Have Wetsuit, Will Travel
by Rudston Steward
pril is the cruellest month—unless you have a wetsuit.
Here in Sicily spring is exploding; the island is ablaze with euphorbia, broom, lentisk, wild thyme and lavender. A green revolution has taken root, nature is running amok. This is a spectacular time to be outdoors, the azure sea beckons alluringly at the foot of every flower-bedecked hillside. The urge to dive into the water is irresistible.
And yet in Italy no one swims in April, the water is still too cold; many hold off until July and August before taking the plunge. Why wait until peak summer season to swim, when the beaches are overcrowded? When every inch of coastline gets colonized by phalanxes of deck chairs, the prime sunbathing spots staked out and defended tooth-and-nail against predatory fellow holiday-makers?
On Italian beaches during the summer months cliches and caricatures abound: hirsute middle-aged men strutting their stuff in skintight Speedos, while oiled-up women parade their pouting botox along strips of sweltering Mediterranean sand.
HIRSUTE MIDDLE-AGED MEN STRUTTING THEIR STUFF IN SKINTIGHT SPEEDOS, WHILE OILED-UP WOMEN PARADE THEIR POUTING BOTOX ALONG STRIPS OF SWELTERING MEDITERRANEAN SAND.
Thankfully there is an alternative: change your travel dates, and pack your wetsuit. A wetsuit represents freedom. It liberates you from the constraints of the peak summer season, setting you free to swim anywhere, anytime. Particularly during those spectacular months of early spring and late autumn when no-one else goes to the beach.
On April 7 we kickstarted our 2016 swimming odyssey, in the bay of Pollara on the Aeolian Island of Salina. The water was cold, but indeed comfortable in a wetsuit once the initial brisk contact subsided. It was a starkly beautiful sunny afternoon, there was no-one else on the beach or in the water. Only a large polpo (octopus) clung awhile to the seabed and then squirmed away with tentacles churning—as if caught off-guard by our unseasonal incursion into its pristine private depths.
Our plan for the nine months ahead — call it our Pelagic Mission — is to swim our way around the Italian peninsula from April through December, using our wetsuits if and when necessary. We’ve adopted a new mantra: “Have wetsuit, will travel…”