The North East Skinny Dip takes place at sunrise on the fist Sunday after the autumnal equinox (which was last Thursday).

Now in its fifth year, it raises money for MIND, a UK charity concerned with mental health.

Leaving the children in the care of Gran, Mr. Keng and I set off in the middle of the night to drive from our home on the Scottish borders to Drudge Bay in Northumberland, about 100 miles away.

At that time of the morning, on motorway and A roads, it didn’t take us the two hours suggested by Google Maps, which worked out well, as it gave me the chance to chat with other participants.

Non UK residents will get an indication of where Druridge Bay is from this map.

As you can see, it’s called the North East Skinny Dip because it takes place in the north east of England, and from what I’ve been reading there were about 500 of us taking part on an exceptionally chilly morning. The North Sea wouldn’t be the warmest body of water at any time of year!

I paid my £10 to participate and we stripped off to run into the water, with the event covered by the likes of The Metro and the Daily Mail.

Well done to The Metro for printing uncensored photos (included below) of the event! 🙂

It really was cold!!!! However, we made it to a local cafeteria afterwards for a welcome cup of tea (Mr. Keng had rather helpfully brought along a hip flask loaded with some brandy, which was added to the tea in order to bring some heat back into us!).

Recreating our participation in the North East Skinny Dip in Second Life.

We’re home again now, very tired after our early start, but pleased to have taken part. Same time next year, possibly.

Ella

Estate agents (called ‘realtors’ in north America?) often use the phrase ‘location, location, location’ as the most important things when buying or selling a house.

It’s slightly different in Second Life, where we can generally all find a great location to build our homes, but in the context of SLN2, where we utilise models as advertisements for the naturist lifestyle, we also like to step away from just the naturist sims in order to provide a different backdrop to the photos.

Of course, many locations don’t accept nudity as being part of their sim. I often teleport into sims where the ‘rules’ specifically outlaw it. Just like real life. Yet many photographers in real life don’t bother about these types of rules, posing their models in nature, or even in urban settings, with nudity displayed. Why should it be different in Second Life? Rules are made to be broken or ignored.

Yes, we certainly teleport into a new location clothed, and progress from there depending on how many people are around. There are many, many beautiful locations in SL and I think it’s important to highlight them – as well as setting a good looking naked avatar into the photograph.

The Vecchi Amici winery is one recent discovery (courtesy of the Fab Free blog).

I’m not sure what their policy towards nudity might be, but I would hazard that the pose which finds our model sitting in a barrel bath isn’t really expected to be a ‘clothed’ pose. Maybe a swimsuit…but who bathes in a swimsuit?

Harry

One of the more curious aspects of life in India has to be that there isn’t a culture of public nudity, with one or two exceptions.

We’ve previously written (on the original blog site) how India’s Jain priests go naked all the time, and the other exception might be the manner in which people bathe in the rivers (not exclusively the Ganges) with a more relaxed attitude to nudity.

River bathing

Equally interesting is that in some instances the skirts worn are effectively see-through, and in others this semi-nudity is in a mixed-gender environment.

Two avatars of Indian origin replicate river bathing in Second Life

Trine

Spencer Tunick has been at it again, this time at the Dead Sea, and this recent shoot is intended to highlight the environmental damage that is, in essence, causing the Dead Sea to die.

There’s a video of the photoshoot taking place. Clearly you can see that it’s not visible within SLN2, but if you pop over to Vimeo’s own site you’ll be able to see the thing in its entirety.

Naturally, we attempted to recreate these scenes in Second Life…

Now, more than ever, be it the Dead Sea or anywhere else, the human race has a responsibility to take better care of the planet we inhabit. The naked form still has a power, and if Spencer Tunick’s photos highlight the environmental damage we’re doing, and can maybe reverse before it’s too late, that can only be a good thing.

Trine

…to, well, us, really.

Today, SLN (this, the original version), passed the 1m views mark. For a blog that majors in a niche lifestyle, on a niche gaming platform, that’s pretty remarkable.

I take no glory from this, as it’s essentially Ella (our ‘editor at large’, I think is a good title)’s success, along with Pookes and original publisher Howie  whose vision brought SLN to this moment.

It’s their vision that has brought SLN to this landmark.

I knew -we all knew- it was imminent, so I asked Ella for a comment…

‘I started the SLN blog in November, 2011, almost five years ago. I had no idea then, and I find it remarkable now, that there’s been one million views of that blog. I’d like to thank everyone who ever logged into SLN and read our work. I know that when I was editing the original blog we’d pretty much covered the globe with our work. I think Turkmenistan, possibly Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, and 2-3 African countries (South Sudan, Western Sahara and Benin) were the only ones we hadn’t achieved any sort of ‘outreach’ in. And, oddly, Greenland.

That’s pretty good. Closed off China? Check (98 views). Iran? Check (4 views), Iraq? Check (289 views…hello, I’d guess, U.S and UK military, mainly). Syria? Check. (4 views).

And on and on.

I’m pretty pleased with this. Naturism and Second Life bringing the world together? I’ll settle for that. 

SLN2 is in good hands with Trine, and I’m still contributing too, so here’s to the next 5 years and next million views.

Ella’

We’re still writing and publishing on our new site, SL Naturist 2.  where you will be able to find the same mix of SL & RL naturist related stories.

Trine

…to, well, us, really.

Today, SLN (the original version), passed the 1m views mark. For a blog that majors in a niche lifestyle, on a niche gaming platform, that’s pretty remarkable.

I take no glory from this, as it’s essentially Ella (our ‘editor at large’, I think is a good title)’s success, along with Pookes and original publisher Howie  whose vision brought SLN to this moment.

It’s their vision that has brought SLN to this landmark.

I knew -we all knew- it was imminent, so I asked Ella for a comment…

‘I started the SLN blog in November, 2011, almost five years ago. I had no idea then, and I find it remarkable now, that there’s been one million views of that blog. I’d like to thank everyone who ever logged into SLN and read our work. I know that when I was editing the original blog we’d pretty much covered the globe with our work. I think Turkmenistan, possibly Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, and 2-3 African countries (South Sudan, Western Sahara and Benin) were the only ones we hadn’t achieved any sort of ‘outreach’ in. And, oddly, Greenland.

That’s pretty good. Closed off China? Check (98 views). Iran? Check (4 views), Iraq? Check (289 views…hello, I’d guess, U.S and UK military, mainly). Syria? Check. (4 views).

And on and on.

I’m pretty pleased with this. Naturism and Second Life bringing the world together? I’ll settle for that. 

SLN2 is in good hands with Trine, and I’m still contributing too, so here’s to the next 5 years and next million views.

Ella’

There’s nothing more to be said.

Trine