First swim in my silicone tail!

  On June 7th I headed to the local pool with my fantastic gal pal Michelle to meet up with  another awesome friend, Ashley, who works there as a lifeguard. It was the first day the pool was open for this semester, and we had the whole pool totally to ourselves! It was so fun.


  We came prepared with all sorts of equipment, including a tarp that we put down on the edge of the pool so I didn't have to try to squeeze into the silicone tail on the cement and risk damage.


  Okay, let me tell you what. The first time I put the tail on, (shortly after her arrival, up in my room by myself) was pretty difficult compared to the fabric tails I was used to, but not insane once I got the hang of it. The difference being that, at this time I was "skyclad", as they say, which made the lubrication slide up onto me rather easily. I also brushed it off as the first time is always the most difficult, and I was doing it by myself.


 Putting her on at the pool over a bikini bottom was a whoooole other story. If I have to pick one description for what putting it on is like...have you ever seen a mother cow giving birth to a calf? Well, imagine that in reverse. That's exactly what it was like. It took both Michelle and Ashley to try and hoist it up over my bikini bottoms, and both of them again to try and move me into the water. I'm virtually immobile in this tail out of the water, because the fluke is so massively heavy. I can turn over and shift a little, and that's about it. No butt scoot into the water like the fabric tails.


 Ashley ended up pretty much carrying me down the stairs into the pool while Michelle held my fluke, hahaha! Next time we'll do it on the edge, not the stairs, and I can just roll over on my side into the water. Did I mention this tail is HEAVY? It's 30lbs dry, but feels like more. Once water gets in there it gets even heavier.


 Anyway, once I actually got into the water, the tail was weightless. It's neutrally buoyant, so it neither floats nor sinks me. The ankle straps are probably my least favourite part. I have to lube up my feet and shooove them in there until the strap is properly around my ankle, which is a pain. Swimming with it is strange, since it's much different than the Fin Fun monofin I'm used to. I knew it would be a lot harder to swim in due to its size (and the fact that it's made out of fiberglass), but the monofin itself it just...different to use.


 It's a lot stiffer, which is better for swimming yet harder to maneuver, but again, just different than what I'm used to, not really a good or bad thing. The good thing is that it's so heavy that it virtually forces you to swim properly. Mermaids, especially new ones in fabric tails, with bad swim form and technique is very common (another topic for another day), but this tail seems to help force you to swim properly in the same way a corset forces you into correct posture. There is a reason why experienced mermaids push the fact that beginners shouldn't go full silicone.


 We had a lot of fun at the pool, and I definitely hope to practice more often! Here are some photos from her maiden voyage. Yes, I was wearing my goggles because it was a practice swim and I didn't feel like having my eyes burning while experimenting with something new. :P See below for a short swim clip captured by Michelle!

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned. :) Sending much love.