Back to the north side this week and we ventured over the Spit Bridge to Shelly Beach just round the corner from Manly. Shelly is a great spot for base camp as you can pretty well see all the way up to Freshwater and it’s a bit calmer to come in and out of. They also have a coffee shop just there which is a plus for me.
!7 swimmers turned up and Simon and Katarina got in 15mins earlier to test the water for us. When everyone started swimming just after 7 there was a definite smell of smoke in the air and it was a bit hazy. Rather than hug the cove in Shelly and head out, they took a more direct route almost heading to the corso then up to Freshy. This was mainly to avoid the “pink Plague” being the Bold and the Beautiful group which swims the manly to shelly route each day but on Saturdays there seems to be millions of them.
Thank goodness Vlad, the banana boat and his fluoro vest were with the swimmers as by 740am I could no longer see Manly from my perch at Shelly. The smoke haze had descended to the water which made visibility almost impossible. (See Photos on Facebook)
The swimmers returned after an hour and a half from there round trip to Freshwater and back. Aside from the challenge of being able to see where they were heading and the other swimmers, the sea was a bit bumpy and had a swell that was on the rise. There were various aquatic animal sightings but the slightly disturbing thing they had to dodge out there was dead Mutton Birds. Apparently they are on their annual migration and the ones in the water are those that have simply died from exhaustion. Quite creepy.
After the one round most hopped out but Cae and Michael did a bit more. It was great to See Christopher Day joining us after an absence as he gets ready for Forster and Melb Tris. Sabine also in her wuss suit as she is doing Forster as well.
Another great swim under some strange conditions. That’s the thing about open water; you can’t control the weather and environment so you learn to work around what it throws at you. Next weekend is Coogee - let’s see what that brings
