We started doing our monthly Friday morning dips which began with just a few of us. Each month we got more and more joining us. There is something very rewarding about starting your Friday with a cold water dip before heading off to work. A fantastic way to start the weekend. 

It was tough to begin with as it was usually dark at this time in the morning but as the year went on, it got lighter and lighter. The morning sun rises we all saw were breathtaking. These swims were some of the most enlightening experiences. 

Even when it began to get dark again, we all kept going regardless of the weather because now it didn’t matter about the weather. It was about experiencing being in the cold water together.

We had a fantastic meetup at Loch Scene. We headed to the loch with some stand up paddle boards thanks to David from North East Paddle Boards. 

We had a small raised fire pit, hot drinks with cake and donuts so whilst many were out on the water exploring the beautiful loch, others were socialising around the fire. 

For many, this was the first time ever being on a stand up paddle board. It was such an amazing opportunity for those to come out and try something new. It was particularly special having Mel and David join us. Mel cares for David who has Down Syndrome. Neither had been on a SUP board before and were pretty apprehensive about doing it at first. David Brown gave them some tips and with a gentle push they were off out into the water. Over 30 mins later they appeared back with the biggest smiles on their faces and fist pumps all around from David. It was so heart-warming to see and something I will never forget. This is exactly what it is all about. We wanted to put on these free events to create a safe space for people to get outside to explore so seeing this was very special. 

As August rolled around we headed to the most northerly point of the year so far, for the paddle board / snorkelling event at the picturesque coastal village of Pennan.

Parked up at Millshore the neighbouring cove to the west of Pennan, we were greeted by an energetic and chatty crowd from the Fraserburgh area who were curious about the Seashell meet and decided to see what it was all about, so with a small flotilla of bodies on boards and the rest packed up with rucksacks and snorkelling gear ready to head out on foot, we all headed off for the synchronised destination of Pennan harbour.

With the harbour bustling with a mix of overseas and Scottish visitors all enjoying the spectacle of the Seashell event attendees boarding / dipping / snorkelling, along with the abundance of black crab and giant kelp formations to observe with our snorkel kits on, this was a truly memorable day for all and a return to Pennan in 23' is already stamped into the calendar".

As we have brought out more products in different colours we have had more and more photoshoots. Our photographer James Heasman has been with us from our very first shoot and always brings the photographs to life. Each photoshoot has been in a different place, with different people and with a dip at the end of it. It is always amazing seeing people come together to help us to showcase our brand new products. James capturing the joy with his camera is very special and we look forward to capturing more of these moments in 2023.

We also did a photoshoot in collaboration with Glam Candy. They were looking for models to use for the makeup and hair stylists who were being assessed for their exams. They got in contact to see if we would be interested. It was so amazing seeing models wearing our kit. We were also asked to be models and it was great fun to see it all come to life. The photographer was the brilliant Sam Brill who makes everyone feel very comfortable and brought lots of laughter.  

We had a lovely evening collaborating with The Plant Prep who took a big box full of overnight oat bowls with many flavours for everyone to eat. It was amazing to collaborate with her as she is a local Aberdeen and her food was delicious, high in protein and gave everyone lots of energy to keep playing beach volleyball until the sun went down. We look forward to seeing more of her food and hope to see her at more events in 2023.

I have had the pleasure of interviewing a few of you Seashell people. These interviews have been posted up as a blog or as a youtube video in a podcast style.

Conversating and getting insight into the lives and the reason why people get outside into the wild has been incredible. It is clear that we are all different but all have many things in common. One of these things is the need to get outside and explore the wild. That life is about how we feel and not about who we are or what we look like.

We travelled a little further out of Aberdeen to this beautiful bridge where we had a lovely BBQ on this Summer Solstice which was also the birthday of one of the regular Seashell members. We ate lots of food and birthday cake whilst swimming in the river, playing footie and getting pictures taken by James, our photographer. This was the beginning of the release of the new towelling robes and it was fantastic to put them to use after being in the river. We stayed until the sun went down and enjoyed the beautiful lights that lit up the bridge to show it all in it’s glory.

Dipping in the sea can be pretty cold even in summer so we decided that we wanted to get people’s heart rates up and play some good old rounders. We headed to the grass field next to the ice rink with a couple of bats and balls, got into two teams to battle it out. We had people playing it for the first time and those who knew it like the back of their hand. Regardless everyone had a great laugh and warmed right up before we headed to the water for a dip in the sea.  

This began with the WOD on the loch experience days on the shores of Loch Ness. We saw many athletes travel from far and wide to have a weekend of functional fitness and open water swimming coaching. Coralie was the open water swimming coach and got the athletes out into the water to work on their swimming whilst in the cold. They were very thankful for our demo robes to heat them up.

Fast forward to the end of Summer and we were back with WOD on the loch but this time on the shores of Loch Lomond for the two day competition which was a huge success. 

There were hundreds of athletes competing in a fun and entertaining weekend full of interesting workouts that included mountain biking, swimming, sandbags, weights and rigs. A great weekend for all the family to watch and great for athletes. The views were stunning and it was a special event to be part of.

We decided to celebrate Halloween with a competition for the best costume whilst going out for a dip . We had a lot of people turn up with the most amazing costumes. We headed out into the water and had such a fantastic dip. We had lots of new people coming for the first time and it was amazing to see so many different people getting involved. Our winner was Roy who dressed up very fittingly as Aquaman! Brilliant. 

We decided that it would be great to challenge ourselves to dip everyday in the month of October. Basically to have cold water immersions. Whether it was in the bath, shower, sea, barrel, river or loch. It was pretty unbelievable seeing everyone posting about their daily dips. People from all over the country and even the rest of the world were heading out for their daily fix. Some didn’t do it every single day but it did not matter. Everyone did what they could when they could. It was very clear that the whole community was inspiring each other to keep going. Others started to join in as the month went on. 

There were some people who went out every day at Aberdeen beach. There is a youtube video of their daily dips including the halloween dip. 

We hope this has inspired others to get out to dip more and maybe even at some point try a whole month of cold immersions everyday. 

It was fantastic to be invited to become official partners with the Beast race held at Knockburn sporting loch this year. This obstacle course race held in the beautiful hillside in Aberdeenshire is a race that involves a lot of fun, laughter and even more mud! Some were doing it solo and others in teams to raise money for charities.

We had a few of our Seashell team take part and filmed the whole event. See the video here.

If you are looking for a challenging yet fun race to do next year then this is for you!

We headed out with some reused bags and started walking about the beach from the Fittie end of Aberdeen beach. The sand looked clean from a far but once you started properly looking for rubbish, it was EVERYWHERE! It was truly astonishing how much rubbish we collected. We ended up cleaning up for hours! Something we hope to do a lot more in 2023. We need to keep our beautiful beaches clean and look after mother nature.

Now this was a huge race. The name says it all. People were running as far as they could in 24 hrs. Solo, pairs or more for teams. It was incredible to see the grit and determination from the athletes and the supporters. We stayed for the whole weekend and met some incredibly inspiring people. This event was held on the beautiful shores of Loch Ness and we are very much looking forward to attending both this and the Beast Race next year.

Throughout the year we have been constantly working on improving our current products. Our changing robe has progressed from our generation 1 robe to our new robe that is going to be released in the new year which will be generation 5. Although the changes to the robes have been small, they have made huge differences. It is very exciting to see the progression. We are very excited to release our new fully recycled robe with a brand new colour.

We have also been looking into future products that we are going to be bringing out for you all. 

To add to this, we have recently had the new release of the Seashell towelling robes in three colours including kids robes which have been very popular. Many have said they wear theirs on the daily. We have some exciting products on the horizon and cannot wait to share them with you all.

One day we decided to have a dip on a Saturday morning. Since then they have become a weekly event no matter the weather. It is usually a dip at the Fittie end of Aberdeen and then a coffee/drink and a catch up afterwards at one of the food trucks along the beach. Every Saturday we see new people turning up to join us for their first ever dip. It is amazing to see this community grow and we are so thankful for everyone who has made 2022 a year to remember! Thank you for being part of this special community. 

Thank you very much for reading our blog. We hope you have had a brilliant 2022 and we look forward to exploring with you all in 2023.

Happy New Year.

The Seashell Team.

Our aim is to share other people's stories. Whether you have a story about mental health, community or why you started wild swimming for example. 

If you would like to be featured in our Seashell stories then email us on: support@seashellcsc.com