Playing at mermaids

While I'm not a speedy swimmer (or speedy anything, for that matter) I've always been quite confident in the water - mostly due to having a mother who was a swimming teacher, and who introduced me to the water when I was far too young to be nervous of it. 

When I spotted some stunning photographs of the lovely Lindy Pieri (a beautiful model of my acquaintance) taken in the unique Tankspace venue, I commented that I'd love to give it a go. The cost of a directly-booked session was somewhat beyond my budget - a solo two hour shoot costs £350. However, a few weeks after commenting on Lindy's post, she dropped me a line to say that her photographer, the magical Halo, was booking the tank for the whole day and selling 45 minute slots for £70. Despite being a three-hour drive away in Northants, I decided it was a chance not to be missed.

I then put up a Facebook shoutout to see if any other friends fancied sharing the journey / petrol / experience, and happily Dawn decided to join in. We shared the most wonderful day, booked adjacent slots, took it in turns to dive / change costumes to make best use of the time, and had an absolute ball.

The trickiest bit is the buoyancy. I am a natural 'floater' (something to do with large front-mounted waterwings?!) and keeping myself low enough in the tank is quite a feat. The process is to breathe in through the nose, but then exhale through the mouth as you descend - if you keep lungs full of air you just stay bobbing on the surface. Not very photogenic. Trying not to strangle oneself in scarves, drop props, or breathe in a lungful of water on emerging are all interesting challenges. However, by the end of the session, both Dawn and myself loved it and only wanted to have another go. There's no question of if we return to TankSpace - only when!

I took two costumes - a red evening dress and my (last worn in 1995) wedding dress. As a last-minute thought, I also took my favourite rainbow dungarees, and sneaked in a quick five-minute dive at the end of the session, also using the hoop (last encountered in my 'budgie-hooping' attempts a few years ago).

The Tankspace staff and Halo the photographer were delightful, friendly and reassuring; the tank itself was beautifully warm, as were the loos and changing room; the whole experience was empowering, amazing and magical.

I couldn't have been better pleased with the results. We had to wait for a couple of weeks until Halo had had a chance to sort, choose and edit from a day-long session, but they arrived on 30 December (the shoot was on 16 December), and as my husband put it, I didn't stop smiling for the rest of the evening.

It's a tough choice, but I think this is my favourite shot:

- the whole set can be seen here.

What a fantastic end to the year.

Kayaking: broads on the Broads

I loved my kayaking experience when we were fortunate enough to holiday in Croatia in 2019. However, a fabulous July evening in Norfolk was just as enjoyable!

Kim suggested it and (mercifully) shared my vessel (I think I'd get seriously left behind if I did it alone). We went with the lovely folks of Norfolk Outdoor Adventures on Hickling Broad, who we'd highly recommend for friendly and encouraging professionalism. It was a 'sundowner' outing, and we were fortunate enough to have excellent weather.

After moving across open water and through jungle-like reed beds...

...we paused for a rest and a chat (and a beer!) before returning to base. 

It was an exhilarating and fabulous experience, and one I'd love to repeat.

Full album can be found on Google Photos here.

Nuclear Rush: a muddy 10K

Full album here

This was a killer.

On a happily glorious day in May 2018, I joined four of my colleagues from Mother Nature's Diet (all considerably fitter than me) for a ten-kilometre 'muddy run'. Not only was 10k a major stretch for me (then and at any time) but the 'assault course' element pushed me further out of my comfort zone than I would have believed possible.

All clean before we started! L to R: Karl, Jane, Jason, Cassie, Kim.

We not only ran but shimmied under cargo nets (through mud), scrambled up slopes, splashed through streams, jumped off high platforms into a lake, and much more. Some hilarious, some deeply uncomfortable, some terrifying, some exhilarating. 

I found there was just one area where I was further into my comfort zone than most of my colleagues: the swimming. I'm slow but reasonably confident, having been thrown into a swimming pool when I was just months old and having no fear of water. So diving under a float to come up the other side posed no problems; it was scary coming down the 'death slide', but that came under the 'exilarating' heading; and jumping off a tower into deep water was a challenge but manageable.

I ducked out of some of the challenges - especially the later ones as I tired - but was still pretty proud to have managed quite a number of them, and - even though I was tail-end Charlie throughout, to have finished the thing at all.

Was I glad I did it? For challenge, cameraderie and personal boundary pushing - yes. Would I do it again? Probably not!! 

Snorkelling with seals

A few photos are shown below (click to view a larger version); you can see the whole album here.

When I did my scuba try-dive, way back in April, that opened up another possibility: snorkelling. Having got to grips with the rather bizarre sensation of breathing through the mouth alone, I figured that the surface-of-water nature of the rather more straightforward activity (and without a socking great tank on the back!) would be OK: and it was. Finding myself with the opportunity to try this out during our holiday in the beautiful Isles of Scilly was a real delight.

The Scilly Seal Snorkelling team is based on the tiny island of St Martin's. High winds on our original intended trip (Friday) scuppered that day, but Saturday was fine. As the tripper boats don't go out from St Mary's early enough, Anna and Lewis collected us from the quay in their RIB (rigid inflatable boat) to travel to St Martin's. That in itself was an exciting experience - belting through the waves!

Once at the quay, we were kitted out with the various layers of wet-suit - including boots, gloves, hood - then fins and mask. (The hire of all the kit was included in the very reasonable £45 session fee - I only needed to take swimsuit and towel.)

Then it was back in the RIB to travel to one of the many tiny, uninhabited (except for the wildlife) islands near St Martin's. Once anchored up in a bay, from which we could see dozens of seals basking on the rocks, we had a debrief, and then we were in.

I was oddly nervous as we started - mainly getting back used to the no-nose-breathing. However, Anna stayed close to me until I found confidence, and I was soon able to breathe through the kit and remain with face submerged for long periods of time.

My only handicap was (as with scuba) my short sight: obviously I couldn't wear specs, and I didn't want to risk losing my (rigid gas permeable) contact lenses. However, it's also true that the goggles and being underwater corrected my vision to an extent so I was quite happy. I've decided that for any further similar adventures I'll get a supply of disposable soft lenses.

The seals are wonderfully inquisitive. Within a few minutes of us all getting into the water, they'd started to come up to investigate. As Anna had warned us, they often approach from behind, nibbling our fins, and can make you jump when suddenly a large mammal swims around your legs without warning! You can see the chap below on the right of the photo watching us as we were all looking under the water...

The other bit of kit that I dearly wished I had was an underwater camera. When (not if) I get the chance to do this again, I'll definitely invest in one. Seal after seal swam across my vision, sometimes some yards below and sometimes right up to me; the closest twined around my lower body very gently before swimming off. There were also small fish, a few inches long; and beautiful fronds of seaweed dancing from the rocks.

I popped back up to the boat briefly to share with my husband (who was watching and taking photos) what I'd been seeing. He told me that the seals had been following us when we didn't know it:

... and also coming right up to the boat to check it out.

The wetsuit ensured that the water didn't feel cold at all, and only right at the end of the 90 minute swim did I start to feel that it was time to come out. As I relaxed into the environment and became confident, I felt increasingly in awe of the opportunity I'd been given: interacting with and observing these gentle, playful creatures was such a privilege.

Finally our time was up, and we all returned to the boat. Hot ginger tea and Twix bars were on offer to revive us. We all shared experiences as the RIB returned to St Martin's, clearly all thrilled and excited by the encounter.

The tide was low as we reached the island, so our final job of the trip was for the swimmers to get out and wade in pulling the boat containing the non-swimmers! It was probably less than half a mile, but that was quite a workout...

The whole of our visit to the Scillies was a true delight and a wonderful experience; this morning's excursion was indisputably a major highlight for me. Another challenge to my notions of what I could and wanted to do, an extraordinary encounter with nature; special beyond words. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Flashback: outdoor swimming

I knew I had it somewhere. The last time that I went outdoor swimming (as opposed to just splashing around)... I was entered into a junior race. In the sea at Margate. Not sure what time of the year, but it was clearly very cold. I'd bet quite a lot that I came last as usual. Mum towels me down while little sis looks smug that she didn't need to join in. I think this was around 1972, so I'm nine years old.

Outdoor swimming: unexpectedly challenging

This might be the second day in May, but the temperatures are still unseasonably low (around 8-10 degrees C); so the waters of Whitlingham Broad were, in the words of the session leader, 'fresh'.

I met up with local friends Emily & Rebecca for this experience - this being Norfolk, they filter in to my circles from totally different bits of my life! Emily's an experienced open-water swimmer and triathlon veteran, Rebecca (shown with me below) is training for her first triathlon.

Photo: Rebecca Wass

I've been a confident but slow swimmer ever since I was very young; having a swimming teacher for a mother, I was introduced to the water when I was too young to be scared of it, and plodded through lengths of various swimming pools in school swimming galas - although I came last, more often than not (as explained here). Even today, although I rarely swim, I can still manage several lengths at a steady pace without feeling uncomfortable. So I reckoned that open-water-swimming wouldn't be too scary.

This turned out to be a very different kettle of fish. The hired wetsuit, to start with: much tighter-fitting than I expected (looking around at other swimmers, it was supposed to be), which gives one the feeling of constricted breathing even before getting into very cold water. (It's quite a workout just getting into the suit!) Then the suit gives additional buoyancy - a curiosity that took some getting used to in my scuba try-dive - although in that case, you have control over that buoyancy with inflation and deflation of the BCD.

In wetsuit, I stayed resolutely on the very surface of the water; my breathing was far more shallow than usual, due to a combination of the tight suit and the extreme cold; and the result was that the actual strokes I took, no matter whether breast-stroke, front crawl or (to a lesser extent) back crawl, felt as though I was fighting through treacle. After just one circuit (I later learned about 300m) I felt as though I'd done at least half an hour on a particularly vicious treadmill setting. However, I couldn't cope with the idea of giving up, so set off again.

Photo: www.triharder.co.uk

I found that I could keep going for longest using breast-stroke, breaking occasionally into a few yards of front crawl; when I ran out of steam, I would turn on my back, do back-stroke for a short way, and then simply use the buoyancy to float and kick my legs - and get my breath back. I reached the end of circuit #2 feeling slightly more confident. However, by the time I'd reached the end of #3, fatigue was really setting in, and I had to admit defeat. (I think the whole process took around 30 minutes.)

But hey: around 900m on a first try wasn't too bad, even though my technique was extremely questionable; I displayed at least the doggedness that I used to show as a child (never giving up until I finished the race, even though I might be several minutes behind the rest of 'em); and I came out feeling that great blast of adrenalin that only high-intensity exercise can give. Magic.

What this has demonstrated to me - and I already knew from the 'budgie-hooping' activities - is that my upper body and core strength need serious work. My main exercise is still my walking, which is great for the legs and a moderate amount of cardio, but some muscles are getting neglected. So next up is to develop a short routine with weights and own-body weight exercises - which will also involve work towards another of my life-list goals: "do ten REAL press-ups".

Huge thanks to Rebecca and Emily for their encouragement and company, and to the organising team at triharder, who made the whole event a real pleasure, with safety and encouragement being paramount.

I reckon I'll try this at a similar event later in the summer, and see if higher temperatures make for an easier swim!

Scuba try-dive

Now, this was a challenge I never thought I'd attempt.

Our good friend Milton has been a keen scuba-diver for many years, and has often offered to take me on a 'try-dive' - giving the chance to have a first go at using the complex equipment and to experience the extraordinary sensation of breathing underwater, but in the reassuringly safe environment of a swimming pool. Until now, I'd always refused. However, when it came up on my friends' suggestions for my Life List, I took a deep breath (above water) and said OKAY - not least because we were due to visit Milton and Dorothy for our post-Easter break.

In the event, our short visit didn't allow Milton to act as my instructor due to timetables (so I thought I'd get out of it for the time being). However, they weren't going to let me off that easily, and Milton's fellow instructor, Sue, stepped in. So on the last day of our holiday, I headed off with Sue to the HQ of Bolton Area Divers.

Scuba is one of those activities which is completely safe at the same time as being potentially dangerous - rather like driving a car, really. In other words, as long as you learn carefully, follow the rules, don't panic and do as your instructor says, you'll have an exciting, enjoyable and magical experience.

The first 90 minutes or so of my experience consisted of learning. Watching the DVD, receiving instruction from Sue, answering questions to make sure I understood what was involved, signing disclaimer forms, being fitted for fins, wetsuit, mask and the rest of the kit, learning what all the tubes and controls were for and how to fit them together, experiencing the extraordinary weight of the air tank on the back. Then, after a drive to the local swimming pool, we spent about another 90 minutes in the pool itself.

My first attempts were very strange and mostly infused with panic. Being a performer, I'm used to the 'in through the nose - out through the mouth' technique of breathing, so the fact that one has to leave the nasal breathing out of the equation at all times took a lot of getting used to. My first couple of tries resulted in a panic-stricken splutter back to the surface. Breathing through the reg (regulator) and never through the nose was incredibly weird.

However, as the brain tuned in to what was needed, and with Sue's patient encouragement, I managed it. First, just face into the water while in the shallows; then swimming along the surface but with face submerged; then sitting on the bottom of the pool; and finally, swimming along the bottom of the pool (although still in fairly shallow water). By now, I was managing to stay under the water and breathing through the reg for a few minutes at a time.

Among all this, I also needed to get the hang of inflating and deflating the BCD (buoyancy control device), which is effectively an inflatable waistcoat. One of the myriad of tubes is used to inflate (keeping you nearer the surface) and deflate (allowing you to sink deeper). This took a lot of getting used to!

Lastly, Sue weighted a couple of hoops, and set them up for me to swim through. The sense of achievement was immense. Comically, I ended up collecting the hoops (they got caught on the cylinder) so by the end of the manoeuvre, I looked more like a triumphant sea-lion than anything else.

I didn't manage to pluck up the courage to go to the deepest point in the pool on this occasion; and I know that I'd need to practice in the safety of the swimming pool quite a bit before I might feel brave enough to try the Open Water course. The thought of 'real' scuba - and, of course, underwater photography - is hugely exciting and still pretty scary.

However, having learned the basic 'breathing underwater' technique, I also realise that this might open up the possibilities of snorkelling, which is something else I'd love to try, and previously wouldn't have attempted.

Sue was a brilliant instructor, patient, thorough and clear, and I was so glad that I let Milton talk me into trying out this amazing experience. It's pushed my boundaries once again - and I'm feeling really proud of myself!

Full photo album here.