On My Wee Obsession

I thought I'd offer something in the way of an introduction in this blip. I'm an open water swimmer and this is an arrangement of my soggy kit and some scallop shells I collected to use as clay molds. Kit comprises black swimming costume, neoprene gloves for relocating smaller jellyfish from my path, swim shoes for traversing rocky shores, goggles, watch to keep track on how long I've been in, orange swim cap with added chin strap, bright orange dry bag/tow-float which is currently named Tabitha. Cap and float vital so as to be more visible to boats and shore cover. Lastly towel.

Today was a challenging swim because I knew there were lion's mane jellyfish in the area since I saw them during yesterday's swim. Today however the visibility was rubbish because of what looked liked like algae bloom, plus I was wearing my goggles instead of mask and these, for some reason, really affect my vision underwater making everything slightly fuzzy. Consequently, as I'm barrelling along, things suddenly appear out of the gloom and I'm almost on top of them.

Lion's mane jellies range in size from a teacup to bloody ginormous. Fortunately these ones are about the size of a dinner plate, however their tentacles trail a metre or two behind them and are fine and difficult to see. Did I forget to mention that their sting is a proper belter? They are incredibly beautiful and when you are at the bell end 《snigger... I said bell end...of the animal, watching it pulse and dance is magnificent. The other end... yeah, not so much.
Hmmm... You can see where this is going.

So, I'm barrelling along, into my rhythm and suddenly I'm on top of one. All momentum, no brakes is me. Furiously whooshing (a technical term) with my right hand to move the tentacles and sculling with my left to try and stop and manoeuvre around it. All in all, it was a relative success because I avoided face-planting into a jellyfish's arse. Unfortunately my right wrist above my glove got a bit of a thumping. Salt water is good for a sting so since this was 10 minutes into the swim I stayed in for another hour twenty. Got home, a good sloshing of vinegar and then a generous layer of hydrocortisone cream.
During the swim I did notice the cold more than usual, especially since its currently a relatively Mediterranean 15°C but I think that was from my central nervous system stimulated by the toxin, which has also ramped up the fibro'. I feel like I've been hit by a truck tonight.
It was still a great swim. ;-)

As soon as my camera drybag arrives I'll be able to add some underwater blips. It's so dammed pretty under the waves! Just you wait and sea :-D ♡