Happy New Year!

I saw off the old year with this happy bunch, who get together every December on the 31st for a dip. As I swam out to a buoy nearby somebody asked where I was from. "Orkney" came the answer. "Looks like she's decided to swim home!"
All credit to Bjørn Brunvoll from the RB for this great photo.

Wood, water and the question of happiness

A late dip after a day spent cutting and stacking wood. Have finished reading Harari's Sapiens: a brief history of humankind, which proved to be such a page-turner that I'd like to start back at the beginning again. One of his themes is: what constitutes happiness, and are we happier today than we were before the various revolutions which have shaped our lives? But must make some Bacalhau for tomorrow's celebrations of the Heiene matriarch's 81st birthday - long may she smile over us and make us happy!

Boxing day

Cold fingers and camera shake on Boxing day!

Christmas Eve

Wind, waves and the wow of wild swimming :)

"Waterlog", humanity & subversiveness

Since today's swim was too dark for any decent shots, I'm devoting this entry to Roger Deakin's "Waterlog: a swimmer's journey through Britain." 

This is a riveting account of a year spent swimming in various waters round the UK, with lots of information on the history of swimming, the evolution of our species, local sites, sundry water-lovers & rule-defiers and an entertaining selection of swimming lore to enrich Deakin's account of his own swims. 

A big thank you to Nik Lane for sending me the book. I'm not just grateful for a good read, but for two lessons learnt: that I am far from being alone in my compulsion to swim; and that it's possible to write engrossingly on a subject which, "on the surface" doesn't seem too promising.

And as a post script, here's an extract from the Guardian's review: 

"What's so attractive about Deakin's book, and what makes it such a wonderful travelling companion, is – apart from its pin-sharp descriptions and deep humanity – its subversiveness. This act of swimming in the wild, away from "health and safety", unsupervised, often unobserved, is, in some essential way, a quiet act of defiance."

Snow-swim

My beach looked desolate today, but I made it round the blue buoy and was promptly rewarded with a golden handshake :)

Sun-spill on Santa Lucia

A gilded eve to St Lucy's day: snow on the ground today

Before the big chill

Cold weather forecast, so we're making the most of the warmth available :)

Martha's towel

We're back in Molde, enjoying a lunchtime dip at our local beach.  Thank you Martha for my new towel :)

Sainte Croix du Verdon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_of_Sainte-Croix

A chill and sunny day in Provence with MC. The water so clean we could drink it straight!

Last dip

A week of washing and mopping as we close shop for the winter, and a last sauna with triple-dip for good measure!

Chiaroscuro

Kitchen duties meant there was no time to swim, bar another triple-dip during a late sauna, so here are some shots of children launching themselves at the elements instead, with all my respect to the jumpers who braved a storm for their dip!

Life-style

Not quite as warm as the sun might suggest, but a welcome swim round the first little skerry in the bay with my ever-attentive Viking who, on being asked whether he was working too hard, said: "This isn't work, it's a life-style!"

Triple dip in the dark

My first swim on returning to Bjørnsund was a triple-dip during an after-dinner sauna, so I'm posting some pics of yesterday's sun instead!

The wind at her heels...

I did manage a round-the-bay swim in St Julians the next day, then headed up to Orkney where, less than a week later, Ruby Merriman kindly held my towel at Dunnet Bay before she flew over the sands, her feet never seeming to touch the ground!