Race Club

Lately, I was asked two questions. One of them was easy to answer because someone asked me the same question not a long time ago. The other one was kind of hard to answer on the spot, so I took some time to think about it the next day at breakfast.

Let me start with the question which was part of the table discussion the night I was invited to dinner by Gary Sr.:

“What can we do to make the camper’s (swimmer’s) experience even better?”

No answer that night, so I hope Gary Sr. will be reading this to finally get one. We figured out that I’ve been in the Keys quite a few times and that’s maybe why he thought I had an answer ready.

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Can it get any better than this? Try to image the following – You’re about 12 hours back in the Keys and after a first short swim in the morning you’re already out there on the sea to chase some lobster for dinner – read up to the end for the answer.

Only one way to start this diary entry. Let me officially announce that the World Team has a new favorite TV channel – the high definition spear fishing channel.

Sounds weird? … I guess it sure does! But what do you expect from a bunch of swimmers of which, after my knowledge, most would answer the following question with a YES.

“Would you like to be a professional spear fisher and/or lobster hunter?”

Okay, to make a long day (story) short, we’ve been out on the boat for most of the day hunting for our dinner and bringing in a couple of lobster and one fish speared by George.

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Yeah…me again. So if you’re tired reading my diary entries you should stop right away. Because I started this entry a long time ago and never really came to an end and so it got a bit long. Ever since I started to write after my last visit in February, I started to feed this entry with all the stuff (interesting or not) that came to my mind. Yes, I assume, I sort of “abuse” the platform I’m given, but maybe you like it? And if not, STOP reading further.

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Good times – really bad summer weather in Switzerland brought me “back home” to Islamorada. Enjoy some sun and outside swimming that’s exactly what I needed to start my winter season. Another good reason for me to come back of course is that I still need to catch the Green flash.

Green flashes are “rare” optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible for a short period of time above the sun, or a green ray shoots up from the sunset point. It is usually observed from a low altitude where there is an unobstructed view of the horizon, such as on the ocean (so Islamorada in the Florida Keys should be a perfect place to catch it). Its explanation lies in refraction of light in the atmosphere and is enhanced by atmospheric inversions. Whilst we would expect to see a blue light, the blue is dispersed (this is why the sky is blue) and only the green light remains visible. With slight magnification, a green rim on the top limb of the solar disk can be seen on most clear-day sunsets. However, the flash or ray effects require a stronger layering of the atmosphere and a mirage which serves to magnify the green for a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds. And I was told that it is a good thing to see the green flash. Can’t say if it’s true or not, but I really would love to see a Green flash once.

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