A fisherman's tale

We had an almost completely different cast list from Wednesday, with only Sara and myself attending both sessions. There was a welcome return for Ollie and Joan, and a rare cameo from iron-man Jon.

I arrived in the middle of a discussion about basking sharks. Now, I have heard the Brighton crowd speak about this, so offered up the helpful advice that they were "perfectly harmless". Ollie looked incredulous, wondering if I would be concerned about seeing shark fins appearing around me in the sea. He had a point. And also, a seal has been spotted between the piers recently. Again, I tried to be helpful, "they can nip you which, without a wetsuit on might hurt quite a bit. A bit like being attacked by a bear". I then realised Ollie and myself were not wearing wetsuits....

To be safe, Ollie decided to drag a big red bag of shark repellent behind him in the water. It seemed like a good strategy. So, off to the water's edge. Conditions looked favourable, low tide on the turn. Sea and air temps all good. The only fly in the ointment was a fisherman who had set up shop in the middle of the bathing area. Ollie negotiated us safe passage, although the real problem was likely to be him casting out between the buoys whilst we were swimming. He was adamant that he was going to continue fishing, thus potentially disrupting our planned swim. He did promise to keep an eye out for us, although judging by the look on his face, he wasn't planning on trying very hard to keep this promise. A team discussion then followed, clearly swimming between the buoys was likely to be very hazardous if we were having to avoid incoming schrapnel in the form of lead weights. However, we soon began to speculate that there was little chance of him being able to cast out that far, and his belief that he could do so was probably no more likely than his chances of catching a barracuda or blue-finned tuna. Of course, we did opt for caution, so decided to focus our swimming on a triangular route around the left-hand buoys. Once complete, and feeling brave, we all swam the gauntlet across to the right hand buoy, back to the left, back to the right, back to the left and then in. This was a good workout and certainly the way to start the day.

I am not sure who took the photographs attached to this blog entry. All swimmers are in the picture, so there must be a spy prowling around. Personally, I believe it to be one of the Brighton crew doing a quick recce in preparation for the Brighton Pier duel tentatively scheduled for later in the year. They must be worried.

Time In: 7:11
Time Out: 7:43
Swimmers: Jon, Joan, Ollie, Sara and Paul
Air Temp: 15C
Sea Temp: 13.5C

SSF prepare for a bit of shark hunting.

Second thoughts, lets just stay here.