Swimming day 536 - Wednesday 8th August 2012

No hours left….

Picked up in my car and on the way to Dover: –

Leo - 11.45pm – done  

Fiona - midnight -  done

Bob & Lindy - 12.15 -  done

Alex - 12.25 -  done

Shoichi - 12.30 -  done

James - meeting there – done

Everyone in the car and we got to Dover by 2.30am and met James and Lois (our 14 yr old crew member, back up swimmer and definitely future channel swimmer).  We were on the Louise Jane by 3.30am, all loaded and read to go.  The swimming order was set as follows:

Lindy, Alex, Leo, Shoichi, James, Rob.  The order was based on various things; the most important being that the two quickest swimmers get us out of Dover as fast as we can covering as much distance as possible; as expected Lindy & Alex did just that.

We had expected, and hoped for, a calm sea throughout and a bright sun once the moon had dropped off.  What we got was a gale force 4 from start to finish, a cloud covering that was greyer than something very grey and the odd splat of rain.  So this clearly was not going to be a channel swim with ease.

The swim itself was gladly not plagued by jellyfish as we all feared and a force 4 gale, whilst very choppy and bumpy, was not enough to stop 6 swimmers who spend every morning in the sea off Brighton; a sea which mirrors channel conditions so much.  In fact I would suggest that a lot of the unsuccessful attempts are because people simply do not have the opportunity we have to swim in such a similar sea everyday.  Saying that, I can easily think of at least 3 big differences between Brighton beach and the English Channel:
1) Sal content – the moment I jumped in the sea when James was finishing his leg I was shocked not by the cold water (it pretty much averaged 15 degrees the whole time which was spot on) but by the salt.  It was so acrid in the water, a mixture of salt content, natural chemicals that build up and also shipping oils (as well as the diesel fumes from the back of our back) that the moment I hit the water my throat started to swell up and the inside of  my nose started to burn – I had no idea how I was meant to swim for an hour like that.
2) Water volume – not only is the volume of water in the channel so much more than the local beach, but we were on a spring tide, which I now at last understand means that the water is building up for a bid tide and adds to the volume.  This makes swimming a lot harder and makes the waves and bumps massively heavier.
3) Shipping – Very rarely one is confronted by million ton tankers in Brighton beach!  In the channel they are like insects; none one minutes and hundreds the next.  Incredible to see, but very challenging when they are heading to you and creating massive waves.

Despite all of this Team Starrfish rocked.  Lindy was a speeding fish and was averaging 84 strokes a minute each time, Alex was hot to trot covering massive ground with an average 74 strokes per minute, crazy Leo & Shoichi were ploughing through with averages of 64 strokes a minute, Dr James was out old stalwart with no fear and no excused and was averaging around 60 strokes a minute and for me, well my average of 52 strokes a minute was good enough for someone who two years ago could hardly swim and had never been in the sea.

The Louise Jane, our boat, was perfectly adequate and the crew led by Andy King, were wonderful.  They wee totally supportive and did everything they could to protect us from the waves by trying to block them and by battling a massive tide to keep us as lose to our landing destinations as possible.   The Louise Jane is a fishing boat, as are all the pilots for the CSA, and it was basic to say the least.  There was the wheel house for Andy and his two crew, there was a small (elphin like) toilet outside the wheel house and then there was the back of the boat for us!  This was simply an open backed boat with large storage containers where we could keep our bags to protect them from the sea & rain and then we get to sit on them for 20 odd hours!  From the moment we boarded the sea was sloshing in over the decks and throughout the swim we were in a mix state of being thrown left, right, up and down and being sloshed in sea water. Getting into the sea was almost a welcome relief (almost!).

It worked like this; Swimmer 1 gets in by jumping in to the sea from the side of the boat.  The pilot offers his preference as to which side to try to protect you from the massive swells, however the choice is yours.  As it started at night time we wore flashing bright lights.  A whistle is blown and you start swimming.  The first person swims to the beach at Dover form the boat 9a few hundred metres), walks out to the further place beyond the sea and then enters the water to start the swim once the pilot sounds his horn.  The swimmer then swims as fast as possible for an hour.  Five minutes before the hour is up, with the second swimmer now changed into swimming gear and has Vaseline in the appropriate places (!), a whistle is blown and the swimmer is given a hand signal to show 5 minutes.  After the 5 minutes (which feels like another 20!!)  the swimmer hears two sharp whistle blows and then treads water.  The second swimmer then jumps of the boat, landing behind the first swimmer.  The firm swimmer then swims around the second swimmer, to the back of the boat and climbs out, with help from the crew (you are rather exhausted by then).  The next swimmer, now in the sea is signalled to swim for a hour.  The process is then repeated throughout the swim, with each swimmer doing an hour at a time exactly and following the sae swim order as was started.  If during this any of the swimmers in the sea touch the boat you all go home, if any of the swimmers touch another swimmer who just came in you all go home, if any of the swimmers swim out of the agreed numbers you all go home and if any swimmer refuses to go back in you all go home.  Oh yes and the pilot can call of the swim at any time if he fears for your health or simply feels you can not make it.  Lots or regulations and rules.  It goes without saying as well that wetsuits are not allowed, men must wear Speedos or trunks that are just below their bits and women can only wear small costumes suits.  Whist all this is going on the swimmer who just got out has to somehow, whilst the boat is rocking madly and the sea sloshing on the floor, get out of their costume, dried, get into their clothes, get as warm as possible and consume a hot drink an get some food in them.  Everyone else is simply sitting around on the boxes trying to stay warm and dry and trying not to be sick.

This is not a challenge for everyone; it takes a decent level of swimming ability (which I have only just got), a stomach that can take the boat rolling around for 20 + hours, a mental ability to just get in again and again and a need to complete the task.  If you have all that, plus a small amount of eccentricity, then maybe you can give it a go!

Our swim went as well as we could have hoped for, and with the help of Lindys fish like ability in the water, we reach our almost finishing point in amazing time; going passed a number of other channel swimming boats who mostly ended up going back home without success. BY the time we could see our destination up ahead the tide turned and we spent 90 minutes swimming in the wrong direction.  Thankfully the tide then changed back and the last two swimmers; being Me and then Lindy, had the tide behind us and enabled me to get us within half a mile of the coast and Lindy to then roar in like a mermaid possessed! Just a magical moment.
Job done we packed up and stored everything as best as we can and then settled on our boxes whilst Andy King put his foot down and darted back to Dover at top speed.  About 2½ hours later we were back at Dover and had the much welcome site of Little Bob awaiting our arrival and with him as the dedicated driver we headed back to Brighton at midnight.

All in all I was up from 6am on the Tuesday and then got finally into bed at about midnight on the Wednesday.  I guess that’s all I can say now. Mind you the Blog word count, being 189,080 words has probably said all that can be said!– blimey I really had way to much to say didn’t I; did anyone other than me actually read all that!!

So for me this journey, which started on Day 1 – Sunday 26th April 2010 and ended on day 536 – Wednesday 8th August 2012 saw me manage to learn to swim, battle the sea and gym daily and then eventually conquer the English Channel as team Starrfish.  It has to be said that so many people encouraged and helped me, but a few in particular went way above in support.  My wife Sharon particularly put up with 2½ years of me training for stupid amounts of hours every week and then coming home and moaning and complaining and worrying all the time; she is without a doubt my Starr.  Big Bob was my training partner for two years and has probably put up with as much of my madness as Sharon has – he really is a wonderful friend and if I got nothing from this experience apart from his friendship then it was worth all those hours in pain.  What can I say about Fiona; wonder women and almost every sense; without her I doubt I would ever have been able to take this challenge on.  Then finally all my BSC friends; all of them new friends to me and I hope that friends for life.  To LB and Lindy particularly, you are special people and I am honoured to now count you as my friends.

So what has my experience taught me; well for one that every challenge one takes on has to be about the journey; the end result certainly seems important, but it is the journey that shapes us and it is ultimately the journey that we remember.  It has taught me that when things get tough we can still do our best; our best may change from day to day, but we must always still do our best.  It’s taught me that if we are heading in one direction and then life decides to change that direction that maybe we should be big enough to let it happen rather than fight for something that perhaps is not for us after all and perhaps we should see where the new direction takes us.  For me to sum that up I have to use the words of a much brighter person that I…
“If you believe you can or if you believe you can’t, either way you are right”.

And finally for my Father, Edward Starr; you may not be with us in body Dad, but you inspired me all your life and you continue to inspire and teach me now and every day.  The day we meet up again will be nothing but joy for me, but in the meantime I will always do my best and will always try to make you proud.

The End

Until the next challenge that is…………………………………………. 2014 !?!?!