Swimming in the Scillies

I've been meaning for a while now to write about my swimming holiday in the Isles of Scilly last month. I went with the company Swimtrek, which runs a number of similar holidays all over the world, and while the waters in Egypt or Greece must be much warmer, something drew me to the Scillies when I booked the trip back in February. I'd had a vague interest in swimming with seals, and the opportunity offered by this holiday to combine it with swimming between some islands seemed too good to miss.

It was a great experience, though quite intense - I'm not used to swimming in the sea and I'm not used to being around a lot of people that I don't know either. But the group I was with was great - a great mixture of experience levels and speeds, but all very friendly - and we were looked after throughout the trip by phenomenal guides Jerry and Cordelia, always supportive, good humoured and working hard to keep things running smoothly.

Before the trip I'd hoped to do the swims without a wetsuit, but from the first acclimatisation swim (a short sprint across the harbour and back on the opening evening) it was clear that the water would be much colder than I'd anticipated (at anywhere between 15-17C it was frequently and euphemistically referred to as "refreshing"). I managed without the wetsuit for the short crossing between the islands of St. Martin's and Tean, and for a much longer swim to Tresco - however by the end of that I had quite a severe case of the shivers. I was okay (and pleased to have accomplished it), but I wore the wetsuit for the rest of the crossings.

The advertised plan was to circumnavigate the islands over the course of the five days, with total daily distances averaging around 3km - but the changeable weather and tidal patterns in the islands meant that the guides relied on the advice from our boat's captain "Uncle" Ken (looking the part with his long white beard) as to what was possible each day. In the event we missed out some crossings and did others in the "opposite" direction, and I wish I'd kept note at the time of each as by the end they had begun to blur into each other - a feeling exacerbated by getting into a "flow state" during most swims, where my sense of time seemed to collapse into a single ongoing "now". For me that's the best that swimming can get - almost a transcendent experience.

Aside from the swims, there were so many memorable high points and funny incidents - just a few included: an afternoon swim with some locals in the cove at Peninnis Head (reached after a "hands, feet and bum" scramble down huge granite boulders); swimming over underwater "forests" of seaweed containing fish, crabs and starfish; the collection of ship-wrecked figureheads at Valhalla on Tresco; the wonderful Mincarlo Guesthouse where we stayed; listening to a performance of sea shanties; and of course, swimming with the seals:

Beyond that even, the Scillies themselves are quite amazing - especially when the sun is shining - and if I were to change anything I might have tried to stay a little longer to see more of the islands. We were at least fortunate to have a couple of days of wonderful weather: one evening we enjoyed a wonderful evening at the Turk's Head pub on St. Agnes before walking across a sand bar to see a magnificent sunset from the neighbouring island of Gugh:

On the last morning I was able to take a boat trip out round the Bishop Rock lighthouse - quite remote and just a little sinister, even on a bright sunny day. On the way we saw numerous meandering basking sharks just below the surface; more seals; a gannet diving out of the sky like an arrow to plunge into the water after fish (an incredible sight); and even a lone puffin, eyeing our boat with suspicion as it bobbed away from us. It was a great end to an amazing holiday.

I suppose even though it's been over a month since I got back, I'm still assimilating my experiences. For some reason I find it difficult to quite believe that I swam the distances I did in the sea, and while I gained some confidence with sea swimming but I've since still found it difficult swimming outdoors in a lake. However I now have a better appreciation of my own reactions to cold water immersion, and I've been enjoying my less intensive pool swimming, without the need now to practice going 2-3km each time. But I do know that I had a wonderful time, and I would love to go back to the Scillies one day - and maybe even do the swimming again!