Second Verse Same as the First!
July 1st
We just completed two swims in the last 24 hours and the conditions for the second swim this morning were the same as last night's.
We had eight of us convene at the park last night plus one phantom
swimmer who was already heading out when we got there. Tim, Carole and
David were in rubber while Cindy, I, Keighley and her guests Dave and
Steff from the coast were all naked. The threatening
clouds held in abeyance leaving some sun on us as we set out in the 22
degree choppy water. The water cooled quickly as we slogged out to the
Point, curious to see who was ahead of us. There the temperature was
19.5 degrees in rough water. That's when we noticed
the phantom swimmer approaching us from the far Point. To our amazement
it turned out to be Monty. He had started early so as not to keep us
waiting and then checked to see if conditions were better around the
corner. They were not AND we were happy to take
his word for it and surf back to Juniper Beach.
A few of us, David, Cindy, Carole, Tim and I, did the double by swimming
again this morning. We were joined by Barb and John from Kelowna,
Sarah, Kylie, and Phred, all swimming naked, and by Alison, Darin, and
Cammie in rubber, although Cammie was a wannabe
naked. Before getting in we all had to display our Canadiana swag. The
group was quite creative, as can be seen by John's Canadiana bandana,
Tim's strapped on baseball cap, and Darin's flag. We had to take some
pictures - the first two of the Canadiana Channel
swimming suits that Phred, Kylie and I wore or are going to wear (Watch the hand in that second picture Phred!). We took bets as to whether Darin's flag would make it to the first set of white buoys.
After the photo session we peered out over the lake and heard a few "Okay we're done now, time to go home"
comments but everyone ventured into the water which, it being Hump Day,
had lots of humps. The water temperature had dipped to 18.5 overnight
and
the sun was nowhere in sight. We stopped to gather at the Point after
another slog and bounced around while deciding what to do next. True to
form, insanity prevailed and we set off for Cosens Bay. Five of us
stopped at the corner while the rest ventured on
to the Painted Rocks. We enjoyed the help of the current guiding us
back to the beach. Darin, who had ditched the flag at the big white
marker that is halfway minus 10 strokes between the Beach and the Point,
actually found it and retrieved it from the bottom
on his return leg!
Once dressed on shore we all wished Kylie good luck with the conditions
as she and Robynne will fly out to England tomorrow for their solo
Channel swims. They will be joined by Phred and Kurt who are Kylie's and
Robynne's watchers respectively. They are so
well prepared that, if the conditions are anywhere near decent, they
will both be crushing it!
We do this all again tomorrow at 5:30pm. It would be nice to have some flat water for once.