Float On

The Northwest Passage and the Inside Passage have both been done to death.

These days, the navigation of only one Passage strikes fear in the hearts of able seamen the world over. The Back Passage.

The Back Passage of Manhattan.

Many have tried to swim up the nut-brown waters of the East and Harlem Rivers and return to their place of origin via the dysenteric Hudson, and many have succeeded. In fact, most have succeeded. I actually succeeded once myself, last year in July. But that was merely a dress rehearsal for this year’s odyssey.

MIMS 2010 was tough! I was 25 minutes slower than last year’s “quiet swim”, but it’s impossible to compare one year to another. This year the Hudson was quite rough for a long time, not fun as my lower back decided to hurt terribly for the whole swim. I was never really able to climb out of the funk from the back pain, so just tried to keep my head down and plod along. After a few rough hours in the Hudson I didn’t think I would make it and had to ask my paddler if I was going to get there or if I was just kidding myself. “Only 2 more miles” he said!! It was only then that I really cheered up!!!!

Climbing that aluminium ladder at the finish is something I’ll never forget. I confess I had a moist eye from the relief and joy.

The following is just a snippet of my adventure, including training and finishing. Many friends helped out in so many ways! Thankyou all. Thanks to Bill White for the emailed workouts!! I’m going to actually start doing the sprint and IM ones now . Thanks to Vivebene for many hours of company in the cold (and not so cold) lake at Promontory Point. Thankyou Chaos for all the help and the ride from the airport! Thanks to the Wolfpack for so much moral support 🙂

I also raised about $750 for the American Macular Degeneration Foundation: