Joni out / Drew In

Drew jumped into the water around 4:23. Joni is out and has changed to drier/warmer clothes.

They're Not Alone Out There

First of all, Joni has been in the water for 45 minutes now. It's still dark outside but daylight is beginning to come. Drew is getting ready to get in the water.

A few minutes ago they passed another boat with a swimmer. There are 6 other boats in the water right now that they can see. The boat is rocking more now because they are further out into the Channel. The water temperature is 60 degrees.

The Swim Is On!!!

Joni is the first swimmer in the water. She entered the water around 3:25 AM (7:25 PM PST). The order of the relay is Joni, Drew, Jim, Marjiana, Tim, Natalie. Each swimmer is to be in the water 1 hour.

A friend asked what one eats before swimming the English Channel. According to Drew it shouldn't be Indian food, which is what he had for dinner last night. Good luck, Drew!!!! The next 10+ hours may be a long 10+ hours.

Looks Like A Go!

At this moment, the swim is on for tomorrow morning. We meet at the boat at 2:45 am and leave for the start point a half hour later. We start at first light. The air has cooled after getting quite warm & humid today. The winds did pick up alot as the cool air began puhing out the warm, so hopefully that means for calm winds & seas. It looks as though we may have a few showers, but hey, what's a little wetness, right?!

So for those following this, we will be in the water between 7 & 8 pm 7/2 Oregon time, if all goes as planned. Now off for some sleep!

Nice Weather

Yesterday was a nice day, and today looks nice too, but we are scheduled to go tomorrow. Yesterday we had the clearest view of France since we have been here. It didn't look like it was 20 miles away. Reg Brickle, our pilot, is the best in the business. He has more successful crossings than any other pilot, so we just have to trust his judgement. I am ready to get going.

Yesterday we went to the White Horse Pub where all the channel swimmers sign their names on the wall. We found Tim's name on the wall. Tim has swum once before in a relay, and once solo. With us this will be his second relay crossing. We also found Michelle's name. She swims with Natalie, Tim, and me on our local team back in Oregon. She has done two solo swims. At the pub I had fish & chips with mashed peas. I had never had mashed peas before. They were pretty good. My wife, Jeanne, who hates peas even liked them. We had nice conversations with the bar tender, and just about everyone else in the bar.

Another day of waiting. I hope we get to go tomorrow.

Another Day of Waiting

The swim is next planned, or hoped for, on saturday. Friday is not considered a good day. So instead we will fall back to our routine as we did today, with a 45 min to an hour swim in the harbour after breakfast, then off to who knows what. Today Andrew, Mirjana & I went to the town of Deal & looked around. As we went on the bus, France was visible & was the clearest view we have had so far. Just a little disappointing to not have gone out today. Oh well, that is the way of the channel. We go when the pilot deems the conditions right. We just have to be ready & patient!

The Delay

Having bags packed and ready to go, we were prepared to swim at 3:00am. We woke up at 2:00 and heard the news that the swim was cancelled for today because it was very windy with fog everywhere. Everyone was disappointed and went back to sleep. Since the winds are not bad today, we are all hoping that we can swim at the same time tomorrow morning.

At the White Horse pub, the place we ate lunch at, we saw all the names of the people who have swam the English Channel in either a relay or solo. The walls and the ceilings were almost completely filled. After this great accomplishment of the Oregon Quacks completing this swim, I hope that we will be able to proudly sign our name on the wall next to the other swimmers. Seeing all the names on the wall was an inspiring and motivational moment for me.