Rum Punch Bunch

People love caves. Maybe it’s left over from long ago when humans more frequently used caves for shelter from all the wild beasts that wanted to eat us. Caves hold some mystery and a bit of danger, as well. Anyway, there are a series of swim-in and swim/walk-through caves here at Norman Island that were part of our swim route this morning. Alison swung on some roots that dangle down in front of one cave, and made a pretty wild dismount. Some of the group swam all the way to Angelfish Reef, the very end of the chain of the BVI, yet the very beginning of our trip.  

John has begun examining stroke videos with the guests. His full time career is doing such things for Purple Patch, an athletic training company that focuses on helping triathletes. John and I go waaaay back. When I was moving to Maine and looking for work in an architectural firm, I cold called the biggest one in Portland and asked to speak with the lead Principal. Shockingly, I was put through to Paul Stevens, John’s Dad. I worked for him for 8 years, during which time I met John, while he was still in college. We kept in touch over the years and saw each other at open water swims, and when SwimVacation needed to add a guide, he was a no-brainer.  

Captain Richie had Zack pull the anchor, and we made a quick sail to The Indians, a series of big rocks reaching up into the sky from the depths of the Drake Channel. The underwater life here is dense, with huge schools of Sergeant Majors, Tang, Chromis, and Blue Parrotfish. The coral here is healthy, in contrast to a lot of places in the BVI, where Hurricane Irma scoured the reef in 2017. Prior bleaching events had already weakened it in the shallower bays. We are seeing some recovery, however, and if the ocean temps can stay low enough, it’s possible they could rebound. 

A squall blew in, so we boarded our Yacht Malcoha and headed for Benures Bay, Norman Island. We are basically hitting every swim spot on every island as we head north, so far. Ali put out curried chicken and quinoa salads, after which we sought shade and a good read. 

Our afternoon swim ranged from a short snorkel to a bigger circumnavigation of the whole bay. We have enough guides to really allow people to pick their distance. Rum punch greeted the intrepid swimmers, and eventually they all sat down for Ali’s Thai fish soup. With 8 guests, there’s literally no room at the table for guides or crew, and I always worry that conversation will stall without a guide there moving things along. Not the case with this group, they’ve already gelled nicely and can get along just fine without us, thank you very much. 

We really pack a lot of crew and guides onto these boats, and with only 6 guest rooms, we need to be creative with our sleeping arrangements. Some of us wind up on mats and hammocks scattered around the yacht. I sleep in a custom-made hammock, stitched by one of our captains, Jason. It’s made of thick sail bag canvas, and has a heavy-duty zipper. I string it up every night on the bridge, way up high. It’s a trick to get in, but once I do, it’s very comfortable, even for a side sleeper. Nights bring a variety of conditions, mostly lots of wind. It takes some time to get used to all the clanking and banging rigging up there.  Sometimes we get chased into the salon during a windy squall that soaks us through, but it’s all part of the adventure. 

This group is hitting it hard, soaking up every bit of these islands. Both guests and guides will sleep well after a very full and adventurous Monday.

Hopper