Photos added

Apologies for not having got these up earlier. Work has been relentless pretty much since I got out of the sea in France !

A full account of the swim and some videos will follow soon.

The morning before the swim with Dover Harbour in the background

Loading up the escort boat

 Getting ready to go - with Tania...

 ...and Christian (a true hero and top level triathlete who helped coach me during my training)...



 ...and Wayne (an absolute legend who did his swim the previous Saturday and dropped everything to come and crew for me)...

On the boat before the swim - nerves starting to kick in

 

Lots of factor 50 !!!

 and some more factor 50 before the grease goes on

 Leaving Shakespeare Beach in Dover

 Getting underway

 Several hours off Dover and you can only just start to see France in the far distance

The first shipping lane coming in to view

 Powering on

Powering on

..and on...

..and on...

There were a lot of big ships to avoid

 As night set in I had two flashing green lights attached to me and carried on into the dark

We finished at 3.36am on the morning of Monday 13th September

Because of the extremely strong tides we were swept in a large S shaped curve. Towards the end my speed had dropped so I narrowly missed Cap Gris Nez. 30 minutes quicker would have meant 3 hours less swimming ! Compare this to the swim (credit to Hoffyswims.com) below which was on a neap tide

This is the beach we landed on (we went back the following Saturday to have a look), though this is at low tide. When we landed the tide was up to the base of the cliffs on the left and waves were smashing me against the rocks. If it had been low tide then I think I may have finished a bit earlier given the size of the beach !!!

A re-enaction of the landing...albeit in daytime...and without the 5 foot waves...and without 16.5 hours swimming to get there. The ferry was much easier !

Dover solo (vernacular for a single person channel swim !) - 16.33 !!! Excellent photo taken by Christian who, being a good lad, did get the restaurant's permission first - thanks mate



I did it !

Started at 11.00 on Sunday morning and finished in France at 3.36 on Monday morning giving me a total swim time of 16 hrs 36 mins ! Phew - still recovering, so more to follow in the coming days.

View Detailed 9 Day Weather Forecasts for Dover, webcams, weather maps & more at Weather-Forecast.com

It's the Final Countdown !

Only 8 days now until my official swim window opens. There's some possibility I may swim earlier, but am staying focused on that initial date so that I can get my motivation going.

From 14th to 22nd of September I'll be on Standby waiting for a call that will give me c. 24hrs notice that my crew and I are going. We will then load up the car with water, Maxim sports drink, food, clothes, torches etc etc etc (there is a lot of stuff required !) and then head down to a B&B in Dover to grab some sleep. We'll probably be starting early the following morning (2 or 3 a.m. perhaps) so that we can do the bulk of the swim in the light.

Shakespeare Beach (Dover Harbour in background) - credit: f0rbe5/flikr

Once we get down to the boat we'll load up and then head out of the harbour and west to either Shakespeare Beach or Samphire Ho. The pilot will then stop, I'll jump in (freshly greased with a flashing light on my head for safety) and swim to the shore.

In a bright spotlight I'll stand on the beach, raise my arm in the air and, when the horn on the boat goes (telling me the clock is starting), I will dive into the Channel and begin my journey to France. The next time I touch land will be the other side of the English Channel !

Feeding will be on the hour for the first 3 hrs and then every 30 minutes from then on. Feeds will be as quick as possible (I need to remember that I am feeding rather than resting !) and I'll be drinking good quantities of very hot Maxim sports drink. Occasionally I'll get half a banana, a cup of peaches, small squares of peanut butter sandwiches etc. but mainly I'll be fuelled by my desire to achieve this dream and raise this great sum for Parkinsons UK and the Camphill Family.

I'm not certain how long it will take me to get to France but it will almost certainly be between 16 and 20 hours. If I'm unlucky with the tides and/or the weather then it may take more time than that. This won't be a problem, I just need to make sure I pack enough Maxim to keep me going !

What I can visualise very clearly though is the moment my hand goes over my head to stroke forward and touches France when I am in a few feet of water. At that point I'll stand up (probably fall over) and then wade onto the beach. Once my feet are clear of the water I need to raise my hands again, and then, when the boat's horn sounds again, I'll have finished my channel swim !

In the meantime, I'll keep checking the weather forecast. Much of this forecast is driven by a weather buoy anchored in the Eastern end of the Channel. You can look at the Sandettie buoy directly at http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/buoy/index.shtml?co_sandettiebuoy#results if you're interested. Alternatively look at the long term weather forecast on http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Dover/forecasts/latest.

Current forecast is for a dropping wind towards the beginning of next week and no real rain...let's hope it doesn't get any worse ! Cross your fingers, make a wish, say a prayer because we need no wind, flat seas and sunshine in an ideal world....that said, I'm not sure we live (or swim) in one of those.

Until next time...

Barn dance and Auction

Thank you so much to all of you who came along to the Barn Dance and Auction of Promises. A great night was had by all though there were reports of a a fews aching arms on Sunday - enthusiastic dancing I think !

I was overawed by the level of generosity from those who attended. This allowed us to raise a staggering amount which is over £10,000 (still totting up the exact amount). Thank you again to all those who attended and all those who participated in the auction.