All week I have been dodging bad weather and a virus. The weather mostly dodged me, I did not dodge the virus and as a consequence despite the morning swim being in beautiful weather and with the extra excitement of it being a birthday bob. I also dodged the bob and had a dry bob. Basically a bob without the need to take my clothes off and get wet. Dry bobs also give the chance to have a good old natter with Coach Andy and drink coffee from a thermos. A dodged bob is never a wasted bob when you can do all of the components except the cold, wet one.
Bright October sun gave me this image yesterday. It was a day for walking and enjoying good weather. The rust coloured scratches on the paving slab caught my eye as the orange leaf briefly landed at my feet. I had no idea until later that the shadow had formed such a perfect leaf shape. Nature and sun accompanied me on my coastal meanderings.
The sea was in a very calm mood, so much so that I was tempted to go for a solo swim despite having a 6pm one booked with the bobbers. Waiting was the right idea. We were not alone in the bay, a small choir of women had gathered on the beach. As we swam they sang. Strange unknown sounds filled the cove. The incoming tide pushed them closer and closer to the small cliffs that surround our swimming area. If this had been a summer or winter solstice we might have anticipated such an unusual experience. Even the pragmatic bobbers crack out a candle or two for special swims. No merfolk were summoned while we were swimming. A fat seal snacked on a big fish. We probably stayed in the water a little too long, but unexplained singing to the sea is not our usual experience of the Wednesday evening bob. The moment was quite cinematic . The singing was not exactly joyful, New-age , part chant, part song; soaring notes with harmony and discordance woven together. There was a lot of hugging. We clambered out as their last notes filled the air. Hot drinks were needed by both groups of women. The magic , or moment, broken by the need to warm up, and for the bobbers to chatter about their mid-week lives. Chocolate may have been involved.
The evening dog walk fueled by a left over bobbing chocolate.
P.s This blog was deliberately written before I have had the chance to email one of the singers to ask what they were doing.
After the bob we learned that one of our Bobbers’ mothers had died the previous day, I wish she could have been with us last night, as a singer she would have appreciated what ever it was we experienced.
Waiting for Agnes. Storm Agnes is on her way, but early this morning there was a bobber in the water. Taking a dip before the storm disrupts our coastal life.
Just one bobber and a buoy
Just like a storm the subjects for this blog are blowing around in my ponderage. 4 possible subjects all of them small. Struggling to find a common theme and realising that with forbearance and some imagination the link might be the sea.
Tasks for the day
Chores
Dog walks
Make new necklace out of three old broken ones
Sketch a merwoman/bobber taking a strong pose
Dog walks
Chores
Lets not talk about the chores but the first dog walk found a familiar bobber bobbing in Tranquility Bay. Which for now is still tranquil.
I have been holding on to three broken necklaces for some time. I moved them to this house in bits two years ago. Today was the day that I actually reused the best bits from all three. The link to the sea is tenuous but the new necklace is made mostly out of artificial pearls.
My other slightly sea related subject is a new to me accompaniment for toast.
Fishy, salty and lemony it is the perfect wake up for my post-covidly pathetic taste buds. I tried Gentlemen’s Relish but it seems my tastes are more towards the criminal than the gentlemanly.
And so onto the sketch of the day. It seems only appropriate to name her Agnes.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Bobbing and the bobbers are a rich source of advice. So much so that isolating the best piece of advice would be foolhardy. But the wittiest piece of advice I gained from the big bobbing trunk of advice is really rather useful and it also makes me laugh out loud whenever I hear the first sentence in real life or on the radio or TV.
” Well, the ball is in their/his/her court” says the protagonist, following a disagreement or differing opinion on any number of subjects. This suggests to anyone who is listening that a point of understanding or neutrality has been reached after a period of tentative discussions or slightly uncomfortable negotiations.
The protagonist is suggesting that the next move is entirely up to the person or organisation that they have had a disagreement with.
A Bobbers additional sentence takes all illusion of control away.
” But the bat is up my arse”
Removing any scintilla of doubt as to where the real power lies.
It is no surprise to any regular @theoldmortuary blog reader that over the last 3 years my relaxation comes from swimming in the sea with ‘The Bobbers’. No one is more surprised than me to say this. If I were writing this blog in 2020 my answer would almost certainly have been reading or listening to music. In Ocrober 2020 four and then five of us started swimming regularly in the sea at Firestone Bay. That number has swelled to 21 as of yesterday.
What started as an immune system boosting, cold dip, for one bobber has become a fellowship of swimmers and Coach. There is nothing official about us, just a Whatsapp group where times of ‘Bobs’ are called. The Whatsapp group messages rarely stick at just a tide time and weather prediction. Our Bobbing friendships have similarly become intertwined, interesting and most importantly supportive.
Sometimes in the past, pre 2020, I knew that if life was tripping me up, with too much to do or think about then a couple of hours in a good book would set me right. Not so much now. Even in the depth of winter I know that a dip in Firestone Bay or another cold alternative is exactly what I need. Developing an eclectic and supportive group of ‘bobbing’ friends has also been life changing and life affirming. People who I would never have met in any other way have been brought together by a shared interest in getting chilly on the coastal edge of Plymouth Sound.
In fairness to ‘ Bobbing’ it does do a lot more than relax. This blog could equally have asked all of the following questions and I would have written something similar.
It was the sort of day to be beside the sea yesterday. Lovely hot weather with a bit of a breeze. Saharan dust in the atmosphere made for a pink sunset, coupled with a favourable tide in the evening I chose to swim in the dark sea of dusk.
Although this looks blissfully peaceful there was an annoying drone flying overhead. The drone operator may have felt irritated by me bobbing about when all they wanted was an empty bay. The sea had been full all day of people making use of our hot September weather and my isolated dip was just good timing. There were plenty of people still in the water 15 minutes before when I walked the dogs. There was also some live music coming from the Tennis Club that overlooks the bay. It is just too bad that we didn’t have good weather when the evenings were longer and we had friends and family to fill them with. Regardless, an evening swim was very relaxing. The water was crystal clear and beautifully black, mind clearing in the best possible way.
How would you feel if you had just been swimming among shoals of fish with hundreds of sea birds feasting on the fish and a pod of dolphins breaching just yards from your swim zone.
Doing that with the best group of bobbing buddies on a Friday morning is just one of the loveliest moments that life can unexpectedly deliver.
For a couple of days now there have been a lot of fish in our little bay on the edge of Plymouth Sound. Coupled with super high tides and the arrival of a pod of dolphins it has been like living in a wildlife documentary. The cries of the seagulls and the twinkle of fish scales in the water made our morning bob very magical. How am I feeling right now?
Blessed by the serendipity of nature. Swimming with Dolphins…
Somewhere out there there are 8 dolphins…
Millions of fish. Hundreds of Seabirds .Nine bobbers including Coach who couldn’t believe quite how lucky we are to swim in such a fascinating place.
The British Firework Championship was being held just across from our swimming zone.
We could see the flashes and hear the bangs as soon as we left home. A sure sign we had talked too much over supper. No real surprise there,we always talk too much. There were even some illuminated swimmers in our usual bobbing spot.
This morning everything had returned to normal and a dozen happy bobbers swam in the bay without the excitement of fireworks. One bobber had returned to us after being away in Abu Dhabi and another had been dealing with some family complications in London. It felt so good to have a big group of bobbers together to refresh our hearts and minds in the cool waters of Tranquility Bay. We are each others metaphorical fireworks, lighting and lifting one another as and when needed.
If today was yesterday, it was not completely typical. The long distance swimmers,who are also bobbers, took off from our usual bobbing location, but for a longer distance swim with very little chatting. What was not so typical was that a bright red Royal Navy ship sailed past the bobbing zone making the whole thing more colourful.
Normally bobbers are tiny orange dots swimming in the sea with military grey ships sailing past. Not so yesterday. HMS Protector sailed past as they were swimming out. Link below for information.
If we think our waters can be chilly at times, this ship spends most of its working life in the Antarctic. It has just been in Plymouth for a bit of a spruce up and training. The bobbers were not the only bright things in the sea yesterday.
Last night our evening bob was a little more bumpy than we had anticipated. Getting in and out took more care than usual but swimming in a lively summer sea was invigorating and buzzy. Conversation afterwards was lively and touched on a new exhibition in Manchester by Yayoi Kusama.
I’m not sure we can fit a trip to Manchester into our summer plans but we did catch her exhibition in Hong Kong earlier this year. She translates life experiences into distinctive abstracts featuring dots and serpiginous and fascinating shapes. At 92 she is unlikely to take up cold water swimming but I wonder how she would depict an experience like last nights swim.
I might have a go at trying a chilly coloured watercolour. Depicting swimming in a bumpy sea with unexpected icy splashes as waves bump into each other. Showering bobbing swimmers with droplets of salty, very cold water.
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