Only 32 ‘hardcore’ swimmers swam today in English beer kinda water, flat and warm…It hasn’t rained at 7am on a Thursday morning since I started my Thursday blog spot 4 months ago. Infact I’ve been boasting about the amazing weather on Thursdays for weeks. Today it was dark, rainy and miserable at 7am…But it brightened up and you really should have come!
Toohey thought we were crazy turning up to swim…
The motley crew start to arrive…
This man is disappearing week by week. Dave Brown from Geordie Land has lost so much weight since he started doing our swims and he is an Ironman (well, Half)
Lips points out to Little Sarah Triad Queen based in Hong Kong, that she is ticked! No sign of the ‘Integrity Police ‘ today… (woosies)
More quirky characters appear… Greg from Canada is modelling the latest pre-swim attire…
Rusty, Leswee and Renae are happy to be here!
More joy jumps!
The water is warm, calm and no sign of rain. Sparkles has got herself down here and she was celebrating her birthday last night.
With such a small, BOLD group we even could bunch together for a group photo at Shelly!
Everyone swam pretty fast today. Some had a little help to get there of course. Rusty points out Greg’s extra long flippers.
Poor old Lesley and Lips got left behind a bit as they swam without fins.
Now what is Lesley trying to do below, you might well ask…Well yesterday we had the idea to have my blog title as ‘Lucy Lost her Top’ to try and get lots of hits . Lucy was against this and boycotted the swim today. Our Leswee said, I’ll try and pretend to be Lucy by taking off my cap, rashy and shoving them down my cozzie to give me bigger boobs! So here she is! (Can you see Lips’s leg making an appearance?)
Look how it’s brightening up now. Seriously folks you should have got out of bed in the rain this morning, the swim was beautiful!And all that talk about not swimming after rain? It’s just an old wives tale. Ask anyone who swims all the time, through everything. We never get sick!
There were no stingy things around this morning, the water was silky but smokey…It started to clear around the rocks as we swam to shore and I saw a gorgeous Port Jackson shark swimming gracefully below me…
You never know what beautiful marine creature you may see. Aly and I saw these on Tuesday. Can anyone identify the pinky fish below?
Here’s a photo of our 1000 km swimmer, Mr John 007 Bond, to finish off today’s photos. Despite the rain and clouds it is always brighter down at Manly Beach and we never regret a swim! Only 35 swimmers today is appalling!
No fish cartoons today I’m afraid. They are protesting at the low swimming numbers on a Thursday!
Just reminding you about this inspiring man, Ray Hodgson who is based at Port Macquarie but is doing a course in Sydney and often swims with us. He’ s a Doctor/Gynaecologist and has set up a charity to help women in Nepal. Many women suffer prolapse after giving birth and they suffer loss of dignity, income and self-worth due to this. Dr Ray and his team go to Nepal and perform operations which stitch up womens bits and give them back their dignity, capacity to work etc which ultimately benefits the whole community.
They are in urgent need of volunteers to go to Nepal and help these people. There are so many ways you can help without being a Doctor. I can really see a lot of our kind, caring, adventurous B&Bers being interested in being a part of this. It could be something to tick off on our Bucket List or 100 Things…His next 2 week trip is in September and then one after that a few months later. He is going to come and talk to us at the Bluewater dinner in June so please make sure you come to that and tell your friends!
http://www.a4wh.org/
For the diary . . .
Next Tuesday, 9th April is the Bluewater dinner. Great value at just $20 for two courses with $5 drinks. To register your attendance, follow the linkBluewater Monthly Dinner
Staying safe
NEW water safety tips courtesy of champion Ironman Craig ‘Riddo’ Riddington. It’s a great read and can help keep you safe in the surf. To read and even download click here.
Can you help out our wandering B&B’er?
Neil Cowin is desperately looking for a place to stay this week, spare room, couch surfing, whatever, he would be very great full for some B&B hospitality. If you can help out, leave a note on the blog
One last thing…. there are quite a few 2013 calendars left over – they are now going for $5 each…Please see Lesley if you want to buy one – they are lovely!!!
Also, if you know of any single men we can fix up with Lesley. She is desperate as this photo below shows!
I’m sorry Leswee! Think I’ve got you back now for that photo you put up of me on Facebook!!
Water temp 23.9
Air Temp 19
Low tide 10.32am
High Tide 4.40pm
Sunrise 7.06am
Signing off Lainey aka Elaine (with some of The Frosty nuts a few months ago!)
30 comments
leswee
04/04/2013 at 11:23 am
boy oh boy!!
DWSS
04/04/2013 at 11:58 am
you are still pretty Lesley with or without a top.
Michael [EX CI]
04/04/2013 at 12:21 pm
Is that a Port Jackson or a juvenile Wobbegong?
Michael [EX CI]
04/04/2013 at 12:24 pm
Gee that’s a great shot of you Lesley!! Just shows you don’t mess with E-Lane. She plays hardball and for ‘keeps’.
Pacific Jules
04/04/2013 at 12:29 pm
Or a blind shark ?
Pacific Jules
04/04/2013 at 12:30 pm
The ‘pink fish’ looks like a goat fish !?
leswee
04/04/2013 at 12:36 pm
Yeah it’s a blind shark – ELAINE!! I hope everyone is blind reading today’s blog :-/
Ros
04/04/2013 at 12:41 pm
E-Lane: I love that last shot of you being man-handled by the frosty nuts! You look exceedingly happy!
It was a jolly little crowd this morning – so glad I managed to stumble out of bed in the dark and the rain: look how happy we all are at Shelly.
alyson
04/04/2013 at 1:11 pm
I think the goat fish was sick.. he just kind of sat at the bottom and didnt move much. Good to know his name though. Thanks Jules!
Slow Lips formerly known as Lips
04/04/2013 at 1:31 pm
Haha.. excellent blog Elaine! (note to self, be nice to Elaine)
Just spotted Leswee’s new photo on attendance page. Did you have a hand in that too Elaine??
Lovely swim this morning. Embarrassingly, John 007 caught me leaving the point early. He even yelled after me and I pretended not to hear. Sorry John!!
Lucy
04/04/2013 at 2:13 pm
Lesley and Elaine … you’re both completely mad.
Nice photo of 007!!
leswee
04/04/2013 at 2:40 pm
she made me do it…. she did it for the ‘hits’.
I just checked the stats – lowest in blog history! 😀
Little Sarah Abbott aka Hong Kong Triad Queen
04/04/2013 at 2:57 pm
Great blog-tarting and thanks for your assistance, Lips! I think it’s time I made a few ‘guest appearances’ …..(hint, hint, Bloggers!)
That was some payback, Lainey:-)) Leswee – such a good sport!
Conditions look like they’ve been in Hong Kong since we’ve been here (dark and wet) – at least we don’t feel so homesick now!
Little Sarah Abbott aka Hong Kong Triad Queen
04/04/2013 at 4:13 pm
Just checked Leswee’s new photo – that should do the trick – she’ll soon have all those single men swarming round and buying her drinks:-)
Poor 007! Lips, bet you were cutting it fine and doing a 6.595 instead of a 6.55 Super Slowie start, after signing too many autographs again!
Still, bet they were glad they didn’t have to wait any longer at Shelly for you and the blog pics:-))
Stephen Coulter
04/04/2013 at 4:32 pm
URGENT – Cerebral Palsy Needs our HELP on Sunday at Shelly
Cerebral Palsy Needs Our Help – Especially if you’re Faster,
We are desperately seeking swimmers who can swim 500 meters in less than 7 minutes. But at this stage we will take anything.
Swimmers needed for Charity event – Shelly Beach Sunday April 7
About the event –
For the last 9 years Cerebral Palsy Alliance have held an annual fundraiser called the 20/twenty Challenge to raise important funds for children with cerebral palsy. Without this event some children may have to wait up to 2 years for something as basic as a wheelchair or walker, which can be truly life changing.
We would love your help as an elite swimmer for those teams who have raised $8000 to participate in the challenge.
The whole event is a 2km swim, 3km kayak and 20km hike. The swim is the area where most teams struggle so we allocate each team an “elite swimmer” to each of the team. The elite swimmers go out and swim one lap of 500 meters to get the competitive advantage for their teams and then the teams go out and swim their 2km’s each. The teams can ask their elite swimmer to swim up to 3 extra laps for them.
The 2km swim is off Shelly Beach and 4 laps around a buoy of 500 meters.
The event is this Sunday April 7 and registration is at 6:30am. ( It is an early start but for a very good cause! ) You would be finished around 8:30 and we promise to buy you breakfast! All swimmers will also be supplied with a limited edition 20/twenty beach towel and swimming cap.
If you would like to help please email kvandepeer@cerebralpalsy.org.au with your details and average time over 500 meters.
Jillfrankin@gmail.com
04/04/2013 at 5:17 pm
I am green with envy and really wanted to swim in that lovely warm bath again this am but had to help family and couldn’t get there!! See you soon. Jill
Jane
04/04/2013 at 5:25 pm
Too right, Jools. It’s a Blue-lined aka Blue-striped Goatfish, Upeneichthys lineatus. Goatfish are so called because they have 2 long projections on their chin (like a goat’s beard), which they use for stirring up the bottom to find food. And you and Leswee are right too – the shark is a Blindshark (Brachaelurus waddi). I saw it in the same place on Tuesday. Nice shot E-Lane!
I had to miss today’s swim, can’t wait to see ys’all tomorrow.
Jane
04/04/2013 at 5:34 pm
Marvellous goings-on with Gaetan’s and Michel’s recent videos shot in CTB. Mark McGrouther from the OzMus thinks all his Christmases have come at once, putting lots of clips from their beautiful vids onto his Fishes website. Guys, can you put the links onto the Blog so we can all see them and bask in your reflected glory?
Jane
04/04/2013 at 5:36 pm
Meant to says their “beards” are called BARBELS.
Lainey-Loo aka Elaine
04/04/2013 at 5:38 pm
And I thought I was getting good on my fish identification! It was bluey/grey though. Sure you are right!
Jane
04/04/2013 at 5:40 pm
Is Toohey on the Manly Surf Club committee?
Lainey-Loo aka Elaine
04/04/2013 at 5:54 pm
Thanks Ros, lovely to hear! Yes i did enjoy it!
Lainey-Loo aka Elaine
04/04/2013 at 5:57 pm
Your leg got on the last photo of underwater Leswee. Looks pretty cool!
Lainey Loo aka E-laine
04/04/2013 at 6:41 pm
Missed you Jill. Infact missed lots of people. It was really quiet but such a lovely swim. Hope all that missed felt sluggish and guilty all day!
Lainey Loo aka E-laine
04/04/2013 at 6:42 pm
I think he’s a member of the Integrity police Jane. Thanks for the fish updates!
Lainey Loo aka E-laine
04/04/2013 at 6:44 pm
When are you back LSA? It’s so quiet here without you and Annie. We haven’t seen Dr John in ages either 🙁
Jane
04/04/2013 at 7:13 pm
From Mark, especially for Gaetan and Michel but of course for any of us who can help.
“Hi troops,
I was talking with someone today about spangled emperor changing colour as they swim over different substrates at Fairy Bower/Shelly.
It may be a big ask of you but I would love to see some footage of a fish changing colour as it swims from a sandy habitat to over weeds.
Cheers,
Mark”
Mark McGrouther
Fish Collection Manager
Australian Museum
Alyson
04/04/2013 at 7:57 pm
Ah, so he probably wasn’t sick, he was probably using his oats beard to find food!!
Alyson
04/04/2013 at 8:00 pm
Yes felt very sluggish, round and guilty…. 🙁 but your blog makes me feel like I was there Lainey loo!
DWSS
05/04/2013 at 10:22 am
Lainey Loo – Stop pretending to be ME!!!! haaha
actually, Lesley is still pretty with or without her blue top yes. haha