Rock, Ray and Posset.
I forgot to mention another thing about our cultural experience in Hillsborough. Late in the evening there was a crescendo in the music and dancing, and out of nowhere one of the percussionists dropped his instrument and jumped wildly around the room, reciting (yelling) passages from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Everyone in the room (besides us) shouted “Brave! Brave Boy!!” and other encouragements back at him. We learned later that this is called a “Shakespeare Mass”, during which the reciter is sometimes whipped across the back of his neck if he makes a mistake. As such they wear a protective covering on their back, though this guy we saw did not do this, and nobody struck him. It was wild and raw, and we felt privileged to have witnessed it.
On to Wednesday. Still recovering from the aforementioned festivities of the previous night, we set sail for Anse la Roche (bay of the rock), a tiny bay just north of Hillsborough on Carriacou. The rock for which this bay is named is a long deep affair, creating a dramatic reef for some pretty fantastic wildlife.
I reviewed stroke videos with Judy and Natalie today. I was pleased to see that Judy had been working on a few elements that I had suggested to her back in December on our BVI trip. It was my first time seeing Natalie swim, and I could tell that my buddy and guide Simon had been working with her in Greece over the years.
Lisa put out a lunch of scotch eggs, crab backs, lentil salad, and seafood salad. It was a feast fit for dinner, but here we were at lunch. We lounged around for a while, then set sail for Sandy Island.
The sand here is bright white and the reef at one end is healthy and bright, full of fish. We swam to the island, walked the length of it, checked out the reef, then swam along the beach, wind to our backs. Heather surprised a spotted eagle ray having an early dinner in the sand, and it surprised her right back. We tried to follow it out to sea as Heather tried to get a good photo, but this ray was smart, and soared over the shallowest part of the reef, halting her attempts.
Heather, Zack and I finished this swim with a little free diving to the white sandy bottom beneath our yacht. Natalie helped with rinse duties before dinner.
As the sun set, Zack played some tunes that inspired Natalie to dance with abandon.
Steak dinner with mashed breadfruit and cheesy vegetables hit the spot after all of this swimming. A lemon posset for dessert cleaned our palates, priming us for a well deserved rest.
Hopper
