We headed to the sea again today, Johnny, Sheila and I. Maggie had a birthday party to attend, so we dropped her off and then got our suits and our courage and headed out.
This time we headed to "Seapoint" (Rinn na Mara) on Susan's advice as it is a bit shallower than the Forty Foot and, therefore warmer.
Seapoint is a small seafront area between Blackrock and Monkstown best known for its beach and bathing areas beside a Martello Tower on the Dublin Bay seashore.
Sheila wasn't quite sure why were were doing this.
Johnny immediately tested the water for us. He put water temperature on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the coldest. He put the Forty Foot at a 9 and this at a 7.
We were ready.
Okay, maybe Sheila wasn't.
At some point a man came in from the depths and basically told us that it was balmy! He said he swims in the sea all year round and that sometimes it is 2 degrees Celsius (that's about 25 degrees Fahrenheit). We asked what he thought it was tonight and he said 12 (about 53 F). That is a significant difference.
We eased in. It was about 5:30/5:45 and the longer we stayed the more people came and the sun began to peak out. First your feet get used to it. It is seriously cold but you get used to it and though it is still sort of painful, the pain changes. And then you forget because higher parts of your body are now freezing. And so it goes.
At some point we took the plunge and again, it felt like someone punched me in the gut. But it wasn't as bad this time.
And then... Then it was, well, it was lovely!
I stepped out to take this picture of Sheila and Johnny and the change in temperature actually made my skin feel hot and so I jumped back into the sea.
Swimming in the sea in general, any sea, is a really amazing experience. Not only does it feel more alive than a pool or lake because of the tide, but the salt water is quite buoyant. It takes less effort to stay afloat and to swim. We swam back and forth between the two "piers" that formed rays away from the changing house. All in all, I think we spent about a half hour in that cold sea tonight. And guess what? I'm heading into it tomorrow again too.
This time we headed to "Seapoint" (Rinn na Mara) on Susan's advice as it is a bit shallower than the Forty Foot and, therefore warmer.
Seapoint is a small seafront area between Blackrock and Monkstown best known for its beach and bathing areas beside a Martello Tower on the Dublin Bay seashore.
Sheila wasn't quite sure why were were doing this.
Johnny immediately tested the water for us. He put water temperature on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the coldest. He put the Forty Foot at a 9 and this at a 7.
We were ready.
Okay, maybe Sheila wasn't.
At some point a man came in from the depths and basically told us that it was balmy! He said he swims in the sea all year round and that sometimes it is 2 degrees Celsius (that's about 25 degrees Fahrenheit). We asked what he thought it was tonight and he said 12 (about 53 F). That is a significant difference.
We eased in. It was about 5:30/5:45 and the longer we stayed the more people came and the sun began to peak out. First your feet get used to it. It is seriously cold but you get used to it and though it is still sort of painful, the pain changes. And then you forget because higher parts of your body are now freezing. And so it goes.
At some point we took the plunge and again, it felt like someone punched me in the gut. But it wasn't as bad this time.
And then... Then it was, well, it was lovely!
I stepped out to take this picture of Sheila and Johnny and the change in temperature actually made my skin feel hot and so I jumped back into the sea.
Swimming in the sea in general, any sea, is a really amazing experience. Not only does it feel more alive than a pool or lake because of the tide, but the salt water is quite buoyant. It takes less effort to stay afloat and to swim. We swam back and forth between the two "piers" that formed rays away from the changing house. All in all, I think we spent about a half hour in that cold sea tonight. And guess what? I'm heading into it tomorrow again too.
No comments:
Post a Comment