25th March 2024
Paddling is always a valid option
Spring is springing. Whether it’s entirely sprung is a matter of opinion. There are daffodils and snowdrops and absurd cumulous bursts of snow-white blackthorn flowers filling field edges and floating over verges.
This morning there is sun. Half sun, to be honest. Sun and then sun-behind-haze and then haze and then warmth pops its pretty head out for a moment, grins and is gone.
No complaining. It is almost ten degrees on the beach, double figures in the right direction. The thirteen mph wind from the south, with what might be described as fresh bursts up to around twenty three, makes it feel rather more like six. The flag reaches out stiffly.
As I reach the water’s edge, I spot Bikini sitting like a robed Buddha sweetly waiting for me. The sea is more vigorous than I anticipated, should have been obvious given the wind.
It is half-way tide, not so deep that you can’t get out with your feet down but not so low that stiff tiny waves sting your legs. The last proper low tide had been just before five am, washing up to sunrise at five forty. We’re early over here on the east and if you catch the sun coming up over the water on a clear day, it looks as if the horizon is on fire.
Bikini and I watch the water as we finish putting our swimming things on. The sea is gunmetal, polished to a mirror shine on the top of the higher waves. We watch periods of nothing followed by significant series of waves, blown and bothered by the gusting wind.
Professor and Mrs Professor Peru arrive as we are getting ready. We’re a little shoal again. They’re a little anxious about the size of the waves. I tell them that I am planning to send Bikini in as a test pilot and she goes before me, turns and waves her arms in a demo of depth and enjoyment.
The water’s edge is lively. One minute, nothing, like stepping into a knee-high paddling pool, another minute, a crash and a face-full of froth and a waist-high wave to greet you.
I’m in and it’s delightful. Of course it still feels cold. It’s still March and the water temperature is between seven and eight degrees. Because we swim through the winter, or try to, the water is actually beginning to feel warmer. A little.
It is wonderful. Most of the larger waves dissolve before they reach us. Although we can see them huge and folding over as they break over the sandbank, they are manageable to navigate as long as we pay attention. Bikini reminds me that waves in a lively sea can actually make it feel warmer, they are a distraction from the temperature, unlike a still cold pond in a winter sea.
After consideration, the Perus opt for paddling. Paddling is always valid. Your feet get to swim and your face is just as full of wave-splash and sea breath as if you had been in the water.
Changing feels cold and we are quick. The sun is hiding its face now and the wind feels livelier, time and again rubbing the sea the wrong way.
