Project 60 - Number 58 Plodging* in Orkney

This had been on the list for a while, and I kept putting it off because I thought the water would be too cold. With time running out and a couple of sunny days behind us I finally decided that the day had arrived last Friday

We set off with towel, although not flip-flops sadly, to the beach off the third barrier as the water there is shallower than anywhere else local and therefore in theory would heat up faster. 

I was a bit put off when we walked past this on our search for a suitable place for me to get into the sea

Yeah, nasty looking thing innit? 

But given that the waters round Orkney are quite clear I reckoned I could spot one if it came for me so I took off my socks and shoes and - voila! It has only taken me twelve years of living here to get my feet wet in Orkney seas! 

*Plodging is a north east of England word** for paddling which has stayed with me since childhood. On beaches in Spain and North Africa I have definitely paddled in the Mediterranean, ditto in the Pacific in Australia, but in Orkney, like on the north east coast, it's cold, it takes more will and more effort and so you definitely plodge. 

** not necessarily north east of England exclusively. That's where I know it from, but it may be that people plodge as far south as the Wash and as far west as the beaches of North Wales.