Doing the Bantham swoosh

Angie was down at her caravan at Bantham, and invited us down for an afternoon dip.  We walked through the clouds of young cow parsley and down to the pink thatched boathouse, where the river was a slim green twist.  It was nearly low tide, but the water was still moving down towards the sea at a fairly brisk old pace.  There were the usual cries of protest as we plunged in (the sea is taking a long time to warm up this year, to be fair) and it proved pretty impossible to swim against the current up river.  We waded and dragged ourselves for a while, and it was wonderful to have visibility again after the murky winter seas; we saw mussels, cockles, and lots of swaying bladderwrack below.  Then it was time to turn and be taken by the current, in what is generally known as the "Bantham swoosh".  You don't realise how fast you're going until you put your face in and watch the underwater landscape racing along underneath you.  We were carried along until we suddenly reached an eddy, where we span around for a while, like children on a merry go round.

Elberry antics

Sometimes you have to be just a little bit cunning when planning a swim.  Relentless rainy windy weather has resulted in unattractive seas, and after another spell away from Devon I wanted my homecoming dip to be as perfect as possible.  Cue forensic examination of the weather forecast, including intense assessment of wind direction, rain and various webcams, and I concluded Elberry Cove in Torbay would be the best bet.  Rachel and I met Jackie, Allan and Geoffrey over there, and were delighted to find brightening skies, and a flat sea with just a gentle swell.  The water was its usual special shade of green, as it always is over there, and we flung ourselves in, much to the amusement of various people sitting with their dogs on the beach.  As we swam, a gig boat hoved into view, with our friends Queenie and Trista on board, who'd come to say hello.

Restoring my factory settings

Life has conspired to take me away from my beloved Devon a lot lately.  Last time I got back I was  desperate to get back in the water, and we set off for Prawle Point, in Devon's southernmost parish, where the coastline is raw and rugged.  The rock formations are the colour of Dartmoor lichen,  and rather gothic, pointing and twisting into the sky like a scene from Lord of the Rings.  We climbed down to Elender Cove where I flung myself into the vigorous waves, the perfect restorative tonic.  At the same time I was trying out a new swimsuit given to me by the nice people at Simply Swim.  It's by Speedo, which I thought just did suits for whippet-thin athletes (unlike myself).  But no, they do a 'Sculpture' range suitable for the, ahem, 'fuller figure', ie perfect for me.  The suit is comfortable and flattering, and they claim it will last 10 times longer than normal because it's made of a special type of Lycra. I intend to test it to the max!