You can hear them before you see them.
Under rainy, grey skies, they arrive at Mount Martha’s South Beach in bright-coloured dressing gowns and raincoats, just after the sun has risen.
Sea Wolves co-founders Helen Luxton, Jo Hastings and Jen Fletcher on the beach in Mount Martha after a bracing cold-water swim last week.Credit:Eddie Jim
There is laughter and chatter as they strip down into their bathers or wetsuits and walk together into the freezing cold ocean. In the water, they form a circle and hold hands. They count down − “three, two, one” − then howl like wolves.
The neighbours describe them as their unofficial alarm clock in the morning. They call themselves The Sea Wolves.
Mount Martha local Jen Fletcher said the group started as a pact between friends. The women vowed to swim in the ocean for 30 days straight for their mental and physical health, during the uncertainty of coronavirus lockdowns in the spring of 2020.
“One of us was recovering from major surgery and another friend was grieving,” the 76-year-old said. “We were all a bit strung out back then.”
Women of all ages have joined The Sea Wolves, who gather for a ‘howl’ before a dip in the sea.Credit:Eddie Jim
But there is something magical about the quiet of the ocean at dawn. Early morning walkers and paddleboarders saw the group and began joining them. They told their friends and family. Word quickly spread and the group soon grew.
There are now more than 50 ‘wolfies’. Among them are artists, photographers, healthcare workers, lawyers, mortgage brokers, and council workers. Some are non-binary. The oldest member of the group is 84.
Their regular cold water swims soon evolved into an unexpected source of healing for many of them. For some women, it was the grief of losing a child or the loss of a spouse. For others, overcoming a lifelong fear of water, a cancer diagnosis or profound mental health struggle had drawn them to the sea.
When Jo Hastings got a call from a friend in September 2020 asking her to join, on the same day as the birth of her granddaughter, Maeve, she told her: “You’re crazy.”
Members of The Sea Wolves embrace as they gather at South Beach for an early morning ocean swim.Credit:Eddie Jim
She suspects she was still euphoric over Maeve’s birth because later that week she was stepping into the bitterly cold water. She went every day for two years straight.
“For a little while it was just the four of us,” Hastings said. “It was quite spiritual. It was during COVID and we were coming together to find some peace in all the fear and uncertainty.”
Hastings’ daughter died suddenly in 2009, and in the ‘wolfies’ she has found solace and a deep connection she long yearned for with other mothers, who have endured the same life-altering grief.
The Sea Wolves take their name from a unique breed of wolf that lives in the rainforest along North America’s Pacific Northwest coast, which swim like otters and fish like bears.
Braced for the cold of the ocean, the ‘wolfies’ head into the sea at Mount Martha.Credit:Eddie Jim
The women celebrate birthdays and mark anniversaries of loss in the ocean. When of them is sick, they do offerings and say prayers for them in the water.
The howling can represent many things, from pure elation and joy to friendship and sorrow.
They have supported each other through deaths of loved ones, illness and relationship breakdowns. They have howled for the women in Afghanistan who have had their rights taken by the Taliban.
If anyone is struggling, members drop off food and check in on them. Some of them have opened their homes to other members who lost their houses during the floods.
The Sea Wolves were founded during the spring of 2020 and have since grown to more than 50 members.Credit:Eddie Jim
Like several of the members, Hastings never learnt to swim and stayed in the shallows of the sea. But last week, she and two other women overcame their fear of deep water, paddling slowly out into the vast ocean for the first time, until their feet could no longer touch the sand. Beside them were about two dozen ‘wolfies’.
“It was the most extraordinary thing,” she said.
“The beauty of Sea Wolves is it doesn’t matter who you are. You’re part of the mother-sea family. Almost like osmosis it has evolved from a group of four friends and turned into this really supportive wonderful group that is there for each other.”
Hastings said the women have recaptured a playfulness and sense of joy that too often disappears as we grow from a child to an adult.
The Sea Wolves form a circle and howl.Credit:Eddie Jim
“We are always laughing and telling stories,” she said.
When the Sunday Age visited The Sea Wolves last week, one of the group’s members had recently marked their second anniversary with the group.
On the page of a journal, where she had painted a picture of a sea wolf with its head turned towards the sky, blowing water out of its mouth, she wrote: “I’ve found a sense of belonging and support I never knew I needed. These amazing women give me strength and courage.“
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
