David Astins
Dave Swims to Skokholm - and lived to tell the tale!
Fundraising for Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales
Story
Challenge "Dave Swims to Skokholm" complete!
On Friday 22nd August I swam from Marloes Sands on the Pembrokeshire mainland across Gateholm Bay & Broad Sound to Skokholm Island, a nature reserve owned and managed by the Widlife Trust of South & West Wales.
I completed the swim in 1 hour and 24 minutes: as far as we know I am the first person to have attempted it (but surely someone in history has done it?!). It was not an easy swim - the swell was around 4 feet, and the tide race took me a bit (lot...) further north than I'd planned so I landed at North Haven rather than South Haven. See my GPS data here:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/572603212Safety support (and plenty of good advice) was provided by Mark Burton & Philip Newman of Natural Resources Wales in their boat Skalmey, which mostly works in the Skomer Marine Nature Reserve - I couldn't have done it without them. Steve Sutcliffe, John Walmsley & Sash Tusa gave me plenty good advice about sea conditions. I also need to thank Wendy & Dyfed James for seeing me off from Marloes, as well as Drew Buckley who took some excellent photos, and my good friend Mark Edgeller who encouraged me from Skalmey (and made me lots of tea when we arrived on Skokholm). Finally, thanks to everyone at the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales who got behind this idea - Lizzie Wilberforce, Gina Gavigan, Jon Cooper and of course Skokholm Wardens Richard Brown & Giselle Eagle who were supportive without condition. I look forward to seeing what they spend the money on!
All money raised will go to the WTSWW's work on Skokholm Island. You can donate up to 17th September when this page will be closed down. You can read more about Skokholm here:
http://www.welshwildlife.org/skomer-skokholm/skokholm/Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.