"If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

That is the story so far here in Dover. One minute sunshine and calm - driving rain and cold the next.

In some ways this is the perfect holiday (note British usage). Get up around ten...go for a swim...read book...lounge...eat few times...repeat. It is rather like surfing trip in a tropical paradise minus the palm trees, surf, and warm water.

There are swimmers from all over. Aussies, Spaniards, Russians...even Texans. On Monday night a woman named Lynne Smith from Texas swam the Channel in something like 9 hrs and 50 minutes. That is a very fast time...fastest this summer so far. We are moving from our B&B to hers tomorrow morning for good luck.

I have swam in the Dover Harbor each day for about an hour or so to stay acclimated to the cool water (about 64 degrees). At this point, I prefer water at that temperature. I feel like I could swim for a long time, which is good because I will have to shortly.

Liz and I have taken a couple of sidetrips. I have been driving our styling Mercedes sedan. I believe I shall trade-in my Insight for one upon my return. We've gone to Canterbury cathedral and a seaside town called Deal. One cannot help but notice that England was around for a long time before the United States was even a glimmer in someone's eye.

Liz and I have been getting along well at least partly because I try to emphasize to her every day how grateful I am that she is here with me and that I am not brooding here alone in Dover waiting to swim. Mike Coyle has been great too as he has expressed great confidence in my abilities, and we laugh so much about our undergraduate days.

Well, long rambling post...huh? Thank you all so much for your comments. We love to read them. Love to all, Gino.

Is it Winter?

I'm typing as Gino is taking a little nap and hopefully he'll post something later tonight.

I'm calling this one "is it winter?" because last night it truly felt like a very chilly winter evening in Santa Monica. So... that might give you an idea of the current status of the weather. It is truly ever-changing... today it was pouring rain at one moment, windy the next and then sunny and warm in the afternoon. That being said it's looking like change might be on its way for the end of the week. Please keep up the good weather vibes for Gino.

The past two days have been filled with a couple side trips. We drove with Mike C. yesterday to Canterbury. The last time I was there I had just turned 16 so it has been 17 years since I had been there but it was much as I remember it. The cathedral there is beautiful and we toured through it and the very charming, cobblestoned streets. Gino took a 45 minute swim in the afternoon and then his usual 5-6pm nap :-)

This morning we took a drive down to the town of Folkestone, where our boat the Pathfinder is docked.... you can see in the picture that unless we are at high tide the boat isn't exactly going anywhere (the Pathfinder is the blue boat in the center). We also stopped and hiked around an area called Samphire Hole, an area created by all the displaced land when they dug the Chunnel and also nearby to where Gino will officially start his swim.

We cruised back to Dover and Gino swam for an hour and we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Town Square of Dover having tea and looking for gatorade.

We move out of our current accomodations tomorrow to take up residence in a little B&B in town called the Victoria, which is closer to the harbour and town centre and Mr. Mike Coyle.

Thanks for the comments on the blog... we get very, very excited to hear from everyone!

Sunday in Kent

Liz here....
We woke up this morning to some drizzling rain. After breakfast Duncan and Jeanette kindly picked us up and gave us a lift down to the harbour. Gino plopped himself in the water and swam for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. At this point you would think he had just stepped out of a relaxing bath after swimming that long. He never seems to shiver anymore and always emerges with a big grin on his face. There were a number of other swimmers down there this morning... some relay teams, some single crossers and even an 18 year old girl who is gearing up for a double crossing... WOW.
We rented a car later this afternoon and drove up to another seaside town called Deal for lunch. Again, Gino did an excellent job of adapting to the very narrow English roads and that whole driving on the "wrong" side of the road thing. Deal was a very cute little town and we look forward to more afternoon adventures while we wait out the weather.
Mike Coyle arrived this afternoon and he'll be here with us through the week to help out on the boat and to help keep Gino's spirits high. Mike is great and its fun to have another person along for the journey.
We headed into town for dinner this evening at a great little Italian place called "Dino's". As we were leaving, Allison Streeter, the Queen of the Channel was arriving for dinner. Gino looked how I must have looked when I met Pete Townsend... I think he was a little starstruck and Mike did a good job of breaking the ice and introducing them.
As for the swim... Capt. Eric tells us tomorrow is a no go so we'll head down to the harbour for a morning swim then likely head out on another afternoon adventure.
Keep sending us good weather wishes :-)

We have arrived

Liz and I arrived at our hotel in Dover at the Swingate Inn late last night. We flew directly to London from LAX on American. Despite the press about Heathrow customs etc., things went very smoothly. We took a couple of trains from Heathrow and here we are.

We met our captain, Eric, this afternoon. He is a great guy, and we talked about weater and swimming, of course. He drove us down to the harbor where we happened to meet his other swimmer on this tide, an Aussie named Duncan and his girlfriend Jeanette. I swam with Duncan for about an hour in the harbor while Liz talked with Jeanette on the beach. The water was fine, similar to Santa Barbara, but choppy with the 20 knot wind. Immediate forecast is for more of the same. Neap tide begins on Monday, August 20 and continues to August 25. Hopefully, a lull will develop during that time.

Anway spirits are high, and I was relieved that the water temperature seemed manageable. Now we just have to wait for the wind to die down a bit, and we'll go. Adios for now, Gino