Night Swimming

On Friday night we had our test swim in Botany Bay. We headed down to the boat ramp on Foreshore Road (well-lit, washdown facility and lots of lighting) at 7pm, with so much kit - ropes, lights, glow sticks..... This was a trial run to see what worked and what didn't, particularly with lighting.

We hit the water as planned, at about 8pm, although I hadn't twigged that there was an exclusion zone all around the runways (obviously!) and quite how long it would take to motor the IRB & the kayaks past it.

Eventually we cleared the runways and I hit the water. There was still a fair amount of ambient light, with the proximity to the container terminal, the airport and Sans Souci, but at least the bay was contained, with little swell and wind so that we could stop and fiddle with gear, as required.

Swimming near a runway, with planes taking off every 90 seconds possibly wasn't the best option for testing comms but at least we managed to give the radios a good workout. 

Lighting is now sorted and we know what we need. The shopping list for this week grows ever longer & I suggest buying some shares in a glow stick company.

Friday night's team included:

Paddlers: Collie, John, Anna & Martine
IRB wonderguy: Matt
Head logistics: James

Collie also supplied dinner & dessert too. Why wouldn't you want to eat chicken curry & cake at 12.30am on a public holiday in a car park? Everyone had so many ideas and plans on how to improve things that no one seemed in a hurry to get home. 

I have an amazing support crew.

The Inspire Foundation

Once again, I have chosen to support the Inspire Foundation and its work with teenagers and young adults with mental health issues and at risk of suicide.

I've set up a fundraising page and I really appreciate any dollars you can spare to send Inspire's way. Please click on the 'ReachOut.com' logo in the right column to head to the fundraising page.

A word or two from Inspire:

Inspire is delighted that Helen has chosen us as the benefactor of the donations she'll raise by undertaking this amazing challenge.

 

Like Helen when she was young, many young people go through a tough time and need help but don’t know where to go or who to talk to to get them through those ‘dark times’. Last year we helped over 640,000 young people in Australia with information and support from other young people just like them.

At Inspire we believe that all young people in Australia deserve to be happy and well and ReachOut.com will be able to support many more hundreds of young people to learn how to help themselves and help their friends through Helen’s challenge and her generous supporters.

We're Off!

I never did finish writing about last year's 24 hour swim. I think it was a little too painful to remember.

But now the next swim is almost upon us, the one that last year's swim at Homebush was training for.

In April, weather conditions dependent, I will be attempting to become the first person (that we know of) to "Swim Sydney": from Palm Beach in Sydney’s northern outskirts down to Bundeena at the southern tip of the city’s boundaries.

It is a distance of between 60km-65km, depending on how straight a line we make down the coast and is expected to take approximately 24-28 hours, depending on conditions.

Last night we had a planning meeting with the full support crew (minus one) together for the first time. There was an incredible energy in the room and I finally feel excited that it's all coming together.

There's still lots and lots to do but we have a first-rate team working on this now.

Stay tuned!