I've decided that I'm not going to be able to do my big marathon swim this summer. It is just too damn expensive. Especially for how short the swim is. My three short swims would total something around 12-14 miles. But for that, I'd need a boat to take me all the way to San Miguel, which would take time and money. Further, because of distance to that far island, as well as distance from one side of each island to the other, my swim would take "16-20 hours of boating time in addition to 6-8 hours of swimming" in the words of a SBCSA board member.
Depending upon the boat I would have rented, the price could get very high. One boat I was looking at, well, the pilot doesn't like having the swimmer in the water at night. I don't know how else to do this swim without spending some time in the water without the sun up. And boats are expensive. I heard back from one boat captain, the one that doesn't want night swimmers. ("Call me. We'll take care of you.") I also heard back from another, who said he couldn't help because my planned swim was way outside his area.
Money is the reason. While I never got a quote from anyone, I did talk to former swimmers in the Santa Barbara Channel and found out how much they spent. For swims that, according to plan, took much less time than "16-20 hours of boating [plus] 6-8 hours of swimming."
I'm really upset I can't do this, but it is better to be realistic than not. Plus, it would be nice not to have to sell any of my kids.
Now I have to figure out what to do with the money already donated to my charity, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. I've got $250 so far. I'm hoping that I can use my other marathons this year as my charity swims.
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