Circumnavigating the US gypsum crib
Practice feeding system, July 4, 2011
Last July 4th, I attemped to swim from the Tawas Point Lighthouse (East Tawas, Mich.) to the former US Gypsum loading crib in Alabaster Township, just over six miles away, when seasickness caused me to stop. Yesterday, I retraced my strokes, with a boat and crew accompanying me, and reached the crib in three hours. Along the way, I swam through millions of Mayfly carcasses since there was a big hatch this week and tried not to think about it. At one point, I did yell, "I just ate a bug." Since the fish were gorging themselves on the flies, I was hoping my toes would be spared. My husband and aunt were both practicing launching water bottles to me and feeding me SportBeans or Peter Rabbit fruit snacks in a cup, tied to an extension pole. Before the first feed, I heard yelling and saw them waving to me from the boat. My husband yelled, "Swim back there and go get your water bottle." The water bottle and kite string retrieval system were waterborne. He said, "first time" as I retrieved it and handed it back to him. About an hour later, they switched jobs and my husband took the wheel and my aunt started waving at me to stop. I started treading and she was pointing to the water bottle and kite string, floating on the surface behind me. "Go get the water bottle and string," she said, after tossing them both in the water. I smiled. "First time," I replied.
I'm thankful we're practicing the logistics of the feedings before we fly overseas and grateful for the learning experiences. For the planned night swim next weekend, we may need a lightstick attached to the water bottle, as addition to my goggles and swim suit.
Once I reached the crib, the crew asked me to keep swimming and circumnavigate the crib and explore the nearby foundations of the former arial tramway that carried gypsum from the quary on US-23 out on the loading crib. I kept swimming but told my crew about all the wires and basket (that was cut loose) I was swimming over. The water temperature stayed between 62 and 63 degrees with sunny skies on the 6.6 mile swim.
Friday afternoon, I swam from the lake house to the crib and on my return trip, lightning forced my 5 mi swim to end at 4.64 miles. Saturday afternoon, I swam south towards the gypsum loading dock in Tawas City with a fellow masters swimming friend. With my husband on a jet ski next to us for safety, we swam over a dozen golf balls and several large fish. Take a look at the video and photos. Tomorrow I'll be swimming a 5k in the Detroit River at the "Motor City Mile," to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm looking forward to sharing another fun swim with great teammates.
I'm thankful we're practicing the logistics of the feedings before we fly overseas and grateful for the learning experiences. For the planned night swim next weekend, we may need a lightstick attached to the water bottle, as addition to my goggles and swim suit.
Once I reached the crib, the crew asked me to keep swimming and circumnavigate the crib and explore the nearby foundations of the former arial tramway that carried gypsum from the quary on US-23 out on the loading crib. I kept swimming but told my crew about all the wires and basket (that was cut loose) I was swimming over. The water temperature stayed between 62 and 63 degrees with sunny skies on the 6.6 mile swim.
Friday afternoon, I swam from the lake house to the crib and on my return trip, lightning forced my 5 mi swim to end at 4.64 miles. Saturday afternoon, I swam south towards the gypsum loading dock in Tawas City with a fellow masters swimming friend. With my husband on a jet ski next to us for safety, we swam over a dozen golf balls and several large fish. Take a look at the video and photos. Tomorrow I'll be swimming a 5k in the Detroit River at the "Motor City Mile," to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm looking forward to sharing another fun swim with great teammates.
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