Monday, September 27, 2010

Green Light

At 7:00 this evening Davis was given the green light - he was told to meet Lance, the pilot, down on the dock in Dover at midnight.

We spent the next little bit getting things ready to go and then Davis and his support crew (Andrew and Davis' brother Tim) tried to get some sleep. I am not sure if Andrew and Tim got any sleep - I know Davis didn't. Excitement mixed with nerves mixed with a huge amount of pasta made sleep impossible for Davis. The thing that Davis was most concerned about, and which was his biggest obstacle to sleep, was the idea of swimming in the dark (it is currently dark, raining and in the 50s). Although he's done it before, it's been awhile and there weren't a ridiculous number of huge ships lurking about. I told him that I would be worried if he weren't concerned about the dark and the ships - yes, he is prepared and there is no doubt in my mind he can do this, but it would be unnatural if he weren't a bit nervous about this undertaking.

Tim is going to send me regular messages to update me, and I'll try and post updates to keep you up to date on Davis' progress. I expect a message any moment now saying Davis is off and going.

15 comments:

  1. I'm even nervous so I can't imagine how you all are doing! Molly can't wait to hear more about Davis's "swimming lesson".

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  2. I too have butterflies in my tummy for you all! Can't wait to hear news!

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  3. I'm refreshing by browser way to often. Must step away from the computer.

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  4. found him?!!?

    http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=009OxM7v3sf07EMkZkUqMsLX2SF1442fP

    good luck - john

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  5. John, Thanks for that. My Dad and I are refreshing every two seconds....massive butterflies!

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  6. Is that the right website? I thought we were to follow vessel "Sea Satin.' Please confirm.
    chip wyser, Newburyport swimmer

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  7. hi - we checked out sea satin but it was an old track; this one seemed to be updating and the caption for it on their overall tracking page (http://www.ais-doverstraits.co.uk/) said "Tracker is used for English Channel Swims & Crossing Events (available for indevidual crossings 01843852858 )" Hopefully is right...

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  8. 3AM Eastern time..... 'bout halfway there? Go Davis!

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  9. 3:15am EDT, Newburyport, MA
    Buoy data.... (from iPhone App)
    Sept 28, 0600 UTC...
    "Sandettie Lightship" Location:51.103N 1.8W
    Highest wave height: 2.3 ft.. interval 7 seconds... rollers.... that's good.
    Water temp: 61.7Degrees F (Great!)
    Air Temp: 59.7 F
    Wind Speed: 6 knots from the NNE
    Visibility: 5NM
    Sunrise 7:48am @ Calais, France
    Currently light drizzle
    ALL GOOD!!!
    Time for breakfast Davis... ;)
    Keep the vigil Andrew.

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  10. 6:00am Eastern Time, 10:am in Channel.
    Big current effect....Looks like Davis is taking a long "S" route.
    Wind dropped to 2.9 knots NNW, waves under 2', but visibility also dropped to 2NM... must be a little foggy.

    Will continuing tide effect take him back up north toward Calais?

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  11. From Kate:

    I've gotten a few updates from Tim thus far:

    1:56: Swimming smoothly now for about 20 minutes - a good start
    2:40: Davis had his first Gu and water and was tracking well
    3:38: Hitting a wall, but pushing through and still in good spirits - the wind has freshened up a bit to 10 knots
    4:42: Another swimmer on another boat just aborted their swim due to seasickness
    6:20: Weather is ok, overcast but dry and not too cold. He is going good, but there is lots of chop and it is making him tired.
    6:30 About halfway

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  12. From Kate:

    Just got a message from Tim - Davis has 2.25 miles to go. He's cold and tired but doing well.

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  13. Doing great Davis! Looks like from the tracker you're just about there -- awesome!

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