Today's sunrise pic is from Elaine, who does a regular jog before the swim. All week she's been posting beautiful photos on social media, secondary to the smoky haze and colourful skies.
En route to the swim I bumped into Pete and Jacqui with Nipper! How adorable is the pup.
Initially there was lots of talk with management about who was going to swim the 6km ( I was told most of the group) ,which swim route they would take as Shelley beach was still closed. I wasn't doing the 6km so I took my time mingling and milling about.
It felt like a regular Saturday swim, lots of people catching up and getting organised,
Belinda is down from her farm in the country very close to the fire territory, hubby came along which was lovely:
I hadn't planned a big swim but was happy to head north with everyone instead of the bay. There's been a pollution problem, details aren't clear sorry. I had Henrietta with me who is just returning to swimming after lengthy treatment for an old shoulder injury. The water was lovely, a perfect 20.3 degrees, and conditions looked superb for the 6km swimmers. Hardly any swell or surf to contend with.
So relaxed were we having a lazy swim we stopped for a selfie:
And literally about 5 minutes after that everything went downhill from there. We were at the back of the group so hadn't gone far at all. But that loud siren is hard to mistake, unless you're Henrietta, who concentrates deeply and probably wears ear plugs. I stopped her and told her we're heading in. Reminds me of the hospital fire alarm actually. What the life guards actually said was hard to decipher, but a large shark was seen heading into the beach.
Upon landing on the beach, the sight was hard to capture. Hundreds of pink cappers walking back from the pipe area roughly. No boulderdash or 6km for a lot of people. No shark bite reported either, or incidents/accidents. But to be safe and wise is better than sorry. So thank you to the ski paddler who returned to shore to warn us all.
Note: there were 387 total swimmers, so the majority in the 7am group.
Two of the ladies above were new, and were quickly reassured this does not happen regularly.
I came upon Ethan looking so sad he missed a surf, he was so cute. So Wayne reassured him it was safe to have a pic with me as Wayne knew me, I"m not really a stranger. Than Wayne explained the siren story to me. Which in turn made Ethan announce it was definitely a great white, no other shark possible.
So the story goes, according to Wayne. A regular paddler at Manly in the mornings, was about 300-400m out from the point. A large fin surfaced right next to her, swimming towards the point and beach. It's dorsal fin was estimated to be twice the size of the paddle she was using to move through the water. She had a fright , obviously, so scooped herself to shore quickly to report it for the large group of swimmers. Thank you to her and to the surf club.
A jet ski went out for quite a while and looked around. The huge Westpac drone had already been in flight and was up again as well, and the beach was only closed for a short while. It reopened by the time the Can Too swimmers arrived who are learning to swim in oceans.

Now, this bit you'll love I"m sure. I bumped into Jo and Clare having a giggle. Jo had arrived maybe a bit later than everyone else. Still waking up she swam to Shelley, wondered why it was so quiet ( no idea it was closed due to pollution ),never heard the alarm go off, appreciated the clear and clean bay and returned to Manly. A man on a board eventually told her towards the end of the swim, there's been a shark, you should head in to the beach. Clare, on the other hand, had started swimming with an informal group of 6km swimmers. They headed out at 6.30am, went to the bower break, then swam to Queenscliff, and heard the alarm. Some in their group didnt' hear it, so they continued to Freshwater and back, completing the 6km! Congratulations to everyone who did complete it, there's a few of you on the attendance list, the first of the summer season done.
Here is John Forster with Don Mclean and another man I can't recognise cos of his wetsuit sorry :) They did complete the 6km swim.
These two lovely girls ,Rebecca and Linda ,wanted proof that they had swum amongst shark infested waters and were wonderful, active, adventurous, fun loving peeps , photo taken to prove to the hubbies left at home what they get up to.
Everyone wanted a photo of that sign, can just imagine the papers in the morning.
Roz and Karen ( who's only done three swims and wanted to know the frequency of these sirens ) joined in the conversation after the swim:
Interesting resting position :
Quick chit chat on the South African bench with two lovely men-Justus on left and Errol on right:
I chatted to Sharnie during the week after a shark left it's tooth in a paddlers board. She is my little go to person on anything marine. She and Nick used to swim more regularly with the group but work and travel and life make it difficult now. But, she was saying during breeding season the males get a bit stupid and crash into things, including turtles, walls ( in aquariums ) each other etc, and they're just drunk on pheromones. I dont like to be too relaxed but don't believe in panicking either. The shark today didn't harm or try to harm the paddler, luckily, and Sharnie has actually dived with bull sharks in Fiji. Fabulous footage. Here's a pic she sent me of a grey nurse.
stats from today: temp 20.3, 387 total swimmers, 8 newbies, please come back!
B&B FUNDRAISING CHRISTMAS PARTY
Please book early for the B & B Christmas Party, which will be held on Tuesday 10th December at 6.30 pm in Henry's Rooftop Bar (2nd Floor) at the Steyne Hotel. All swimmers and partners/friends are welcome (no under 18s unfortunately). The theme is simply “Christmas”, so come dressed in your finest Christmas paraphernalia. The music this year will again be provided by the band, “Gluteus Maximus”, who play two types of music, Rock and Roll! The cost is $15 per head, with all proceeds going to the running costs of the B&B. Book now! Don’t miss out on this fun event, as numbers are limited. Book HERE now!
Have a great weekend everyone :) sorry it's a late blog, Saturday's are busy.
Edwina.