The Palfreys Swim Again
Penny swims another first from Santa Barbara Island - Chris swims Catalina Channel

Chris Palfrey, September 2009

Penny's swim started from Santa Barbara island at 6.10pm on Thursday 24th September. Since she swam according to channel swimming rules, which required her to start clear of the water, she had to borrow the support kayakers gloves and booties, so as to closely climb up on the rocks. 200 metres into the swim she saw a BIG shark below her. She only saw it from the dorsal fin back, but it was very big. She thinks it was probably a great white cruising around in wait for seals which call the area home. The starting water temperature was 65F, but it warmed up as she moved away from the island. Throughout most of the night, it stayed around 69F and only dropped again to around 65-66F for the last 3 miles. The weather was great for all but 3 hours during the night, when it bacame choppy. Although it was still quite dark at around 4.00am, Penny could clearly see the Catalina island off to her right which gave her a boost, knowing she was about half way. Whilst many mornings during our stay in LA have been foggy, Penny enjoyed a beautiful clear sunny morning. also, just on daybreak, Penny was joined by dolphins who it seemed, were singing to her. With flat seas and the sun on her back, she made great progress. Her skipper, John Pittman, said her pace never dropped below 2.1nm/hour during the entire swim, except for the last couple of miles, when she copped some head current. Her landing point was the same one used for the Catalina channel crossings, a small rocky beach, below the Terranea resort, near Point Vincente. She finished the 40.2 staute mile (65 klm) swim in 17 hours 53 minutes and 41 seconds, becoming the first solo person ever to complete the swim.

I started my crossing from the traditional starting point for Catalina crossings, 200 metres west of Arrow Point (about 2nm west of Isthmus Cove), at 12.10am. A westerley (cross fro left to right) current was expected throughout the crossing. and for the first 2 hours of the swim, we had a 10 knot westerley breeze. this made it more difficult to settle in and find the rythm needed for night swimming. After 2.00am, the breeze started to die down, and the sea got progressivly flatter. Swimming in the dark went very smoothly and uneventful, except for a near collision with a fairly large squid. it squirted a cloud of ink almost into my face. i don't know who was scared most, me or the squid. at daybreak, the sea was flat calm, and swimming was so much fun. It felt like being in an enormous pool, but without the lane ropes. Claudia, my observer, joined me in the water for 90 minutes just after dawn. the company was nice, and it helped to lift my pace just a little. My main concern before the swim was the water temperature. but for most of the swim, it was 68-69F, dropping down to 67F with 2 miles to go. it was easy to handle. on the boat, the crew saw dophins, seals and a 50 ft blue whale when we were only a mile from shore. the whale was only 400 yards away. all I saw was two cormorants, performing acrobats all round and underneath me, but that too was fun. I finished my 21 statute mile (33 klm ) crossing in 10 hours 30 minutes and 29 seconds.

Whilst Penny and I have both achieved our goals and have had a great time, we need to thank the people who made it so. Forrest Nelson crewed for both or us and did an absolutely superb job. Anne Cleveland also crewed for Penny and her help and support was invaluable. the other kayakers and crew (with Penny - David Clark, Jesse, John and Tony and with me, Claudia and Dorothy (observers) and Ralph and Bob (kayakers)) all did an outstanding job. And John Pittman and his crew aboard Outrider would be amongst the best pilot boats in the world of open water swimming.

We would thoroughly recommend Catalina to any open water swimmer as a great and fun swim to do.