With Lido's Midsummer Swim fast approaching, Barny writes from his Ballymaloe hideaway with plans to undertake his own marine challenge that will (almost) mirror this Saturday's Swim, held in support of Square Food Foundation.
'I thought I would update you all on my planned swim to Ballycotton Lighthouse. The island is about 1.5 miles from Ballycotton harbour. I have someone skippering a small boat to accompany me. He is on the Ballycotton Life Boat Team, knows the waters, and is confident I can do it safely.
The cross currents are manageable and there are only basking sharks* and no jellyfish. Rupert (the skipper) is going to have his harpoon at the ready just in case.
I may have someone called Rebecca swimming with me as well. She runs the literary festival at Ballymaloe and so I thought we could talk about poetry on the way. Shelley springs to mind for some reason. We may have to do it on Sunday 22nd not Saturday. But hopefully Saturday. I will let you know.
And if the weather is really rubbish we will have to cancel. And just to reassure you I am not being silly, I am training - off the rocks up the coast and other places. The water is incredibly warm. Well, not exactly warm but perfectly ok. Not freezing anyway.
The other thing is that as you will see this swim is for two causes; SFF & The RajKSoni Legacy Fund. I will split any sponsorship money 50/50.
Some people at Ballymaloe - including Darina and Tim are going to sponsor me. It would be good to see if I can raise some profile about it back in Bristol. I am going to tweet about it later today. Rebecca is my new twitter helper. If there's anything anyone else can do that would be great. I'll be in touch nearer the time and as things progress.
Barny
*Apparently there are sharks. I thought I was joking.