It was one hour and ten minutes after I got out of the water that I started writing this, and I was still not fully warmed up.

Cold June day at the Guillamene

The temperature had dropped to 9.3 °C from Wednesday’s 11.0 °C, due to the northerlies for the past 36 hours, I guess. The day before I swam about 4600 metres, with full claw of the left hand by the finish. Yesterday I decided I really needed to get that 5k non-wetsuit OW swim on Ned’s annual qualification list out of the way, since I hadn’t bothered to do it when the weather (and water) was a bit better a few weeks ago.

As is my way, and my way especially with the sea, I don’t really make firm decisions beforehand. I always like to take it as it comes. I met Billy (Club President) and Joe up the car park who said that the water was cold. Before I measured the temperature, I’d hoped to do the 5k but once I measured the 9.3 °C I didn’t mentally commit to it. However once I’m doing something, I’ll generally keep going. As it turned out.

When I reached the Metalman to begin the long straight 2.2k to the pier, I moved out About half way between the Metalman and the Guillamene I saw something in the water I didn’t recognise amongst all the jellies we’ve had for the last while. It was like a cuttlefish shape. I stopped and tried to dive down to see it, but it’s already cold enough at the surface to stop the desire to get much colder by going deep, and it was dark also since the day was overcast, so I dove down a little bit, but the shape seemed to drop away into the darkness.

I arrived at the pier five minutes ahead of the previous day, so when I came back to the Guillamene, I kept going past for the extra four hundred metres I estimated I needed for the five kilometer total.

Two half Claws, not too bad.

The belt? That because if you get the Claw and can’t close your trousers button (as happened me today), at least the pants will stay up. Unlike Rob after one swim last year, where his pants fell down when he stopped in Kinsale for a coffee.

Oh, it turns out 2 days ago was World Oceans Day. Luckily, I went for a swim, even though I didn’t know.