Monday and the Happy Hill.

Captain Jason yanked the hook early, and motored us to what he has described as one of the most beautiful places in the world, a strong statement to a group of very well seasoned travelers. This is SwimVacation’s first trip to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and we’ve been relying  heavily on Jason to show us around this part of the world, as he’s been running boat trips for teenagers here for about 30 years with his company Odyssey Expeditions. This morning he has brought us to Happy Hill, an area with lush forests, clear water, and coral reefs in reasonable decent shape. 

An early morning sail brought us to the secluded bay of Happy Hill.

Our morning swim was timed: swim 45 minutes south along the coast, then swim back to the yacht. Thick grasses under the boat serve as habitat for these cute little eels, with the occasional conch here and there. closer to shore, the reef was showing off with lots of soft coral and sponges in lots of colors. Some of the brain coral was bleached from a summer of warm water, but hopefully that symbiotic algae will find its way back and restore the brain coral’s balance during cooler winter months. Parrot fish and schools of blue tang kept us company. It was a glorious swim, and some of us lingered in the water for over 2 hours. Zack had time to clean the boat and jump in to swim with us, which I always enjoy. 

The eel grass beds are filled with just that - beautiful golden spotted eels. They stand out beautifully in the dark green of the habitat. When nervous, the burrow in the plants and sand for cover.

Chef Maya prepared a lovely Caesar Salad with blackened shrimp for lunch. The afternoon grew hot, so we drank a lot of seltzer and took to the shade or air conditioned salon and our cabins for reading and napping.  Heather edited photos. 

For our evening swim, John and I took Patrick, Catharine, and Kathy north, where he had detected a current pulling him away from the boat earlier in the day, as well as a patch of sea lice: tiny little larval jellyfish and sometimes pieces of larger jellyfish that cause mosquito bite-like stings. It’s the most common annoyance we have in the Caribbean, but usually not more than that. We swam right through the patch, getting little stings, but kept on truckin’ till we were clear of them. Current at our backs, we swam to the other side of the bay, then turned around and swam against the current, and through the sea lice patch once again. The return trip took us almost twice as long. Heather led a shorter swim to the north with Tracy and Celine, but they weren’t digging the happy vibe and climbed aboard to enjoy a beverage and the view. This is a vacation after all!

The gorgeous black sands of St. Vincent make for a different look on the sea bottom.

Back on the yacht, margaritas. It’s an easy cocktail to batch, and as the sun set, I found myself making a second pitcher to re-fill the guests’ glasses. The lush hills lit up in the sunbeams, and a group of fishermen in a train of wooden boats drifted by us, creating this quintessentially Caribbean scene. 

There are some tasks much easier done on land than on a boat. One of them is grilling. Zack and Jason tried to get the coals going on our little grill that attaches to the railing on the stern, but humidity had gotten to the coals, and they were being stubborn.  We got it hot enough to sear some steaks but had to finish them with the oven broiler. I was able to grill all of the tuna, so that was a win. Maya plated everything with potatoes and brussels sprouts. The wine flowed, and some hilarious conversations about online dating were held. I’ll spare the details: what happens on the yacht, stays on the yacht. Early-ish to bed after a busy day in paradise.

Hopper