Pacific Jules

21/8/2011 Sunday Worship

Forgive me Julie for I have sinned. It had been 48 hrs since my last swim but I did go today so I am eligible to write the blog , here goes.

Chanel swim update: Iain's conquered the channel - 15 hours and 14 minutes !!!! 
Gaetan (token Frenchman, team coach, wingman and now bestist buddy to Iain) said

 “He is totally spent, they had to pull him onto the boat, he's not talking yet, but he did it !!!”

Iain you're a legend - well done !! Gaetan you’re a good friend

 A sterling effort and something to be proud of for the rest of your life. Your now in an elite group of swimmers who have truly put themselves to the test. See you back in the 4 Pines very soon to celebrate. It’s Nick’s round. 

57  swimmers for this mornings swim. The waves were challenging, a lot of people swam from half way but a few went from Main Beach.

Fact of the day time: Amongst many other items, Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers of the United States) invented swim-fins in 1717. Im sure many B&B are very grateful, Go Benji!

Odd image of the day: I had to do a double take this morning, look what I saw walking out of the surf club as we were going for coffee. SCUBA DOG. Looks like he has borrowed Nick’s video goggle mask.

Water Temperature - Warmer
Air Temperature – Not too bad
Garlic-ometer – Pretty bad considering lots of us had an Indian last night
Sunrise 6.28am.
Sunset 5.29pm.
Nanna nap: 3-5pm
High Tide: 1.06 am.­­­
Low Tide: 7.34 pm.

Remember folks, all activities are undertaken at your own risk.  You are responsible for your own safety at all times and you participate at your own risk; this is not an official event and there is no water safety. 

 

 

20/8/2011 Bonne chance Iain

Goooooooooooooooood Morning Manly

First up, our fellow swimmer Iain is SWIMMING TO FRANCE TODAY AT 10am (Aussie time) 1am (UK time) I guess the planets are aligned and the swell is manageable or something like that but whatever, ‘Good luck Iain’.

As you can see from the photo, he is having a lovely time in Dover and has already started dressing like a Frenchman  Oh Là Là!

Gaetan will be proud of you.

 43 swimmers today.

Considering it rained pretty much none stop from 6pm last night it wasn’t that bad today.

Fact of the day time: Elephants are capable of swimming twenty miles a day, using their trunks as natural snorkels.

Water Temperature - warmer than yesterday
Air Temperature –  nice - the sun was out
Sunrise 6.29am.
Sunset 5.28pm.
High Tide: 12.16 am.­­­
Low Tide: 6.32 pm.

19/8/2011 Pink Porch / Pink Paunch

Happy Friday fellow swimmers.....

50 swimmers, 2 newbie’s for this Freezing Friday.

What a difference a day makes though. Conditions today were flat and the vis was not too bad either.

The consensus was “ It was the coldest swim this year” As you entered the water you could feel the full chill.

All in all, not a bad start to the day, the sky was darkening and the rain was on its way as we began to swim but it held off. Did i mention it was cold?

Fact of the day time: The testicles of a southern right whale weigh around 500 kg !

Dont forget Iian is hoping to do this swim to France on Monday if the weather permits.  Feel free to send him some last minute encouragement via the blog this weekend.   Its a bloody big swim.

See you all tomorrow.

Water Temperature - F***** Freezing.   
Air Temperature –  Also Freezing.
Sunrise 6.31am.
Sunset 5.27pm.
High Tide: 11.33 am.
Low Tide: 4.41pm.
Beer: Any time after work
Sleep: Any time after beer

18/8/2011 Swimming with scum

Whales whales and more whales.... Only joking Jules - they wouldnt dare turn up without you.

27  brave souls ticked strangely no newbies, Maybe they heard Linda was in charge this week?

As predicted, as soon as Jules leaves Manly the seas rise and the waves roll in.  A few people swam to Shelly and Back, some even went both ways but most of the sensible ones took the half way option. The waves really were rolling in today, comment of the day goes to Bruce B. " I unfortunately started to get a lack of breath between the sets" oh dear!

Fact of the day time - This one is for Iain McGregor: The first man to swim the English Channel was Captain Matthew Webb (21 hours and 45 minutes) He later died trying to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls. (derrrrrr)

Water Temperature - warmer than yesterday.  
Air Temperature - cold .
Sunrise 6.32am.
Sunset 5.26pm.
High Tide: 10.55am.
Low Tide: 4.56pm.

*disclaimer - Tim takes no responsibility for the accuracy of todays blog details as he didn’t actually swim and is going by what Linda told him – always a mistake

A note from Neil:
Dear B&B community, I find myself in the uncomfortable temporary situation of being broke in this lovely area of Manly and having to relocate as the owner of this unit is selling after me being here for 10 years. I work in the area of Financial Services and tutoring however this work has come to a halt. I am also a qualified Safety Advisor and Site Forman. My initial aim is to obtain any type of part/full time work. I may also need a home for my herb pot plants. If you know of anybody who has employment or temporary accommodation for a man with a splendid attendance record please call Neil on 0414686646 or email Jules

 

17/08/2011 - Catch of the Day

58 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Another great morning for a swim with a little wave and a rather large fishing vessel...

4 swimmers enjoyed the 'double shuffle' this morning; David Coward, Isobel Kirk, John Bond and Michael Christie.

97 swimmers have now qualified for their winter badge !!!  With another 33 on target and another 45 who qualify but they need to swim very soon and lots of times in the next 2 weeks.

Winter badge ceremony will be at Manly Wine straight after the swim on Sunday 11th September :-)

Please read last nights newsletter for dates of our steak and trivia night and our awesome Christmas Party....

It seems there is a new fashion about to hit Manly, which you can see beautifully modeled by Jim Stackpool this morning....

The latest update from Dover is that it looks like Iain may start his English Channel Crossing at 2.30am on Monday morning UK time. Gaetan Guilhon is planning on being on Iain's boat so he can keep us posted with regular updates and photos :-)

Paul Metcalfe is hosting a screening of "The Economics of Happiness" and panel ‘Hypothetical’ on Wednesday 12th October from 7pm at Balgowlah RSL. If anyone is interested in attending you can check out the details by clicking here

The panel will be jostling over what it means to live local, live sustainably and grow a gnarly community garden. 

Half the money raised will go to the Film’s Producer, the other half will go to the local school Kitchen Garden project.

Everyone who goes to the film will get a thank-you gift with a message from the local school kids too.

Water Temperature 17.9 degrees.
Air Temperature 10.5 degrees.
Sunrise 6.32am.
Sunset 5.26pm.
High Tide: 10.19am.
Low Tide: 4.15pm.

16/08/2011 - The Pink Cliffs of Dover...

63 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

A gorgeous swim this morning, with beautiful clear water.

A massive flathead at Shelly and a tiny baby flathead and a baby stingaree at the point - very cute.

Iain McGregor is safely in Dover, has had a swim in the bay and is looking forward to reaching the French lights that he is currently enjoying on the horizon. To keep track of Iain's channel crossing please follow his comments on the daily blog and of course feel free to write him your own good luck, motivational messages too as I know he'll appreciate them and reply to you all. Iain will submit photos for us to upload soon too I'm sure :-)

There is a story of our Iain in the Manly Daily today too :-)
You can read it online at the link below and you can also donate to Iain's everyday hero page in support of the Fragile X association by clicking on the second link below:
Manly Daily article on Iain

Iain's fundraising page

Check out this great on tour photo of Brendan Maher still celebrating his swim one week later on Magnetic Island :-)

John Kelly sent a message last night to say it's a nice temperature in the Aegean, yeh we bet it is !! ;-)

Happy birthday to Michelle Harris today. You can see Michelle enjoying the beautiful muffins that Debbie Hanson kindly baked for her :-)

Incase you didn't read yesterday's comments:

- The super cute child diving into the pool was ME :-)

- Poor Hazel passed away at the weekend, aged 91. Our thoughts are with Hazel's friends and family at this time.

Water Temperature 17.5 degrees.
Air Temperature 11 degrees.
Sunrise 6.34am.
Sunset 5.26pm.
High Tide: 9.45am.
Low Tide: 3.35pm. 

 

 

15/08/2011 - Guard Dog

49 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

The conditions are still beautiful, although a little cloudy in the water, with a fantastic little body surfing wave to take us back to shore.

Anna Alvsdotter is babysitting a gorgeous chocolate Labrador called Binty who you can see in the third photo calling out to us all as we start our swim. Ian Forster's wife Pauline walked while we swam this morning and witnessed Binty barking at any passerby who stopped to look at our tick sheets until they gave what Binty deemed a respectable distance. How cute is that :-)

Now talking of cute... who is the seriously cute swimmer, wearing pink none the less, featured in the photo attached, taken 30 years ago whilst on a holiday in Tunisia ??

Mum and Dads friend, George Martin has decided we have too much of a good thing out here so he has submitted an on tour photo, taken as he cooked a BBQ dressed in Aussie clothes :-)

Happy birthday to Anne Lemon today :-)

Water Temperature 17.3 degrees.
Air Temperature 9.7 degrees.
Sunrise 6.35am.
Sunset 5.25pm.
High Tide: 9.10am.
Low Tide: 2.57pm.

14/08/2011 - B&B Sunrise

50 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

The rumblings of thunder and flashes lighting up the sky at 6.30 this morning kindly settled down and cleared the way for our beautiful swim.

9 swimmers enjoyed a second lap.

90 swimmers have currently qualified for their 2011 winter badge !!  Only 17 winter swims left to go, another 110 swimmers could still qualified although 62 of those need to swim soon....  check out if that is you as you don't want to miss out !! ;-)

Michael Christie looks like he's enjoying John Bond's post swim warming up treatment a little too much, I'm getting a bit worried... ;-)

Channel 7 weather was broadcast live from South Steyne at 7.30am filming Nippers on the beach. Gaetan Guilhon confirmed from the comfort of his unit as he watched the TV that he saw some B&B's getting out of water at the back :-). What was Gaetan doing at home and not swimming !?

Happy 21st wedding anniversary to Christine and Malcolm Armour !! :-)

Robin Turner called in to visit my parents and ended up kindly taking them on tour for the day as can be seen from the B&B on tour photo below, taken at Lowestoft in Norfolk, UK.

Julia Baird has a new show on ABC radio called Sunday Profile, Julia's first show is being aired today on radio national at 1pm and on local radio at 9pm, feel free to tune in and listen :-)

Water Temperature 17.9 degrees.
Air Temperature 9 degrees.
Sunrise 6.36am.
Sunset 5.24pm.
High Tide: 8.34am.
Low Tide: 2.18pm.

 

13/08/2011 - War Wounds and War Paint

91 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

A superb morning. Absolutely beautiful swim in flat, clearish water with the most spectacular sunrise.

There was also rather a lot of pink around as everyone got into the spirit in true B&B style to farewell Iain McGregor on his English Channel Swim this morning.

Princess Pete the pilot Bowes wins the award for the 'best zinced' for sure as you can see from the great photos of Pete and Iain at the start of the swim :-)

Gotta love Collie Kinsela and Iain's zinc too :-)

Thanks guys for getting into the spirit and giving Iain such a great send off ! Iain you are not to come back to us until you have made it to France... one more stroke each stroke of the way please mate...

Thank you for the thank you to B&B card and all the tim tams and lollies that you can rest assured were all enjoyed at brekkie Iain, but you're the one who is supposed to be putting on weight not us !!

There were lots of great photos from this morning, the ones here are courtesy of Stephen Coulter.  There are plenty more up on the website for all to enjoy, to see them please click here

Mahdi Deaton and Vicki Harbutt also leave today so they can get a head start on the Dardanelles swim ;-)

Gerard Dore recently did the 2km Gilamines ocean swim in Tretarmore, Ireland in 12 degree water without a wetsuit, now that's what I call tough - well done Gerard !!!

Water Temperature 17.2 degrees.
Air Temperature 9.5 degrees.
Sunrise 6.37am.
Sunset 5.24pm.
High Tide: 7.57am.
Low Tide: 1.37pm.

12/08/2011 - How Sweet It Is...

48 'ticked' Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Gorgeous conditions again this morning, the water is just beautiful and our Port Jackson was out to play again.

Michael Christie, John Bond and Isobel Kirk enjoyed a second lap too.

It really has been a mild winter this season, as far as water temperature goes anyway, yes honestly it has ;-) and there is only 19 swims left until spring - yeh ! That means there's only 19 swims left for you to qualify for your winter badge !!

Brekkie was extra sweet this morning as Bruce Paterson bought a cake for Iain's send off and Elaine Kindred made cakes for Vicki Harbutt and Mahdi Deaton's send off for the Dardanelles swim. It would simply have been rude for me to not enjoy them both... !

Please don't forget our farewell swim for Iain tomorrow, where we will paint a little bit of pink zinc on ourselves and literally see him off in the car to the airport straight from the swim...

Plus we had our two pregnant ladies there together too, Debbie Long and Sheri Deacon. I can't wait to have two new B&B babies to cuddle at Brekkie :-)

Welcome back to our attendance technology guru, Magnus Butlin. Lovely to have you back Magnus and it will be even better to have you back in the water tomorrow ;-)

Check out this beautiful on tour photo of Tomas Lees who was posing with his little Mum, Anna Alvsdotter in July on the shores of Malmoe, in Sweden, with the Oeresund Bridge (between Sweden and Denmark) as a backdrop.

Thank for all your lovely comments yesterday in response to yesterday afternoons world record post. We will file a world record application with the guiness book of records while we're at it and see what happens :-)

Happy birthday to Alex Prendergast today ;-)

Water Temperature 17.5 degrees.
Air Temperature 12 degrees.
Sunrise 6.38am.
Sunset 5.23pm.
High Tide: 7.15am.
Low Tide: 12.53pm.