Sea Swimming Blog #65

Day 104 Sea Swimming.

#65 of the blog.

With the buzz of the full moon swim still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d do the same again last night.

I cycled down to St Aubin with my tripod strapped to my back, hoping to get a shot of the orange moon rise with my silhouette somewhere in the frame.

As it was night time I thought I’d be sensible and go in the harbour side rather than off the back of the yacht club but as the moon wasn’t in shot from that viewpoint I went to the bottom of the slipway and planned on staying in the shallows.

I tried a few photos but wasn’t really happy with any of them.

A fisherman came down and definitely thought I was bonkers… stood there in the dark, in my speedos, at the end of February taking photos.

A little paranoid about the situation I gave up on the selfie idea and concentrated on my dip where I brought in a few mediation techniques… focussing on the breath, really paying close attention to the feelings and sensations of the cold water on my skin and noting where it appeared first - how long it lasted - did it change?, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of the sea - waves rolling and swirling in, the whole time ensuring that my feet where within contact of the slipway below me so that I was able to ground myself when necessary.

The movement of the water combined with this mindset enabled me to really feel the motion of the ocean and at times it felt like I was doing some kind of underwater tai chi as my arms and legs floated around, backwards and forwards, up and down - 5 minutes of total Zen that no doubt looked totally nuts to anyone looking on.

With the fisherman making his way down to the slip with his rods, I thought it was a good time to exit as I didn’t fancy a hook in the flesh… despite the feeling of calmness that the water had given me I was a bit annoyed with myself that I hadn’t got a decent photo earlier so seeing an opportunity arise, I asked the fisherman, Luke, if he minded me taking a shot.

Another random chat followed along with this image…

“Many men go fishing all their lives

without knowing that it is not fish they are after”

- Henry David Thoreau