I had prepared some hot feeds, something I had never worried about before.
We motored out from the dock to just north of the Mid Hudson bridge. There was no countdown, no big ceremony. We got a two minute warning on the way out and then as soon as we were in place we got the "go go go"
We went. One two three. I know I am still not well calibrated when it comes to judging water temperature. But I am convinced that water was colder than 64 degrees. I figure the boat had just cut through where we were swimming and stirred up some colder water from deeper down. For a few minutes I couldn't even think about the cold. I was just thinking about breathing. Every time I put my face in the water I triggered some kind of gasp reflex. I had to forcibly exhale in order to stop myself from taking in a lungful of Hudson.
Thankfully this sensation did not last long. The water still felt cold but I felt ok. At my first feed I got one of my regular juice bottles because the water was measuring 67 degrees. Mostly 67 anyway. There were still some cold patches.
The debris in the river didn't seem that bad. But that might have been because Margareth was steering my around the worst of it. My first problem was a log that I swam into. I pulled back, not knowing what I had hit, and the sudden movement made my leg cramp up. I was annoyed at my leg. This was only an hour, hour and a half into the swim. Way too early for cramps. After I few tries I pulled the cramp most of the way out and I started swimming again. The cramp shook the rest of the way out within a few kicks.
I quickly lost track of distance covered, I lost count of feeds. It felt like the cold patches in the water were getting bigger. I kept pulling to my left. I kept trying to correct but I still kept pulling to the left.
Margareth checked on my leg at each feed for a while. It didn't cause me any more trouble.
At some point, long after I had lost track of time, I'm guessing between the three and four hour marks I told her. "My thumbs are cold"
Maybe it's weird, but my thumbs will get cold long before any of my other fingers.
By my next feed, or maybe it was two feeds later, my fingers were starting to get cold and tingly.
There seemed to be three distinct temperatures in the water: there were occasional patches that actually felt warm, most of the water felt cold, and some patches felt so cold I just could not understand it.
I'm curious how much of a temperature difference there really was. It felt huge.
I had actually gotten a look at the Newburgh-Beacon bridge during one of my feeds. I felt like I would get there but I didn't know how much longer it was likely to take.
And I most definitely was not going to ask.
Part 2
Thankfully this sensation did not last long. The water still felt cold but I felt ok. At my first feed I got one of my regular juice bottles because the water was measuring 67 degrees. Mostly 67 anyway. There were still some cold patches.
The debris in the river didn't seem that bad. But that might have been because Margareth was steering my around the worst of it. My first problem was a log that I swam into. I pulled back, not knowing what I had hit, and the sudden movement made my leg cramp up. I was annoyed at my leg. This was only an hour, hour and a half into the swim. Way too early for cramps. After I few tries I pulled the cramp most of the way out and I started swimming again. The cramp shook the rest of the way out within a few kicks.
I quickly lost track of distance covered, I lost count of feeds. It felt like the cold patches in the water were getting bigger. I kept pulling to my left. I kept trying to correct but I still kept pulling to the left.
Margareth checked on my leg at each feed for a while. It didn't cause me any more trouble.
At some point, long after I had lost track of time, I'm guessing between the three and four hour marks I told her. "My thumbs are cold"
Maybe it's weird, but my thumbs will get cold long before any of my other fingers.
By my next feed, or maybe it was two feeds later, my fingers were starting to get cold and tingly.
There seemed to be three distinct temperatures in the water: there were occasional patches that actually felt warm, most of the water felt cold, and some patches felt so cold I just could not understand it.
I'm curious how much of a temperature difference there really was. It felt huge.
I had actually gotten a look at the Newburgh-Beacon bridge during one of my feeds. I felt like I would get there but I didn't know how much longer it was likely to take.
And I most definitely was not going to ask.
Part 2
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