SwimVacationer Bill writes about his experience with us.
Coda: SwimVacation, Twelve Years Later
by Bill Watts
L. Bill swimming with us in the British Virgin Islands, December 2008. R. Bill swimming with us in Hawaii, May 2021.
Heather & Bill in the BVI, 2008
Going into the SwimVacation trip to Kona, Hawaii in May of 2021, I knew there were several things I could count on.
I knew that there would be well-scouted and well-supported swims in the morning and the afternoon of each day.
I knew that Heather Perry would provide a wealth of knowledge about the marine life in each area, and would also provide us with excellent photographs afterwards.
I knew that Hopper McDonough would be a steady and amiable companion on each swim, and would make excellent cocktails afterwards.
I knew all of these things because I had been on one of the earliest SwimVacation trips in December of 2008 to the British Virgin Islands. This was either the first or second trip put on by the newly formed company, depending on how you count.
I had a wonderful time on that trip twelve years ago, but had not really thought to repeat it; at the time, I regarded this as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But, when Heather told me about the opening in Hawaii, I was eager to return.
But I did bring some uncertainties with me to Hawaii. For one thing, the BVI trip was on the yacht Promenade (may her soul rest in peace), and I did not know what a land-based SwimVacation would be like. Swimming from a yacht in the BVI is a very special experience. For one thing, you can easily roam from one excellent swimming spot to another. For another, you have your own private space, but you also have instant companionship when you leave your berth. My berth was directly beneath the starting point for each swim, and so I needed only open the hatch at the top of my berth to show up for each swim. So I worried a bit about what it would mean to stay in one stationary house for the week.
Scenes from the BVI, 2008.
I also did not know what it would be like to go back into a post-pandemic world. Like most people, I had been locked down for most of the past fifteen months, and was only fully vaccinated six weeks before my departure for Hawaii. Because Hawaii still had some restrictions in place, and because people were uncertain about conditions, I did not know if I would experience the sense of freedom and comfort that I had on the earlier trip.
And, finally, I did not know what difference twelve years would make. I was the slowest swimmer on the BVI trip, and, while I knew that I could still swim the distances, I worried that I would keep the group waiting. I also worried a little bit about whether my fond memories of Heather and Hopper from twelve years ago would hold up.
Hopper 2008 BVI, 2. Hopper 2021 Hawaii, 3. Heather 2008 BVI, 4. Heather 2021 Hawaii.
Bill arrived at our Hawaiian Hale by bicycle having traversed 30+ miles of lava beds.
Within minutes of arriving at the guesthouse in Kona, any worries I had evaporated. Being on a boat for a week is pretty wonderful, but being on a beach in Hawaii is also wonderful. It took me a minute to walk from my bedroom to the beach, where there was very swimmable water and healthy coral reefs to admire as I swam. As on the Promenade, I could swim anytime I wanted.
My favorite day of the trip was, in fact, the one we spent on a boat. Swimming around Captain Cook Bay, which was more easily accessible by boat than by land, was one of the highlights of the trip. As we swam around the bay, we had a teeming coral reef on one side and the deep-green abyss of deep ocean water on the other side. We saw dolphins and a manta ray, and we got to see Momi, our ship captain, wrestle an octopus from the floor of the ocean to the surface. On our way back, we caught a 20-plus-pound Ono fish on a trawling line, and watching a fellow guest reel it in was enthralling. This was one of the most visually memorable days of my life.
But other days were great, too. One day, we hiked on foot for about 20 minutes to a neighboring beach, and found great swimming there. And even the swims from our back yard were each distinct and memorable.
Scenes from Hawaii 2021
There are many aspects of the trip that I could praise at great length. The guesthouse was wonderful, and was open to the outdoors in surprising ways. We often had the distinct, yellow-billed cardinals of Hawaii sailing through our living room. The food was also wonderful. A married couple who run a catering company provided us with fresh, locally sourced meals every day, including several dishes made from the Ono we had caught. Food and drink were plentiful and delicious.
In this brief account, though, I want to focus on three aspects of the trip that were most memorable and most valuable to me.
I have already mentioned the first: Heather’s extraordinary knowledge of marine life. For me, it was a privilege to swim in the beautiful waters of both the BVI and Hawaii. But it was a double privilege to be in those waters with someone who could explain and interpret what I was seeing. And because Heather does so much of her professional photography in the ocean, she has an eye for detail others might sail past. On both trips, Heather would often spot something in the water and motion for me to swim over to her so that I could see it too. On the Hawaii trip, she pointed out a beautiful spotted puffer fish, and a spotted eagle ray. She was also determined that I see the Hawaii state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. And so I did.
I am not a religious person, but experiencing the natural world in the waters of the BVI and Hawaii has been something like a religious experience. I am forever grateful to Heather for making that possible.
The second extraordinary thing is the partnership of Heather and Hopper. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but when I went to the BVI with them twelve years ago, they had only recently met and started working together. I have enjoyed watching their partnership grow over the years, and include non-swimming projects. For example, the two of them worked together on a project to interview and photograph shipyard workers in Bath, Maine, where they both live, The results of this project, “Southgate Faces,” are stunning (see www.southgatefaces.com).
Not only are Heather and Hopper master swimmers and expert planners, but they are also socially adept, and that makes the trip all the more enjoyable. SwimVacation has a foot in the hospitality industry, and involves an element of performance, so one cannot take everything at face value. But Heather and Hopper genuinely seem to like one another, and they have skills and abilities that complement one another. They also both seem genuinely to like other people. The vibe that comes out of their comfortable relationship, worked out over the years, makes everyone feel at ease and included.
At one point in Hawaii, Heather said to me, “Hopper takes special pleasure in setting people up for a good time.” So nearly as I could tell, this is absolutely true, and I benefited from this impulse every day of the trip.
The final thing I want to talk about is the trust in oneself and in one another that is fostered on SwimVacation. I live in the middle of the country, far from the ocean. It may be different for other SwimVacationers, but I do not have a group of friends who are ready to jump in the water with me and swim a mile out to sea. I usually swim alone, often in Florida, and shoulder on my own both the risks and the pleasures that come of swimming.
For me, then, there is something so, so special about swimming with a group of people who feel at home in the ocean and are willing to go far. I felt an immediate affinity for this group of people who swam together for the week. It felt like being part of a family, with few of the burdens that accompany family life. I was usually at the back of our swims, but I never felt alone. And I always felt safe.
When I was swimming, either Hopper or Heather was close at hand. In addition, for the Hawaii trip, Ryan McGuckin, a professional lifeguard from the area, also serves as a guide. Ryan is very tall, and often presided over us from a stand-up paddleboard, while wearing a bright yellow jacket. Ryan may be the most water-savvy person I have ever met, and he brought with him a wealth of local knowledge about currents, tides and caves that enriched us all. And seeing him up ahead on his paddle board always made me feel safe and watched over.
The high point of the trip for me was a 2.6-mile swim along the Ironman course in Kona on Friday, our last full day of swimming. I tend to think the Ironman phenomenon is overhyped, and I don’t really care that its name is attached to the swim. But I do like the idea of swimming an established course, with a series of buoys marking the way. This was the longest and hardest swim I have ever done, made even more difficult by a strong current as we approached the turn-around buoy. Heather was with me for every stroke of that swim, and Ryan was almost always within sight. The memory of that swim is forever.
This trip to Hawaii helped me to understand why SwimVacation has many repeat customers, and some who go on all or most of the five or six trips scheduled each year.
I don’t think that my commitments and resources will ever allow me to make SwimVacation an annual trip. But neither do I plan to wait 12 years for my next one. Life is short, and there are too many wonderful things to experience to wait so long for my next SwimVacation.
