well down Fish Alley:

 

But Janet pulled it out of the bag – not one, but two fiddler rays:

 

 

We found Gunnar at the Skiff Club end:

 

We were nearly done, and I reminded Jo that she still hadn’t found me a fish.  Cool as a sea cucumber, Jo pointed to an eagle ray hiding under a boat:

 

 

Well done, Jo.  I knew you wouldn’t let me down.  Again.

Harbourside offers a different perspective:

 

Janet was volunteering at the bag drop station, so we headed back to the ocean for a coffee before her shift began.  Janet and Gunnar:

 

The conditions looked pretty challenging for the 1km swimmers:

 

 

Well done to everyone who completed the Cole Classic today, and to all the volunteers (many of them B&Bers) who made it happen.  You’re all superstars!

Happy Sunday, everyone!