Day 11 is complete. We left the house at 5 am to get to the Shelly Beach launch site by just before 6 am. The launch was one of our easier ones, so we headed out to the starting line 30km out at sea. The water was super blue and clean, and we were excited to get in and swim!
The swim was great, and the conditions were perfect for a relatively comfortable swim. Caron paddled for the first 90 minutes while enduring a bluebottle sting on the bum. Then Andy and John rotated with each other at 30-minute intervals. Kirsten joined me for the first hour and then re-joined a while later. It was great to have her company in the water with me. At one point, I felt completely pain-free, and it was blissful! No strings, no-chafe, no muscle ache. Just my body doing what it does best at its peak. That, sadly, did not last long before I got stung and the aches came back.
It was tough going for a while when Kirsten jumped back in to swim with me for another 90 minutes. I was very grateful as I was taking the strain. Soon, the second wind came, and I was back on track. My watch died at 29km, but Sarah was swimming with me at the end, so we used her watch to measure the last km to finish off a solid day.
We had crossed our first province! It was so exciting to see progress. We got into Port Edward, and Angelika treated us to soft-serve ice creams! It was an hour’s drive to get back to Umzumbe to shower and pack for a 3 am start on Monday. We had a delicious curry dinner cooked by Sarah’s aunt (thank you Sally Anne!), and we all collapsed into bed by 8:30.
Day 11 stats:
30km
4hr34
Pace 57sec per 100
Start at Ramsgate
Finish just past Port Edward
Sightings:
Jelly’s
Stings yes
