Day 268 - Wednesday 8th June

After yesterdays full on exercise of cycling, swimming and gyming, today I am having an easier one. Also my right shoulder is aching a little and I don’t want to cause it any damage, so a less strenuous day would be sensible.

I was at the Arch by 6.50am, Shoichi was already in the shower having done his swim and James was there waiting for Bob and the others. I quickly slung on my trunks and headed out on my own as I fancied some “me and the sea” time. The wind was howling this morning so the sea was very choppy with some monster waves at the shore. Having to time it correctly so as not to be turned over, I gingerly stepped into the ocean and immediately dived through an oncoming wave and headed out to the depths. I went out as far as the second buoy near the groin and then headed east to the buoy just inside the pier. The tide and the wind were pulling east of it was a quick swim over to the pier and being as far out as the second buoy meant the waves were not as high; although there was still the occasional white horse that went over you. The swim back to the buoys by the groin was a real heads down job as it was fully against the tide and wind, but it made for a very good shoulder and stomach workout. Once back I headed down to the first buoy nearer the shore and then hung out a bit to enjoy the bumpy waves. Looking into shore it never ceases to amaze me that it looks like shear walls of water heading in and it does make the heart beat faster wondering how hard or even the possibility of a safe beach landing. In truth when I reached close to shore I could very easily judge the waves and make sure that I could surf in on the third one and then have time before the next one to walk out safety as they usually comes in three’s. Today was an easy day for that, other days it can be a lot trickier and very dangerous; one can never let ones guard down when it comes to the ocean!