Being Rescued and the Kindness of Strangers and Lifesavers.

It’s a long time (5 years) since I have written a blog about swimming. I have not stopped swimming and indeed have swum almost all of Sydney Harbour’s shoreline east of the Harbour Bridge. What brings to write now is the experience of being rescued from the ocean.

I love swimming in the ocean it is the place that brings me joy and a sense of mental peace. I love to look at the sea life as I swim along. There are a few special places in Sydney where there is an abundance of sea life that will happily swim along beside you and not get spooked. One of those places in Cabbage Tree Bay in Manly. It is a bay at the southern end of Manly Beach. You usually swim from the surf of Manly Beach to the quiet of Shelly Beach and once in Cabbage Tree Bay see a myriad of sea life. Cabbage Tree Bay is usually flat and relatively calm.

I have been there a few times this winter and have been blown away by the beautiful purply pink cuttle fish there. It was a sunny day with a westerly wind so perfect, I thought, to take my go pro and get some pictures of the cuttlefish.

My usual swimming partner couldn’t come. It is a place usually busy with swimmers swimming between Manly Beach and Shelly Beach at any time of the day. I live in the inner city of Sydney not next to the beach. I had looked up Beachwatch which said the water quality was good and a surf app that described Manly Beach surf as 3-4 ft and fair to good. It all sounded good.

When I got there. I went to Shelly Beach because I prefer not to get in and out of the surf if possible. (I don’t like getting dumped.) The bay looked a bit churned up and there were waves breaking off the point. There were also a lot of surfers off the beach and the point but no swimmers. I was a bit disappointed but decided I would go in regardless and have a swim around the bay which was a bit churned up but otherwise seemed okay. I realised I probably wouldn’t get any pictures.

Cuttlefish

I went in the water was nice, not too cold, but not very clear as a result of the chop. I swam out past the pool on the left, there were still a lot of fish to see. The fish seem very tame in Cabbage Tree Bay they swim right up to you and don’t move away which is one of the things that make it magical. I had determined I would only swim to where the waves were breaking at the corner where you swim into Manly Beach and I hadn’t reached that point when a wave I didn’t see broke over the top of me. I did a few somersaults and worried I might be thrown into the rocks. When I came up I was closer to the rocks and could see I was a lot closer to the breaking waves and I had lost my goggles and cap. I immediately realised that I needed to get away from the breaking waves and started to swim towards the middle of the bay. This was extremely hard without googles and with my hair around my face and nose making it hard to breath. I continued to swim as strongly as I could in the circumstances toward the middle of the bay and Shelly Beach. Every time I stopped and looked I seemed further from the beach and I was getting closer to the surfers.

It didn’t take long before I started to feel tired so I thought I would ask one of the surfers who were getting nearer to give me a push into the beach. I waved to one surfer who came over and asked me if I was alright. I said I was but I was finding it hard to swim without goggles (I didn’t really know where I was going with my eyes tightly shut.) I asked him if he could get me out of the current by pushing me closer to the beach. I realised then he was only on a body board. He said he didn’t think he would be able to do that and did I want some help. I said no I would be fine. I started back stroking toward the beach. I didn’t really want to look in front of me as the waves were so big. I backstroked for awhile but realised I was getting nowhere and if anything I was being pushed further out. I signalled to the same surfer and swam towards him and he swam towards me. I told him I didn’t think I could swim in. He told me to hang onto his board and take a rest. This I did. He was very calm and waved to other surfers and he and they waved to the shore for a lifeguard. He talked to me asking me my name and telling me his. I didn’t turn around and look at the waves. I saw someone in blue waving from the point to us. I saw there were a group of people on the point watching. Chris, the surfer said the lifeguard was coming.

After not too long a life saver on a JetSki arrived. He had a floating board attached with holders down the side. I swam over and tried to get on. This was very hard. My arm strength is not great and I was tired. The lifesaver (he told me his name but I’ve forgotten) got out of his seat and pulled me on. I was then able to wiggle myself on the board. I held on tight as me wizzed to Manly Beach thru the waves, scary as I used my weight to stay on. He dropped me right at the beach where I stumbled into shore exhausted. It took the lifesaver a lot longer to get the jet ski onto the beach after I got off due to the waves.

Lifesaver on JetSki

Another older lifesaver came and talked to me on the beach. He wanted to know if I’d seen him waving from the point making it clear they had seen me. I said I had.

Both the surfer and the lifesavers that had helped me were so nice. They never made me feel like the idiot I probably was for swimming out there alone. Chris, the surfer, told the lifesaver on the JetSki that I had lost my gear. When I thanked the JetSki lifesaver for getting the JetSki out and saving me he said he already had it out saving a surfer who had lost his board. The lifesaver on the beach said in that the surf was big and pulling water out of the bay. He said I should have been wearing fins in that sea. He did suggest its better to swim with someone.

I haven’t stopped admonishing myself but no one else did. When my arms recover I will be back in the ocean but a bit more careful to check the conditions and not be a lone swimmer.

(The photos in the blog are not from that day)

More swimming 5kms from home

As our 5km lockdown draws to a close I thought I should add 4 more of our swims within 5kms of Glebe.

Early on in our 5 km lockdown when it looked like things might never get better I started looking closer to home. What if we could only swim within 2kms of home? While the closest part of the harbour to where I live is relatively close, it is Rozelle Bay which has no water flow and Blackwattle Bay, home to the Fishmarkets. The Fishmarkets has scavenger birds looking for fish bits, a fair bit of rubbish in the water and is where fishing boats often unload their fish. Not ideal! The next closest water is Pyrmont which is within 2kms so this is where we went.

Pyrmont to Darling Island

Access to the water was no problem because the whole of Pyrmont’s waterfront is accessible to the public either as a walkway or park and there are lots of ladders and steps as part of the walkway. Much easier to get in then anything east of the Harbour Bridge, west of the Anzac Bridge or north of the Harbour Bridge. This whole adventure has made us aware of how much of our harbour foreshore is privately owned and inaccessible.

The swim was easy in that we did not have to negotiate wharves or moored boats until we got to Jones Bay. Unfortunately Jones Bay is one big marina. I wanted to swim to Darling Harbour but by the time we swam across Jones Bay toward Darling Island the boats were getting bigger and prolific so we turned back. The water was clean although the bottom was only visible in places but we did see plenty of fish.

Around Mrs Macquarie’s Chair to Botanical Gardens

This was a swim we wanted to do but were a bit concerned about boat traffic. We saw on another swimmer’s Instagram that it was possible and we saw from their map that you could get in near Boy Charlton Pool.

This is a great swim as you are swimming next to park land and the Botanical gardens the whole way. There are no wharves or moored boats to swim around so you can relax and swim. There wasn’t a great deal in the water to look at but it was clear and clean. There were almost no boats aside from a rivercat which came into the bay and just hung around. We didn’t quite get to the Opera House but it was a great vision to see. The only downside is that you have to pay for parking and it is not cheap.

Drummoyne and the Parramatta River

Initially I had said I didn’t want to swim in Drummoyne as it is the start of the Parramatta river and I grew up in Drummoyne and we didn’t swim in the river. But as we explored the area and I realised there were sandy beaches along the Drummoyne shoreline, I thought “why not?”. It’s a lot cleaner than when I was a kid and I thought it might be interesting to see the old area and Drummoyne Bay where I had spent my childhood. We had sailed sabots as kids.

Beach next to Drummoyne Sailing Club
Photo Edward Zia
Wolseley St Wharf Drummoyne

We got in at the beach next to the Drummoyne Sailing club where there were kids playing and swam along the shoreline. There are a-lot of boats moored there as well as one big marina. There was no activity at the marina so aside from making sure we didn’t run into boats or poles (of which there were quite a few) it was an interesting trip back in time. My how things have changed! Some grand modern houses and lots of unit blocks. My family left Drummoyne Bay at the beginning of the unit boom. We swam to where I used to hang out, units and in ground pools all along the foreshore. We used to swim in rock tidal pools.

My initial reluctance was unwarranted and I would swim there again.

McKell Park Darling Point

This swim became one of the favourites. Darling Point was the limit of our 5kms and swimming further east to Double Bay exceeded our 5kms. We had swum from Double Bay to McKell Park when we were allowed to travel 10kms and were discovering the Harbour within that radius. We knew that this was a nice swim. It has a sandy bottom so we could see sea life and there were no marinas and not too many boats.

From McKell Park you can swim around to Rushcutters Bay which also has a sandy bottom until you get right into Rushcutters Bay. You can get in to the west of the Darling Point Wharf where there is an inlet in the stone wall and some steps.

Entry Point McKell Park
From Rushcutters Bay

You can swim the other way by swimming under the wharf and around the corner to Double Bay and back. Interesting old houses to look at as you swim, sometimes stingrays and helmet crabs. Make sure when you get to Double Bay if you come from Glebe not to put your feet down then swim back.

We have had a great time exploring our 5kms of swim-able harbour and prior to that our more substantial 10kms of harbour and beaches. Swimming in the Harbour is not just doable but an absolute treat. The water is clean. I have not understood why more people don’t do it or didn’t do it when the pools were closed. If there is a next time which I pray there isn’t for reasons completely unconnected to swimming I won’t become down hearted about not being able to swim because I will know there are all sorts a good options.