Wexford Masters - Saltee Island swim report When I woke up on Sunday morning in Dublin, it was cloudy and a bit breezy. The horizon looked like there was worse to come and I had seen days like this when races had been cancelled because of small craft warnings. I was assured that a text message would come if it wasnt going ahead, so the other half, the two kids and myself were on the road by 10:15. As we headed down to Wexford, the cloud was lifting and by the time we got into Kilmore Quay, it was a hot summers day. After registering, there was a briefing, where we (23 swimmers) were instructed on the safety and logistics of the swim. An awful lot of the predictions about tides turning and currents subsiding for an hour, turned out to be false promise. At half an hour before the swim, we were all put into a flotilla (motley crew) of boats. The boat I was in provided some humour by the fact that the nose was virtually point into the water but the captain didnt seem to have an issue. We took about 15 minutes to get out past the line of six bouys to the Saltee Islands, and Charles boat took a bit longer so we had time to take in the view of the many island birds and indeed the two cows that inhabited the island. On the way out it was mentioned that the event wasnt a race but a challenge, which put a slightly different slant on it, so when all the boats had reached Little Saltee, there was a stagnated start with many (including myself) wondering do we wait for a go signal or just head off like the swimmers in the first boat did. The water was refreshing and just as warm if not warmer than many of the Dublin in-shore swims and you could see the sun rays shining into the water in front in your path. We were informed at the briefing that there would be plenty of jelly fish but that they would be harmless, and soon enough the little blighters were passing 2 or 3 feet below us. Right from the start the field had broken up into a wide area and we were told to roughly follow the line marked out by the bouys. However the rip current coming from Cork, which we were promised was at the point of subsiding, started pushing us off course. One of the stewards kept driving his bout in front of me and gesturing to swim towards the bouy at the start, which was tantamount to doubling backwards to Clonakilty, so I tried to ignore him. He didnt give up so I stopped, and we had a verbal exchange as to what was and wasnt said in the briefing (which he wasnt at !!!). I was loosing valuable time so I said something in Danish and took of in the requested direction which was at 90 degrees to the end destination. After a few minutes, I could see that he had gone off to look after someone else, so I was able to edge back in the direction of the destination. I dont think anyone was able to keep the line of the bouys because of the current which was to become an issue later. The sky was clear blue, the water was warm and clean and calm (albeit with the currents), so it was very easy to get into a steady rythm and the village of Kilmore Quay was clearly visible as our sighting mark. As we swam, the jelly fish would sporadically pass underneath while also getting bigger and changing colours and shapes. A rational observer would worry at the look of some of them, but the notion of dry land being 3 kilometers away was a more important issue. We always had either a kayak, a surf board or a boat chaperoning us so there was no cause for insecurity. A little while after the half way point, I could see a stone sea bed below me. It was about 1.5 meters deep and was lit up by the sunshine. It was crystal clear water and gave the impression that the shore wasnt far off. This helped psychologically and this stone sand bank lasted a good 500 meters which broke up the swim nicely. In the shallower parts of the swim there were forests of reeds to swim through which gave the impression of Loch Lene and the water didnt feel particularly salty either but that might just be being used to the sea. In the last 750 meters of ther swim, we could see the beach we were aiming for, and I wasnt aware of it at the time, but the currents that never subsided had blown a good section of the field well off course and the organisers said, enough is enough and gathered them into some of the boats and ferried them back to a tack that would have them out of danger. The danger would have been sections of stone sand bank that effectively were rocks that would cause injury. As we swam into shore, we had a crowded beach applauding us mixed with children playing in the shallow waters. My own children recognised me and ran up as I came to dry land and I wonder If my 3 year old daughter will have a mental picture of me appearing from out to sea when she is older? As far as I understand, everybody finished the swim, and Wexford Masters had a spread of tea, cakes and sambos as well as the all important medal waiting for us. If you are feeling adventurous and up to 4k, then I highly recommend you give this swim a go next year.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:56:15 +0000
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