... and waiting....

Stuck in base camp, so to say. The Mount Everest of swimming is showing us its inaccessible side and has only allowed very few swimmers to cross this tide so far. Until Wednesday it will be extremely windy (25 knots and over from the south), Thursday getting slightly better but not great, still strong southerly winds, Friday is now looking like a swimmable day, but there is still one swimmer before me. Still hoping the good weather might move up in time. Saturday looked good yesterday, not today anymore, plus it is a spring tide, with 6.3 m and 1.4 m high and low tide. Opinions are divided as to how advisable it is to swim on a spring tide. A slow swimmer can end up just being swept parallel up and down the French coast - until the next neap tide..

Last Friday there was a narrow swimming window of 10-12 hours. Two swimmers I know of started in the afternoon around 3 and 4 p.m. in pretty grim conditions, with northern winds at about 15 mph pushing them and sky covered by clouds (the "chill factor", i.e. lack of sun, wind, adds to the cold water temperature). One swimmer gave up after 2,5 hours (felt sick), the other one, Dori from Connecticut, made it in 10 hours, conquering her sickness by only taking peppermint tea and carbo-stuff (maltodextrine and fruit sugar, I think) all the way, throwing up everything else. At times she could see the bottom of the boat coming out of the waves. During the night it got calmer, the water became warmer - and she touched French shore around 1 a.m., loosing quite a bit of skin in her effort to climb over the rocks in the dark night to touch firm ground. (Slower swimmers would have had the wind coming up against them a couple of hours later.)

Staying at Varne Ridge really helps to cope with the waiting time. Great views over the Channel even in bad weather, beautiful walking and running trails on the cliff tops, very friendly and supportive owners, Dave and Evelyn, who e.g. organised an indoor barbeque with great pizza and salads and German Zwetschgenkuchen (plum cake, bought at Lidl in Folkstone) on Saturday to help lift the spirits of all the swimmers and crews staying at the caravan site.



Evelyn cutting the Zwetschgenkuchen, I believe



5 Channel swimmers, 9 swims (not counting relays): Laura, Bea, Vasanti, Dee (Jersey) and Sally turning the indoor barbecue into a teddy bear party



Irish bagpipe performance (Enda's team) - there was no room for it inside....



Goodbye for the Sea 2 See-relay team - the Jersey girls are leaving with Sally, the Australians are staying a few more days (sadly, they were the only ones to get that "congratulations"-sticker on their caravans while we stayed there....)

Last night I had an evening run over the cliffs in a stiff breeze with the path of the half moon glittering on the waves, in the afternoon I treated myself to two hot chocolates with whipped cream at the clifftop cafe (open air) writing my diary, while my helpers were out for a walk.



All along the coastline (not only in Dover harbour) you encounter remnants of the war - bunkers, memorial plates and sites, like the Battle of Britain memorial which I visited a few days ago. I have been reading a book with swimmers' portraits, and one story touched me particularly: It was about a swimmer who felt his most significant swim was one between Bali and another island, not because of its difficulty, but because Hindu and Muslim fishermen, who had used to avoid each other for ages, started cooperating to help him with his swim. Similarly, swimming the English Channel - and doing this triathlon - for me has a feeling of helping heal old wounds, strengthening the feeling of oneness between countries instead of seperation.



Battle of Britain Memorial site

Swim training has been down to 2 hours in mostly quite wavy conditions, on the weekend (yellow cap from Feda) with lots of other waiting swimmers and one head on collision (actually only "hands on") and a few close misses (Kevin just barely...) Today only one hour.



So we are trying to keep our spirits up and remain focussed, ready to go any time a window should open. Trying not to catch a cold, not to twist ankels in rabbit holes along the cliff, not to break fingers crawling into other people's face etc. If it is not to happen now, I am definitely going to be back in September!

Thanks everybody for your e-mails and faxes of support! And check back soon for updates!