At Cardwell Bay

After this morning's open water swim the blood was rushing back towards the skin. I was on my own and swam 417m in 13:28. Highest tide coming in. Northerly wind onto the beach gentle breeze Force 3. Water temperature 8 degC #openwaterswimming #rwsabc #greenock (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

We went to the Blue Lagoon today. I do love hot springs.

A view from The Clyde during today's swim. High tide at 13:00. Entered water at 13:10. Swam by myself. 422m in 15m50s. Fresh westerly breeze Force 5. 6 minutes out and 9 minutes back against the waves. Water temperature 9.9 degC. (at Greenock Esplanade)

Reykjavik Harbour - weather was beautiful today.

Open Water Swimming at RWSABC

I am the Open Water Swimming Convener at the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Swimming Club.  The upcoming season will start soon.  We have set out the programme for the upcoming year.  The programme is shown below:

Social Swims for members of RWSABC

Thursday and Friday evenings every week with water entry around 6:30pm starts Thursday, 17th April ends Friday, 12th September

Swimming generally takes place along the Esplanade but sometimes in certain conditions swimming takes place in the direction of the Battery Park.

“Open” Social Swims for members of the public

Fridays - 23rd May, 6th June, 4th July and 1st August.

Moonlight Swim for members of RWSABC

Saturday, 12 July at 10:00pm - Dependent on weather and cloud conditions

The Cross Clyde Swim

From Kilcreggan to The Esplanade, Greenock the distance is about 3km

Saturday, 16 August - This swim is dependent on conditions and the event may be rerouted or cancelled in case of poor conditions.  There are strict criteria for entering this event.

You can find more by contacting me at openwaterswimming@rwsabc.com

Happy swimming!

I had a nice swim with Colin and David tonight. It was high tide and very calm. I saw a few jellyfish. There was a rainbow at the start of the swim. I swam to the "yellow" pole. #inverclyde #openwaterswimming #Greenock #RWSABC #Scotland #esplanade (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Heading out for a cycle around Cumbrae (at Millport)

Cafe Culture in Gourock #Gourock #inverclyde #scotland (at Fresh Gourock)

Give Nuclear Power Plants cool names

The list below shows the 16 Nuclear Reactors currently operating in the UK.  It was taken from the World Nuclear web site at

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-T-Z/United-Kingdom/

I would urge those naming Nuclear Power Plants in the future, pick cool names for Nuclear Power Plants instead of simply naming them after a location.  Names that come to mind are "Opportunity", "Hope", "Progress", "Our Children's Future", "Reliability" etc.  In fact you could have a competition and ask local children to name the plant. 

In the Iain M. Banks Science Fiction books there are ships capable of faster than light travel controlled by "Minds".  "Minds" are cognitive machine and because they are cognitive they get to name themselves.  There names introduce a bit of whimsy into what often is a very serious business.  A bit like Nuclear Power, a serious business that would benefit from a lighter and more fun image.

A list of the names of the "Minds" appearing in some of Iain M. Banks novels is available at Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_%28The_Culture%29

I think the favourite name there that could be applied to a good Nuclear Power Plant is "Vision Of Hope Surpassed".

In addition, it might be good to hear an opponent of a Nuclear Power Plant saying something along the lines of  "I don't want to see "Our Children's Future" built" or carrying placards the say "No Nukes ! Stop Hope!".  Quite often this is what they really are saying but without being explicit.

In London with Helen for a long weekend! (at London)