Rough and relentless or rocking and a rolling............Either way it was a pretty bumpy ride in there on Saturday! Let me explain: Dave unfortunately did not get away on his attempt across the Channel. As you will be aware it has been pretty windy this last week and the weather has meant he is still a man 'in waiting'!! Any day though.
So, I headed to Dover as originally planned for a BIG swim training week end. It is a fair distance to travel but is so much more beneficial training in the sea, with other channel aspirants. You really do need to train to type on occasions, but this means travelling! We stayed at Varne Ridge, the local caravan park, where David and Evelyn are always so accommodating to swimmers, and will do anything to help during your stay. Even when the weather was as atrocious as it was this last week end! Saturday was a close call. It was howling wind and torrential rain! Great! It was so foggy too when we got up in the morning, but was clearer down at the harbour. Freda and the beach crew were debating if we were going to swim and how long for. there was between 12-20 swimmers. The water was pretty 'up and down' to say the least!! We went in, and I must say probably some of the roughest water I've swum in!! It is hard to keep a good stroke, you get rocked all over the place and rolled around like crazy! I swallowed a fair few mouthfuls of salt water, and at times that can be a shock and make your breathing go to pot. The far side of the harbour, especially with the tide coming in, gets fairly heavy, with a mean backwash off the walls. Hairy at times. Pretty lonely, but you just have to keep cutting your way through it. Tiring, but great experience. Although you wouldn't want those conditions during your channel attempt - you never know!! If you have experienced them a bit, it helps and is then not a shock!! We had a feed at 2 hours, went back in for another hour, but at that feed we were all taken out. As Freda explained, it was rough and getting worse and unsafe for us all to be out there. They were struggling to see us all. There was no point in injuring shoulders that close to peoples attempts either. It was a correct call safety wise, although I had got in to my head I would keep sticking out for at least another hour. We did 3 hours (had planned to do 6), but in those conditions I think the work rate was considerably more!!
Saturday afternoon recovery earlier than planned: consisted of drying ourselves out and drying out lots of soaking wet clothing. Matt ran for 9 miles that day along the front and piers watching, so was also a drowned rat!! Oh, and watching the tour, while the caraven was rained on relentlessly and the wind continued to try and blow us to France!!
Sunday morning was a 5am start (due to a rowing regatta at 9am), so a 4 hour 'early doors' session it was! I figured 4am a good time to get up, prepped and then ready for swimming. (Matt not so sure!) You never know what random time your channel crossing may start. So it's good to confuse the system every now and then. I love swimming in the morning anyway. Apparenty there was a lovely sunrise (I didn't see it!), and the water was so much calmer that the day before!! Although, a little windchop did pick up in the last hour. There are some pics that I will try and put on here too at some point soon. Again a 2 hour swim stint, then a feed. The beach crew are fab, checking us as we stop, running down Maxim drink to us and giving us our rations of a mini chocolate roll and some jelly babies! Ravenous swimmers trying to stand up on the pebbles, and eat and drink in the small waves without falling over must be quite amusing!! A pleasure to swim that morning, another feed at 3 hours and out at 4 hours. Good solid swim in, with no after affects from the thrashing around the day before!! Matt once again managed to support, watch and kill time by runnning 12 miles along the harbour front and piers at each end, and being around the beach for each feed. So good to see a familiar face before heading back out to swim. Thank you for supporting me :-).
Afetr wrapping up warm and a recovery shake, I managed to have good a catch up chat with my boat pilot Eric Hartley. He often pops down to the harbout at the week end to be social and catch up with his swimmers, and see how their training is progressing. Nice guy, very knowledgeable and so willing to answer questions. He gave us even more info about wind/weather/tides etc...etc... Such a massive and interesting topic. So much to try and understand. I have really tried during the last 3 years to increase my knowledge about all this. You really have got to respect the pilots knowledge and that body of water out there that I am attempting to cross!
A soild 2 days of training, even though Saturday was a 'nasty' day , and one of the very few occasions they have had to pull the swimmers out of the water due to safety! So glad I made the journey. Just great being in the environment with other channel swimmers, where you don't seem to feel odd, crazy or mad! It is just an unspoken understanding as to why we are there, and got to get on and do, what we've got to get on and do!! Matt was a great support too. I take him to the most glamorous places for week ends away ;-) A lake week end near home this week end, need a break from travelling away. The last month has been non stop! Then back to Dover for a bit of the same again (with hopefully less wind and more sunshine) - wishful thinking eh?!
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