All my calculations told me I would be finished in 13 hours. as it would be at 4:00, so starting earlier made sense as I would finish earlier and avoid the heat of the sun the next morning. I figured since I was swimming at night, the sky would be as dark at 10 p.m. My captain on this adventure was a young man called Offri and his assistant, Iddo, who was also in his mid-twenties.Īs the day approached, we determined that we would start on Monday night, September 7, at about 10 p.m. This couple, though Americans, speak Hebrew and assisted me in communication. The Walkers oversaw the work at a guesthouse in Migdal called Beit Bracha. I met Ted and Linda on my last trip there. On Saturday afternoon I was riding with Ted Walker as he drove me to his home in Tiberias on the western shore of Galilee. I stayed with the Pexes and used some of my pastoral gifts with them at their Shelter Hostel and with the congregation there in Eilat. Still, that was flexible, depending on the winds and weather. As I spoke with Lior from Tel Aviv, we decided to begin on Tuesday, September 8 at 1 a.m. Originally, we discussed a midnight start and a start and finish on the eastern shore. I was willing to swim through the night if it meant avoiding the wind. and by 2 to 3 p.m., the water became very choppy, and at that point I was tiring. When I did my lengthwise swim six years prior, I started at 7 a.m. Typically at this time of year, the wind kicks up mid-afternoon. We also decided that it would be more ideal for me to begin at night. The plan was for him to select the best weather day. I would call him after I landed and we would choose a window of three days, September 7-9, for the swim. The word was that he accompanied swimmers such as me. It could be longer, but surely not shorter!īefore I left the United States, I was given a tip about a man named Lior from the Wake Up Ski School on the eastern shore of Galilee in En Gev.
A single swim across the widest part of the lake is about 8 miles, so my total “as the crow flies” distance would be 16 miles. As we grow older, the window of opportunity closes for such tests of endurance. Six years later, at 65 years old, I returned to try another first: to swim the width – across and back! This time I traveled alone. Even the best open water swimmer will zig and zag to some degree. Anyone who swims open water knows that no one can swim a straight line. That distance – as the crow flies – is about 13 miles.
Call of the sea length full#
Guided by Galilean fisherman Amnon, I swam the full length of the sea from north to south in 10 hours and 25 minutes. I was accompanied by my then-13-year-old son, Billy, and dear friends John and Judy Pex. I had accomplished a historic first in early September of 2009. Anyone familiar with the Bible knows that this is the body of water that the Lord Jesus calmed during a terrible storm and even walked upon to aid His disciples. I intended to swim a double-cross of the widest area of the Sea of Galilee, the lake of Genneserat, The Sea of Tiberias (see John 6:1 Luke 5:1), or, as the Israelis refer to it, the Kinneret. What was the goal of flying to the Middle East? My mission was to attempt something that had never been done before. My next plane took me to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. Paris time, I hunkered down at the Charles De Gaulle Airport for nine hours. that evening, I was winging my way to Paris. On Monday, September 1, 2015, I caught a plane, just after noon, from Key West to Atlanta. It didn’t come easy I worked harder than I ever have before. You can call me the “ Lowdown Double-Crossing Pastor.” I deserve it.
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