Sauna and Swim

Below my house in Bayble Bay there is a beach and a pier and a little working marina for fishing and pleasure boats. All of these facilities are well used. 

At the end of December I also mentioned a rather more unusual facility and today I investigated.

Despite the temperature being in fairly low single figures the sun is shining and down at the beach it's been quite busy with the usual dog walkers. There have also been some of the more hardy wild swimmers who have swum here in the winter for a good few years. Now, however, we have a relatively recent set of users: those having a dip after coming out of the sauna. Yes. We have a sauna at the beach.  

Definitely NOT Sunny.

As at  this morning Stornoway has had just 6.4 hours of sunshine this December. It will be the dullest December on record if there isn't more than 4.2 hours today. As at this moment I have not seen any sign of the sun today and sunset is at 1543 which is in three hours time as I type. So it is already a fait accompli and will definitely be the dullest on record.

Without a word of a lie as I finished typing that, and bearing in mind it had been pouring with rain 10 minutes ago, the sun appeared just long enough for these photos

For those of you wondering why there are so many vehicles parked there and no sign of people then I can only offer a couple of suggestions, Firstly one or two might be in the mobile sauna (the white van) and as I type there is also someone swimming in the bay who might be having their cold post-sauna dip. Or perhaps people also have pre-sauna swims. That's all way beyond my knowledge. 

Shortly after I wrote the above I evidence emerged of the hardiness of some of the people on Lewis as they leave the sea: