Round and round the rugged rocks

It was a little choppy so we abandoned our plan to swim north to south along the coast from Beacon Point to Hope Cove. There are lots of rocks and inlets to explore, which was the point of the swim, but when it's rough that's not such a good idea. So we went to Inner Hope, which is very sheltered, and found lots of channels, gullies and islets to keep us entertained.

Wet run

We swam in Paignton, from Goodrington to Broadsands, as a 'wet run' of a charity swim which will take place on September 19th 2010 - put the date in your diaries now and contact me if you want to be put on the mailing list. I can't yet reveal the name of the swim, but we hope it will have a literary bent. It is the most beautiful route, past isolated coves, 400 million year old coral fossils, Brunel's historic railway viaduct and other interesting features.

In the current

The Dart was full after all the rain we've had; I felt like a hamster on a wheel as I frantically swam against the current, going nowhere. It was a good way of fighting off the penetrating cold of the water though.

Spring baptism

It felt right to herald the start of Spring with a swim in the West Dart. The water is so clean and clear, I felt like a baby in the waters of the font. The sun gleamed amongst the stones lining the bottom and it felt good to re-establish contact with the river again.

Recce swim

We were supposed to be doing a practice run for mystery charity swim being planned for September. I can't reveal any more details about the swim at the moment, except to say it will be of an intrieguing and historic nature and everyone will have the chance to take part. Watch this space. Tor Bay will be the venue - normally the perfect place for swimming - flat calm, shallow waters and no currents. Except it wasn't today. There was a strong Easterly blowing right in, it was rough, and there was a lot of surf - something you rarely see here. So we abandoned our planned route and wave-dodged instead.

Raid on secret pool

It was low tide at Burgh Island, and we decided to swim round for an illicit guerilla raid on the Mermaid Pool, the hotel's private tidal lagoon. We felt rather Bond-like as we swam through gulleys and then scaled the rocks to the top of the block wall - complete with 'private' sign - before jumping into the pool on the other side. The water was beautifully green and clear. We did a few leaps off the diving platform in the middle, and started to draw the attention of hotel guests who came to their windows to watch. At that point it was time for a sharp exit.

Cowrie country

After catching the waves at Bantham (see previous post) we decided to go cowrie hunting. We climbed round to the adjacent rocky beach I call "Cowrie Cove". Cowries are beautiful, mysterious, tiny and elusive shells which possess huge allure - for us at least. (see this piece I wrote about them for the Telegraph some years back). We set ourselves the challenge of finding ten each, but in fact found a grand total of 100 between us. See if you can do a bit of online cowrie hunting by spotting them in this picture. (mind you I have made it very easy for you).

View from a surfboard

The surf was boiling and beautiful at Bantham today. The sun was shining brilliantly too, and the beach was balmy, which was odd because when you've got lots of surf, you've usually got lots of wind too. We headed into the waves with our body boards, and had a spiffing time zooming up the beach at regular intervals. I thought it would be interesting to try and film myself from the surfboard. Watch the results...

Caribbean queen

Caribbean food is not regularly to be found round these 'ere parts. But in Paignton, amongst the charity shops and pet grooming salons, is a little gem which I found on my lunch hour today. The lady proprietor had just prepared some kebabs, which I had with rice and peas, and her scrumptious home-made mango chutney. She's from Guyana, and cooks Caribbean/Creole cuisine. Highly recommended.

A night out in Plymouth

We headed to the grand and beautiful Royal William Yard, formerly a victualling yard for the Navy, to see "The Pigs of Today are the Hams of Tomorrow", some performance art curated by Marina Abramovic. If a woman standing among a hundred pairs of shoes and slowly putting them on, a man sharpening knives in the shadows cast by a swinging bulb, and a butcher dealing with a dead pig are your thing, this was the place to be. We then heard an all-too-brief performance by the Plymouth Complaints Choir, whingeing on about everything from kids not tidying their rooms through to men wearing hats indoors. The evening finished with a meal at the Beijing Noodle Bar where my youngest son was harassed - but charmingly so - by the very cute 17 month old daughter of the head waitress, who kept trying to climb up onto his lap.