August 27th 2017 Lough Hyne Lap of Honour @ 11.30 am
Low Tide 03.40 (0.87m)
High Tide 09.35 (3.25m)
Low Tide 15.57 (0.91m)
High Tide 21.57 (3.22m)
Waxing Crescent Moon
It is a misty morning in Lough Hyne. As I am getting ready at my car a bunch of swimmers are whooping and laughing they tell me the water is great as I meet them coming out and I am going in. We decide to do a lap of honour for Nathan on his fantastic epic swim across the Channel.
A huge gang of us are going in and we welcome Theresa in the fabulous short turquoise wet suit, she lives in Cork but is from Mexico. There is as always on a Sunday a bit of dodging kayaks as we are all desperate to get into the water or be on top of it whichever is your preference.
As per usual I am one of the last to head off which is not a good idea as I am slow to begin with and I stop to take very quick shots as I swim. I have to race to keep up.
I have a new mask and I forgot to rinse it out with baby shampoo. So the result is my view is as foggy as the scenery. Annoying as it is being fogged up, fogged up weather is eerie and ethereal all in one.
I do not know how I took this but my legs are kicking like mad to keep up with the rest.
Thankfully the Lapper’s wait for me at the gap and this is Theresa with Declan, sorry about the splashes.
We keep swimming keeping to the very edge and when I look up I am in Whirlpool corner. Thankfully the tide is heading out of Lough Hyne and I not whipped up in a spinning whirlpool which is my greatest fear of all.
No time for zooming down the rapids we have another three quarters of a lap to complete.
It is so misty and feels heavy even the deep water. I feel like I am ploughing my way through the water.
We cross over to the Western Trough this is looking back to the Globes.
More visuals to see down this stretch I am far behind the rest now but mesmerised by what I see underneath.
A cluster of mussel shells grow on this dead sunken tree branch.
I cannot get enough of the branches and the reflections bouncing off the water.
Pointing the camera directly up but still underneath the water.
Switching angles completely.
The mist slightly lifts as I pass Mrs Kelly’s Pier.
Anne-Marie puts me to shame swimming the perimeter the 3k in her togs !! Next year !!
A lap of honor for the fantastic Nathan Timmons English Channel swimmer.
As I write this, my Whats App has been pinging of the scale. Lough Hyne Lapper Paul Schilling has swim from the Fastnet Rock into Baltimore. What an achievement ! Congratulations. Paul was in his togs and for the first time wearing a hat, truly inspirational. We have lots to celebrate and the Lapper’s had their 5th Birthday too. Whoop, whoop.
www.paulamarten.com