Sunday Swimming at Chowder Bay

Happy me after swimming with my doggies!

Beautiful Chowder Bay with the doggie crowd

After being on such a high from yesterday's success with the surf and Simon's one-on-one lesson with understanding waves, I decided that I needed to grab every opportunity I could get to swim in the sea, regardless of the conditions.

I decided to go with the positive flow and get into the water the very next day after my breakthrough.  Adrian suggested we take the doggies to Clifton Gardens - a lovely park with an ever lovelier beach called Chowder Bay that's very clear and shallow and quite calm as it's wonderfully sheltered.  The dogs are allowed to swim in the water until 9:00 a.m. on weekends, and what's more, there's a cute hole-in-the-wall cafe called Bacino overlookintg the beach that serves pretty decent coffee.

There's also an additional incentive to swim with our doggies - our puppy Charlie has severe hip dysplasia, and would greatly benefit from swimming.  She had yet to learn to swim beyond where her paws can touch the bottom, and we thought she would be encouraged to swim if we were all in the water with her.

It helped that today dawned hot, beautiful and gorgeous - blue sky and lollipops as my darling husband would say.  We got to the park, and had a lovely surprise of seeing other doggie owners we knew from our local park St Thomas Rest - funnily enough but not strangely enough, all Labradors: Enzo, Cooper, and Jethro.  Baxter (our 10-year old doggie) and Charlie puppy naturally went berserk with their friends.

I waded in, braving the cold - funnily enough, it didn't feel as cold as yesterday and I wasn't even wearing my rashie.  The water was very flat, very calm, and very clear.  I plunged in and made a few strokes, and something weird happened - I felt good. I wasn't stressed, I wasn't panicking, I wasn't freaking out.  In fact, I was smiling.  SMILING!  I never thought I would catch myself smiling while swimming in the ocean.

Adrian joined me shortly, with Baxter (who is a practiced and strong doggie paddler) close behind.  Charlie was knee deep, looking out at the three of us, unsure about going deeper but knowing there was only one way she could be with us.  And with one little jump she was in the water and swimming. 

Once in, there was no stopping her.  Being a Labrador, she was a natural at it and we could hardly tear her away from the water.  The only thing was she was making these funny little grunting and groaning noises, like a little motor, while she was swimming!  I suppose she and I aren't that dissimilar, as I make noises while swimming as well. And like her, I'm hoping that with that little jump into the water, I would be off and swimming in the sea, hopefully as close to being a natural as I can be.  :)