Congratulations!

So, this morning at 6.45 my wife Liz, Crewmate Steve, next-door neighbour Joe and acquaintance Paul leaped off Swanage pier (thanks Russ for opening up and Chad and Cameron for seeing us off). Their intention? To swim from Swanage Pier to Bournemouth Pier!
Becky was there too in her kayak and much appreciated it was too. The weather was fine with just a slight ground swell running.

A little more than an hour later all four of the swimmers passed Old Harry and were looking very strong.

Friends Tom and Rachel came down from Hamble with their RIB to provide additional safety cover. Rachel had also provided deliciously welcome food for the boat crews.

And so, at 1031 the swimmers arrived at Bournemouth pier and after touching the structure continued in to the beach for a glass of champagne.

A big congratulations to you all. I for one could never dream of swimming anything like 8.3 miles so the whole endeavour appears to me a truly awesome feat of endurance. Well done!

Liz was swimming to raise money for the Lewis-Manning hospice which provides palliative care to 600 local people each year. If you feel inclined you might make a donation on her JustGiving page. I hope that you feel able to make a contribution towards their valuable work.

Bonkers!

This is my wife, she is called Liz, she is half Scottish and half Swedish. Something about this curious genetic and cultural soup has left her afflicted with a mild sort of insanity. The latest manifestation of this has been a strange desire to swim long distances in the sea. Her latest plan is to swim from Swanage to Bournemouth during September!

Clearly she is utterly bonkers. However, if you would like to follow her progress in training, and during the actual event, you can do so here on her recently started Blog.

She is doing the swim to raise money for the Lewis Manning Hospice in Poole. This is a superb local hospice which provides palliative care for local residents with Cancer and other serious conditions. She has a 'Just Giving' page where she is aiming to raise £1000. Perhaps you could see if you can help her to reach this goal? If you feel inclined to do so you can find her page here.

Bonkers!

(Oh, did I forget to mention that a certain local lifeboatman has been drafted in to provide the rescue cover)?

Shhh...

It seems like we have got away with it today. It has mostly been a nice, sunny and warm day but with little wind so plenty of folk have been tempted onto the water. Thankfully though they all managed to stay safe in our patch.

And what do the crew do when the weather is like this and there is no lifeboating to do? Well, we go afloat in some way (while monitoring our VHFs for trouble brewing). Becky, Gav, Kim, myself and the kids went kayaking. My wife, Liz, went swimming in the sea for the first time this year (1 mile wearing a wetsuit). Meanwhile, Dave and our newest recruit, JFL (I'll tell you another time!) were out in Dave's raider with their other halves cruising the bay. We all met up on the water for a chat before heading for some refreshments.

A good day.

Update

Liz is back from her bike ride with two of the Lifeboat crew (John and Darren) and has news of the shout. Apparently someone had fallen from the cliffs and needed evacuating. I understand that Rescue Helicopter 106 got there first so airlifted the casualty. Full details in the morning.

Thanks to MarkR for his thoughts

Good night!