Pacific Jules

28/05/2012 - Temperature's Rising

Over 60 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Enjoying another serene morning swim together.

Andrew and John are pretty excited as the Scottish Rugby team are staying in Manly and reckon they might come and swim with us :-)

You could be forgiven for thinking from this photo, that non-wetsuit swimmers are still the majority.  Maybe not the majority but definitely the coolest.

It seems that Lesley didn't appreciate the dousing from that nasty wave...

Sorry Lesley but I couldn't resist... ;-)  I know I know, I'd better be careful... revenge :-(

A nice tight gathering off the point before we set off together on our dolphin search...

So there may not have been dolphins but there were lots of duskies.  What happened to them disappearing when the water dropped below 19 degrees ??  May be that's a sign that it's only a temporary drop from the westerly winds.  Michael has checked out the sea surface temperature which is taken from about 5-6kms out to sea and it has just risen again to over 20 degrees, so there is hope !!

Anna and Lori seemed pretty happy with their find at Shelly ;-)

5 swimmers also enjoyed an early lap into Shelly and 3 ventured up to Queensie.

Check out this outstanding photo of the Giant Cuttlefish courtesy of Gaetan, taking whilst he was snorkeling yesterday - WOW !!!!

Plus a lovely video of Gaetan's, also from yesterday for you to enjoy here  As always with Gaetan's videos it's well worth the watch !!  It features the cuttlefish plus much much more... my favourite is the blue-lined goatfish as he lifts his dorsal fin - very cute !  There's some work for you Jane is this video too please... ??

While we're on yesterday, here are some of Fifi's beautiful photos taken from both her pre-dawn lap and the regular swim.

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  Water Temperature 17.7
  Air Temperature 12.0
  Sunrise 6.49am
  Sunset 4.56pm
  Low Tide: 7.30am
  High Tide: 1.44pm

27/05/2012 - Whales On The Horizon !

Over 112 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

How's this for a gorgeous morning...

The sun's shining, the seas are calm and clear - and after all what more is there is to ask for of a morning ?  Clearly not much, everyone's pretty damn happy here :-)

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Plus we enjoyed a bonus visit from Neil as he is passing through on his way to start his new career in South Australia.  Congratulations Neil and all the very best of luck.  Can't wait to see you again as soon as you've accrued some annual leave :-)

The colours on the horizon created a beautiful backdrop as we swam across the bay this morning...

Gab's happy to have landed at Shelly, Heidi on the other hand, just behind, looks as though she may have just found a cold patch.

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Then it's the down hill lap as we swim our way back to our well earned coffee :-)

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well for some of us, as 12 swimmers continued on for a double lap.  5 swimmers also jumped in early for the pre-dawn 6.30am lap.  It's amazing so many swimmers are still enjoying these extra laps in the slightly less that bath temperature waters.

Winter badge starts soon....

This coming Friday it's officially winter and the winter badge challenge starts !!!!  You need to swim a minimum of 20 times across a minimum of 7 different weeks of winter to qualify.  There are 13 weeks of winter all together so you have plenty of time to qualify and of course there is no maximum to the number of times or weeks you can swim, you can swim every single day if you like, and you might just want to too...

There were four whales off Manly as we were walking back from breakfast today, so Gaetan's right Whale Season has arrived !!

So, if you swim every morning between now and October you might just get lucky.  Two out of three of our winters we have been privileged with a whale joining us for a swim !!  So you just never know, we could be lucky again.

  Water Temperature 17.5
  Air Temperature 12.0
  Sunrise 6.49am
  Sunset 4.56pm
  Low Tide: 6.39am
  High Tide: 12.47pm

26/05/2012 - A Fresh Start

Over 120 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

A stunner of a morning with the sun breaking the horizon just as Michael discovered the slight drop in the water temperature...

Anyone would think there was a chill in the air with everyone so rugged up right till the knocker.

It requires a lot of concentration to get those goggles set up... 

Yes you Simon ;-)

The sea has settled back down again after yesterday's brief interruption to our run of perfect conditions.

Some people seem to be pretty happy they chose to wear their wetsuits this morning ;-)

Despite the drop in water temp it was definitely still warmer in than out with everyone staying as submerged as possible as we gathered at Shelly.

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and Ian has decided he's quite happy with the apparent apres swim rewards of not wearing a wetsuit...

 Despite the arctic wind there were still plenty of swimmers enjoying some extra laps into Shelly both before and after the regular swim :-)

Plus Brendan, Gaetan, Iain & James et al... lapped up ~12km of swimming this morning with a double lap up to Curly and back.  As they came into Shelly at the end of their second lap they had dolphins swimming right along side them.  Not sure if they saw them but we could as we walked along the shore.

They are planning a mammoth swim from Palm Beach to Manly next Saturday so if you're up and down the beaches during the day please look out for them off the headlands and give them a big wave of encouragement.

Hey Magnus... the little blue dot has disappeared from our round the world circumnavigation, does that mean we've completed one whole lap of the world ???  Will we change colour as we start our second lap ??

Stephen found this great logo, it sums up most of us perfectly don't you reckon :-)

Gotta love this sign that he found too...

Plus, the fact that it's World Turtle Day today, celebrating one of the world’s oldest creatures, to learn more click here

  Water Temperature 17.5
  Air Temperature 10.0
  Sunrise 6.48am
  Sunset 4.56pm
  Low Tide: 5.52am
  High Tide: 11.55am

25/05/2012 - Scrappy

Over 60 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

What a difference a day makes...

Despite the lack of sun there was certainly no lack of enthusiasm for swimming.  In addition to the regular 7am swim there were also 6 swimmers who enjoyed an early swim, albeit in the chop, up to Queensie, and another 7 who enjoyed an early lap in the protected waters to Shelly.

It was a touch scrappy (to quote Simon R) through the waves this morning, and a bit like a washing machine on full spin coming back in, just to keep it exciting...

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We were all well and truly gathered at the point this morning :-)

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and the main part of the swim was lovely, kinda like a ride on one of those horse carousels at the fairground - fun :-)  and as always, calm for our half way respite at Shelly.

There was also a huge pod of dolphins just out the back of the break as we swam back to shore, hopefully tomorrow they'll be a tad earlier and join us for the swim.

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Thank you very much to Gaetan for all of these great photos today, giving us a different view of our swim.

The warmth of our apres swim at Bluewater was appreciated by all as we huddled together congratulating ourselves on our morning's activities :-)

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As you maybe aware, sadly it's Liz's last swim next Friday so she 'has volunteered' to do an Irish Jig for us as part of her farewell at Bluewater after the swim... Something not to be missed ;-)

It's gonna all change again for tomorrow, with virtually no swell and full sunshine :-)  Which means it should be back to beautiful, so I'm sure there'll be some people up for a gentle 6km swim.  See ya's all in the morning :-)

Check this out !!!  Brendan saw this octopus on the harbourside as he walked along the path from the Skiff Club to swimming yesterday morning. There’s sealife wherever you look at the moment !

I'm sure you all are very familiar with the inspiration our most senior swimmer, Bruce Paterson aged 83, has provided us all with over the last 3 and a half years, not to mention the entertainment and great company over coffee.

Well, sadly after a very long and successful fight against cancer things are sadly changing for Bruce.  Bruce is currently comfortable in Manly hospital and takes great comfort in the companionship and support he receives from his B&B friends.  It was only a couple of weeks ago when Gareth T accompanied him for a train ride and an overnight stay at Broken Hill where he donned his pink cap for the wall of fame (photos to follow).  Our thoughts are with you and your family at this time Bruce.

  Water Temperature 19.4
  Air Temperature 11.0
  Sunrise 6.47am
  Sunset 4.57pm
  High Tide: 11.08am
  Low Tide: 4.38pm

24/05/2012 - Multi Coloured Highlights

Over 80 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Another colourful sunrise to greet us for our morning swim.  They're only going get better too as we move into winter !

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Always time for a quick hug and lots of smiles as we enter the water :-)

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Elaine and Alyson almost got swept up in the momentum of Nicki, Jules and Judy for a second lap.

Attracta was so proud of herself for actually waiting 'at the point' this morning that she felt she should be rewarded with shouting the 'Lets Go' ;-)

Check out the magnificent giant cuttlefish that was swimming around in the shall water over the rocks, close to the walkway about 50metres from Shelly Beach.

You can see him starting to change colour in these photos.

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I didn't even make it to Shelly Beach today as I was sooo engrossed in trying to capture this beautiful creature :-)

Oh and of course there were tonnes of our regular fishie friends too :-)

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There's still a great amount of pre-dawn activity with 5 guys heading off up to Queensie at 6.15, 13 swimmers into Shelly at 6.30 and another 5 enjoying their extra lap after the regular swim.

John Masters is quite right in his comment yesterday that collectively since 1st June 2011 we are about to complete our circumnavigation of the world !  Check it out by clicking on the link to the Pacific Challenge to the left of the blog or simply here, scroll down to the second graph titled collective world progress - pretty impressive hey !!!

To read Michael's tips on how to stay safe in the surf please click here

  Water Temperature 19.0
  Air Temperature 11.0
  Sunrise 6.47am
  Sunset 4.57pm
  High Tide: 10.24am
  Low Tide: 3.55pm

23/05/2012 - Calm, Flat & Totally Divine

Over 122 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Enjoy yet another spectacular morning at lake Manly... check out how calm the sea is for as far as the eye can see !!  Not a bad sunrise either...

Whilst it does feel a little fresh as you first get in it's definitely worth it, the water is really still quite warm and seriously, you're about to the swim in the world's best aquarium, so there is lots to be excited about...

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Whilst I didn't feel it personally there must have been a strong current at the point this morning... ;-)

It was another outstandingly magical swim with sooo much to see including the giant cuttlefish which was flashing blue (apparently) :-)

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Check out this little guy who was practicing his slalom swimming amongst the seaweed.

The scuba divers were out early this morning too.

Lori was enjoying floating off the point whilst Ted ran aground and Liz got creative with her goggles, as the strap broke she used her cap to hold them on ;-)

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Sadly Liz only has a few morning swims with us as she is heading back to Ireland the weekend after next :-(

15 swimmers enjoyed the early pre-dawn lap at 6.30 and 5 continued on for a double.

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If you've noticed these 'balls on a stick' throughout the bay and wondered what they are, they record the tagged dusky's and wobby's etc... as they swim within a certain radius of each one, helping the authorities to learn more about their activities.  Cool hey :-)

For those of you who were swimming with us in March this year you will remember the amazing B&B cake that Neil from Peekaboo party cakes made for us for our summer badge ceremony...

Well, check this out, you can have one of Neil's amazing cupcakes for only $1 on Cupcake Saturday which is the last Saturday of every month starting this Saturday 10.00am-2.00pm !!  To learn more check out Neil's blog here

  Water Temperature 18.6
  Air Temperature 11.0
  Sunrise 6.46am
  Sunset 4.58pm
  High Tide: 9.43am
  Low Tide: 3.15pm

22/05/2012 - Sheer Luxury

Over 92 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Another perfect morning for a swim.  Ok so every morning is perfect, but these totally peaceful conditions just make it simply unmatchable.

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We are getting very close to breaking the 3000 mark with 2939 different individuals having currently ever swum with us (that we know of), and you know what... they all do it with a smile !! :-)

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Quite a few people were lucky enough to swim with a giant cuttlefish who was displaying his vibrant orange colours at the time.  Unfortunately I wasn't one of the lucky ones and it seems that Stephen wasn't either as he took these fantastic shots, but there's none of the GC.

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10 swimmers also enjoyed an early lap into Shelly and Gaetan enjoyed some solitude for a solo swim up to Queensie.  5 swimmers also continued on afterwards for yet another lap :-)

Check out this great action shot leaving Shelly... guess who ??

Not sure what Izzy did to her breakfast this morning... yep that's scrambled eggs with marmalade, jam and vegemite all on the same piece of toast !  Don't worry, thankfully that's not on Bluewater's menu.

Happy birthday to Eleanor Sheedy today !! :-)

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BUNCH OF FLOWERS THAT JUST GOT DELIVERED TO MY DOOR FROM ALL OF YOU !!!!! xxxxx

Sharon Dunn has shared some of her fantastic photos with us from a dive she enjoyed in the bay just after the swim on Saturday morning, check out the duskies, wobby's, I think that's even an octopus in the second one, plus plenty more... thanks for sharing them with us Sharon.

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One of our swimmers Dave Kiely from Macquarie Bank in Manly is involved in an upcoming charity event from 6pm on Tuesday 5th June at the Manly Golf Club to raise funds for The Day of Difference Foundation.

There will be a guest speaker from Macquarie's Strategy team to discuss their outlook on what's happening in Europe and Australia, with drinks and canapes following the presentation.
Tickets are only $15 each.  To book click here or call Hayden Bushell at Macquarie Manly on 9425 6000.

Day of Difference was formed in 2005 by Ron & Carolyn Martin Delezio after they experienced first hand what parents go through as a result of having their beautiful daughter, Sophie, critically injured.  The foundation is committed to being the support mechanism for critically injured children and their families.  Families of critically injured children are cared for by multiple professionals during hospitalisation.  Currently there is no resource or other organisation offering dedicated in-hospital support to parents of critically injured children despite the alarmingly high numbers of child critical injury.  Day of Difference is committed to filling this crucial role during one of the most traumatic events a family can face.

  Water Temperature 19.4
  Air Temperature 12.0
  Sunrise 6.45am
  Sunset 4.58pm
  High Tide: 9.04am
  Low Tide: 2.38pm

21/05/2012 - Arms In The Air

Over 58 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

Those clouds were short lived this morning clearing almost as soon as we entered the water and the sun came up... not sure which had the most positive influence.

Yet another superb swim in calm tranquil waters :-)

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Welcome back to Kirstin Buehrich who used to swim with us but moved back to Germany two years ago.  Kristin is only here on holiday for a couple of days so please take the opportunity to reunite with her over the next couple of mornings :-)

Why is it we all put our arms up in the air as high as we can until that last second as we gradually edge our way into the water... ;-)

This morning's additional swims included Graham setting off on his own at 6am, 6 swimmers enjoying what they thought was an early start at 6.30 and John and Michael lapping it up with another extra lap afterwards.

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Check out all these fish that were feeding on the surface as we came back round the point.

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Talking of the point... everyone was congregated right 'at' the point at the start this morning - yippee !!! Big congratulations to us :-)

I love this blue fish with the beautiful big yellow splodge on his side but he is seriously camera shy so the best I managed was to get this very poor, blurry shot of him with our super-sized bright blue grouper just before he hid under the seaweed.

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Princess Pete and I were chatting off the point admiring what we had seen this morning and this lovely big Eastern Fiddler Ray slide out from under a rock...

Then just as we were about to stand up right close to shore this cute little fish swam past...

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More news in from yesterday's Half Marathon, Elaine de Jager knocked 20 minutes off her time finishing in 2.03 and raising $1250 for Cantoo thanks to everyone who supported her and Jules Mackin did an amazing 99 minutes !!  Fantastic, well done both of you !!!

Dave Thomas from Eco Divers had a look at the photos of the injured fish yesterday and says it is a silver trevally that looks as though it has probably survived a wobbegong bite, as it's too big for a dusky to bite.  The good news is they can sometimes get over injuries even as severe as this as long as nothing major was involved.

A reminder that if you would like to take advantage of the special B&B discount to see the talented TaikOz production of Shifting Sand at Glenn St Theatre, it is only on until 26th May.

Shifting Sand is a new work richly inspired by the beach and the ocean from the Northern Beaches, to read more please click here   Don't forget to mention B&B when you book to take advantage of the great discount.

Just as a reminder our ever exciting and well earned apres swim has moved to Bluewater !! :-)

To read Michael's tips on how to stay safe in the surf please click here

  Water Temperature 19.6
  Air Temperature 14.0
  Sunrise 6.45am
  Sunset 4.59pm
  High Tide: 8.25am
  Low Tide: 2.02pm

20/05/2012 - Pacific Bliss

Over 131 Bold & Beautiful swimmers.

There might have been some unpredicted grey clouds around but there was certainly nothing else grey about the morning.  The water is still superb and there were certainly lots of lurve around...

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The marine life, well it's simply prolific.  Craig and Rob counted 39 duskies last Sunday and Anna counted 41 yesterday, this has to be a record number of dusky whalers in the bay surely !  Not to mention the massive schools of beautiful yellowtail.

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We still appear to be the project of some photography groups on the weekends,\ which is cool, just a shame we don't get to see their finished work.

Only Michael and Midge braved the wind chill of the early lap this morning, but 10 swimmers enjoyed a double after the 7am swim when the turtle made an appearance again for Max and Rob as they swam back close to the rocks.  Plus, I have since learnt that Dave Washbrook saw 2 turtles yesterday !!!  Hopefully Mr Turtle will swim past one of us with a camera soon.

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Unfortunately Attracta, Izzy, Mahdi, Vicki and myself saw a very poorly fish, he had a great big whole in his side.  I'll forward an albeit blurry photo onto Jane and Dave to see what it might be.

Check out Alex Prendergast looking great and raring to go at the start of the South Head Roughwater Swim this morning.  Go you good thing !! Please let us know how you go Alex.

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Congratulations to everyone who successfully completed the Half Marathon today, so far we know specifically that Nic, Nic and Jeff made it in great times, well done you guys !!

Jeff Lang: 1:55:00, Nicole Piha: 2:08:29 and Nicolee Goins: 2:10:58

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Manly Sun Run today too.

Happy birthday to Tim Kingma today :-)

See ya's all tomorrow for more of the same as these idyllic conditions are predicted for a little longer yet :-)

  Water Temperature 19.6
  Air Temperature 12.0
  Sunrise 6.44am
  Sunset 4.59pm
  High Tide: 7.46am
  Low Tide: 1.28pm

19/05/2012 - Absolutely Splendiferous

Over 140 Bold & Beautiful swimmers enjoyed yet another absolultely magnificent morning - wow wow wow wow wow !

What is there to say other than it is absolutely splendiferous :-)  It's no surprise that it's not only the sun that's beaming this morning.

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George the infamous Corn Man is soooo thrilled to be swimming with us that he presented his guardian angels, the team of three; Anna, Derek and Paige who actively encouraged him to join us with a slab of the most divine home made chocolate this morning.  How lovely, thank you George, and thank you to the recipients for sharing it at brekkie too :-)

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Our smooth Todd is back... his baby hasn't arrived yet but the gestation period of facial growth has gone as the baby is due any day - how exciting !

The marine life is just getting better and better, we were joined by a cuttlefish just off the Bower and the 6km swimmers were rewarded with another sighting of the turtle up at Queenscliff so he's still around.  Let's hope he joins us in the bay again tomorrow.

 

 A happy breather at Shelly...

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Then it's 'let's go' again for the return lap...

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It's nearly winter and so many people are continuing on with extra distance which is fantastic.  The early laps at 6.30am are still being patronised every morning and there's still plenty of people keen to continue on for a 6km swim on the weekends too, plus this morning some of the guys swam down from Dee Why too, brilliant.

On another note, Michael and I went to see Shifting Sand by TaikOz at Glenn St Theatre last night and it was fantastic.  Those guys and gals are seriously talented, the different sounds they get out of those instruments is amazing.

Shifting Sand is a new work richly inspired by the beach and the ocean from the Northern Beaches, to read more please click here

It's on until 26th May so if you'd like to see this amazing performance please take advantage of the fantastic B&B discount by mentioning Bold & Beautiful when you contact the box office.

Good luck to everyone in the South Head Rough Water swim tomorrow.

Look forward to seeing the rest of you for another perfect swim in paradise followed by a fantastic special B&B brekkie at Bluewater :-)

Water Temperature 19.8
  Air Temperature 15.0
  Sunrise 6.43am
  Sunset 5.00pm
  High Tide: 7.07am
  Low Tide: 12.53pm