I’m going to shed some light on what happens on the boat ride back into harbor after a swim.  Usually the swimmer sits there shivering and listening to all the great things that the crew saw during the swim.  On this particular swim, it seems nature was putting on quite a show.  We started with a rainbow.  There were whales, porpouises (man that spelling looks strange), and birds.  I look forward to hopefully seeing all of these things in the pictures.  I’m a little jealous!  Not that the crews have an easy job at all, but whales and porpouises.  Come on! 

Here is what I saw:  floaty things in the water and lots and lots of jellyfish.  Some of them were kind enough to introduce themselves.  The barnacles also introduced themselves to my soft wrinkle water soaked flesh as well as I crawled, stumbled and fell on my water exit. 

Oh funny thing about the whales.  My kayaker was looking out over away from me and called out “Whales!”  I pulled up my arms and legs out of the water like this would make a difference and replied “Which kind?”  I think his reply was humpbacks or something.  I don’t really recall other than it wasn’t orcas aka killer whales.

The Alaskan waters of Clarence Strait proved to be a very tough challenge.  The first attempt on Saturday did not go according to plan due to the weather picking up.  On the 4th, Willie and I spent the day enjoying the festivities and then relaxing in the “cave” to prepare for the next look see at Clarence Strait.  

Monday arrived and we met the boats early.  The last weather forecast looked ok-ish.  The posted weather was 10 knot winds picking up to 15 knots in later morning.  Continue Reading »

Quick update:  We are headed out for another look see tomorrow.  Meeting the boats at 5am.  If the forecast holds true, we should be entering the water 6am Alaska Time ( 7am PST, 9am CST, 10am EST, etc.)  Forecast: winds 10 knots, seas less than 2ft, less than 1 inch rain per hour.  This is a good forecast.  Hopefully it is true as the weather coming in behind it is really UGLY.  Whatever the outcome, Willie and I are proud to be breaking new swimming ground.  15 miles of uncharted swimming territory in low 50 degree water is nothing to shake a stick at.  Keep Willie, me and our crews in your thoughts.

Today will be spent relaxing and enjoying the July 4th festivities in Ketchikan, AK.  There are picnics, parade and all sorts of fun stuff going on.  Fireworks may be out of the question due to all the rain and winds that we are having.  I may not see them anyways as we will be going out for another look see early tomorrow morning.  As for yesterday, one of our great crew people continued to watch the weather and Continue Reading »

So we went out this morning to do our look see.  We arrived at South Point Higgins beach around 7:15am.  At the time things didn't look pretty and it still looked swimmable.  However things quickly changed.  Continue Reading »

Quick update on the swim.  It will start tomorrow at 7am Alaska time (8am PST, 10am CST, 11am EST).  The weather doesn't look great for any of our tide dates and tomorrow looks as good as any so with that we are going to give it a go.  First thing that we will do is go out and have a look see.  If the weather looks manageable the swim will start.  Willie and I are thinking the swim will take anywhere between 8-10 hours.  However, like I said before there isn't much reference to go on.

There will be no updates during the swim.  I'll post as soon as I can with updates.

Posting to the blog has been few and far between as many of you have pointed out to me.  I’m sorry for my lack of communication.  Rest assured during the time between Cook Strait and today, I’ve been keeping myself occupied in the water.

I find myself off on another adventure.  This time I’m in Ketchikan, Alaska to attempt Clarence Strait.  Continue Reading »