2009 in Review
2009 has been a very busy year for Penny and I swimming wise.
We started off 2009 at Lake Taupo, in the beautiful central north island of New Zealand. With separate girls (6) and boys (5) teams, we swam 3 laps of the lake, under proper channel swimming rules covering a total of 120.6 klms in 33 ½ hours. It was the first time we had ever swum in a relay and it was a great experience. The camaraderie and team spirit was amazing and the friendly rivalry between the two teams was fascinating. Only 2 minutes separated the teams after all this time. The team members joining us were Steve Junk, Dougal Hunt, Stephen Spence, Barbara Pellick (all from Australia), Mark Cockcroft, Heather Osborne (New Zealand), Michele Macy (USA), Lucy Roper and Julie Bradshaw (UK).
In March, we visited Hawaii for the first time, for further swims, of course. Penny became the first woman to swim the Alenuihaha Channel from Upolu Point on the big island to La Perouse light on Maui. The shortest distance between the islands is around 50 klm (30 miles), but a 25-34 knot north east cross wind pushed Penny continually sideways. Whilst the wind and seas ended up giving her some assistance in speed (although she copped an unrelenting pounding from the huge seas) it also caused her to swim 70 klms (43 miles) to the southern most tip of Maui. Her time of 14 hours 51 minutes took over 5 hours of the only prior successful swim by the great Harry Huffaker, in 1970. It was amazing to witness this feat of human endurance.
In comparison, I had a relative bludge in crossing the Pailolo channel from Maui to Molokai, with a mere 18 klms of swimming. Then, we swam from Maui to Lanai, which strangely enough, hardly anyone has done. Most swim the other direction in the annual Maui channel swim. Penny became the first woman to swim the channel in this direction, and myself, only the fourth bloke. For the Hawaii swims, a big thanks goes to Forrest Nelson for lots of advice. Also thanks to our boat pilot Jim Dickson. And also thanks to Mike Spalding and family for hospitality.
In June, we were in the big apple for MIMS. Penny won the women’s race for the third year running and I finished 13th (out of 25) for my highest ever placing. A week later, Penny won the Park to Park (2 miles) swim outright from 156 starters. And then a few days later, she was thwarted in an attempt to swim Manhattan clockwise (against the current). Penny swum her heart out for 7 hours, but was beaten by a miscalculation in relation to tides and currents. A huge thanks once again to our friends Dan and Brooke for their fantastic assistance and hospitality. We hope we can repay you some day. Also, in Penny’s extended stay, she made several new friends. Americans are such friendly people.
And for our last major swim of the year, we headed to Los Angeles in September. I swam Catalina and thoroughly enjoyed the swim. I had reasonably good conditions, a great boat and an excellent crew, and did a respectable time for my crossing. Penny thought about a two way Catalina, but then decided to swim from the tiny Santa Barbara Island (about 40 + miles off the coast from Santa Monica) to Point Vincente (where Catalina crossings finish). The swim distance was 65 klm (40.2 miles) in a time of 17 hours 53 minutes, with no current assistance. It was a world’s first and another amazing swim. We have lots of people to thank here. Forrest Nelson (a LA local) was incredibly helpful in the lead up, and in crewing for both of us. The CCSF were very supportive. And individuals, Anne Cleveland, David Clark, Claudia Rose, Dorothy Thomas-Reid, Lyn Kubasek and our kayakers and supporters, and John Pittman and his crew all did a wonderful job.
Ours being a fringe sport, we have very few sponsors. But we would particularly like to thank Shark Shield for loaning us the shark repellent units for the Hawaii and California swims. And GU were kind enough to give us some of their product.
And finally, we would like to thank you, the people who check out our website, and follow our adventures, and offer kind words and congratulations. Our website went live in March 2009, and with the close of this year, we are closing in on 3,000 visitors. Not Bad.
To all of you, we extend our best wishes for the season and good luck with your challenges for 2010.
Chris and Penny Palfrey