Muskmelon Monday

There are some places on Earth that are a little wilder, a little less predictable. Muskmelon Bay on Guana Island is one of these places, and it’s why we love it. We anchored there overnight, rain squalls and wind followed by bouts of bright moonlight. Guide John and I swung wildly in our hammocks, getting drenched then dried out by the wind then blinded by the moon as the clouds parted. Adventure sleeping! 

Morning brought much of the same weather, and we jumped in for a swim around the Bay. Muskmelon threw everything it had at us: more rain squalls, gusty winds which seemed to come from every direction, rainbows, sunshine, clouds, wildlife, big swell, chop, cloudy water, clear water, reefy bottom, sandy bottom, and seemingly no bottom. As the rain pounded down, it first seemed very intense, but then it all got kinds of fun, and by the time the rainbows appeared, we were in the groove of accepting whatever it was going to throw at us. Guests Paul (9 time SwimVacationer) and Genna (first time SwimVacationer) were curious about what it was like outside of the bay, so the 3 of us swam out there. We were met with big hills of water charging at us, dramatic cliffs with exploding waves, deep deep blue water, and a sense of awe. On the way back to our yacht, I swam next to Susie (3-time SwimVacationer) for a bit, admiring her excellent rotation.  

Susie in the pouring rain, followed almost immediately by her swimming under a rainbow.

Our next move was to Mountain Point, and while crossing the Drake channel, Tara lost a hat overboard. This turned into an opportunity for a rescue drill, pretending the hat was a person. Everyone did great, keeping their eyes on the target and pointing at it while Captain Jason spun around and Zack hooked the soggy “victim”. 

On our arrival at Mountain point, chef Miriam set out a pile of Cuban sandwiches and coleslaw that quickly disappeared. There was some napping, reading, splashing around. John went for a swim run adventure (good for you, crazy John!), while Jason gave Heather and I a free diving lesson in 25 feet of water, we learned how much we didn’t know, and how to do something we love more safely.

Celine enjoyed a little post lunch float.

We had some fun destinations planned for our evening swim, but both were a bit of a bust. First we swam over the wreck of the Kodiak Queen. At one time it was the last surviving vessel from the attack on Pearl Harbor. and it gained the interest of Richard Branson through his photographer, and they had a giant rebar Kraken (mythical octopus) attached to it before sinking it as a recreational reef.  Yeah, kinda out there. Anyway, the water was too dark to see much, so we swam over to the Moon Pool. It’s a spot in this big cliff that has an underwater tunnel that leads to a ceiling-less room of sorts. Conditions have to be very calm for it to work, and we have about a 30% success rate. No go today in the swell. The coral reef along the cliff made the rest of the swim worthwhile, though, and it seems to be coming back to life nicely here, after the devastating hurricane from two years ago. In fact, we are seeing new hard and soft corals all over the BVIs, establishing themselves on the old structures previously killed off by the hurricane or older bleaching events. 

We (and by “we” I mean Celine, who spots everything) spotted a beautiful Southern Stingray on our way back from our afternoon swim.

For happy hour, I made some Negroni cocktails and chef Miriam made a warm artichoke dip. Her dip was a tad more popular, but I’m not taking it personally. 

Red beans and rice served as the backdrop for a birthday celebration for guests Paul and Miriam. Over delicious carrot cake, we discussed our plan for a big morning swim with the group. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last 24 hours with this group, it’s that they are up for anything - each with a true embrace of the uncertainty that open water swimming sometimes holds. I have no doubt they’ll make the most of tomorrow’s adventure.

Hopper