Tuesday

This is the point in every trip where friendships form, even though they were complete strangers just a couple of days ago. I see conversations grow longer between guests, hopes and dreams and life stories shared. Many of our guests continue to travel together outside of SwimVacation, going to open water swimming races or checking out new places around the globe. They visit each other’s homes, send birthday greetings, attend celebrations of all kinds for each other. It’ll be the legacy of SwimVacation I’m most proud of.

This group was ready for a big swim, so we planned a route from Mountain Point to Savannah Bay, about 2.5 miles. That may not sound like much to some readers, but remember this group has been swimming twice a day for 2 days now, and living on a boat. We carefully planned the logistics, one guide in front on the SUP, one guide in the middle of the pack, and one in the back with Lisa paddling her kayak. Captain Jason was to follow along with yacht Barlow, and 2 guests were to join us about halfway. We planned to stop every 20 minutes to re-group.

We sped through the first mile, wind and swell at our backs. Guests Paul and Susie joined us, and we all charged toward a fairly narrow entrance to Savannah Bay. I have made a few attempts at this in the past, and failed miserably. This time, I memorized the chart in the morning, consulted with Captain Jason, and had some luck. The combination of wind and swell showed where the shallow reef was with waves and spread, revealing our path. We swam and paddled into the howling wind, barely making progress, but this group is tough. Barlow dropped anchor about 500 yard from us, and we glided the final strokes, happy to have completed a tough swim.

The prevailing winds in the BVIs are easterlies. This week is classic BVI December weather, 15 to 25 knot winds from the east, 85 degrees during the day, 82 degree water temperature, scattered showers. One of the many things that makes the BVIs so great is the large number of islands, fairly close to each other, and mountainous. Their height and inkblot shapes provide excellent shelter from the prevailing winds in the many harbors big and small. Swimming mile after mile in 25 knot winds is a drag, so we skip from island to island, harbor to harbor, finding calm swims and challenging ourselves sometimes out in the wind and chop.

Fish Tacos for lunch in our new harbor at Cooper Island, then napping and some spontaneous water play.

Some water ballet in Haulover Bay on Cooper Island.

John joined in the fun on his way back from his swim run island adventure. I (Heather) had a close encounter with a large tarpon, and the ladies continued to play in the water.

In the afternoon, a short-ish swim as we recovered from our morning miles. 15-second rain showers came and went, and we formed a conga line in a fun drafting exercise, each of us taking turns at the front, then getting a free ride at the back. Heather took video of each swimmer’s stroke for later review with John. Margaritas flowed, Salisbury steak with potatoes and green beans stuck to our ribs.

We had fun drafting off of one another in a spontaneous conga line on our way back to the yacht.

It looks like another wild night in the hammocks for me and John, as the wind is howling. More adventure sleeping for us, but great breezes for cooling the cabins of our adventurous guests who gave Tuesday their all.