Mo Siegel Tsugaru Channel
david_barra
NYCharter Member
Mo is my hero. In addition to SCAR, he swam the Cape Cod Bay P2P, and is in Japan for a shot at ... Well you know.
Should be splashing any day now.
Should be splashing any day now.
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
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Good effort Mo!
This channel still seems pretty mysterious to me.....
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A grasshopper walks into a bar...
https://elainekhowley.com/
www.darren-miller.com
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
We had a small window on September 12th to try a swim & jumped on it. Weather on the 13th looked unswimmable... Left the dock in Teppi at 2:50 am & splashed at Kodomari at 4:30...for those not familiar with Tsugaru rules you have to leave around then - not before - because of tuna fishing nets being used in the Channel @ night (please correct me if I'm wrong on this or other technical details - my job is to get in the water & swim but I'm always learning!)
We had about 4-5 hours to clear past Cape Teppi and after a touch push off made great time & cleared that line in around 3:30. This despite choppy conditions and a north wind moving against our direction of travel.
All good until around 9 am when the combination of current and tide slowed & from then on we were fighting to push north. Our tracking was perfect but forward speed dropped as low as 800 meters/ hour.
I also fought threw some radical nausea, some slows & speed ups for tanker traffic, etc - usual Channel business - but at 2:30 PM had covered only half the distance & was moving at 1 km/hr. Chop was increasing as the wind picked up ... Challenging & deteriorating conditions... We tried shifting to the starboard side of the escort boat - speed increased but the chop was much worse & I was drifting far from the boat in rough seas. Hung it out for another hour, covering 21.7 km altogether, but grew really concerned about how difficult it was to stay close to the boat.
Just before 4 pm I felt conditions had gotten too dangerous - too far from the boat & too little gas in my tank to handle the deep chop - and called a halt over my safety concerns.
For more info check www.Facebook.com/TsugaruChannelSwimming
A couple of comments for interested swimmers
- fantastic & challenging swim in a stunning area
- great boat captain (Capt Mizushima) - held an exact track in tough conditions
- great support from Moriya-San (Ocean Navi) and top crewing from Kumiko Ichiban
- the currents here rule...day to day variations can be pretty extreme
Lastly, I'm really happy about & feeling great about this swim. I ALWAYS want to finish, but I knew going in this was going to be a tough day to get across - and it turned tougher as the day went on. Solid strong swim & solid decision to fold it & head home.
Stay wet, my friends...love & learning live in these waters!