It's November! Time for a dip in the delicious Dart

The Dart is beckoning me. Every time I walk past it or see it while I walk I hear it calling me. Come on in Olivia, it's cold in here. It was a little frosty this morning and I felt my toes tingle at the thought of putting them in the Dart.

The thought is exciting, putting on just my swimming costume my hat and my goggles I must submerge myself in the River soon and preferably under the frosty darkness of an early morning.

The River down by Duncannon is one of the most beautifully secluded and picturesque parts of the river between here and Totnes. It's a secret dipping spot that isn't easy to access unless you are prepared to wander through fields and down an old wooded pathway and down the steps built especially for King Charles II, according to local legend. I wonder if he too craved a chilly dip or if his corset and gown simply wouldn't allow!?

Edward Lovesey's delightful Otter

According to a local artist and recently published in the Stoke Gabriel News there has been an Otter spotted in the Dart recently. So it's clear that local swimmers of all shapes and sizes agree that now is the time to be diving into the Dart.

So, the next time that we have an early morning high tide I will wander down to the frosty river and submerge myself in the gloriously chilling waters of the Dart.

My lovely River Dart, here I come....I'll let you know how I get on.

My daughter dips

This summer it is debatable who has swam in the open water more, myself or my daughter Freda Pepper, now 2. She has a love of anything cold and wet, just like her parents. From a small puddle to an open expanse of sea Freda is driven by the toddler force to strip off and get in. Only when her lips start to turn blue does she seem the smallest bit interested in changing activities.


I'm not sure this is a trait unique to Freda, we saw so many little ones charging towards the water this summer, it's just wonderful to watch. The slightest breath of sea air seems to send small children into an excited frenzy of pulling off clothes and picking up buckets, all this whilst trying not to fall over and get covered in the sandy stuff!


Whilst I know that most children love the water, I'm convinced that Freda has the determination, and madness, of a true cold water swimmer. She was in the water from April to  late October and despite the occasional chilly giggle she didn't even blink at the temperature. She would often watch Stuart or I swimming off into the sea or river and make loud attempts to follow only to be distracted by the sea swallowing her latest construction whole 'SEA GET IT!!! at which point she would run off excitedly and hurridly trying to build the next blob of sand for the waves to munch.

I love her love of the outdoors and her love of the water, it's wonderful and if only I could bottle the mood and sprinkle it on her when she's not feeling quite as chipper life would be an endless bout of giggles, splashing and ofcourse finding 'Nemo', her name for any sealife!

Whilst I know Freda is showing us a childhood love I do often wonder if Freda will be a year round open water swimmer like us. Will we be able to pass on our passion for swimming outside or will she be very different to us? I don't mind either way but I am very interested to see how her early and continuous exposure to open water swimming year round will influence her, if it influences her at all. Watch this space....

The Palmer Dart 2011

On 17th September 36 scantily clad individuals walked down the Totnes slipway into the Dart and swam the four miles to Stoke Gabriel. Despite threats of wind and rain the weather was fine and the sun was out. With parts of the country suffering from wild weather and ‘storms worse than we’ve seen in 15 years’ we were very lucky to have the sun join us.

The swimmers get in

High tide was 0950 and we decided to start the swim half an hour before at 0920. The morning started at 0745 at Stoke Gabriel Quay where Anthony, John and Roger met to pick up some kayaks and ferry some support crew up to Totnes. The weather was already looking promising and spirits were surprisingly high given the hour. Flasks, blankets (and coffee and croissants) were transported to Totnes to keep the supporters going whilst out on the river watching us swim.

Alun and Lesley were waiting at Totnes Rowing Club where swimmers and other kayakers were starting to arrive. Stuart was busy handing out hats, and kayakers and swimmers were trying to coordinate to ensure a safe passage down river to their destination.

More supporters turned up than we were expecting, simply for a few hours on the water. It was clear that everyone there was looking forward to spending some time either in or on the water and it was a great way to start the day.

Sue looking forward to getting in the Dart

At 0910 our experienced ‘horn man’, Egg, gave the warning that we would be starting the swim in 10 minutes and clothing started to fly around the car park. Clothes were flung, hats were donned, goggles cleaned and for some, rubber on. Swimmers huddled together to keep warm before the swim began and at 0920 Egg sounded his horn and we were off.

John led the way in ‘Merry Go’ with Kev Dart and Steve Edwards leading the swimmers, our fastest swimmers by far Steve demonstrated his speed and finished the swim first. Following them were the Exmouth Masters group, a very experienced bunch, a mix of Channel Swimmers and Open Water aficionados they swam at a leisurely pace, chatting as they went and still managed to finish the swim in an impressive time.

Steve et al preparing for the swim - Next year no wetsuits! 

From then on a trickle of smiling swimmers meandered their way down river with the occasional pause to look around them, glorious sunshine, calm water, Sharpham, Fleet Mill, Duncannon, one Seal spotting and then out into the less sheltered part of the river for the final stretch into Stoke Gabriel.

Rounding the corner at Mill Point it becomes clear how quickly the tide turns and picks up speed, it was hard work swimming from there to the Quay but there was a welcoming crowd and the smell of bacon and sausage sandwiches drew in the swimmers.

As with last year a very welcoming crowd of locals, supporters, friends, family and SGBA members were there to both congratulate us and remark on our madness. A lovely way to finish a swim, surrounded by friendly faces all ready to offer you a cup of tea.

It was another fantastic swim, which turned into an event as the SGBA and Paignton Kayakers turned out in force to join us and keep an eye on us and then help us eat sandwiches and drink tea. It really would not be the same swim without the local support we have. It’s just lovely and makes us feel very lucky indeed. So thank you to the SGBA and thank you to anyone who enjoys being out on the water and comes along simply to help.

We will definitely do the swim again next year and who knows the sun may well shine for us again…fingers crossed. 

Hembury Woods beckons the Dipper(s)

Saturday 6th November and Dani (The Dipper) and Steve were certainly up for joining us for a chilly dip in the delightful Dart. Unlike our last dip in Hembury Woods it was quite hard to submerge our toasty warm bodies into the icy waters and ice-cream headaches were par for the course.

A startlingly refreshing swim, which my now fairly rotund middle seemed to enjoy (31 weeks pregnant) and thankfully my extra coating seems to keep me warmer for longer so whilst my trusty companions talked of 'still chilly buttocks' and 'ever so cold toes' I felt warm as toast as we wandered through the lovely woods after our dip.

I look forward to my next trip here, it's becoming one of my best loved pools on the Dart.

It's getting cold again

It's late September, I'm 6 months pregnant and the dipping is getting cold again, Hooray!

I used to love Autumn for the turning leaves, the refreshing breezes and the atmospheric rain. Now I love it because it signals the beginning of another magical winter of freezing cold dips.

This morning steam was coming off the millpond and the water hasn't looked that enticing in a long time. We swam from the quay in Stoke Gabriel with Freda watching and once the ice-cream headache had passed I swam bravely out into the River Dart and just watched. The water was still, the surroundings were beautiful and my fingers were going a bit numb. Just perfect.

Swimming back towards Stoke Gabriel I realised that I should probably keep my bump a bit warmer from now on but I also realised that I have really missed the chilling waters of winter. I feel very excited about this winter. A new home, a new baby on the way and our lovely little girl Freda turning one year old on the 30th September.

Much to my husbands despair I am already excited about Christmas and ofcourse we will be gracing the River Dart with our presence for our traditional Christmas Day dip. High water is at 8.45am....what perfect timing, Father Christmas will have been and lunch will be warming in the oven. A dip has never been so well timed. ;-)

Rowcroft Swim

A gorgeous sunny day in September so what better way to spend it than swimming a mile at Teignmouth Beach with 130 others?

Margy (aka Pocket Rocket) rallied the South London troops and we all went, old and new to swim our mile along the Devon coast. Alex, Ann, Margy, Tricky, Stu and I all got ready to run into the water together while Egg looked after little Freda and fed both her and himself a fair few blueberry rice cakes.

The only strange things about the swim was that out of 130 swimmers there were only 10 of us swimming as God intended (well with our vitals covered!) what a shame. All the rest were in wetsuits! What on earth? It was boiling hot and the sea was warm, why were so many people wearing rubber? I won't go on about that because I had a lovely swim but I simply don't understand why people put rubber clothes on to swim when it's so hot outside?

The swim started in waves of 25 and we were in the 3rd wave. We ran into the water, 5 month bump and all and swam off. I was worried that I'd be surrounded by people and get a boot in the tummy so I was a bit nervous to start with but it wasn't like that at all. Stuart and I swam out wide and kept clear of the crowds. We spent the whole swim passing people and basked in the sunshine, it was just lovely lovely lovely and an excellent way to round off the weekend.

Thank you Stuart from swimming with me, I followed him as fast as my arms would carry me but he still did butterfly in places and held back in others so that I wasn't swimming alone, that's just lovely.

The 1st Palmer Dart

11th September 2010 marked the day of our first ever organised Totnes to Stoke Gabriel swim, named temporarily by our friends as 'The Palmer Dart'. We had 30 swimmers and over 30 support boats. The Stoke Gabriel Boating Association provided us with astonishing support and it was a day to top most other Saturdays this year (for me).

Surrounded by lovely local swimmers, my fondest friends from South London Swimming Club and swimming next to my gorgeous husband I had one of the best swims I've had in the River ever ever! The water was flat calm and silky smooth and it was easy to swim through, astonishingly so.

Two astonishings already - you see that is what the day was like from start to finish.

The day was slightly grey and drizzly but the weather front was passing and the water was in perfect condition.

We set off in 3 waves, the more relaxed swimmers first, I call them the watchers, they like to drift down the river watching the scenery taking it all in, they really make the most of every swim. The 2nd group to go was the slightly faster group, they entered the water with some descriptions of the water temperature, mostly polite and lots of smiles. We were then left with the speedy ones, the channel swimmers, the 2-way windermere swimmers and quite simply the down right nifty ones.

I followed them in my support boat deftly navigated by Roger and meandered my way through half of the swimmers before finding Stuart who was swimming at an impressive pace. Just before Sharpham I slid daintily from the boat (that's not quite how it happened but it's my blog so I'll describe it how I like!) and joined Stuart to swim the rest of the way back to Stoke Gabriel.

I smiled the whole way, I felt so good in the water, what a buzz to have organised this local event and to actually be able to take part in it.

We ended the swim at the River Shack in Stoke Gabriel where Tim and Lexi had put on some delicious bacon and sausage baps for us and served 65 of us in under an hour, whilst I know it's good for business they really pulled the stops out to help us out and we all sat eating and drinking in the glorious sunshine for a good few hours.

Once again I find myself dangerously close to going totally over the top in describing just how wonderfully lucky I feel to know and be associated with so many kind and caring people all up for being in and on the river early on a September morning.

I am really very lucky! Bring on the Palmer-Dart 2011. I'm looking forward to it already.