English Channel Swim

767 (07/06/07)

The day before 777.  Jessica may be able to get off tomorrow.  We will wait and see what the weather has to offer.  It's certainly sunnier, but the wind was strong this afternoon.

Michelle arrived in typically chirpy form.  Aleksandra turned up from interviews in London, although I haven't seen her yet.

Scott and I swam with Jessica, Alice and Heather at 10.  It was really an excuse to roll the arms over and take some photos with Jessica's waterproof camera.  We didn't over-exert ourselves.

In the afternoon, we toured Dover castle and the secret (shh!) Wartime Tunnels, which were amazing.  This really is a beautiful castle.

Here is what the view over the Channel to France looks like from the top of Dover Castle

Dover training harbour

and here is where we train in Dover while we wait for the weather...

Dover update - day before the window opens

Scott and I joined Jessica, Alice and Heather for a quick swim in the Dover harbour.  We stayed in for about an hour, and played in the chop as the wind picked up.  Mum and Dad were waiting on the beach proudly claiming any good swimmer that went by as me.  They didn't look too disappointed when I finally turned up at the end of the swim.  I tried all my different pairs of goggles, and they were all fine, so I can't blame anything on them.

We went up to the White Cliffs of Dover lookout, and ate, and ate some more, before the big meeting with Reg Brickell of Brickell Brothers - the Channel Piloting Experts.  We finally found the "Free (Three) Mackerel" pub in the Fishmarket in Folkestone, and identified Reg quickly by his trademark vest, anchor ear-ring, and seat of honour at the end of the bar.  We had a nice chat about the tides, and the Channel and the weather, and he sized us up, and reserved judgement.  He said he'd know how fast I was when he saw me half-way across the Channel, and that he would change course accordingly.  Reg told us that Saturday was the likely first day of the Channel season for Jessica, and that as Sunday follows Saturday, so I might follow her across the Channel.

Then Jessica and family treated us to a fine dinner in their house up on the cliffs over St. Margarets.  The house turned out to be an old gun emplacement owned by Miriam Margolyes, who is an actress of some repute, who has a penchant for Dickens.  We wandered along the cliffs dreaming of repelling ill-smelling invaders.  And so to sleep.

First swim in Dover

I got up at 5 to catch the train down from London to Dover.  I thought that given that I had only flown in on Friday, that I would be somehow fooling my timeclock into thinking that it wasn't too early, but it was.

I managed to stay awake for my connection, and then dozed into Dover.  I was wondering how I would recognize the Channel swimmer training, but given that there were a bunch of folks wandering around near the beach in their speedos, I made the assumption that they were a particular brand of eccentrics, and tried to blend in.

Frida gave me my marching orders, and a numbered hat.  Barry slapped some vaseline under my arms, and I chatted to the swimmers, some of whom were relay swimmers, some of whom were solo aspirants, and some of whom had already swum the Channel, including Roberta from Switzerland, who was choosing to train in Dover for swimming the length of Lake Zurich.  Maybe Dover was more attractive a destination than I had at first thought.  I tried to picture the posters as I breathed, looking up at the White Cliffs, but the mood was occasionally shattered by a passing car ferry.

The water was a little warmer than San Francisco, which was nice, and fairly pleasant until the wind whipped it up a bit.  I ploughed along with Roberta, Alex and Doug, who were all very fast, and went from wall to wall of the ferry terminals on either side.  Each length took 20-25 minutes.  I stayed in for about 1.45, and then reminisced about the South End sauna and showers as I climbed saltily back up the beach, into my clothes and back on the train.

I slept all the way back.

Can't wait to be swimming with the White Cliffs behind me.

J

Round Trip Alcatraz

The last longish swim before the Channel, was beautiful.  If the Channel is anything like this - flat and sunny, I will be overjoyed (and very lucky!).

Napa Bob was in fine form, with a full briefing, and plenty of verbal abuse.  He blew the horn while we were all still filing down to the beach, and we splashed off to Alcatraz.  Morgan was wearing her wetsuit, which must be the only reason why she was so much faster than everyone else....  Hank and Joel started off hard, and then paid the price of not having been in the bay yet this year, and I slid past Joel on the way out, and Hank on the way back to the cove.  Since they both usually beat me, this was the perfect ego boost for the Channel - thanks guys.

I tickled a seal on the East Corner of Alcatraz, which made me jump, but he was just being friendly.

Melissa caught some beautiful footage of the swim, as Bob ran her around the bay shepherding swimmers.

Morgan came home in 1:12 - not far off the 1:05 record.  I trickled in probabaly about 1:15, which I was very pleased with, seeing as I was trying not to go too hard (although the competitive juices definitely started to flow) and when I was sprinting in Pedro's around the rock race (see http://www.englishchannelswim.com/2007/05/swim_round_the_.html) I did 1:20.  Clearly the conditions were almost perfect today.

So - just a splash around the bay on Tuesday morning, and then I fly to England on Thursday!  Can't wait.

Julian

eBay has lots of swimsuits...

8 hour swim to Candlestick and back (all 7 hours and 41 minutes of it)

Depending on our objective, we met it.  Was it to swim from Aquatic Park to Candlestick and back?  Or was it to swim for 8 hours?  Either way, it felt like a good effort, and now we know that, while painful, 8 hours is definitely doable.  We even got some good experience in choppy and windy conditions, which was perversely good news, after the flat and sunny 6 hour swim experience.  The Channel is rarely flat and sunny.

Diesel was the erstwhile zenmaster of the zodiac, with brother Stefan was the gu-dispenser, along with occasional wisdom, motivational motifs and general cheeriness.  In fact the only drawback of having Diesel and Stefan having so much fun in the boat, was that it was mentally tough to not making the leap to how much more fun it might be to be in the boat, rather than in the Bay.  Still, we fought the impulse.  Michelle the indestructible delivered her consistent 80 strokes a minute, while I chugged along beside at 60-65.

We made good progress down the coast, on a weak flood (1.2?) quickly passing the usual flotsam and jetsam out from the Ferry Building, round Cape Horn off from the ballpark, nodding to the cranes and smokestacks of the San Francisco port, crawling round Hunters Point wondering when something will be built there, and then having to imagine we were making progress around the big crane just before Candlestick Point, before coming in to the beach next to the Stick.  Michelle ran up the beach and back for fun, while I wallowed in the shallows and we turned round and came back.  Much quicker back around the crane on the start of the ebb, and then putting up with the side-slap from the Westerly wind all the way up to the city.

We wanted to go hear the roar of the crowd at the Ballpark, and cut over to perhaps catch a Barry Bonds ball in McCovey cove.  However, the marshall of a disabled sailor's regatta rushed over to puncture Diesel's sang froid and point out that we were in the middle of a race, and they might not be able to avoid us, so we headed for home.  Coming round the corner of Pier 39, we were met with some fine 2foot chop just to make us feel that we had been involved in somthing worthwhile.  We considered taking on a cove to get to 8 hours, but the sirens of the sauna were calling, and we gratefully piled up the beach.

Thanks Stef, thanks Diesel, nice one Michelle.

So we did a Round Trip Candlestick, while Jessica spent 8 hours traversing the bay in different ways. (to keep up with Jessica's Channel training, check out http://followmetofrance.blogspot.com/).

Swim Round The Rock

We made it.  Apparently you can swim from Alcatraz to safety, even after swimming from San Francisco and around the rock first.....  Channel 5 was there to capture the fun (excuse the short pre-roll advertisement).

http://cbs5.com/video/[email protected]

Michelle and Karah took off like hares, and the tortoise caught them up on the far side of Alcatraz.  The chop around the far corner helped as the heavier vessel made more headway against the waves.  Despite a schoolboy error of ending up 100 yards East of the opening at Aquatic Park, with the promised ebb tide not materialising, I snuck home in 1:20:27, in awe of the 1:14time of the winner.  Karah did happen to mention that I had not broken her record of the previous year (wetsuit :)).

Photo just after coming round the West end of Alcatraz - http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2902818/1/156542399/Large

Pedro put on a really fun event.  Next year there will be prize money, which will attract way too many good swimmers.  Check out the results and swimmers here http://www.waterworldswim.com/sar/results.html .

Training for the Channel is tough - towel duty

I just want to dispel any rumors that training for the Channel can be construed as fun.  Here am I on towel duty, helping tidy up after the naked Bay Bridge swim in honor of Earth Day (thanks Paul).

(http://www.englishchannelswim.com/2007/04/south_end_club_.html)

Bay to Breakers - the swim

Ever since I heard of the concept of swimming Bay to Breakers, rather than running it, I have wanted to do this swim.  Given the conditions outside the Golden Gate, and the breakers at Ocean Beach, you have to get a little lucky with the conditions, and we did.  As foggy and windy as Saturday morning was, Sunday morning was calm, sunny and clear.  Of course, the winds picked up as we got outside the Gate, as the day went on, which made it exciting.  Once we got out at Ocean Beach, it got really rough and too exciting for everyone to make it all the way in.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=971900

The other moment of drama was when the Washington Voyager (a tanker weighing 16,941 tons, 627 feet in length, 50 ft hull depth, and 96 ft wide) was coming straight at us from underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, as we swam in a line from Alcatraz to mid-span.  As it became clear that we were on a collision course, we turned inquisitively to our pilots, who radioed the coastguard.  If you have never found yourself swimming at the prow of an oil tanker bearing down on you from half a mile away, don't.  It conducted the naval manouver known as the emergency 45degree right, and passed by us close enough for us to wave to their bridge.  Produced a few waves too.  However, I would highly recommend swimming underneath the Golden Gate out into the ocean.  Quite a feeling.  Only matched by surfing into Ocean Beach with a feeling of achievement.

Bay to Breakers, baby!