I enjoyed a beautiful drive today. Parts of Eastern Quebec were spectacular and New Brunswick was green, beautiful and hilly. The highway road signs warned to be on the lookout for moose, but I think the bigger danger (at least during daylight hours) was slow moving RV's. In the land of hills with a speed limit of 110 km/hr and everyone going at least 120, you had to be ready to pass them as soon as you saw them.
I cheered when I passed an RV from British Columbia. It was then that I really connected with my pride in the vastness and beauty of our country. Every Canadian should do a road trip across the Canada. Where else in the world could you drive 1750 km and only cross 2 1/2 provinces? Or drive all day (800 km) and not see a single police car?
We are staying at a charming motel, the Indian Point Motel in Port Elgin, right on the Northumberland strait. Unfortunately is is very misty today and we couldn't see the other side. The temperature was 18 deg C today, going up to 24 tomorrow.
The official blogsite for Marilyn's Three Provinces Swim, scheduled for July 23-28, 2015
Welcome to my Three Provinces Swim website. For those of you who don't know me, I swam Lake Ontario the easy way in 1983 and the hard way in 1984. I “came out of retirement" to swim the English Channel in 2011. In 2013, I was the oldest Canadian to swim the Strait of Catalina in California. Last year, I completed the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and became the first Canadian to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. The 3 swims are the English Channel, the Catalina Strait and the Manhattan race. (See links below for more detail.)
This year I am hoping to become the first person to do the Three Provinces double crossing of the Northumberland Strait. I plan to swim from Nova Scotia north 33 kilometers to Prince Edward Island (PEI) and then south 13 kilometers to New Brunswick. Why a swim in the Canadian Maritimes? I was looking for a cold water ocean swim and I decided it was time to be the first to swim a Canadian route. This swim is a warm up to another goal, to swim the Cook Strait between the north and south islands in New Zealand next February, one of the toughest swims in the world.
The Northumberland Strait is the site of the Confederation Bridge, 13 kilometers long, linking New Brunswick to PEI. The biggest challenge to swimming is the tide, which floods through the strait in a southeasterly direction more strongly than it ebbs northwesterly. The tides vary from 2h 47 min to 8h 36 minutes. I am expecting a maximum tide speed of 1.2 knots. The tide is at its lowest for the month during July 23-28. It will be quite the challenge to pick a start time for this 24 hour swim. The other challenge is the jelly fish, both lion’s mane and moon jellies. I am reassured that the jelly fish are not bad in July. They also tell me there are no sharks in the strait. The water temperature should be between 62 and 68 degrees F (16-20 degrees C).
There have been three double crossings of the Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick and PEI: Jen Alexander July 2007, Kristen Roe July 2008, and Jeremy Davidson August 2014. Jeremy was only accompanied by one kayaker. In light of the fact that there is no governing body for the Northumberland Strait, the level of substantiation and safety of the two dozen single crossings varies greatly. I am planning on following all the rules of the Marathon Swimming Federation and the World Open Water Swimming Association. I am ecstatic to report that Jen Alexander will be my official observer.
I am pleased to be able to use this opportunity to raise money for the Good Shepherd Centres in Hamilton. They run a network of shelters and services for troubled youth, abused women and children, the dying, the mentally and physically challenged, the hungry and the homeless. They strive to support people through crisis and help them re-establish healthy and productive lives. I am personally very grateful to a great many staff at the Good Shepherd who have helped so many of my patients. Please support my swim by donating to the Good Shepherd Centres. Thank you.
http://www.goodshepherdcentres.ca/events/view/28
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