The dog's blog

Today my friend Catherine's black labrador Jessie became the first dog to swim around Burgh Island.  Quite historic I think you'll agree.   She started off by trying to herd us all together, and then realised she was on a hiding to nothing, and so kept as close to Catherine as she could.  She was incredibly fast - none of us could keep up - although she did keep getting out onto the rocks for rests.  She would then re-enter the water with a huge leap, making a massive splosh.  After watching her technique underwater  Kari observed that she looked like a 'prancing Icelandic pony'.   Dogs aside, it was the most beautiful swim, in perfect conditions. The sea was flat calm and warm - 17.9 degrees - with fairly good visibility, so we had the perfect pootling circumnavigation, chatting, exploring gullies and pools, watching the shiny brown kelp swaying underneath us, and watching cormorants and seagulls. 

Birthday at Burgh

In what's now become a bit of a tradition at this time of year, I had a birthday party at Bigbury on Sea, with BBQ and a swim around Burgh Island.   Alex cooked up a storm and we had an absolute feast including sausages, prawns, mackerel, chicken and burgers; it was overcast but warm and we sat on the beach munching and gossiping.   Then we noticed an eerie sea mist lingering over the shiny slate cliffs in the distance; quite beautiful, and then we could see patches of sunlight on the sea in the distance.  A group of us set off to swim around the island; the water was flat as a millpond and as soon as I got in I felt excited because it was crystal clear and I could see the ripples in the sand underneath, studded with cockle shells. Kari and I swam in close to the island perimeter, over gardens of kelp and rocks covered in pink lichen; every so often in the gullies we got gently pulled in by small eddies and equally politely spat out. It was a low spring tide: in amongst the rocks were small lagoons, fringed with great swathes of seaweed, hanging down from their roots above us.  Back on the beach we had Stephanie's home-made bread and jam for pudding; the sun came out and it felt like summer.

Thanks to Allan Mcfadyen and Amanda Bluglass for the pictures.

Avon winter float

The sky was an intense blue and the sun was out. We walked from Bigbury beach up along the Avon to Cockleridge Ham; it was nearly low tide and the river was heading towards the sea. The Ham is a big sandy bulge into the river; it's like being on a desert island. We slid into the river and let ourselves be carried downstream...it was total pleasure just being in the water, lying on our backs looking up at the solid blue sky, with the sun on our faces. Bliss. My ten year old son made a video - watch it here.

Frolicking around the fringes

When we arrived at Bigbury-on-sea it felt like October. The place was shrouded in mist and everything was awash with grey. We continued with our swimming plans, and lo and behold it brightened up and we explored around the edge of the island, meandering through channels and diving through great fronds of kelp. We were approached by the lifeguards in their boat, who wanted to know if we were going to swim around the island. This feat has now become all too 'de rigeur'.

Spot the starfish

What camouflage eh? We found this handsome specimen on the beach at Bigbury. After this we swam around the fringes of Burgh Island and carried out a guerilla raid on the hotel's private Mermaid Pool - a gorgeous tidal pool with a wooden diving platform in the middle. Sadly I have no photographic evidence of this daring feat, but can confirm we did indeed dive off the platform before making our exit.

In the underwater jungle

There are sometimes days when familiar surroundings feel like uncharted territory. It was hot and still, and the sea around Burgh Island was smooth and benign. The water was calm and clear; we could see every frond of seaweed as we swam over rocky mountains and chasms below. It was so still that we were able to go in and around the rock formations that surround the island, venturing through channels and into coves and caves. At one point we came up against a vast, chunky, almost geometrically carved cliff face that looked, as my friend Anna said, like something out of Lord of the Rings. We were truly in another magical and mystical world.