Speedy Gonzalez
26-08-2007, 10:53 PM
Today I went for a swalk. That is, a swim/walk. It wasn't supposed to be - it was meant to be a 5k swimming race, but the organisers got the tides wrong. We were swimming down a tidal estuary, supposedly with the tide. But it seemed the tide had got tired of waiting for us to appear, and had gone out too much. As a result, there wasn't much water in the estuary, it had all gone to see its dear friend, the sea. So in many areas it was only ankle deep.
Still, I made very some very good friends. You don't tend to be able to talk much to the people you are swimming alongside. You do when you are walking.
One of the reasons for the tide having gone out too far was because we were late starting. And this was due to a very bad-tempered boatman. There was a shorter, 1000m race before ours, and the idea was that when the last swimmer arrived at the ramp in the marina where the finish was, we would be waiting in a boat, ready to be taken to the start of the 5000m race. But the boatman, who was already in a bad mood due to the amount of vaseline now adorning his seats, decided to set sail before the last few swimmers had arrived. When he very nearly ran into a couple of the younger participants, a couple of people stood up in the boat yelling, to warn him. And that really got his goat. In a rage, he turned the boat around, and took us back to the ramp, and refused to leave again. So in a massive rush, we had to quickly organise fleets of cars to take us to the race.
Still, the organisers made up for it by making sure the cider was free and abundant post-race. :)
Still, I made very some very good friends. You don't tend to be able to talk much to the people you are swimming alongside. You do when you are walking.
One of the reasons for the tide having gone out too far was because we were late starting. And this was due to a very bad-tempered boatman. There was a shorter, 1000m race before ours, and the idea was that when the last swimmer arrived at the ramp in the marina where the finish was, we would be waiting in a boat, ready to be taken to the start of the 5000m race. But the boatman, who was already in a bad mood due to the amount of vaseline now adorning his seats, decided to set sail before the last few swimmers had arrived. When he very nearly ran into a couple of the younger participants, a couple of people stood up in the boat yelling, to warn him. And that really got his goat. In a rage, he turned the boat around, and took us back to the ramp, and refused to leave again. So in a massive rush, we had to quickly organise fleets of cars to take us to the race.
Still, the organisers made up for it by making sure the cider was free and abundant post-race. :)