
The water temperature was 7ºC yesterday when I went for a late afternoon swim. Colder than usual, but the water was flat, calm, reflecting the pink and orange of sunset.
These were luxurious conditions for a long, slow cold-water swim. A flock of gulls circled and dove at the water out past the Living Rock Island. A seal popped its head up and watched me a while. A freighter rumbled past Stuart Island, hugging the coastline.
The icy water gripped me.
Into the icy waters
These were different conditions than the ones Guðlaugur Friðþórsson (pronounced Gothlager Friorsen) 1 faced on the evening of March 11, 1984. He was 22 years old, working as a mate on a fishing trawler off the south coast of Iceland.
The ship’s trawling gear got snagged on the sea bottom, and as the crew worked the motorized winch to free the nets and lines, the boat overturned. Two of the crew members drowned immediately. The ship began to sink. The three remaining crew couldn’t release the emergency raft, so were forced to swim in the direction of the shore. The water was 5ºC.
Within minutes, there were only two crew members. Soon it was just one. Our hero, Guðlaugur, swam for several hours, talking to seagulls to stay awake. A boat went by a few hundred feet away, but he wasn’t able to attract attention. He swam backstroke, training his eyes on a distant lighthouse.
Emerging from the ocean
He eventually touched land. But it was the base of a cliff, and there was no way to climb or walk ashore. He re-entered the water and swam further south, eventually reaching shore, a snow-covered lava field.
Guðlaugur walked in the direction of a nearby town. He was terribly thirsty and stopped at a sheep cistern, punched through the ice with his fist and drank the water.

When he entered the village, “it seemed to him a splendid dream-vision of life.” 2 He knocked on the first home he saw with lights on. He was barefoot, covered in frost and his feet bloodied from walking over the sharp lava rock.
When he arrived at the hospital, doctors could not discern a pulse. His body temperature dropped below 95ºF (the thermometer used went no lower). He showed no signs of hypothermia, only dehydration.
The story is real and is told as part of the opening narrative of a recent book, Why We Swim, by the San Francisco writer and New York Times contributor Bonnie Tsui. A swimmer herself, Tsui’s book uncovers stories of Olympic champions, a Baghdad swim club that meets in the pool of Saddam Hussein’s palace, petroglyphs of prehistoric humans in the water and modern-day swim clubs and Japanese Samurai swimmers.
The story is one of the most remarkable stories in the book. Guðlaugur became a legend in Iceland and is revered as the quintessential embodiment of the Icelandic spirit. The story became a feature movie in 2012, The Deep, which can be found on a handful of streaming services.
Seal fat

By rights, Guðlaugur should have died after spending hours in the icy water. But subsequent studies showed that his body benefited from a layer of dense fat cells that bore a resemblance to a seal’s body. The fat layer was two to three times average human thickness, a biological peculiarity that allowed him to survive. It kept him warm, buoyant and able to keep swimming.
It’s something I’ve been thinking about in my late afternoon swims. We’re primarily land-based creatures but still have a powerful connection to the watery world that gave rise to the earliest forms of life on earth.
In an earlier blog post, I wrote of Rachel Carson’s view 3that we carry a part of the sea in our bodies. How we have in our human veins “a salty stream in which the elements sodium, potassium, and calcium are combined in almost the same proportions as in seawater.”
“How we look out upon the sea and sense something familiar,” writes Carson, “a sense of wonder and curiosity, compounded with an unconscious recognition of [our] lineage.”
Underwater currents
The Guðlaugur story brings that lineage into sharp relief. This is something that goes beyond the symbolic or poetic. Guðlaugur’s physiology takes us directly to that connection in our history as organisms born in the ocean. We as humans may be better adapted to land, but our ties to the sea still run deep in our bodies and psyche, like deep underwater currents.
It is a connection I feel almost every time I wade into the waters of Boundary Pass from our little beach. It’s the effect of being immersed in cold water, the calming influence it has on my breathing, the hyper-awareness of the sea animals, the birds, the aquatic plant life, the tides and currents that enfold me. The feeling that I may be an interloper in this water world, but one I’m deeply drawn to.
I haven’t been tested by the conditions faced by Guðlaugur and hope never to do so. And frankly, I get seasick at the first sign of sea swells or choppy water. But I’ve also felt the “benign indifference” of the ocean and its hidden dangers. And I have a profound respect for its power and a faith that it can save me, just as quickly end my life.
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Guðlaugur’s last name is not a family name, but a patronym, a component of a personal name based on the given name of the father. A matronym is based on the name of the mother.↩
From Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2020↩
Referring to Carson’s 1951 book, The Sea Around Us, which won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 86 weeks.↩