Swimming day 471 - Friday 27th April 2012

A great sea this morning.  I didn’t read the temperature, but would guess at just over 8 degrees.  No rain which was great, but a strong wind which meant decent waves.  Big Bob and I were in the sea before 7am (so we would have time for a Red Roaster coffee afterwards!) and we headed straight out; or as straight as the sea would allow.  The waves were frequent and big, but manageable (if you are a competent sea swimmer – certainly not a sea for a pool swimmer).  A couple of times both of us had the extra heart beat moment when the waves got big and you wondered if you would have been sensible staying closer to shore and also Bob got rolled over once, however it was basically a lot of fun.  Way to much seaweed however; sometimes it felt like hundreds of hands tying ropes around your ankles and pulling you down, but a couple of shakes of the legs and it soon fell away.

Sadly on the next beach along we could see a number of police vans and police officers; including one officer guarding a white sheet half way up the beach which clearly was covering a dead body.  From where we were out to see just beyond the groin it was a clear view of what was happening.  The sad thing is of course it wasn’t “just a body”, it was a person; someone’s friend, lover, brother, sister, parent; who knows.  I don’t now if it was a drowning, which is so easy to happen if one is inexperienced in our sea or if one is under the influence.  Whatever the story it is very sad.