Pacific Jules

29/02/2012 - Last Day of Summer

Over 65 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

A bonus day sees us enjoy last day of summer swimming today, we were joined by our cycling swimmers, Ron and David as featured in our first photo.  We had the company of lots of dusky whalers, eagle rays, groupers and loads of fish.

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Gaetan has kindly shared the video of his early swim with Michel and the fish, check it out here, it's lovely as always.

7 swimmers continued on to enjoy a second lap, apologies for the water on the lens blurring it a little.

A big congratulations to Neil who hung in there as the leader of our Pacific Challenge for the whole of summer, only just though, as Michael is close enough to be drafting him now ;-)

Look forward to seeing you at our sponsored nibbles tonight from 6.30pm at Manly Wine.

And... tomorrow morning for the first day of Autumn swimming :-)

 Water Temperature 23.1
 Air Temperature 19.5
 Sunrise 6.42am
 Sunset 7.33pm
 Low Tide: 8.13am
 High Tide: 2.01pm

28/02/2012 - Winter Colours Summer Fun

Over 88 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Gaetan and James had a lovely early swim up to Freshie and back with another magnificent sunrise, captured superbly by Gaetan.

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The regular swim was lovely as always; no stingers, warm calm water, lots of marine life to admire and enjoy and as was commented by many... everyone was huddled precisely off the point to start this morning :-)

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Rhonda had everyone's undivided attention at Shelly as she very kindly shared with all that she was intimately acquainted with a beautiful big Numbfish.  Not sure who got the biggest surprise, Rhonda, the Numbfish or us ;-)

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The beautiful Southern Eagle Ray which Dave from Eco Divers kindly identified for us yesterday was out to play again this morning.  Anna also saw the white spotted tropical eagle ray, but unfortunately he evaded the camera again.

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Gorgeous Blue Groupers and a couple of lovely Eastern Fiddler Rays were also of particular notice this morning.

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Along with lots of birthday cheer to celebrate Bruce Baird's special birthday today !  Happy Birthday Bruce, have a great day :-)

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It's a leap year so we have an extra day to enjoy tomorrow !!  Which just so happens to coincide with our monthly sponsored Nibbles, so please come and join us for a relaxing evening at Manly Wine tomorrow from 6.30pm, hope to see you all there.

Due to the success and popularity of the play 'Every Single Saturday', it's been extended at Glenn St Theatre for one more week.  It's on until 3rd March, seriously don't miss it, it's brilliant.  Contact Glenn St Theatre to book yourself a ticket, mention Bold & Beautiful to get a great discount too !!

Check out these great on tour photos from James of himself and Simon having a storm of swim at St Kilda in Victoria last week :-)

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The North Steyne Ocean Swim is also on 25th March !!  North Steyne offer a 1 & 2.8km swim, or both. To enter or learn more please click here

 Water Temperature 22.7
 Air Temperature 20.5
 Sunrise 6.41am
 Sunset 7.34pm
 Low Tide: 7.17am
 High Tide: 1.10pm

27/02/2012 - Sun Rays & Sea Eagles

73 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Gaetan and James didn't swim this morning instead they took these outstanding photos for us.  Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful photos guys, it really makes these blogs, thank you !!!

First photo in this set is Gaetan's the next three are James'

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Gaetan also sent this lovely elevated photo of us entering the water this morning

 There were lots of happy swimmers enjoying the morning :-)

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Along with two beautiful Eagle Rays cruising around the bay, unfortunately the photos aren't great, they are a little far away and blurry but you get the idea... especially from the one Michel submitted ;-)

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There were a couple of rouge bluies around too unfortunately as Attracta, Ian and Little Sarah had the misfortune of being stung.

Neil arrived back just in time as Michael is right on his tail only 500m behind him on the Pacific Challenge :-)

Brendan has sent us a very happy on tour photo after his success at Rottnest.  Enjoy your well earned holiday Brendan.

Nick TB as featured below demonstrating, well... something ;-) is participating in The World's Greatest Shave to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation and he has made the commitment that if he raises $1500 he will do the lot.... yep the lot !!!  So if you would like to encourage Nick to be smooth please sponsor him here

A reminder about the Balmoral swim on 25th March.

This year they are introducing a Teams Challenge, with an exciting fight to the finish to see who is the Champion Fundraising Team.  It's open to any company, school, club, community or other group.  Is anyone from B&B keen to take up the challenge and put a team together ??  If so here’s what you need to do:

• Create A Team On EveryDayHero
• Recruit your team members
• Start fundraising
• Pledge to raise at least $1,000

Who Benefits: The Balmoral Swim raises money for the Children's Cancer Institute Australia, a team of dedicated researchers dedicated to eliminating the suffering and incidence of childhood cancer.
How to Win: The team with the highest fundraising total at midnight on 24 March 2012 wins the Alexander Patrick Hall Shield, an honour well worth fighting for.

 Water Temperature 22.7
 Air Temperature 21.5
 Sunrise 6.41am
 Sunset 7.35pm
 Low Tide: 6.30am
 High Tide: 12.29pm

26/02/2012 - Sunrise Spectacular

Over 125 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

The divine conditions of yesterday are unfortunately exactly that, yesterday... whilst today wasn't comparable it sure started with a magnificent sunrise and a rainbow.  In case you missed it you can enjoy it here thanks to Gaetan's superb photos !!

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It seems that we were the subject of the day for some photography group this morning too as there must have been at least 10 photographers lined up along the shore snapping away as we all entered the water.

It was a great swim with no stingers and a few bumps en-route to keep it interesting.  We were also joined by a graceful Eagle Ray half way across.

Congraultations to Caleb who swam his first swim this morning too aged 10 :-)

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The highlight of the morning was definitely beautiful Sydney joining us for brekkie :-)  We have to make the most of Sydney as her Mum and Dad are taking her back to the USA in 3 weeks :-(

Alex, Cae, Gaetan and James braved continuing on for a 6km swim up to Freshie and they weren't so lucky as Alex and Gaetan both got stung at Queenscliff.

In case you missed the comments yesterday afternoon, congratulations to Ben and Brendan who both successfully complete their solo Rottnest Channel swim, great effort and very well done !  As you can see below James wrote each of their names and times in the sand and photographed them at sunrise this morning.  Very cool :-)

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Enjoy these photos below from Simon too, the first one from today, the others from yesterday.

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If you were planning on watching The Shark Harbour documentary it's only on iView for 2 more days.

Happy birthday to Anita Keelan today :-)

Two of our swimmers, Maria Mansur and Jen Chritchley are participating in the 20/twenty challenge on 18th March to raise funds for Cerebral Palsy Alliance, the money goes straight to buying mobility aids.  So if you would like to sponsor them and help raise funds for this great cause please click here

 Water Temperature 24.4
 Air Temperature 20.5
 Sunrise 6.40am
 Sunset 7.37pm
 High Tide: 11.51am
 Low Tide: 5.54pm

25/02/2012 - Perfect Summer Challenge Finale

Well over 238 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

If you swam but didn't tick please let us know so we can try to get an accurate recording for today's swim as it was mega and a record for sure !! :-)

It's hardly surprising either as it was just the most magnificent morning with delightfully warm clear water and beautiful blue skies.

What's to say really other than WOW WOW WOW !!! :-)

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Congratulations to Billy Derrin who started his Bucks Party with a swim in a mankini this morning...  Billy you go down in history as B&B's first mankini wearer !!  Enjoy your day :-)

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We certainly packed out Shelly beach at half time this morning ;-)

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Some lovely photos below: Gaetan's stunning early sunrise shot over Shelly, Robin's lovely photo of us entering the water and James' beautiful Bower aquarium pictures.  Gosh we're so lucky to be able to share all these photos, thanks for sending them in !!

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63 swimmers continued on to participate in the 6 and 10km summer badge swims this morning and what a superb last summer badge swim of the season, it couldn't have been any better.  A mammoth turnout and an outstanding effort by everyone, magic !!

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It was fantastic to be joined by Timberlie on a board for our first let up to Freshie and back and Yasmin accompanied the 8 guys who swam around to Curl Curl and back while the rest of us swam back to Manly for our well earned Teddy Bears Picnic where we were privileged to have been rewarded with a piece of Jonny's first ever home-made cake !! :-)

23 of us then jumped back in for another lap up to Freshie and back to complete our 10km swim for the morning :-)

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Well done and a huge congratulations to everyone to qualified for the 2012 6km and 10km summer badges - brilliant !!  The badge ceremony will be held on Sunday 11th March straight after the swim at Manly Wine, so please come along to be awarded your badge (at a cost of $10 each).

It's great to see Neil Cowin back with us, he will be here for the week so please come down and have a swim with him :-)

GOOD LUCK TO BEN AND BRENDAN WHO ARE SWIMMING THE ROTTNEST CHANNEL SOLO TODAY !!!

 Water Temperature 24.7
 Air Temperature 21.5
 Sunrise 6.39am
 Sunset 7.38pm
 High Tide: 11.16am
 Low Tide: 5.25pm

24/02/2012 - Fishes in the Clear Blue Sea

Over 121 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Superb swim this morning with lots of beautiful fishes in the warm, clear blue sea ;-)

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From Gaetan's photo below it sure looks like Evan, Gaetan, James and Miles had a gorgeous early swim too.

Miles also continued on for the regular swim and took some great shots from his whole adventure to share with us.

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Dave, James, John, Michael and myself continued on for a bonus second lap exploring the scenic route and Dave saw a black tipped reef shark :-)

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Now surely these stunning photos from everyone today have inspired you to participate in the 6 or 10km swim tomorrow !!  There are lots of people giving it ago including some of our outstanding veterans so please come and join in, the conditions are absolutely ideal and it's the last one for 2012 :-)

The originals have put in a special request for the 10km route to match the 6km swim all the way back to Manly, to have the teddy bears picnic on Manly beach then jump back in for another lap up to Freshie and back as they really want to qualify for their 10km badge and feel they can achieve it this way, so that's the plan, the more the merrier.  See you all tomorrow morning !

Check out Bob Petterson's fantastic B&B on tour photos from when he braved the Polar Plunge at midnight on 30th January at 77' 34'S 166' 08E in the shadow of Mt Erebus from M.V. Orion. Brilliant Bob !!  It's fantastic to see you giving Ragnill and Hilde a run for the recorder holder of 'The Coolest B&B Swim' :-)

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 Water Temperature 24.2
 Air Temperature 20.5
 Sunrise 6.38am
 Sunset 7.39pm
 High Tide: 10.43am
 Low Tide: 4.56pm

Peter I'm afraid I'll have to had over to you to disclose who you were excoriating at brekkie this morning...

23/02/2012 - Turtle Magic

106 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Another stunning swim in paradise with lots of activity including 15 new swimmers, welcome all.  Cae, Gaetan and Miles enjoyed an early lap which we can share via Gaetan's great photos below, love the one of Gaetan swimming with the sunrise behind :-)

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The juvenile school of squid joined in just off Shelly Beach, look out for them they are really very cute.

Plus a beautiful turtle swam under us just off the point on the way back !!  I tried to get a photo but he out swam me :-(

Our yogis started with an oohmmm or was it an uhmmm... ;-)

Now for a face you might recognise below with Bruce Baird...  Tim Johnston, the finalist from Australian Idol joined us for a swim this morning !!  Tim will be swimming with us again tomorrow too so come down and keep him company :-)

6 swimmers also enjoyed a bonus double lap after the regular swim.

It's the last chance to qualify for your 2012 summer badge this Saturday !!  Continue on from the regular 7am swim to join in and qualify for your 6 or 10km badge.  Please join in it should be a fabulous swim and a perfect way to end summer.  Yes can you believe it, summer is nearly over :-(  Please bring food and drink to share, to the start of the swim for the en-route teddy bears picnic, thank you.

Happy birthday to Luitz Koopman and Richard Lees today !! :-)

 Water Temperature 24.1
 Air Temperature 21.5
 Sunrise 6.37am
 Sunset 7.40pm
 High Tide: 9.30am
 Low Tide: 3.54pm

22/02/2012 - Fiddles, Cats and Flats...

Over 97 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

What a glorious morning for a swim.

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Check out some of our beautiful girls, very proud of themselves for waiting 'at the point'... ;-)

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So much marine life out to play with us too !!  Photos below are of two gorgeous Eastern Fiddler Rays, two Estuarine Catfish and a Flathead.

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Fiona, Gaetan, James and Michel also enjoyed a lovely early bonus lap.

Check out these fab photos of Brendan's brother John at the Carnival in Rio !!  It looks amazing :-)

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Nick TB is being brave and participating in The World's Greatest Shave to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation.  If you would like to sponsor Nick please click here

 Water Temperature 20.5
 Air Temperature 20.5
 Sunrise 6.36am
 Sunset 7.41pm
 High Tide: 9.30am
 Low Tide: 3.54pm

21/02/2012 - A Bright Start

43 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

There's nothing better than a lovely swim with great company to brighten up a dreary day :-)

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I've heard of role reversal, but this morning it seems we had equipment reversal... whilst Lucy was back in her wetsuit, purely in the name of protection of course ;-) Vicki had her first ever swim with out a wetsuit !!  and Reetha and Izzy stopped mid swim to swop flippers - cute ;-)

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Happy birthday to Anna Alvsdotter and Sophie Coombes today !!

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Brendan had his last swim with us before his Rottnest Channel Solo Swim on Saturday.  Safe travels and good luck Ben and Brendan !!!!

 Water Temperature 21.7
 Air Temperature 20.0
 Sunrise 6.35am
 Sunset 7.42pm
 High Tide: 8.50am
 Low Tide: 3.20pm

20/02/2012 - Calm after the Storm

59 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Miles was very happy to be out at the point being nibbled for a second time this morning after his bonus early lap with Sam, and all before breakfast too... ;-)

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It was the calm after the storm this morning with beautiful water and reasonably good visibility. Soooo many fish out and about as well :-)

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Thanks Anna for doing such a great job with the swims and on the blog over the weekend, although I'm not sure we'll let you loose again... ;-) Sandy you can't let the truth get in the way of a good story...  2500 people... well we are currently sitting at 2493 swimmers and I guess they could all choose to swim one day... yikes.

Thanks to Dave for overtaking Anna on the Pacific Challenge, whoops... I mean for taking the 6km swim on Saturday with an amazing number of swimmers, fantastic !!

There's only one more Saturday left to qualify for your summer badge, yep, this coming Saturday when you can choose between the 6 or 10km swim, as both will continue on from the regular swim at 7.  What a great way to finish summer, come on you know you want too :-)

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A massive well done to our very talented 'Wall of Thought' as every item they entered into the Kangaroo Valley Show won a prize !!!  To quote Maureen, all their items were inspired by B&B and made with love :-)  Maureen & Nicolee both won first prize with their pie carrier and jewellery and Annette & Maureen both won second prize for their B&B swimming dolls and apron.  Brilliant !!

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Well done to everyone who participated in the Jervis Bay Triathlons this weekend, there were about 40 B&B swimmers that we saw taking part amongst all the events and Greg, Michael and I had a fabulous time watching you all, very inspirational, although it was exhausting I have to say ;-)

Whilst we were down there we enjoyed some stunning swimming off Hyams Beach where we saw so many Rays; Bull Rays, Eagle Rays, Fiddler Rays, Numbfish, Shovel Nosed Sharks and Stingarees to name just a few.  Shame we didn't have the camera it would have made a magnificent video.

Simon discovered a new variety of the animal kingdom on Manly Beach over the weekend...

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Welcome back to Gaetan, looking forward to hearing of all your holiday adventures including your fame on Japanese TV :-)

 Water Temperature 23.7
 Air Temperature 20.5
 Sunrise 6.34am
 Sunset 7.44pm
 High Tide: 8.07am
 Low Tide: 2.43pm