I woke up on Day 25 after a fabulous sleep. Albeit, I woke reluctantly at 5:15 to get going for another day out at sea. My body had recovered pretty well after yesterday’s Epson salt bath, nap and a short massage of the niggly right arm. My niggles are starting to make a comeback now as we have been on the go for 25 days. Unfortunately, all the chronic stuff is returning. My right elbow is starting to play up, but the benefit of the colder water is that it numbs things, so it is quite soothing.
We left the house just after 6 am to get to the harbour and met with Paul Ingpen (editor of various sports magazines) for a short interview as the sun was rising. Once we launched, we had to wait for a boat to enter the harbour before we could leave. So, we sat around for about 40 minutes, during which time the wind picked up.
We finally set out, and as we left the shelter of the bay, we quickly realised that trying to swim against the West wind was going to be a tough ask. We had 2 options – swim in the bay on the Northside of the harbour (Algoa bay), inshore, and try to cover some of the distance we were missing. Or swim from the lighthouse towards yesterday’s finish point. We opted for the latter, making it a 10km swim with the wind.
On route, we spotted a school of common dolphins surfing waves before we got to our start point. Thankfully the water was 1.5 degrees warmer today, which actually makes a big difference. I also had familiarised myself after the initial sudden change, so this was to be my new normal for a while. We had a decent South West wind pumping, giving me a hugely appreciated push to bring my pace slightly faster than yesterday. The extra degree made all the difference, and it was almost comfortable swimming! The water was green, so not great vis, but the swim was fun.
We finished a fastish 10km in just under 2 and a half hours before heading back to the harbour. Thankfully, this time, there was no shivering.
I am feeling much stronger today now that my ear infection seems to be fully healed.
Day 25 stats:
Start time: 0:03
End Time: 12:41:54
Total swim time: 02:26:19
Pace: 1:26/100 or 4.1km/hour
Distance: 10.2km
Start location: Lighthouse Summerstrand
End location: +10km north of lighthouse
Water temperature: 19.2 degrees
Water quality: green
Sights seen: Bottlenose dolphins, sub Antarctic skua’s,
Stings: 0
Calories: 2173 swim
Strokes: 4014
Weather: South west sun shining
Total distance covered: 672.2km
