Low Tide 04:49 (0.70m)
High Tide 11:11 (2.40m)
Low Tide 16:52 (0.80m)
High Tide 23:13 (2.60m)
Sea temperature: 7.7
Sea conditions: dark, high
Weather: dark with a cold wind
Joined by: TBC, The Poet and Sara and The LE as support.

Rock lobster dance

The Ellies are back from their travels - they have been gone for such a long time that Jagger the puppy is now Jagger the great big dog. She very kindly brought me a birthday present back from Bondi beach, where they think they swim in cold water at 16 degrees - a warm swimming costume. So today I wore it and The Pirate thought I was in a bikini, it's quite skimpy... a summer suit I think, even though it has 'Bondi Icebergs' written on the arse, so cool! We discussed a twinning between the various wild swimming areas they'd been to with our little part of the east coast and at some point she's promised me access to their photos and a travelogue which we can share here. Welcome Back to The LE, it's great to see your smiling face, even if you are not quite up for a swim yet. 
The swimming today was pretty good though, it's still remarkably warm for December, compared with recent years. The Pirate's 'twice Christmas' temperature is based on it being around 4 degrees this time last year, but this evening I went out for a late walk as it was getting dark and there seemed to be a very sudden drop in the air temperature as the wind increased in speed and swung around. It is forecast to plummet tomorrow, but then warm up again. TBC and I have taken to running up and down the beach after our swim, but today the tide had brought shingle with large stones, making it hard to run in comfort so we just jogged about a bit.
The moon - I'd met up with one of the Elders yesterday who'd been in raptures over the moonset, which I'd just missed as I came over the dunes. He's a man of the world, but even he had been knocked sideways by the sight of it on the horizon, huge and tinted orange by the sunrise opposite. This morning we agreed to meet on the river just before 7 to watch it again. As it was so much later I didn't see the final set, and it had hidden itself before it hit the horizon, but it was still pretty impressive. I didn't have my camera with me and the phone can't cope with moonlight, but I thought I'd share this compilation someone sent me from Nefeli Aggellou.
Nefeli Aggelou
This month's moon has been spectacular worldwide.
TBC and I wandered back as we'd got bored of hanging around waiting for the boys to go in so were ready to go home for a warm shower, and as were made our way to the car park we mused on the beauty of the village - regardless of it's current state of post-flood chaos and destruction. The beach huts and harbour buildings are all being dried out or taken away, depending on the state of repair and all the public car parks and paths are thick with sticky mud and reed piles. As the reeds have washed across from the marsh they have built up levels of rotting vegetation and dead creatures, caught out by the water. The saddest sight was the starlings, who didn't stand a chance. The night before I'd watched them murmur to roost in their seemingly secure spot, away from the marsh harriers, warm in their thousands. How many are lost I have no idea, but I've been searching for the survivors since and have seen a traces of them drifting off towards Dunwich, looking for a safer place, and flying higher than I've ever seen before. The Pirate saw another snake in the dunes too, the disorientation of nature will continue for some time yet and there is another super high tide predicted for January 4th.