Thursday, November 29, 2012

Craziness and More Craziness

Next Swim: ??

Last Swim:  Wed 11/29 7PM under a bright full moon
Water Temp: 39
Waves: Calm
Water Clarity: Excellent
Crew:  Gumdrop with Patriarch observing

The sun, the earth, the moon and Jupiter were in almost perfect alignment last night. If you listened closely (and perhaps with some herbal enchantment) you could hear the waves playing the chords of "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

The beach was quite lovely in the bright moon/Jupiter shine.  The cold inky darkness of the lake could have been deep space and Gumdrop plunged in.  Unlike Dave, he did not find enlightenment and rebirth, but I think he came pretty close to seeing Elvis in his 200 meter journey into oblivion and back.

Speaking of cold water craziness, if you have not yet seen this video that Gumdrop previously posted you should take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyu1LYfS3Mw&feature=related
Lorraine, if you are reading this, the video was shot in Vancouver, by any small chance do you know this woman?

Even more craziness, I came across this race in Sweden called Otillo where you swim from island to island across an archipelago, run across each island, and then swim to the next island, with 38 ins and outs for a total of 64K, 10K swimming 54K running.  The water temp is 16C (60F) and most competitors wear wetsuits/caps and running shoes throughout.  You can use whatever gear you can carry with you (paddles, fins, etc).  Check out the website (mostly in Swedish, but you get the idea).
http://www.otillo.se