PLAN:
Depart from Brace Point, just south of the Fauntleory ferry terminal, at the
end of SW 98th St.
Arrive at Dolphin Point, the northeast corner of Vashon
Island.
No container ships are scheduled to arrive or depart from the Port of Tacoma
today.
Weather forecast is calm and overcast.
Tidal current is nothing
at 08:00, rising to 0.3mph northwards at 10:30.
REPORT: Many thanks to Garrett and Joseph for accompanying us on the J-80 sailboat "Taj Mahal". Microsoft and we together donated $100 to the Puget Sound Blood Center for this swim. Thanks also to the Navimatics Charts and Tides iPhone software which we used to predict currents. And thanks Joseph for some excellent photos and videos.
Garrett, Joseph and I [Lucian] set sail from Shilshole at 06:30 and reached the swim start point at 08:40. The air was cold on the boat but the water was surprisingly warm. Daniel and Jenn joined us at the swim start point. From there it was an uneventful swim: calm, straightforward. But we didnt' properly heed what Navimatics said about the currents and so the final hour was a hard slog straight into the current, turning it from a 2.6 mile swim into a 3.1 mile swim. We reached the end at 11:30, a pace of 1.1mph. Lucian kept the pace slow and steady!
Afterwards: "So Jenn and I [Daniel] walked to the ferry and didn't wait long to get on the boat. Back on the other side, Jenn waited while I ran back to the car. When I got to the car, there was a couple standing at the end of the road, looking out at the sound through binoculars. They heard me get in the car and ran over very excited. "Are you one of the people who swam to Vashon?" They had seen us get in the water and head out, then they watched through a spotting scope at their house us all morning as we made our way across. They saw the seal early on. They also said that an orca was heading south and went right behind us! Crazy!"
The rest of us stopped off at Blake Island for their salmon bake lunch, then sailed by downtown Seattle, and picked up a crab-pot on the way back that we'd dropped off in the morning. We caught six crabs and ate them for dinner!
SWIMPLAN:
REPORT:
Many thanks to the crew Joseph, Passion, Debbie and Barefoot Ted on the J-24 sailboat "Red Baron". Microsoft and we together donated $200 to Assumption Parish School.
We all set sail from Shilshole at 9:15 and reached the swim start point at 10:50. Blake Island was still shrouded in mist at this time. The water was calm and warm. I [Lucian] was the sole swimmer for this trip. I swam fine and strong for the first two and a half hours, but then got seasick and had an asthma attack which made the remaining hour and a half more difficult. The GPS recorded a distance of 4.2 miles. I don't know why this differed from the straight-line distance of 3.8 miles.
Joseph brought ingredients for an awesome barbeque on Blake Island. We played on the beach and driftwood, and set sail for home just as the wind picked up to "Small Craft Advisory" (fun) levels. The crab pots we'd left that morning had two crabs, which we ate for dinner.
PLAN: Start at Denny Blaine Park. Swim south to the I-90 bridge and back again (4 miles). Refuel. Swim north to the 520 bridge and back again. This is a solo swim: we stay close to the shore, and no boats are needed to accompany the swimmers. Note that the lifeguards at Madrona and Madison Beaches are charged to keep the perimeter of their swim-areas secure. Therefore we have to walk on land across the supervised area, not swim.
REPORT: Lucian did first four miles on his own, and was joined by Barefoot Ted for the next four miles. The weather was overcast, and there was heavy rain in the morning. We did both legs at a steady 1.1mph (including breaks).
Lessons learned: swimming on the lake is much easier than
swimming on the ocean! It was a much longer swim than last week's
swim to Blake Island, but everything went well this time.
I [Lucian] took a preventative breath on my new inhaler
before the swim, and once again at the four hour mark, and didn't suffer
any breathing troubles. I wore silicone earplugs and didn't get even a
hint of seasickness despite the waves. I realised that I hate gu packets.
Chocolate was easier than gu to injest, washed down by
the light sugar / salt / orange-juice
solution in my camelpak. For the half-way meal I had three
"pilot bread" biscuits which were plain and easily digestible. What would
have made them perfect would have been a thermos of hot sweet milky tea.
A 70oz camelpak lasts four hours. Finally, I used my new SwiMP3 "2" player
and it's even better than the SwiMP3 "1". Curiously, the silicone earplugs
improved the sound quality of the SwiMP3.
PLAN: Start at Magnuson Park a little south of the swimming area. Swim with kayak accompaniment to Kirkland. Maybe stop off there for ice-cream. Swim back.
REPORT: This trip didn't go as planned... we ended up eating burgers and fries in Kirkland, not ice-cream!
Magnuson Park was full of Ukrainian and Russian pentacostalist baptists, come to the lake for a mass baptism. Leah took the kayak while Ted and Lucian swam. The lake itself was curiously deserted. The sun came out for the return trip and was glorious. We did about 1.4mph out and 1.2mph back.
Assumption Parish got $80 for this swim, or $20/mile. Many thanks to Microsoft for matching the donation.
On 13th August 2009 I swam 7.5 miles across the Haro Straights from the US to Canada. This "Swim Without Borders" was inspired by the stories of bravery of the staff of Doctors Without Borders in Darfur, who help the victims of the conflict there despite great personal risk of kidnapping and violence. We raised over $2000 for Doctors Without Borders (donations: http://www.firstgiving.com/swimwithoutborders). Here is a report of the swim:
PLAN: Depart from Stuart Island State Park on the northwestern tip of Stuart Island. Swim to Sidney on Vancouver Island. This will be a demanding swim due to the strength of the currents. The straight-line distance is 9 miles, but it will feel like 10.5 miles due to the currents. Canadian Customs and Immigration said that it's fine to arrive as a swimmer at the customs post in the marina. Tell them that we have an accompanying sailboat, and sign in together. This is a cross-border swim so passports are required. Also, you're not allowed to set foot on Canadian territory until after signing in, so no stopping at the islands along the way.
REPORT: Giant thanks especially to Joseph who came on the escort boat for this and two earlier swims, and also to the other crew Garrett, Bill and my father Claude.
We anchored in Roche Harbor the night before. I got up at 4am to sail the boat in the dark to Stuart Island, ready to start the swim at 5:30am. That's when the tides would work out. Unfortunately at 5am the boat's engine cut out. It took us four hours to find and repair the fault -- seaweed in the impeller. By this time the currents made it impossible to start from Stuart Island, so instead I picked a start point in the US waters which the currents would allow. I got into the water at 9:11am.
It was hard! Fighting the currents took a fifth of my effort, and my buoyancy took another fifth (it was so cold I couldn't sustain head-under-water swimming). For almost the whole duration of the swim I didn't believe I would make it. I took my first break in the water by Rum Island with some cute seal pups for company, and took a gulp on my inhaler and some chocolate. I'd planned to make this a largely unsupported swim, i.e. I would carry everything on my back, and only refill it at the midpoint.
The water was cold and my rest stops became briefer and briefer: I needed activity to stay warm, despite thick two thermal tops under my 3:5mm wetsuit and thermal leggings and gloves and boots and a thick swim-cap under my hood. I took my planned midway break half an hour early, and it took me an hour and a half inside the sailboat to recover from hypothermia and regain some strength. Hot sweet milky tea and soup!
I resumed the swim at 2:04pm. It was beautiful to pass all the little islands so slowly, and to pay attention to their contours and wildlife. It took me two more hours to round Forrest Island. I stayed close to the shore so could see and resent the current flowing against me. Finally at 4:30pm I had Sidney in my sights just 2.5 miles away -- my final goal -- and I knew tiredness and cold didn't matter because sheer stubbornness would be enough to see me through. And it did! For the final leg I abandoned my "unsupported" goal and got the sailboat crew to hand me hot tea or bananas when I needed them.
Garrett kept marine radio contact with passing boats to make sure they stayed clear. I made it onto the customs dock at 6:48pm -- that was 9h37 after first entering the water, and after 7h50 of solid swimming 7.5 miles. I went to the customs phone and said "I'd like to report that I've arrived in Canada". The customs official asked on what boat I'd sailed in. I said "myself", in that I swam. The official said "What?! Um, wait one moment, I have to speak with my superior..." !
It took another hour of huddling in the boat to recover from hypothermia, and to wait for the customs official to clear us for entry. Finally I could get on with my post-swim recovery programme: a brief hot shower, then steak and cocktails at a local tavern. I slept only five hours that night because my body hurt so much, and the wetsuit-friction-scars inside my elbows and knees took another week to heal.
(We followed up with 8 more days. sailing around Vancouver and the Gulf Islands in beautiful sunny weather -- diving off the boat further north where the water was warmer, smoking Cuban cigars on deck and watching the Perseid meteor shower, passing a pod of Orca whales, tying up the boat across the mouth of a small pirate cove and venturing inshore, ...)
PLAN: Start at Magnuson Park a little south of the swimming area. Swim to Kirkland, pushing a windsurf-board along with us carrying PFDs and a drybag. Stop off in Kirkland for burgers and bloody mary cocktails. Swim back.
REPORT: Barefoot Ted, Lucian, Robin and Cindy came for the swim. It was Robin's first open-water swim and Cindy's second. The weather was lovely. We did a "half-way dance" on the windsurf board at the half way mark. Robin got cramps near Kirkland. I think we need to be careful to bring more electrolytes in future. Ted and Robin stopped their swim at Kirkland.
Lucian and Cindy swam back. Cindy's digestion wasn't yet used to eating and swimming, and she got sea-sick, so there were a lot of "Oh God", "Oh Jesus", "Oh Man" expletives on the way back. I think there's a theological statement in there somewhere!
Many thanks to Maranda and Jeff for providing lifts after Kirkland, and to Robin for waiting at the end-point. Broadview Women's/Children's shelter got $80 for this swim; thanks to Microsoft for matching the donation.
PLAN: Start at Tracy Owen Station Park at the north end of Lake Washington, near Kenmore. Swim south along the shore. There's a good break spot after 4 miles at Matthews Beach Park, and another after 7 miles at Magnuson Park. We would need kayak accompaniment across Union Bay, under the 520 bridge, but the rest of the trip is safe to do solo. End at Madison Beach.
PLAN: Start at Renton Airport Seaplane Dock at the south end of Lake Washington. Swim north along the shore. There's a good break spot after 4 miles at Seward Park, and another after 9 miles under the I-90 bridge. We would benefit from kayak accompaniment across the bay north of Seward Park. Finish at Madison Beach.
REPORT: I [Lucian] have now swum Lake Washington from North to South, a distance of 23 miles! And Doctors Without Borders got $460 for this swim, or $20/mile. Many thanks to Microsoft for matching the donation.
North: Ted and Lucian sorted out the logistics well. We left Lucian's
car at Magnuson Park with some dinner supplies. We left Ted's
car at Matthews Beach Park with some lunch supplies. And we took
a taxi to the swim start point at the northern tip of the lake.
Ted joined Lucian for the first 4 miles, and Lucian did the rest
solo.
The sketchy question was how to cross Union Bay - it's a third of a mile in a busy boating lane and not safe to cross unaccompanied. So I [Lucian] waited by the daymark at the north end until a likely looking powerboat passed by. I whistled them down and hitched a lift to the I-90. They were on their way to a Huskies game at the stadium. I suppose parking is easier by boat than by car.
Many thanks to Robin who met me at Madison Beach at the end. It was still daylight, so we had time for a filet mignon at Daniel's Broiler House!
South: I [Lucian] started the swim solo by Renton Airport Seaplane Dock
at 8:40am. The water was still, and they were just bringing the
first seaplane of the day into the water. I swam steadily up to
Seward Park, using my whistle to alert nearby boats
to my presence.
I listened to my Finish SwiMP3 throughout. It was calm and peaceful.
I got to Seward Park at 1pm and met Cindy and her family. Cindy would join me for the middle segment. Also, many thanks to Carl and Shiraz who volunteered to kayak along for the middle segment! Unfortunately the authorities had shut down the roads this day, so we didn't make the rendezvous and I had to swim without enough food; and - without a kayak accompaniment - I had to make a longer detour around the north side of Seward Park. Cindy finished her swim after Seward Park. I found this middle leg (from Seward to the I-90 bridge) very hard going - largely due to my lack of food. There was an avaricious young boy at one stop who asked of every single piece of equipment, "How much did that watch cost? How much did your cellphone cost? Can I have it?" I felt weak by the dinner rendezvous at 6.30pm under the I-90 bridge. Enormous thanks to Carl and Shiraz for waiting for me here.
The final leg was cold. As soon as the sun went down (7.45pm) I started to get cold, and I got steadily colder until the end. Also my left knee packed in at about 8pm with two hours still to go. The graph above shows air temperature and water temperature. I think that air temperature and water temperature alone aren't a good guide: the warmth and light of the sun was also important. With the cold I felt a sort of weakness throughout my whole body, the same sort of weakness as when you have a flu. But with my cellphone not working due to water damage, I had to rendezvous at the pre-arranged time and place, so had no option but to go on. I distracted myself with my SwiMP3, and with thoughts of steak and crepes.
And many thanks to Margaret who met me at the end of the swim! She had been waiting there at Madison Beach for some time, concerned that I hadn't contacted her (due to the cellphone problems). It was too late for steak so we went home and made crepes instead.
Lessons: I think it's important to start the swim early to take full advantage of sunlight. Also, on the logistics front, it's much easier to "leave car at rest spot" than it is to arrange a rendezvous. And this swim underlined to me how important it is to have a steady intake of calories.
PLAN: Swim out from Disney Contemporary Resort to watch the fireworks from Riles Island in the middle of Bay Lake.
REPORT: The Disney Contemporary Resort looks safe enough...
But at night a giant sea monster lumbered out of the lake to attack. It was lit up by rage. The resort staff managed to scare it off with fireworks from the Disney Castle, but each night the monster renewed its assult; I think it's only a matter of time before it sees through the fireworks trick and the resort has to be evacuated.
Even this late in the evening, the lake and air stayed warm. The boats stopped at 10pm and left the lack deserted and glassy-smooth -- perfect swimming conditions. The island in the middle of the lake is a deserted bird sanctuary.