Spain, July 1, 2015

Barajas Airport, Madrid

There is a possibility that in a few hours I will begin my attempt to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. I’ll get to Tarifa at two in the morning. The road from Madrid to Malaga will give me one last chance to eat something during the day. I’ll opt for something simple: salad, acorn sausages and a California wine. We will be able to relax the rest of the way.

A few days ago, when we discussed the Gibraltar swim, Nora said that with the wind forecast from WindGuru, it might be worth swimming on July 2, even though we would arrive a few hours earlier.

Of all the Ocean’s Seven swims, Gibraltar is relatively the easiest. The four swims after that will make me swim 18 or 20 hours straight.

The most difficult moment of a night swim occurs between 3 and 4 am. At that time my body is invariably asleep. When I force it to swim, it refuses. Two weeks ago, while swimming in Paris, it  reminded me several times that it was still going to do that.

If I swim tomorrow indeed, I will do it right after travelling from Mexico to Tarifa for 20 hours. I will try to sleep five hours and then begin the crossing. My wish to get at least that far will be fulfilled.

In the motivational talks I give, there is a part where I recommend to always be prepared for the unexpected. Tomorrow I’ll know how well I’m able to practice what I preach.