What is it?

I went for a swim the other day, from the beach here in Fuzeta. I went with Max and Selena. It’s become a regular, weekly thing, work and holidays allowing – not that I work, obviously…

On that day, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The previous two days, the water had been freezing. Yes, despite it being towards the end of July, the water had been so cold that I think I had a bit of brain freeze as I dived in. I had to power for a good fifty metres before warming up enough to simply lie there and float.

But the morning of the day I’m talking about, I’d been told that the water had warmed up a bit. Even so, I felt I should warn Max and Selena:

‘It was bloody freezing yesterday!’ I told them

That helped their enthusiasm, I can tell you, but fair play, they soldiered on, and as it so happens, the water was warmer that day – and calmer, too. The only downside was the amount of weed floating in the water. Diving in and coming back to the surface to find a mass of greenery sitting on your head isn’t a great look.

Still, we swam and enjoyed, and afterwards, we dried off and headed to Shack 1 for a post-swim drink. This wasn’t quite as relaxing as it sounds, since I’d decided that I really ought to lose a few kilos, and as a result was only drinking water. Blimey, I enjoy a water at home, but it really isn’t all that great when you’re out on a social.

Still, it was a nice way to spend an hour or two.

As a result, I decided to swim again the next day, on my own this time. I got into my swimming gear, wandered down to the beach once more and surveyed the scene: a full beach, children playing in the shallows, a few adventurous adults a little further out, but no one really swimming. Mmmm… was the water cold once more?

I dropped my towel and bag on the sand and stepped into the water. It wasn’t bad at all. It certainly wasn’t cold, I moved further in, noticing that it was actually warm – but also rather murky. The weed was still around, but the further out I went, the murkier it got. It didn’t stop me, but by the time I was swimming, I also noticed lots of bits of I don’t know what, floating with the current alongside the weed.

A thought struck me:

‘Bloody hell, I hope this isn’t sewage!’

I turned sharply and looked to the flag fluttering about the heads of the lifeguards. It was green – phew!

But it still wasn’t nice. I was wary of swallowing any water, and my hands were collecting weed as I swam, as was my face. I stopped and pulled off a particularly long bit, and decided that enough was enough. I was glad to be heading back to the beach.

I stepped out of the water, walked back to my things, dried my head and arms and wandered homeward, stopping off on a bench to rinse and dry my feet.

As I sat there, José came past and stopped to say hello. He was heading to the beach for a swim and asked me what the water was like.

I told him:

‘It’s warm enough, but quite murky. There’s a lot of weed and other bits floating in the water. I think that maybe it’s the dredger…?’

There is currently a dredger clearing sand from the entrance to Fuzeta’s waterway and sending it over to the island to replace the sand lost to the winter storms.

But José was adamant:

‘It is not the dredger!’

And he should know: he used to work on a dredger until they overfilled it and it sank – well, that’s the story I was told.

‘It’s the oyster and clam farmers further down the Ria Formosa. At times, they simply throw all their waste into the water. The tide, then comes and takes it all out to sea. It will all be gone in a couple of hours. Don’t worry about it.’

And so, I now know what I was swimming in, and the fact that it is nothing to worry about and will soon be gone.

I just wish the weed would go, too!