With so many domestic goddesses in Myrtleville vying to outdo each other with their confections, I feel sure some must have had the pleasure of studying Domestic Science in their school days.  If so, they would possibly have used this excellent book.

I never got the chance to do Domestic Science in school myself.  If I had, I feel certain I would have remember the fantastic advice contained therein concerning sea or open-air bathing….

LoneSwimmer has been writing about this stuff for years, but there it all is in a nutshell from a 1976 book.

So, all future swims in Myrtleville will be at 11am each day when the vitality is up.  I think Denis already sticks to that.  They will be of about ten minutes duration (suits me fine) – but certainly ending when one feels chilled.

On exiting the water, one will expect the high standards of cookery already evident at the beach to be maintained.  Any questions – just look up the book.

There are swims going on all day every day now, it seems.   With Marie Watson joining the other snappers, there are pics to record nearly every swim.  The two James – Slowey and Shalloo – were down the other morning and there was no camera there.  They waited 25 mins but had to just go in the end.  The swim doesn’t count if there’s no picture, so they’ll have to try again tomorrow.

Some swimmers held back on re-joining us in the sea until the temperatures rose.  Bit of a surprise for them to come back and find it’s about as warm as last October/November.  Never mind – welcome back, Alan McGuinness.

Alan McGuinness nearly back in the sea – just looking for confirmation that it’s warm….

He was smiling before the swim anyway – and Olwen Golden was beaming after hers.

Olwen Golden proving – once again – that sea swimming makes you smile.

Further proof of the guaranteed smiles – and not just for the camera – from Ray and Rosie Clancy.

So what are you waiting for?  Get smiling (just a quick swim out to the Dutchman or over to Fennell’s Bay and you’ll be smiling for the day).

As well as the various swims being organised on facebook, whatsapp etc., normal 08.15 swim on Saturday morning.  Smiles guaranteed.

Rebeca Power got an unpleasant surprise last Thursday swimming out towards the Dutchman, when she felt a feeling like a bite and ended up with these marks on her leg.

Looks like it could have been a bite and Rebeca wasn’t sure, so we called in the experts.  Carol Cashell sent the picture to the Coastal & Marine Research Centre Environmental Research Institute in UCC for an opinion and here’s what Martina Gosch had to say:

“So we’ve definitely ruled out a seal. Even if it were just a pup taking a nibble out of curiosity or scratching with its nails we would expect to see far more damage and the breadth of the wound is far too small for a seal’s mouth. There are no shark species in our inshore waters that are dangerous to swimmers, so I would encourage bathers in Myrtleville not to avoid going swimming there. 

Our best guess (and I stress guess) is that its caused from a nasty jellyfish sting. Prolonged exposure to their tentacles can cause this type of damage. Furthermore we are in peak jellyfish season and the odd venomous one will occasionally come in quite close to shore. There are other options too like scraping off random detritis or coming into contact with a scorpionfish. However its near impossible to tell exactly what caused this injury – but it’s not a bite.

Our advice would be to keep an eye on it over the next 24 hours. Should she experience any nausea or fever go straight to her GP as it could become infected. Also perhaps wearing a wetsuit at the moment while the jellies are around might help avoid incidents like this over the summer.”

Or, as all sea swimmers say at this time of year – bloody jellies.