Burgh Island

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kate Rew on December 11, 2009 at 11:40am

Hi Adam
There isn’t an official swim (yet - we are thinking of doing one) but you can get together with other members of the OSS and do it yourself… Details of the swim are in my book (Wild Swim), and if you go to the Outdoor Swimming Society group on Facebook & chat to people you will be able to get more information both about the swim, and potentially more people to swim with. You needn’t even wait till summer - one of my first trips around the island was on Boxing Day. Slack, low tide is key - and good weather. And always tell the lifeguards where you are going otherwise people on the cliff may raise an alarm.
There is an around island Burgh race, where people swim, paddle, float etc, I think that’s around September.
It’s a lovely swim - you can see a bunch of OSS people doing it on this guardian film:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/sep/10/wild-swimming-burgh-is…
All credit for finding and braving this swim, and turning it into something so many of us want to do, goes to a local lady, Kari Furre, who had the bravery to do it first & generosity to share her findings.
You can find many other swims on the OSS swimming map - see www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com
All best
Kate

Permalink Reply by Adam Twose on December 11, 2009 at 2:26pm

Thanks for that! In the meantime, I have found some information on Burgh Island Hotel’s website about the race on 22 Aug and then found that some of my friends at Exter Tri Club are doing it as well….

Thanks very much!

Kate Rew said:

Hi Adam
There isn’t an official swim (yet - we are thinking of doing one) but you can get together with other members of the OSS and do it yourself… Details of the swim are in my book (Wild Swim), and if you go to the Outdoor Swimming Society group on Facebook & chat to people you will be able to get more information both about the swim, and potentially more people to swim with. You needn’t even wait till summer - one of my first trips around the island was on Boxing Day. Slack, low tide is key - and good weather. And always tell the lifeguards where you are going otherwise people on the cliff may raise an alarm.
There is an around island Burgh race, where people swim, paddle, float etc, I think that’s around September.
It’s a lovely swim - you can see a bunch of OSS people doing it on this guardian film:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/sep/10/wild-swimming-burgh-is…
All credit for finding and braving this swim, and turning it into something so many of us want to do, goes to a local lady, Kari Furre, who had the bravery to do it first & generosity to share her findings.
You can find many other swims on the OSS swimming map - see www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com
All best
Kate

Permalink Reply by Julian Alexander on July 29, 2010 at 8:37am

I stay in a cottage on the island every year when the round the island race is held. It is usually the weekend before the August Bank Holiday, as this year (according to the hotel), but sometimes it is the bank holiday weekend. If you’re making a special journey for the swim, make sure you check the weather and sea reports - if the sea’s rough or its’ very windy they often cancel the swim - In fact from memory it’s only been held twice in the last 5 years. There’s nothing to stop you swimming (it is the sea after all!) but there van be very strong currents, big waves and sharp rocks round the NW, W and SW sides of the island. I’m hopefully going to do the swim for the first time this year, hope to see people there!

Permalink Reply by Catherine Rees Stephan on August 19, 2010 at 12:55pm

You need to send an email to [email protected]

Permalink Reply by Julian Alexander on September 1, 2010 at 10:25am

I did the swim the other week and it was a great experience. We did it just after high-tide so there was plenty of water however it was just coming off neap tides then so the tidal-stream was pretty weak and I didn’t notice any great currents. The weather wasn’t fantastic but the 22nd was just about the only day in the last 2 weeks when there wasn’t a huge swell in the sea. Even so, I gave the rocks and shallow coves and channels a very wide berth but still completed the swim in about half an hour. The sea was pretty murky due to the stormy weather the week before so I just ploughed round doing a consistent crawl however on clear, calm day with good sunshine I can imagine there would be lovely views of rocks, weed gardens and fish, not to mention the imposing cliffs round the back of the island and a more leisurely breast-stroke would easily get you round in your own time. Definitely going to sign up for next year.

Permalink Reply by carine brosse on September 2, 2010 at 1:20pm

I would like to take part next year, but I was wondering how much experience you need. I swim 3 times a week for 1.30 hour at the swimming pool, and do a few wild swim in the year, but I only do front crawl. In a lake I can swim 1 mile in 50 mins.
Would I be alright at Burgh Island ?