What I learned from getting in cold water every day for a month
...my Surfers Against Sewage Dip a Day challenge.
Day 1: I go because everyone else is and I think I should. It’s magical.
Day 2: I need time alone, so I don’t go, but later squeal under ice buckets with new friends.
Day 3: More squealing as we jump waves the setting sun is turning translucent yellow-green.
Day 4: I go, tentatively and alone, to a sandy pool co-created by a rock and the retreating tide.
Day 5: I find another tidal pool closer to home and swim right across it.
Day 6: Avoiding sewage alerts, I head further afield and remember why I love this.
Day 7: A midday tidal pool swim feels like a tiny slide of holiday in the middle of a workday.
Day 8: It’s cold, it’s raining, it’s windy and I remember why I hate this.
Day 9: I meet my sister and feel brave for following her into choppier waters than I’m used to.
Day 10: The sun is shining and I think I’ve found my favourite swimming spot.Â
Day 11: I dive into the sunset reflected in a rockpool instead of going to the supermarket.Â
Day 12: I am invited for a sunrise swim with a new friend who usually swims alone.
Day 13: I go back to my now-favourite spot and don a bobble hat.
Day 14: I swim over rocks at high tide and a man with a dog tells me I’m doing it wrong.
Day 15: I repeat ‘you only have to dunk’ over and over to myself, dunk, then swim three laps.
Day 16: I watch the waves with a coffee afterwards and meet a puppy and his Mum.
Day 17: The moon is full and the sea is wild and I go in anyway.
Day 18: I almost get cut off by the incoming tide, but get away with wet trouserlegs.
Day 19: I hear wild geese calling out, ‘harsh and exciting,’ like a Mary Oliver poem.Â
Day 20: I come face to face with a spaniel, swimming towards me/his tennis ball.
Day 21: It’s sunny and the water’s clear and I can’t believe how much joy this brings me.
Day 22: I swim at my favourite spot for a third consecutive day and it feels like part of who I am.
Day 23: A cormorant dives in just as I am getting out and takes my breath away.
Day 24: I don’t want to get in, but I get in anyway and then I don’t want to get out.Â
Day 25: ‘When does it feel good?’ you say as I dry myself in a biting cold wind. ‘Now!’ I reply.
Day 26: I make it just before dark and am proud that I kept a promise to myself.
Day 27: I swim lengths of the beach on a sunny day avoiding the seaweed.Â
Day 28: I watch waves with my coffee afterwards and wonder why start the day any other way.
Day 29: I feel part of something as I chat with another bobble-hatted dipper.
Day 30: It’s cold and rough and I feel a bit seasick.Â
Day 31: The water feels like ice, but I love it – and I did it!
The tide line
Every October, the UK’s water protection charity Surfers Against Sewage encourages ocean activists and water lovers alike to dip every day in cold water and raise vital funds to help protect the wild blue spaces we love.
On 3rd October, I realised I had already dipped for the past three consecutive days as part of my Blue Health Coach™ training, so I decided to carry on for the rest of the month, partly to ease me into swimming through winter and partly to hold me accountable to walking the ‘blue health’ talk. I’m so glad I did.
I am a craft, nature and sustainability writer and a certified Blue Health Coachâ„¢. To learn more and try a Blue Health Coachingâ„¢ tool for yourself, visit makingdesigncircular.org/coaching.