When I hopped in the car to drive to the northern beaches this morning the Long Reef SLSC ocean swim was still expected to run, despite a tsunami warning issued to the east coast of Australia following the earthquake in Chile.
That was at 8.30am. By the time I got to the beach at 9.15am, all the beaches along the east coast of Australia were closed and the swim postponed.
What a bummer. The surf was gentle with no chop. The conditions were calm and inviting. It would have been a fantastic swim.
Lots of people ignored the 'Beach closed' sign and took the plunge anyway. I went in for a quick dip and, would you believe it, got dumped by the tiniest wave! How embarrassing. I just hope to god no one was looking when it happened.
It's funny though, while I was in the water it did cross my mind that if there was a tsunami I could be sucked out to sea like tapioca pearls up a straw. I blame a diet of disaster movies since my teenage years for this irrational thought.
Some of the hardcore ocean swimmers weren't scared and about half-a-dozen big boofy blokes dived in and headed north. Good luck to 'em.
Unfortunately, the Long Reef swim has been moved to April 11, the same day as the Mollymook destination swim on the South Coast. I'm heading south.
I hear that so far over 250 people have died in Chile, and Santiago looks like it's been jackhammered by 'roid-rage giants.
My heart goes out to the people in Chile.
PS: This pic of Long Reef - what tsunami? - comes from the phone of Mr Os.c, the force behind www.oceanswims.com
Go there to find out all the latest ocean swimming news.
2 comments:
Shayne, all our beaches were closed too. Mind you, it wasn't really swimming weather up here, so I don't really think anyone carede. The funniest thing was the prosurfing comp was postponed, so the waters were full of amateur surfers only.
Hi Anita,
Silly really, but I suppose the powers that be have to be careful just in case the big waves roll in and suck everyone under. Ugh. Not a nice way to go. I prefer bed.
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