Pacific Jules

25/09/2021 Here comes another one

Above: Here comes another one – but each swim is different and the mornings have more light and it arrives a lot earlier.

A 6.30amish Bolderdash (which I have not done for a while) with Carel, Inge, Jason and Keith. 

Above: Here comes another wave and Jason has that steely look of determination at the start of his swim.

Above: Jason, Inge, Carel and Keith at the North Steyne stop on the way to Queenscliff.

Above: Here come four fish doing what fish do on the sea grass on the way back in from the point.

Above: Suzette and Lainey with today's temp.

Above: 

Here comes another sunrise but each day is different.

Air Temp (at 7am) : 17 degrees

Sea Temp: 16.7 degrees

Sunrise: 5.40am

Visibility: Varying

Conditions: Changing

Here come's another one - actually maybe not

 

Above: Here comes a bunch of pics of people with pink caps on.

QUOTE FOR SATURDAY

I have completed the #ClimateSwim. 12 days, 7.8 gruelling kilometres. I feel relieved, exhausted, cold. And worried.

The melting we have seen on the Greenland Ice Sheet will impact all of us. We have a very small window to act. We now need all hands on deck to solve the Climate Crisis

Lewis Pugh

UN Patron of Oceans

Time’s up.

Here comes the signoff.

Look after each other, enjoy our beautiful ocean and give a word of encouragement to those who need it in these times.

Stay safe – remember it ain’t over till it’s over.

Oosty

 

 

"Absolutely Fabulous Daaarlings, the Perfect Dozen is here!"

Look daaarling, an art showing/auction today upstairs (BEST SUNRISES OF 2021) in the surf club! How delightful! We must go up the inside stairs, through the men’s showers, oh dear. Look there’s Swanbourne Sam, mighty fine specimen, I heard that about Perth men. Avert your eyes, Murray is showing off his water skills again. Look Stirling and Sarge are lathering up, do behave!

Well bugger me, there is actually grog here, pretty good for 8am. Where is my champers daaarling? I reckon Capless and Drinksy are behind all this. Two of the best deviants I’ve ever met.

Queue background music - https://youtu.be/90h2gLgTz5g

Darlings, there you are. How is the Bollinger? Yes I know its frightfully hard to get at the moment with those bloody frogs cracking down on us. A bit of goose liver for you, snuck this one up from Tasmania, not really kosher, watch out Lainey might be onto us avoiding the EU.

Let’s check out the action (and a few of the paintings as well....

EXHIBIT ONE - The Garden of Ocean Delights, 25 March 6:48am

Roger over there is the one to watch out for once the auction starts, spreads rumours that he was on Hey Hey you know. Designs a couple of T-Shirts and a Tea towel collection for old Castro and he thinks he a shoe in for the Moaning Lisa picture. I’m going to outbid him even if I have to sell the Harley.

EXHIBIT TWO - The Creation of Manly, 27 April 6:27am

Look daaarling, here’s the latest Pitch Report from this morning on the noticeboard, written by the charming and enchanting curators.

Rusty and Caroline’s Pitch Report

Action at the point today, cuttlefish, big smooth ray, highway blues. Flat, not a breath of breeze. 16.9 degrees on the chalkboard, don’t they do a great job those Chalkies every day! Liam says clarity somewhere between perfect and good. Saw a PJ hanging with a ray mid swim. Great day for a double dose for Pete and Cameron. Summer is definitely here. Don’t want to sell too hard, not ready for crowds. Tried the oat milk double shot latte, highly recommended. Having a mental health day today, thanks Gerry.

EXHIBIT THREE - Bonfire of the Beach, 11 May 6:32am

Poor old Elizabeth, anyone would think she’s been locked down in Lane Cove for the past 3 months. Can’t get her off the bar. I notice the odd very long Covid swim. Daaarlings, she’s one to watch this morning!

EXHIBIT FOUR - The Persistence of Manly, 1 June 6:38am

What about that ghastly Steve, aka Dodgy Ticker, hey? Drunk the bar dry of Grange. Bloke doesn’t normally even surface for one of our lovely sunrises. More money than sense, might have to spike his drink, or get in his will…?

EXHIBIT FIVE - The Swim, 10 June 6:51am

Anywho daaarling, there is a real young up and coming artist featuring today. Yes, the one in the Turtle swimmers and fluffy pink uggs. That one next her I’ve seen before, Zig Zag they call her, she keeps running into me at the point.

EXHIBIT SIX - The Sunrise Watch, 18 June 6:34am

This swim stuff is working wonders for my muscles. Couple of weeks I’ll be bendy like Madonna, daaarling. Then I’ll be able to kiss my own arse from both directions. Oh look is that the divine David Panton, back from the Brownlows, surrounded by his harem? Yummy!

EXHIBIT SEVEN - Manly Gothic, 14 July 6:56am

Who let these Masters of the Universe in any way? Ghastly fellows! One of them is actually an auditor you know, doesn’t get much worse! Pretty sure the one missing today is up in Byron checking out property, the other one chasing the girls around Bobbin Head.

EXHIBIT EIGHT - Whistler’s BnB, 19 July 6:49am

Is that Chippo tramping around taking the credit as always for such a glamorous event! Did you know he’s a gynaecologist? I hate gynaecologists! A man who can look you in the vagina, but never in the eye!

EXHIBIT NINE - Impression Sunrise, 1 August 6:46am

What’s that? The chalkies? Yeah they could do with a good picture on the walls to remind them that it’s not all about blackboards in the classroom any more. Might ask Drinksy to see if we can slip him a fiver or something appealing to get Guy an inside running.

EXHIBIT TEN - Portrait of Madame Manly, 21 August 6:28am

What the hell is the difference between a painting done by a person who wishes to paint like a child, and a child’s painting? Very deep darling! Check out the English Rusty over there, he scrubs up well when he’s not in his G-string.

EXHIBIT ELEVEN - The Birth of Manly, 4 September 6:09am

What a banger sunrise! But what about you? Not one bloody boyfriend in the whole time that I’ve known you! I mean, you’re not that bloody ugly! What’s the matter with you? Huh? Have you read that Karma Sutra I gave you? I love it!

EXHIBIT TWELVE -  Pièce de Résistance! Manly Lisa, 10 September 5:51am

So here we are at the end, I’m having heart palpitations just thinking about which sunrise is best.

They want us to comment with our favourite one…either on Facebook or down on the blog.

Mmm I like that there are prizes. First prize is dinner with Simon Phin! How wonderful daaarling! Second prize is 2 dinners with Simon, delicious daaarling! If I write some raunchy comments, will I get dessert with Trooper as well?

Thanks for the Swim Team, don’t forget to comment on which one is your favourite sunrise of the Year.

 

Carolinebythebeach & Rusty The Fish

22-09-21: Joys of a new wetsuit!

"No cold nuts!" exclaimed Tylney with a look of excited disbelief.

"Excuse me?" said Karen giggling behind her hands at this rather unexpected comment.

"I've got a new wetsuit! If I was wearing my usual old (& clearly not so faithful) 25 year old wetsuit, I would have had cold nuts by now!" Tylney said excitedly as he glided further into the water...... waiting with trepidation... for that 'cold nut' moment.

"Still not cold" he said grinning!  For the rest of the swim the new Orca Sonar was put to every possible test!

Buoyancy is excellent! Top marks!

Even when someone swims underneath & scares the bejesus out of you. Might not look as pretty on the surface but certainly still buoyant.

A little bit more tricky trying to get to the bottom but hey, when visibility is not so good, who cares, right?

Proof of poor visibility today!

 

It even enables you to jump up high out of deep water without any effort required.

 

And you can swim fast back to shore and be well rested before anyone else gets back.

Tylney gives top marks for his new Orca Sonar! Time to put your 25 year old wetsuit in the bin, Tylney! 😆

 

The rest of the swim was lovely, though Clare was struggling to stay afloat. She spends most of the time carrying the ocean in her wetsuit which is a size or two too big. She's looking forward to her new Orca Sonar turning up too!

Jocelyn flying around the point. Beautiful high arm stroke! Shame I forgot to take the camera setting off 'underwater'.

A perfect spot for a spot of meditation! Shame about the paparazzi!

Balmoral Bathers Pavillion looking elegant from the sea.

Bit of backstroke!?!  in the sun!

Another beautiful day at Balmoral! A complete change from yesterday where even JK, who never complains, complained about how "freeeeeeezzzing the wind was".

Stay safe! Have a great week

Lucy

Tuesday 21st September - Spring winds

So far the day is better than the forecast, ie no rain but it is very windy!

As many bloggers post a sunrise shot I thought I would do the same, but the lazy option before 6am was from the comfort of my bed and screenshot the webcam. Also very enjoyable and warmer!

Turns out the swim itself was lovely, mostly protected from the wind and although the temperature was 15.7 it didn't feel like it (in my wetsuit!). Visibility was better than yesterday and the sea was very flat.

Saw some familiar faces, always a bonus.

Robyn was well covered up but easily recognized by her esky. 

Oops, I did the sideways shot. 

A few more pics post swim(didn't see much sea life in the water).

Have a great day, maybe even a picnic,  freedom is closer!

Amanda 

Monday 20th September 2021 - 5:48 Sunrise

5:22am

Trish & Ali@5:30

5:48 Sunrise - thanks Greg.


Malibu.

Corso.

Coffee after Coach Brett’s session:

Warmup Ramp to Corso

6x50 stroke sprints to Trident

Return sprints - 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 ramp

 

Pull it up.

Happy birthday Liza

Alex & mum Heather

Harry loves Ivy

 

Enjoy stay safe

Simon

 

 

18/09/2021 Hair, hair it's Saturday

The flowing locks and the creative hairstyles of the lockdown tribe. Here at B&B Blog central we thought we’d capture these wild and woolly days before freedom brings back a visit to the hairdresser or barber.

Well that was the plan .... until the conditions turned a bit hairy and I didn’t get to meet up with as many swimmers as I intended. The plan was to hang around in the water off the point and talk to swimmers on their way in. Well…  it was difficult to spot the swimmers between the choppy waves so that didn't quite work out.

Generally the Vox pox vibe was – don’t fight the wild and free hairy look but if you do order a pair of hair clippers be prepared for a bit of a wait for delivery and a bit of shopping around.

By the way according to Tom Gleeson’s Hard Quiz, human hair packaged in stockings is used to soak up oil spills. It may be worth asking your barber or hairdresser for a takeaway bag so you can do your bit for the environment.

Above: A very Happy Birthday to this trio from the 6.30am Drinks Express.

Above: Unfortunately, there is a been a walkout by the chalkies following yesterday’s blog undermining the accuracy of their valiant efforts to bring us the daily temperature. Chalkie Guy feels particularly hard done by as he made the extra effort to introduce technicolour to today’s display by writing "Saturday" in yellow - or is that gold?

Above: I swam to Shelly where I met Mike and Colleen and joined them for a bumpy swim back to Manly. Mike grew his Covid beard at the first lockdown and sees no need to shave it off. Colleen and I discovered that we were both Rhodes students as we attended the same South African varsity although I may have been there a few years (maybe decades!) before her.

Above: Sarah and John were full of enthusiasm about their exhilarating swim north.

Above: Pete (right) invested in a pair of clippers so his wife can keep his hair trim. Don prefers to look in the mirror and snip off the bits of hair that are sticking out. I refrain from this technique in order not to give myself the Vincent Van Gogh look.

Above: Tony has no plans yet to prebook a barber and is happy to let it grow.

Above: Peta had her mind more on the rugby championship this evening. No prizes for guessing who she will be barracking for.

Above: Rusty keeps his locks trimmed and manageable with "clippers and wax".

Above: Richard and Nick made their way out through the heavy surf at Manly before heading back in to the beach to do it again.

Above: Mike says you may have to resort to using the hedge trimmers as there seems to be a shortage of hair trimmers online.

 

Above:

Take a picture here in the daylight, oh-oh
And it's a wild, wild life
You've grown so tall, you've grown so fast, oh-oh-oh
Wild, wild life

 

It ain’t over till its over.

Look after each other, enjoy our beautiful ocean and give a word of encouragement to those who need it in these times.

As usual, please feel free to submit your pics and comments from far and wide.

 

I’ll leave you with the Talking Heads and Wild Wild Life – plenty of inspirational hairstyles here to get you going.

Oosty

Happy Hour / The Great Thermometer Debate Science experiment

Rusty & Caroline’s Pitch report
The shark boat was pacing back and forth between 5.30 and 7am this morning, laying the summer nets? Yesterday’s Nor Easter has brought some warmth back to the air & water. The bower breaks looks smaller, a nice little wave off Manly. Surfers in their hundreds. Jelly babies everywhere in the water, no jimbles sighted. Even the express were dawdling today, enjoying the temperature and sights.  Isabel was seen taking her normal chaotic zig zag route across the bay, taking out as many swimmers as possible. Much warmer, the sun had some bite, summer just around the corner.

We usually push off, with the chalked temperature taunting us.
Today we decided to launch our own Temperature Research Integrity Audit headed by BEACH (Bettering Environmental Analysis of CHalkboard)
Having replaced last week’s rectal thermometer with a (hopefully waterproof) BBQ meat thermometer, we set out on our unbiased, responsible conduct of research.

AIMS
Is Shelly really colder than Manly?
Is Half Way a better warm water entry point?
What about Queenscliff, warmer or cooler?
And most importantly, is the Chalky thermometer properly calibrated?

METHOD
Removing the Bunnings BBQ meat thermometer from the unicorn ziplock bag, place the probe into the water for 10 seconds.
Record the temperature reading with photographic evidence.
Return thermometer to ziplock. Proceed to next location for temperature sampling.

HYPOTHESIS
The temperature recording is occasionally accurate

RESULTS

Manly boat ramp - temp check 16.9 degrees! (What are the chalkies smoking???)

Half Way 17.1 degrees

The Point - 17.1 degrees

Shelly - 16.0 degree. Saw Sue at Shelley, never trust a man with a thermometer down his pants, wise words Sue!

Thanks for the swim Team. Thanks for the coffee Matt. Don't let your true love run cold!

Carolinebythebeach & Rusty the Fish

Apologies to the Chalkies who we know do an amazing job, day in, day out. But hey it's alway good to stir them up ha ha :)

oh and yes... Queenscliff was 16.6 warmer down there..

Inspiration for the weekend ahead:

 

 

 

Thursday September 16: We're the lucky ones

BOLD & BEAUTIFUL IS NOT CURRENTLY RUNNING DUE TO THE RISKS OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). Thank you for continuing to follow public health advice at all times to protect yourself and your community.

Hello Swimmers, A Georgeous grey morning with air temperature 9 degrees at 630 and water temperature 15.9 and a on/off rain.  Perfect as always for a Shelly Swim. It was  mid tide when I swam at 7am - it was a bit rippy and low water viz but no sign of jimbles. Swimming life is getting a little closer to normal for those fortunate enough to be permitted to swim at Manly beach. I see the blogs and well wishes from those friends who cant't make it down, we miss you and appreciate you are doing the right thing. Let's hope we get our vax rates high enough to see a few more friendly faces, and join us lucky ones who get to swim at Manly. 

Luck is a interesting thought. An academic Richard Wiseman studied people who thought they were lucky and compared them to people who didn't believe in luck. Turns out the people who believed they were lucky won more lotteries, found more treasures and were happier in their romantic relationships. So if your're not sure if you are lucky it may be best to believe you are and your life will drammatically, acccordng to Wiseman, improve. 

Here are a few of the lucky ones who got to enjoy the rain, cool water and grey skies.

Wishing you all the luck in your world,

 

Pete Anthony.

 

 

 

 

 

LOST, SOS and the Boston Blue Tits

Good morning from Old Blighty and apologies for the time delay in getting the blog out. This time thing. 

A diversion for you all from the joys of CTB  to the Deep joy of the Thames and beyond. I mean deep and moody. 

Open water swimming continues to delight.  In addition to joining the cake eating LOST ( see last blog) I have also joined the Boston Blue Tits. Say no more save that it’s up north and cold. I have the kit from SOS (Surrey Openwater Swimmers). All eat cake. My tribes of pure joy. And they swim. 

Sadly our favourite LOST spot has weeded over ( summer bloom I assure  you) and not looking inviting.

This was before, a spotlight on the saying  ‘growing like a weed’ 

Onwards and upwards for a swoosh in the Thames with SOS swimmer and neighbour Leigh. 

Now Manus was still mumbling about not really wanting to come but suffering huge FOMO which made attendance compulsory.

Seen here popping a sedative and blueberry picking along the way as a diversion 

 


Finally the sedative kicks in 

The water was clear and clean before you all ask. Temp circa a balmy 19C and it was a delicious experience. Really. 
We swooshed down for about 25 minutes with clothes in dry bags then walked back across a field to the car. 
The beach entry point. Not quite CTB but beachesque 

The scenery was stunning 


After … not salt joy … maybe an evening glow as we salute the Thames 

Yes he was cold …

A scene from our offices and the office / warehouse seen across the field in the distance, a meeting with son and father and some of our garden wildlife  

SOS kit modelled with a pearl (of course)  accessoried with a small hand towel  #oceanfashioncontinues 

Our happy wishes to you all.

Hambe Kahle , stay safe and sane, we miss you all 

Di

x

 

 

13/09/2021 - Serene... Still... Sublime

It was blowing a gale harbourside this morning when I went for my run and then it started raining. However by 6.45am the rain had gone and around at Cabbage Tree Bay it was surprisingly still. The rain had kept the crowds away and it was very quiet. The consensus was that it really was a beautiful swim! Water temp was 16.1 and there was good visibility around the point.

John Foster comes back from his daily swim. (It's not a monkey on his shoulder but another swimmer behind!)

...and Rick hasn't got something hanging from his right arm! I really must try and position my swimmers a bit better!

Always lovely to see Justus at the swim. They even put the benches back for him and daughter Suzie!

I have to share my photos of the Smooth Stingray I saw at The Bower yesterday. He was swimming in shallow water over the rocks so very close! His fin even came out of the water at one point he was so close to the surface!

There are always Port Jackson sharks to be seen at The Bower (surf break not Fairy Bower). It's mating season and some females have arrived. They are bigger than the males and don't have 'claspers'. You might catch females trying to deposit their eggs or the males trying to mate (sometimes at the same time!)

Miguel Maestre from The Living Room came back to swim with us on Sunday! He used to be quite a regular!

Jac's lovely Toby with Aunty Corinne :-)

I was lucky enough to be invited by Dorset Sutton to witness part 2 of the Seahorse project on Thursday. This was where 72 baby seahorses were placed in 'seahorse hotels' around Manly. These photos are from Sea Life as my camera didn't work :-( An amazing project which along with the Crayweed project and 'Living Seawalls' will bring more marine life to Manly!

Peter Hudson (Jim's brother) with gorgeous Patrick.

3 amigos...Niek, Ted and Rick, all originally from Holland and all the

same height!

It was Tatiana's birthday yesterday. Here she is amongst the sea grass!

Have a great day folks. Thinking of those of you who can't swim with us at the moment. Hopefully soon...

Lainey x