Pacific Jules

31/07/2011 - B&B Swim Magnetic - Townsville

There were not only humpback whales swimming along side us as we embarked on our 8km adventure from Magnetic Island to Townsville this morning, but we also encountered Tiger Sharks, Crocodiles, Sea Snakes and Irukandji...

It's a beautiful day up here today, so we have sunburn for our efforts too.

Sadly none of us got prizes, but everyone one did really really well !

The official times will be up on the Magnetic Island website later this evening, as will Nicola and my interview on the Townsville news online website if anyone is interested.

But the juicy info goes:

Nicola Davidson from Bondi, who we inherited as one of us when we arrived up here on Friday, finished around the same time as myself at around 2 and a half hours.

Alison Christie appeared next from the barge as she unfortunately got a sore shoulder at around the 5km mark :-(

Our dynamic duo, James Ley and John Masters came in next looking fantastic, full of smiles and great team spirit at around 2 hours 50 minutes. They had a great swim and James tells of one occasion when he touched something that was alive as he was climbing into the boat... but thankfully the water wasn't clear so he couldn't see what it was.

Stephen Coulter came in next very closely followed by Kelly Johnson at around 3 hours and 5 minutes. They both looked very fresh but Kelly says that's cured her of Rottnest solo... Yes, yes Kelly, you'll do it... :-)

Richard Murray came in next at around 3 hours 10 minutes. Brendan Maher came in next at around 3 hours 20 minutes closely followed by Michael Christie, the most senior competitor in the event, who finished right on the knocker of around 3 hours and 30 minutes.

This was particularly fantastic for our dynamic duo, James, John and Stephen as it was their first ever official long distance event swim.

We've all now enjoyed our well deserved burgers and chips and despite spending the morning submerged in salt water we were all still grateful for the salty chips :-)

It was a really fun and very friendly ran event, the organising committee were very inclusive and friendly, the paddlers who they organised for us where all outstanding, all in all it was a great event which we would all highly recommend to anyone who is interested in doing it in the future.

Enjoy the post swim B&B team photos below, including the one of Stephen who's technology needed charging even after he'd been in the water for 3 hours ;-)

For today's regular blog, kindly written by Gaetan Guilhon ;-) please see the previous post, thank you.

31/07/2011 - Humpback whale calf!

75 ticked swimmers.

What a spectacular surprise as we arrived at Shelly! A baby humpback whale was frolicking around  having a great time. Luckily I had my camera with me to capture that moment! BREATHTAKING! Sadly the mother was not around and we're hoping to identify her later on during the day.

We wish all the B&B swimmers good luck during the Magnetic Island swim today, it starts at 9:00am and they should be done by 12:00. More info here.

Lovely sunrise and swim again today, the only thing that could be improved is water clarity, but it's  coming tomorrow!

Izzy I've received complaints from a few residents who live on Bower St just on top of the point. Apparently a very loud noise that sounds like "Let's go" woke them up this morning around 7:05. Can we please ask you to keep it down a bit :-))

About 10 people went on for a second lap to Shelly, and John let us know if any of you went for a 3rd lap. Well done guys!

Water Temperature 17°C degrees.
Air Temperature 9°C degrees.
Sunrise 6.48am.
Sunset 5.14pm.
High Tide: 8.27am.
Low Tide: 2:10pm.

 

30/07/2011 - L'Eté Indien

85 'ticked' swimmers

L'Eté Indien (in other words a beautiful day!) greeted us today with fantastic conditions.

11 people took advantage of the conditions and did a double swim. This is definitely going to be on again tomorrow, we'll meet at the point on the way back from Shelly for those who are interested (and John even mentioned a possible triple swim :-)

Julie and the rest of the gang in Magnetic island are having a good time and have sent 2 photos (see below). They had their first training swim this morning, water was about 20 degrees and outside temperature is lovely.

Surprisingly the water temperature was 16.6° at the bottom of the ramp at 7:30! But it felt a lot warmer as soon as we passed the point with the usual patches of warm and cooler water.

There are still whales around according to the latest report, so if you get a chance, grab your binoculars and camera and go to North Head for a good experience!

 
Water Temperature 16.6’ C degrees.
Air Temperature 12 degrees.
Sunrise 6.49am.
Sunset 5.13pm.
High Tide: 7.45am.
Low Tide: 13:24pm.

 

 

29/07/2011 - Flying Friday

58 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

An absolutely gorgeous morning with beautiful conditions; warm sun and flat warmish water which is slowly clearing after the big seas last week.

Welcome back to David Page who has just returned from holidays, Iain McGregor and Paul Micheletti who have returned from work and Simon Rosewell and Dom Spurrett who have returned from, well what shall we say, a sabbatical... ;-)

Now how's this for dedication; Jan Beacham pays for a babysitter twice a week just so she can swim with us and today was her 20th winter badge qualifying swim, well done Jan !! :-)

Robin Turner, who features in today's first photo with his two buddies Ricky Facer and Jim Stackpool, heads off to the UK today for three weeks. Have a great trip Rob, we're missing you already, don't forget to send us some on tour photos as you go :-)

Please be nice to Gaetan Guilhon who has kindly volunteered to take over the "let's go", attendance and blogging for you all whilst we are busy galavanting 'on tour' up at Magnetic, thanks for all the well wishes and the crocodile stories guys... !! News from Magnetic Islands: John Masters "Doesn't look far :) beautiful day here" - see pic below

Water Temperature 18.2 degrees.
Air Temperature 9 degrees.
Sunrise 6.50am.
Sunset 5.13pm.
High Tide: 7.01am.
Low Tide: 12.37pm.

 

28/07/2011 - Numb Thursday

51 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

A beautiful morning in paradise, sooo calm and appealing.

The water was a little fresh at both ends, but out the back it was lovely and warm.

There were a few jimbles out and about unfortunately, but there was also a large numb fish sitting right in close at Shelly Beach which was nice to see :-)

Of note this morning was Sue McGregor who swam both ways without fins, great effort Sue well done :-)

8 of us are off to Townsville tomorrow for Bold & Beautiful's first out of town 'on tour' swim this Sunday. Check out Stephen obviously very comfortably modelling our 'on tour' jacket :-)

Somebody from Townsville's local ABC radio station is planning to phone Michael Christie to interview him live about the magnetic island swim this morning at 9.20am, I'm sure you could tune in via the Internet... :-)

For those of you who were around at the start of Bold & Beautiful some 2 and a half years ago you may recall a friend of ours, Sean Parker was filming all the ocean swims for the season to make a documentary, which also featured the first and very special B&B Bronze Medallion assessment. Well, Sean and his wife Collette hosted the first showing of the final 90 minute documentary to a small gathering last night. After 100 hours of filming and 2 years of editing the final piece was absolutely brilliant, with fantastic footage. Sean is hoping to have a fundraising night at a local cinema where he will show it to a wider audience, I will certainly let you know when that occurs so you guys can all enjoy it too :-)

Water Temperature 17.4 degrees.
Air Temperature 8 degrees.
Sunrise 6.51am.
Sunset 5.12pm.
Low Tide: 11.50am.
High Tide: 6.27pm.

27/07/2011 - Lost & Found

59 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Stunning conditions this morning, beautiful skies and flat, clearing water... Jan Beacham even saw a fish :-)

There were a few little stingy things dispersed throughout just to keep us on our toes... I must confess they do make you feel like you'd like to walk on water on occasions ;-)

The second photo today is courtesy of Gaetan Guilhon, thank you Gaetan :-)

How about this for another B&B feel good story.

Elaine Kindred's son Ed was filming for one if his Uni assignments around Manly on the weekend and he lost a large camera lens at the top of the steps next to where we meet for our swim everyday. Ed reported the lost lens to the police and left a note at the top of the stairs where he lost the lens, but because it was raining the last 3 digits of Ed's phone number fell off the note.

A couple found the lens but they couldn't read the phone number as the last 3 digits were missing, so they went to the police station who knew nothing of the lost lens (despite Ed having filed a lost report there), so the couple went back to the site where they found the lens and found a small piece of paper with 2 digits on it, so they put that with the other numbers, went through all possible combinations with the third digit and bingo they tracked down Ed and returned the lens !! So who were the dedicated couple who went to sooo much trouble to return the lens... Of course it was someone from B&B, Bob and Lois Petterson.  That is amazing and Elaine Kindred for one is extremely grateful - thank you !

Put in your diaries, next Thursday, 4th August 7pm, Steyne Hotel sponsored B&B free dinner and two free drinks, you just need to bring your B&B discount card to claim your fantastic free dinner and drinks, it really is a great night :-)

Water Temperature 17.9 degrees.
Air Temperature 8.5 degrees.
Sunrise 6.52am.
Sunset 5.12pm.
Low Tide: 11.00am.
High Tide: 5.41pm.

 

 

26/07/2011 - Speed Bumps

58 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

'Our Manly' is back, as are our numbers :-)

Beautiful conditions this morning, a tiny little wave, a flat swim to Shelly and back, lots of blue sky and a lovely visible sun :-)

Coming in was a little entertaining though as there was a sand bank not far from the point, so we all thought we were in, next thing we disappeared down a hole with a little rip trying to take us back to the sand bank, this happened about four times on the way back in...

Ian Forster was sporting a bruise on one of his toes from a half way beach war wound earlier this week, but I'm pretty sure my unicycling bruise wins the current bruise competition...

See you at our Manly Wine B&B sponsored nibbles this evening.

Water Temperature 18.0 degrees.
Air Temperature 7.5 degrees.
Sunrise 6.52am.
Sunset 5.11pm.
Low Tide: 10.06am.
High Tide: 4.50pm. 

 

25/07/2011 - Sleep Swimming

32 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

There was a slight delay to the start of the swim this morning as Michael Christie and I slept through the alarm and didn't wake up until 6.50am, yikes - a quick sprint to swimming saw us arrive just in the nick of time with a dutiful queue waiting for the tick sheet. Sorry guys !

Still a decent surf at Manly so about half the swimmers went in through the surf and the other half of us enjoyed the half way delights.

It seems that Vanessa Wilton 'enjoyed' three big waves on her way out at the point, they certainly provided a topic of conversation for the remainder of the morning...

Michael entered the water with his swimmers on inside out, and one of those waves must have been very strong as he came back with them on the right way round... !

Happy birthday to Ann Cameron today :-)

Don't forget our Manly Wine sponsored B&B nibbles tomorrow evening :-)

Libby Kulmar has offered to coordinate any B&B's who would like to go to the Manly Art Gallery & Museum Fundraising Movie Night to see HANNA.

It is an advanced private screening of the new adventure thriller 'HANNA' at Manly Cinema this Wednesday, 27 July 2011 at 7.30pm.

Hanna is the story of a 16 year old girl who was raised by her father to be
the perfect assassin. She is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked
by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives. Starring Saoirse Ronan,
Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett.

See it before its official Australian release date on Thursday 28 July.

All profits raised from the evening will go towards the conservation of a key artwork in the Manly Art Gallery & Museum collection. The price of admission includes a glass of champagne and refreshments after the movie.

Cost: $20 non-members, $15 gallery members
Contact: Manly Art Gallery & Museum to purchase tickets: 9976 1421 or Libby Kulmar: 0424 100 729

Water Temperature 18.6 degrees.
Air Temperature 12 degrees.
Sunrise 6.53am.
Sunset 5.10pm.
Low Tide: 9.08am.
High Tide: 3.54pm.

24/07/2011 - And Then There Was Sun

50 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Big, beautiful rolling waves coming in to Manly this morning with lots of surfers enjoying them too.

Of particular note this morning though was the fact that there was something warm and round in the sky... I think someone said it was the sun !

A few swimmers went out from the beach but it was certainly a case of two strokes forward and three strokes back as they approached the point.

Most of us 'sensible' swimmers went to and from half way beach again with many people enjoying a second lap.

The good news is there are now only 5 full weeks and two bonus days of a sixth week of winter left for 2011 :-) As of today 48 people have qualified for their winter badge so far, 153 people are still on target and 119 people need to swim soon !! If you are one of those people who need to swim soon your name will be highlighted orange on our awesome winter badge tracking software, check out how you're going by clicking on the badge icon to the left of this blog :-)

Four B&Bers, namely Chris Kiely, Nick TB Dowson, Robin Turner and myself tried our hand at unicycling yesterday, as we thought it was about time Anna Alvsdotter and Richard Lees had some company. So if you find any pink splodges on the pavements around Manly please be gentle as it could be one of your fellow swimmers outta water.

Water Temperature 18.4 degrees.
Air Temperature 8 degrees.
Sunrise 6.54am.
Sunset 5.10pm.
Low Tide: 8.11am.
High Tide: 2.55pm.

23/07/2011 - Wet & Wild

41 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

What a lovely swim this morning the surf was nothing short of wild !

First photo is of Michael Christie all rugged up, taking the water temperature for us first thing :-)

By far the majority of us swam from and back to half way beach this morning which was adventurous enough in itself for most of us that's for sure, 6 people however weren't quite satisfied so they went back for a second lap.

What I would like to know is, why is it that when it has been raining solidly for 5 days I always swallow mouthfuls of water, however when it is beautiful and crystal clear I don't even come close to swallowing water ???

Manly Wine sponsored nibbles this Tuesday night at 6.30pm, looking forward to seeing you all there.

Aelwyn Norton is off to Europe today for six weeks, missing you already Aelwyn, have a fabulous time and don't forget to send us regular 'on tour' photos...

~2 weeks ago Libby Kulmar left her B&B hoodie in the ladies changing rooms, it does have her name in it along with two badges: 2009 winter and 6km summer 2010. If someone took it home by mistake please could you let either myself or Libby know, thank you.

If anyone left a wetsuit behind ~10 days ago it has been found so please let us know.

Water Temperature 18.6 degrees.
Air Temperature 9.5 degrees.
Sunrise 6.54am.
Sunset 5.09pm.
Low Tide: 7.21am.
High Tide: 1.59pm.