18 | March | 2014 | the sl naturist

I know I’m pretty scathing in my appraisal of Cap D’Agde and the sordid, exhibitionist, ‘swinger’ associations it brings to genuine naturism, regardless of whether or not there remains a rump of genuine naturists who use the Cap.

But I picked the following photo up from the Lady Godiva blog, and it certainly has an innocent charm when photographed at midnight.

For all I know people may well be having sex in the dunes behind Lady Godiva, but the photo captures none of that sordidness. Instead, it’s a beautiful lady, at midnight, by the water’s edge.

Which reminds me of one of my own, recent midnight skinny-dips, at the festival of St. Juan in Spain last year. I knew it was a festival day, but was completely ignorant of naked bathing rituals. Mr. Keng and myself went for a walk after dinner, essentially following what sounded like a live band. As we approached the bonfire on the beach, we noticed that there were numerous naked people around, dripping wet. Asking someone else, we discovered there’s a tradition whereby, for luck, you strip naked, turn round three times, throw a pebble over your shoulder into the sea, then follow it into the water on the stroke of midnight (hopefully avoiding being hit by other revellers throwing pebbles!).

Prior to midnight, many bonfires are lit on the beach, and traditionally, in Spain, it was apparently the beginning of the Spanish beach season. That said, I note from research that there’s nothing about pebbles or turning around. Bonfires get a regular mention, and I note that if you stay in the water long enough to be washed by nine waves, it increases a woman’s fertility (that’s me out after eight, then! 🙂 ) Nudity would appear to be optional for this custom, but where I was there was a heady, healthy mix of the clothed and unclothed. It was a beautiful scene, all accompanied to the gentle flamenco-driven rhythms of a bunch of hippy types who’d turned up with a variety of instruments and had begun jamming. Quite what the truth of the midnight swimming customs are, or were, I’m not sure, but we were certainly more than happy to lose our clothes and merrily join in. This year, pre-warned, we’ll bring towels! 🙂

All I can say is that there will be participation and, I’m told by my non-naturist travelling companion, photos to be taken. 🙂

As luck would have it, I’ll be out in Spain on St Juan’s Day this year, to that will certainly form a ‘postcard’ or two that night (or the following morning).

With this in mind, I decided to get Diane and Harry to grab a few ‘midnight skinny dip’ shots in SL. Between them, they decided to utilise each other as models! So the following is a short photo-essay of them undertaking a skinny dip under the stars.