Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dover Harbour Swim

This morning I went out and looked across the Channel.  Cathi and I met an Irish swimmer, Colin who is scheduled to swim early tomorrow morning.  We looked out and saw France from Varne Ridge.  It was beautiful. I counted 9 freighters out there in the channel.  It was a total dream.

You can see France if the conditions are just right from
Varne-Ridge.  Beautiful morning! 
After breakfast I met up with the group of swimmers here at Varne-Ridge and we drove down to Dover Habour for a swim.

The water was relatively flat with only a slight breeze.  As we waded in I was very surprised how warm it was.  I took a temp on my way back with my watch and it read 64f.  After the first lap (35 minutes), I went for another.

The salt taste here is "smooth" compared
to GSL.  
Cathi was on the rocky beach chatting with lots of people and being Cathi.  I loved it.  I sure married up.

Capt Webb Memorial
overlooking Dover Harbor
where many channel swimmers
train.  
When I got out I got dressed and we walked around Dover for a bit.  We saw the memorial to Capt. Webb.  Cathi wanted to go for a run so I took the boys back and am going to go out to pick her up again.

Having a great time!  It is like a dream being here.  I've envisioned this moment for a long time and it is fulfilling all my expectations.

Weather looks fairly good for Thursday.

Total: @ 2 miles in 1:10

7 comments:

Russell said...

I love the updates. Can't wait to watch the swim in real time. So proud of you Gordon! Glad you are having fun.

Mac G said...

Very Exciting.. Thanks for the updates!

Unknown said...

Get it Gords!

Unknown said...

Sounds awesome! Keep the updates coming.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob D said...

glad to hear you're having fun and getting settled... Good luck when the big moment comes!!! We'll be rooting for you way out here in California :)

Matt Gerrish said...

The crazy thing is, Webb did the whole thing while breaststroking. And a crappy version of the breaststroke, no less. The first traditional "crawl" swimmer to cross was Trudy Ederle decades later. The other four males before her only used the trudgeon and sidestroke.