Sandycove and Storms

I received an email tonight from Ned Denison, no script but a nice aerial photograph of Sandycove Island, its only about eleven weeks before we have to swim in the region of 10.5 miles in the Atlantic at 9 - 14 degrees. As you can see below it ain't small and it kind of brings home just how tough a day this is going to be.

I am hoping to get to the coast in the morning (Tuesday 11th) for another little swim, but as I type this post, Britain is being battered by the worst storm of the winter. The south coast is suffering the brunt of the weather, and Dover Port was closed today due to the sea conditions. I will decide in the morning if it is feasible to swim outside, the chart below shows the surface water temperatures; around 7 degrees for our location, 8 for Dover and 9 or so for Cork, fingers crossed for a nice morning after the school run before I have to disappear to work.