Water.
Yes, it’s an unusual one, because I love to look at water. Whether a river like the one above, or an idyllic lake.
Even a stormy sea can be wonderful to behold.
But I don’t like being in it, or on it in boats of any kind.
I cannot swim, and I get seasick in the gentlest seas. Even on the calmest lake or still river, the thought of falling in worries me constantly.
So water is something I love to admire, but not get involved with.
beetleypete 
Not being able to swim is a big fear. I know you never learned to swim as a child. I didn’t know you got queasy or seasick being on the water. I wonder if the two are related.
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Not sure, but I remember being seasick on a seaside pleasure boat when I was around 6 years old. My dad blamed it on the fact I had eaten candy floss before going on the boat. (Cotton Candy) It stayed with me though, and ruined more than one short trip across to France in my teens.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I can imagine! Of course it wasn’t the cotton candy. And would crossing to France be rough waters, albeit a short trip?
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It can be rough on The Channel, except o ver quiet summer days. It takes less than two hours on the shortest route, but I have been on an 8-hour car ferry to Normandy that was a nightmare! The last few times I went to France or Belgium I used the train, and the channel tunnel. 🙂
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While I don’t get seasick, I have been at high seas a few times, like The Channel, and I was definitely sick. People who have never had a problem, even in waves and deep water, get seasick when deep sea fishing. I am learning about the Channel Tunnel with John Howell’s thrilling Wednesday serial. Best to you, Pete.
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It’s the wet feet that I can’t stand. Funny because I don’t mind being barefoot in water, but I really hate when my shoes get soaked.
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Nothing worse than walking in wet socks! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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For sure.
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Well I didn’t see that one coming – though I’m well aware that you don’t like water falling in little droplets from the sky! But I remembered your frightening childhood experience and also that you get seasick, so I guess it’s understandable after all.
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Thanks, Susanne. The combination of drowning as a child and being seasick on even calm seas has guaranteed to keep me off water whenever possible.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sounds perfectly understandable, Pete. I love the sea, thankfully I never had such frightening experiences. You take good care. And Julie and Ollie too.
Best wishes, Dina x
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Glad to hear you love the sea. I wish I could love it too. X
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I thought for sure you would have made some reference to the water from storms, Pete. We know you’re not a big fan of that.
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Rainwater could have featured, Pete. But I think I have complained about that too much already. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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IK grew up around water and swimming. However, I do understand your aversion. Warmest regards, Theo
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I grew up around water and swimming. However, I do understand your aversion. Warmest regards, Theo
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Thanks, Theo. Drowning as a child was the thing that made me fear water from a very young age.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh dear
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Not a natural sailor, Sue.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Never too late to learn to swim Pete. We had compulsory swimming lessons at school, the highlight was getting in the coach and driving to the pool. Not so great being pushed in, literally a sink or swim situation.
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I was pushed in at school too, aged 11. One of the many reasons why I never learned, Bobby.
Cheers mate, Pete.
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I love water as long as it’s clean. And as long as it’s not spilled all over the kitchen floor.
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My worst one is ground water flooding the shed outside. It just seeps in, and I have to try to ‘rescue’ all the stuff stored in there!
Best wishes, Pete.
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I only learned to swim when I was in my 30s and have never progressed beyond the the ‘mummy breaststroke’ and am very anxious when in the water. Like you, though, I love watching water and being beside it.
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My anxiety keeps me out of it, except fot the local 18-inch deep river which Ollie loves. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I grew up float tripping (canoeing) in the Midwest, but one of my earliest memories is being on a homemade board pulled behind a boat on a lake in Missouri. I fell off the board at some point, and supposedly remarked that there were a “lot of fish down there.” Years later, as a teenager, I did a wee bit of water skiing, and loved it… I’m not too crazy about swimming in the ocean/sea, though that hasn’t prevented me from wading or swimming in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. I prefer to spend time in lakes and rivers, where there is no risk of encountering something dangerous…
I once went on a giant catamaran out of Dana Point (California), and stood at the front where the rollicking waves had its strongest effect, and enjoyed it immensely. That got me as close as possible to the dolphins that swam along at the front of the catamaran. We also chased some whales for a while. Many years ago, I took a much smoother (boring) ride on a hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri, as well as on a ferry in the Rade de Toulon (harbor)…
I used to have friends here in Las Vegas who had a swimming pool with a low diving board. So I took advantage of that, but rather than come up right away, I liked to swim the entire length of the pool beneath the surface before popping up for air. In short (!), I do like the water. And I drink it, too!
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Thanks for your aquatic experiences, David. I did do a Nile Cruise. The water was calm, and the old retro boat very slow. But I wouldn’t have liked to have fallen into that very dirty river. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Had Hercule Poirot been on that boat, I would have jumped in the river.
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Here in Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes, water is usually identified with holding a fishing pole, from the shore, from a boat, or through a hole in the ice.
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I love to stand next to water, Don. I am sure I would like your 10,000 lakes. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I wonder if some of your dislike also goes back to what happened when you were a child.
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Almost certainly, Kim. Surviving a drowning had a huge impact on me, and gave me that lifelong fear of being in water.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hmmm…so you don’t want to take that sailboat on the Gulf of Mexico to follow whales that are migrating – and you aren’t up to joining me for some scuba diving? Shame Pete, because I love the water! I grew up on it and IN it…when you live in Seattle it’s everywhere!
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Sorry, John. No whale watching or diving for me. I would probably be seasick before I saw any whales anyway. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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That’s too bad, Pete…oh well, we all have those things we love – and those we don’t!
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That is such a pity. As a Greek child, I grew up spending barefoot summers by the sea. We dog paddled until we could swim, and even now, total immersion in the Aegean Sea is my happy place. Of course, I’m spoiled rotten, and hate any water that is not crystal clear. A matter of geography!
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The North Sea off the Norfolk coast looks like brown gravy, Marina. Not as appealing as the lovely blue seas in Greece. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I thought we’d had it on a terrible trip in 10ft waves back to our cruise ship in 2017. I will never go on another small boat or another cruise ship, and I only put up with the IOW ferry because I have to. Also had a bad childhood experience in a boat, and another one on holiday in Alcudia. Boats and I definitely do not go together
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Same with me, Stevie. Too many trips ruined by being seasick, and feeling ill all day afterwards.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m with you on the sailing aspect Pete and I haven’t been swimming for decades. But I do enjoy watching the waves and paddling along the shoreline.
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That’s what I do too. I was on a sailing boat in the south of France once, and we had to keep shifting sides to balance the boat in strong winds. I was sure I was going to fall in and drown! At least the fear stopped me being seasick!
Best wishes, Pete.
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I thought you were going to say you didn´t like drinking water! Some people don´t but it is so good for you. Swallowing it when you fall into a lake is not so good.
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I don’t drink a lot of water, Darlene, unless it is very hot weather. I prefer coffee or red wine. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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One of my best memories is white water rafting in Turkey, I guess that wouldn’t float your boat 😀 😀
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Definitely not, FR. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Not swimming wold do that to you, mind you I had a girlfriend who couldn’t swim and I convinced her to do a scuba diving course on holiday once so we could go diving together and she loved it,
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Good grief man, the planet is covered in the stuff!
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Yes indeed, Jack. I like to look at it, and have to be content with that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I sympathise, Pete: it must be so frustrating not to be able to enjoy what looks so enticing from a distance! I’ve never been a frequent or regular sailor, but from memory, I don’t think I’ve ever had a serious problem. My father did his national service in the Navy, but I don’t think I can claim any hereditary disposition to immunity to seasickness! 😉 Cheers, Jon.
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I have been seasick on a cross-channel ferry before it left Dover Harbour, Jon. Any sea trip fills me with dread.
Best wishes, Pete.
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That’s a shame, I was intending to buy you a luxury cruise to Australia once the pandemic was over . . I’ll have to rethink! xx
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I don’t think you would ever see me on a cruise liner, Ro. Not just because of the sea, but also being trapped in that siutation with all those people. The Nile Cruise was about my level, with only 20 others on that riverboat. 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
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My hubby can’t swim either, Pete and pretty much feels the same as you…me, I love the water I used to sail when I was younger down at Bradwell on Sea …Loved it!
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I have been on boats many times, but I am usually trying to pretend not to be terrified. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ahhhh… X
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