First sea swim across open water!

Pinnacles on the mainland in Northumberland, across the open sea to Holy Island, a 1500m swim (just under a mile) through crystal clear water on a sunny, calm September day.

As I said in my post yesterday, I have been gradually getting more confident in the sea, but one thing I had yet to do was a swim from one piece of land to another, over the open sea. I have swum quite far out from the actual shore I suppose, but always at a place where I could swim to nearby rocks if I wanted to get out. Swimming across open sea is a biggie for me, as of course this is where the bigger beasts of my imagination lurk. The ever knowledgeable Jane suggested this swim, which covers nearly a mile but is over relatively shallow water where you can see the bottom on a good day. Obviously, you can’t actually touch the bottom but you can see. And of course, it is a stunning place to swim, sighting on the ancient Lindisfarne Castle on the shoreline.

The day was absolutely perfect weather wise, no wind, no clouds and a big bright summer sun. We met on the harbour side at 7:30am, all of us ready in our swimming gear. Most chose to wear full wetsuits, due to the possible cold (as we didn’t know how long it would take), and the good old jellyfish that are still hanging around. Jane and Alison wore skins (just swimming costume), Frances wore a swimming costume with long sleeve top and leggings, while I wore my shortie wetsuit. Frances and I also opted to slather ourselves in a 5 inch layer of anti-jellyfish cream, Frances as she is allergic to the little buggers, and me just because being stung is a pain in the ass. We noticed as we arrived at the Pinnacles (a section of land which juts out slightly, on which there are 2 large tower...thingys) that the water was full of seals. And by full, I mean you could hardly see the water in between them, there must have been hundreds of them all bobbing about in the waves, popping up and down to have a closer looks at the rib boat. This meant we were going to be surrounded by them as we swam! Very exciting!