Day 289 - 8th July 2011

Another crazy day of sea today. Last night Asher was a right royal pain in the arse! He came in our room at about midnight and basically refused to lie in his own bed and winged and winged until we let him in our bed, where he proceeded to fall asleep whilst kicking me in the back and snoring! So very little sleep indeed!

I was at the arch around 7am and Leo, David, Big Bob and Alex were already there. Big Bob and I headed in on our beach to go around the pier with the tide but against the wind. Getting in was not too bad, there were some huge waves, but they were breaking slightly out from the shore which meant we could find a spot and just go or it. As soon as we dived in we went straight into a wave and it was like running into a brick wall; it really winded me! But heads down we kept on swimming and headed out to sea. Unlike yesterdays madness, the waves were not breaking further out, however they were very big swells and it was really choppy (choppy is such a little word that doesn’t describe it, but I cant think of another one as I sit here). When we got around the head of the pier we stopped for a breath and Bob called out to me “not many people would take this on”. As soon as he said it Leo, David and Alex came around the pier in the opposite direction and said good morning! Funny really! In truth apart from the 5 of us I don’t think many would do what we did. It’s impossible to describe being so far out at sea right in the middle of massive walls of water which are crashing and swirling around you whilst you are trying to not only swim through it but also avoid being thrown into the razor sharp legs of the pier; even writing it out can’t describe the feeling; the fear mixed with the adrenaline whilst trying to maintain a level breathing and a “it’s just a swim” attitude to keep yourself calm. I spent the whole time saying to myself “find the inner peace and relax” whilst taking in gulps of sea water and seaweed! This really is an extreme sport no doubt about it.

Coming around the pier we fought on and went under the pier back to our beach and then headed in a straightish line to get to the donut by the groin on the far side of our beach. The shoreline by the donut is much flatter than the middle of the beach and with the waves as they were it was better to try to get to the groin and land there than land in the middle of the beach safely; also with the wind going away from the groin it meant that whilst it was a harder swim there was no danger of hitting the groin.

Another massive workout before work, adrenaline rushing around the body and a nice safe landing. Job done !!

This was meant to be my channel solo swim week; in this weather I would not have been able to go. Considering I was third swimmer it is a safe bet to say that even if my chrones hadn't called off my swim the weather definitley would have done. I'm not convinced Angus will get to go this week as there is no way you could attempt it in this temperature (15 degrees in brighton, so around 13 degree in Dove) and certainly not in these seas. The challenge is so dependent on the weather.

Next week I'm meeting with my possible Relay team to start planning next year; very excited by that.