February 23rd 2021
Causeway Coast
Charity AWARE
Swim Distances over the past 6 nights.
Feb 22nd 1.08km
Feb 21st 1.08km
Feb 20th 0.907km
Feb 19th 0.990km
Feb 18th 1.01km
Feb 17th 0.49km & 0.52km
THANK YOU FOR CONTINUALLY SHARING AND DONATING. Donations now over the £11,000 mark!
AWARE https://aware-ni.org/
We are into the final 10km now. Donations have been coming in steadily. Thank you to each and every one of you! Ive been busy trying to document this as much as possible so I've been a little slack on here writing the blogs. Its all gone so fast to this point. I cant believe its been almost three months of this challenge!
I have had a mixture of conditions recently. Mainly lots of surf with well defined sand banks and no currents. There were two days that I had to leave the water and restart the swim because the current was just too strong to break through. The two short charts below are two swims from the same night swam back to back, the current so bad and there were fishermen out so I had to turn.
The nights are getting brighter now, more people are coming out. So I have started swimming a little later so as the beach is still deserted. The moon is back, its just over half way to full now and its looking likely we will finish on or very close to the full moon in a few days time.
Please if you are reading these blogs, use what I am doing to stay motivated. Keep active, get outdoors if you can and if you cant, open a window at the very least. The outdoors and exercise are great distractions from the world we are living through at the minute. I found a great resource that I think might be of interest to anyone who for some reason maybe cant get outdoors at the minute. Its called BBC Soundscape and you can listen to all sorts of sounds from the outdoors. Take a listen, it might be of use and or help during these times. https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/soundscapesforwellbeing/
Remember to look at yourself and those around you for signs that may be of concern. Here is a link to some of the things to look out for on the AWARE website....
NOTE - I apologise for not publicising when I am swimming as I know there are people who want to come and support me but we just cant risk it with covid and the regulations. I do post quite a lot on instagram so please follow along there, your support is greatly appreciated. It really spurs me on. I have a couple of people who are extremely experienced emergency responders so know that I am well looked after! I live extremely close (seconds away) to the beach but I cannot ask that any of you come down to support from further afield even though I know some of you reading this would like to and I would like to have you there.
Info - I am swimming a total of 100km through the darkness, in the darkest and coldest months of the year off the North Coast of Ireland. My aim...to inspire those who may be struggling in dark times to keep going. I also aim to raise awareness and funds for the depression Charity Aware. We all face dark times in life at some point and it can be extremely overwhelming.
Safety - Please don't think that because I am doing this that you too should do this or something similar. I am very experienced in the sea with knowledge that is only gained through many years of exposure to the sea in all her moods. I have a safety and location system in place including continual contact with people on land every time I swim.
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