The wetsuit was definitely on today, since it has been eight months since I went wild swimming.

Lyme Regis is a pleasant small beach, which today had a powerful swell and strong under-tow. Walking over the stony beach, was the hardest and most painful part, and my swimming socks were no protection against the large stones.

The water looked good though an overcast day, but the wind had calmed down from earlier in the week. The wetsuit provided insulation and two short, enjoyable swims out in to the waves. The water was not very cold, but felt bearable against my face and hands, but not really enough to dispense with the wetsuit.

Swimming was quite a challenge with the restrictions of the suit and the swell of the waves as they rushed to the beach. Getting back onto land was a hands and knees exercise on the stony ground and the relentless drag back into the deeper water.

There is some kind of pull towards the ocean, that over-rides cold and danger, and beckons the human person into the abiogenesis depths of a seeming boundless abyss of water. We are mostly water, we depend on water and without it all life ends, and to be suspended in it’s cradle-like embrace, gives a feeling of support, safety and a point of origin.