On Barnacles

Cockles, mussels and limpets, all grand little lads and lassies, molluscs to a man/woman/whatever.  Cockles are the useless shells you fill your pockets with when you are a child visiting the seaside and your daft aunt uses to make “arts ‘n crafts”. Limpets are you with your first boyfriend/girlfriend. Mussels are nice in a garlic sauce…

Beached

I felt like a ship that had been too long in dry dock, or more appropriately, beached, as little maintenance of my vessel had occurred while I was dry. The sails of my shoulders have slackened, the sheets of my arms have loosened, and the rudders of my hands have lost motive force. The wooden keel of my core has dried out, no running or Pilates can substitute. Bizarrely (to me) I develop dry skin on my feet as I was now no longer regularly immersed for long periods. And without marinating in sea water, all the showers in the world cannot make me feel clean. 

Swan on river

Tales of the Riverbank

We have tides in the river here but we are not an estuary. Here we are above where the ocean tide meets the down-flowing stream. We are quite up the river, well away from the sea in a winding route. There is no tidal bore so the tide is backed-up river water, not brackish estuarine…

Winter storm on west coast of Ireland

Real Sport

“Did you see that video on Facebook Donal? Complete tool”. “I mean what the hell Donal, is your sport all gobshites like that?” “It doesn’t matter you don’t use Facebook. It was on the news last night as well. Here it is here on my phone. Look!” “What kind of a fool goes swimming in…

The Deep

When you look around from wherever you are reading this, whether it’s an office, at home, on a train, you can’t see The Deep. Even if you are sitting at the coast. The words have no weight. The Deep doesn’t exist. It’s a fairy-tale with which to scare yourself. You imagine it. Step off the…

The Truth Is Cold

Though I had been pool swimming, I hadn’t swam in the sea in four weeks, and if I didn’t get in at the weekend I would go a month without an open water swim for possibly the first time in a decade. On Saturday the bay was lousy and blown out in howling onshores, breakers…

The Reef

The reef. Should I say it reposes, lurks, or waits there? Whichever, it changes by weather, by season, by my direction, by my desire. It does all these things. Regardless, it posts sentinel beneath the headland of Great Newtown Head, breaking southerly seas from the eroding lower Old Red Sandstone terraces that encompass the entrance.…

Wave Shadows in Tramore Bay

The Open Water Swimming Year: January’s Dark Rituals

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the Deep”. It’s occasionally struck me that in the second verse or chapter (or whatever these biblical couplets are called) Nothingness, the Void and the Deep are all co-equal. The Deep cannot exist without the Not-Deep, without its face, (nonsensical theological…

Sam Krohn rescues someone who had been drinking and attempted to swim in rough conditions, Christmas Day 2015

How To: Advice for Christmas or New Year swimming in cold water for beginner or casual open water swimmers – What Would Santa Do?

At Christmas time, many people who would never consider getting in cold water will be thinking of a Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day dip. If you are wondering WHY you might or should do it, apart from; taking part in a local tradition in many places; having a hot punch  at the…

Cliffs of Moher in November

The Open Water Swimming Year: November Winterage

This post begins a new series here on Loneswimmer.com. There are certain patterns that I’ve seen repeated over the years. There are certain experiences that recur, certain thoughts that reappear, coming anew each year. Though previously experienced, all feel fresh each time, only deepened by the growing realisation that what were once first-time or rare…

How To: A Guide to Rough Water Exits in Open Water Swimming – Part I – Understanding Rough Water 

Introduction I haven’t previously tackled the subject of water exits specifically, though I have covered it in general terms in a number of articles. Especially those articles which try to condense the basics of open water swimming considerations for beginners and irregular swimmers, such as beginners or triathletes I haven’t written about exits because anyone…