Launched!
Launched!
This trip has taken 2 years to plan, from conception to this day. It has involved dozens of flight, hotel and yacht reservations, cancellations, credits, and changes. My email file on this trip is massive and extends back to The Before Times. So when we jumped into the warm, clear water of Dragon Bay here on Grenada, it was sublime.
Our day began with last minute shopping and preparations in anticipation of our guests, who arrived at noon. Miriam, a frequent guest and dear friend of SwimVacation, and Melinda, a new friend.
Why are we running a trip with only two guests, you ask. We had several cancellations for this week (we are running two consecutive weeks), and decided in the end that we are in the business of running trips, not cancelling trips. And with this being our first time swimming in Grenada, a small group for the first week seems just fine.
Heather gave Miriam and Melinda the usual talks about yacht living, seasick avoidance, and swimming safety. Chef Miriam (yes this trip has two Miriams) put out some sandwiches with a couple of bottles of hot sauce. One of these sauces was pleasant. The other could strip the paint off of this boat. The sails went up, and we were off.
Captain Jason steered us out of the harbor, which is lined with colorful buildings and just postcard perfect. Jason has spent the past 20 years or so running trips for teens here for the company he owns called Odyssey Expeditions. He knows the big island of Grenada and the little islands called the Grenadines like the back of his hand, and is the person who suggested we give this place a try. Jason is a calm, confident Captain and a friend to every animal he encounters. I’ve seen him charm the meanest, ugliest feral cats in the back alleys of San Juan, Puerto Rico. I’m not kidding.
We pulled into Dragon Bay with our choice of mooring balls. This is normally a very crowded spot, but, you know. There’s an underwater statue park here that I’ve seen in lots of travel magazines over the years. Just as I thought we’d have the place to ourselves, a large dayboat filled with what I call “noodle snorkelers” took a mooring ball right in front of us, music blaring. We jumped in for a swim, anyway, and they were gone before we were finished.
Melinda is new to open water swimming, but has a strong, confident stroke, and she swims dead straight, making her a natural for this sport. Miriam was also new to open water swimming when she first came to us a few years ago. She used to flip onto her back when there was a lot of stuff to see underwater, but I noticed that she’s doing that a lot less now.
We swam along the coastline, and a nice woman who was snorkeling near us pointed out a moray eel, his head sticking out of a crevice, bright blue and green spots. We swam over the underwater statuary, which was pretty cool. We explored a cave, checked our more statues, and swam back to our yacht, Antares. Cocktails were consumed after we rinsed off.
Chef Miriam was born in Louisiana and now lives in Texas, so her cooking heritage runs deep. She runs a catering company that often serves workers in the oil fields west of San Antonio. We swimmers have at least one thing in common with these workers, called Roughnecks: we get very hungry. Miriam knows how to tame the beast of hunger. Our meal tonight was salisbury steak, smashed potatoes, and green beans. Raspberry tartlets topped it off. A sliver moon rose over our full bellies. Finally, Grenada.
We are here. We are here.
Hopper
