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.