The perfect moonlit dip

Well, how about that?  An absolutely magical moonlit swim. Usually the clouds rain on our parade, but tonight it was cold and clear.  It was very exciting arriving at our swimming spot, Oddicombe Beach in Torquay, as I could glimpse the glimmering whiteness of the moon beckoning me through the trees as I drove down the winding road.  On arrival at the prom - well - there was a simply stunning  moon casting an enormous white pool of light onto the sea, and lighting up the cliffs behind the beach, creating a silvery amphitheatre.  As we stood on the shore we felt very cold,  and I was dreading getting in.  But the sea was a delicious, welcoming surprise.  It was warm and I felt comforted and enveloped as we moved around in the soft, smooth water, as it gently lapped against the shingle. 

The romance of the Juliet Cave

In Torquay, at Oddicombe, the sun was shining and the sea was blue, flat calm, and very cold: 5.8 degrees C.  We set off to explore the Juliet Cave, so-called because you climb up a ledge and into an 'upstairs' cave with pool of white pebbles, with a 'balcony' and 'window' overlooking a channel below. As we approached the mouth of the cave the water swirled up and down the gorgeous, muscular  pink and white limestone that is found on this bit of the coast.  Some of the swimming party had not visited the cave before and their cries of wonder echoed around the cave, which really is the most magical place.  We stood on the balcony, looking down on the slice of churning water below, and wondered whether Romeo might swim up the gulley to see us.  Mark then led us a little further along the shore to another cave, with a hole in the ceiling through which he climbed back up into the outside world.

By the light of the silvery moon

I am still on a high this morning after one of the most perfect, otherworldly, awe-inspiring swims ever.  Anna and I swam in the sea at Oddicombe with the full moon glowing like a huge pearl overhead.  It cast an oval of white light on the sea's horizon, and sparkled a rippling pathway of diamonds from the shore. We walked in through a gentle roll of water, warm hats on our heads, and then swam straight towards the moon.  We wondered if the white oval would ever be reachable, or whether it was like a mirage. The water felt and looked like silk, saturated by the gentle moonlight, and as we swam we realised we could see our limbs glowing clearly in the water. We felt part of a tremendous, endless vastness.

Wild in Torbay

We've had extremely low tides for the last couple of days, and two swims have revealed Torquay's hidden marine wildlife in all its naked, sometimes grotesque beauty. The names say it all: elephant hide sponge, dead men's fingers, to name just a couple; but most exciting of all, I have finally seen a Devonshire Cup Coral.  Our first swim was at London Bridge, a natural arch.  It was a glorious day with bright sun and flat, turquoise sea.  Underneath the arch we saw starfish, dead men's fingers and various sponges; we swam into a double cave at the side of the Bridge and were overwhelmed by the sheer power of the light suffusing the water.   The following day we swam at Oddicombe, a mile or two up the coast, and again, because of the low tide, saw masses of corals and anemones nestling in the rock faces.  It was here I saw the Devonshire Cup Coral - almost exactly in the middle of this picture - it's such a romantic name, I have always dreamt about seeing one. Shame that, close up, it actually looks like a cat's bottom.

Oddicombe Capers

It was a damp and dreary Sunday afternoon after an endlessly wet week, and yet scores of wonderful wild swimmers turned out to hear our talk about the swims of Torbay (see below). THANK YOU to all who came, and who then, in true Dunkirk spirit, braved the foul weather to walk to the cliff railway and head down to Oddicombe Beach for a dip. Not for us a balmy swim in flat blue seas on a sunny summer's afternoon. No siree! Instead we had pounding surf, swirling sands and JELLYFISH! Several people were stung, fortunately not badly. Don't you just love the English summer? Thanks to Sally Morgan for the picture.

Gentlemen bathers and nudist beaches

Today we swam from a Gentlemen's Bathing Place to a Naturist beach. Just how exciting can swimming get? We were at Oddicombe in Torquay. At the northern end of the beach is the area where the men used to swim in the days of segregated bathing. You can see the platform above and the staircase down to the water. Despite being a mostly female contingent we boldly swam off from the Gents' area, along the rocky coastline towards Petit Tor Point, where we found a spectacular cavern with extraordinary pink Dead Man's Fingers squished in among the crevices. We swam on, over a colony of starfish, until we got to Petit Tor Cove, Torquay's nudist beach. At this point, as they say, we made our excuses and left.