Wednesday 17th January – Variety, Vigilance, Valour, Valiant Versatility

Wednesday 17th January – a day for the, in the words of Sir Humphrey (IYKYK!), “Courageous decisions”…   To swim or not to swim?    A day to impersonate a tea bag?  Long immersion to infuse the oceans energy or a swift dip for a small taste?    A day to be Valorous, Valiant, Versatile in variable conditions –  those who braved the variable conditions did so with vigilance (perhaps swimming from the bower or shelly), and emerged victorious, adopting versatility to adapt to the conditions, and hoping to avoid the vibrant jellyfish and their sometimes vicious “kisses”!

Water temperature – 23 degrees.  Guys insightful dart board represented the avoidance of a wall or smack of jellies in the bay, or for those of us less accurate, a collision….

Air temperature at 7am: 25 degrees, a decent nor easter bringing a little mugginess to the morning

Conditions: the ocean appeared feisty today – variable conditions!

Vibe:  all things considered, kind of vibrant, with versatility required.

Ian on the wall providing useful information to those contemplating their next moves – aside from visibly vibrant, reports of walls and smacks of jellies in the bay resulted in decisions – to be vigilant, valorous, valiant or validating a decision not to swim?

Shanny displayed valour – reported a rough entry and exit and dodged the jellyfish jam – she encouraged versatility in immersion plans..

These skis and boards belong to the versatile and amazing Nutri Grain iron women who are training at manly in advance of the “Summer of Surf” carnival at manly beach this weekend, starting Friday.  If you are in manly I highly recommend watching these immensely talented women (and men) adapt by the minute to the variable conditions!

Manmaid Dan is back!  Visiting from Dubai (where he now lives) with his beautiful fiancé Eral  – they have showed versatility and adapted to significantly colder water (like, around 10 degrees colder at least!) and weather (same!), valiantly swimming despite feeling the (relative) cold!!

In another show of versatility (and in some cases, valour and definitely vigilance), the Drinks Express and Mermaids & Manmaids held a fundraiser for Mum 4 Mum on Sunday, at the Harbord Bowling Club.   The off-water versatility of both teams were on display (in a variety of styles – no doubt after studying repeat episodes of Jack High or the movie Crackerjack (IYKYK))… for lawn Bowls, firstly, bravely, with valour, learning how to bowl, mixing teams and the added complexity of a variety of conditions – from sun to intermittent pouring rain and everything in between!   Vigilance was key in ensuring that the correct team was credited with winning the “end” – and lets just say some friendly off water rivalries developed and LOTS of laughs as the bowls sometimes seemed to have a mind of their own and varied in length and … well, lanes!  Everyone had so much fun.  For the record,  the Mermaids and Manmaids won the day 23 ends to 19 and importantly, over $1,500 raised for the charity to add to the funds raised from the new Budgy Smuggler cossies which are scheduled to be completed in time for the Cole Classic! (photo credits to various mermaids and manmaids – not me!)

A few insights to consider from this week: the importance of versatility, and valour when faced with a variety of challenges; and don’t be afraid to participate in or learn something new, with no expectations you will hopefully have fun!

and the dreaded sign went up – Bluebottles! adding to the variety of creatures and perils on display at manly today!

As always, stay safe, stay kind, look after and out for each other and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Jocelyn