Friday fear & courage.
Miriam, on her 100th day with us, after an intense swim that elated us all.
One day in 2018 a registration came in for our BVI trip without either Hopper nor I having heard from the registrant. That’s pretty unusual for us, as most of our clients talk to at least one of us on the phone in advance of registering for a trip. They usually have lots of questions and we are always happy to answer them because we love to talk about what we do. It’s pretty rare that someone signs up without any more info.
The trip came and we met Miriam. I guided her on our first swim and I could tell she was a little anxious in the water. We got to talking and she revealed that this swim was in fact her first open water swim ever. It’s an honor to guide someone on their first open water experience, and I instantly set about the guide business of helping her face her fears. I talked about working with the water, about letting go of some control, and pointed out creatures I knew would fascinate her and keep the anxiety at bay. I watched her be brave, and get braver with each swim. By Tuesday, she came to us asking to register for the next trip. Yesterday, six years later, was Miriam’s 100th day on SwimVacation. She is the first to hit this amazing milestone and honestly, she feels like a constant for me.
So of course we made a big deal of it with a few little mementos and odds and ends, but we also did an incredible swim - it was intense, rough, new to us all and very challenging. When I think about her nerves on that first swim and what she did yesterday, and the amazing bonds she’s made along the way, I’m so amazed by her open water journey. I’ve seen her face fears in each of our locations, and every time, she trusts me, trusts the water and trusts herself. What a gift to witness. Miriam, I love you.
So this swim was a doozy…I got the idea for it when Jason threaded the needle yesterday and I spotted a cave on one side of the Bequia passage, and dramatic cliffs on the other. As we were passing through on the boat, I said to Jason, “I want to swim this”. And so we did.
Like this trip, this swim would be an A to B, with both a live drop and live pick up from the boat. This means the boat is not at anchor, the engines are on but the props are in neutral. It takes a lot of coordination between Captain (Jason), tender (Zack) and swimmers, and everyone followed directions and did their jobs flawlessly. And so we jumped in at the dramatic Moon Hole with its giant archway and strange structure beneath. There were huge swells and it was so chaotic. It took a minute to get our bearings, but soon we fell into a rhythm with each other. Zack was able to jump in and join us making 4 guides for 6 swimmers which was ideal.
Our adventure swim was just under a mile of glorious, bouncy chaos.
As we passed along the soaring cliff face with waves crashing beside us, Debbie was struggling a little. She kept putting her goggles up on her head, and started to nearly hyperventilate. I tried to encourage her, but she kept shaking her head and looking toward the boat. Finally she said to me, quietly but just loud enough to hear: “Is this fear?” I was so moved by this reflection and I grabbed her shoulders and I said “yes it is fear. I’m not telling you not to be afraid, I’m telling you you can do this anyway”. And she put her head down and swam. Soon after, Alina and I switched, and Alina kept Debbie going as we approached the cut. In the cut everything intensified - wind, current, swell, all of it. Jason moved the boat through, alongside us, acting as a shield from any other potential boats. We stroked and kicked and dug deep to get through, and finally saw the other side where it was still rough, but calmer. The mood was one of elation. Everyone hooted and hollered and laughed. They were so proud of themselves and I was so proud of them. We celebrated with pictures and riding the swell in and out of a cave, and admiring a booby up on a ledge overhead. What a swim. What a thing to have done.
We climbed aboard and Jason moved us close to town where everyone went ashore to explore and lunch in the most lovely little town. Colorful shacks with gingerbread trim held produce and trinkets and colorful frocks and textiles. They all enjoyed some well earned ice cream cones and took pics of one another. I think the whole outing was made better by the connection they felt having made the morning’s adventure swim together.
Our final sail was bouncy and a few hours long and brought us to our final port of Saint Vincent. Jason moored us by a giant rock of an island just off shore. Stark and majestic, it’s a pinnacle rising from the sea. Our afternoon swim brought us around the island and up an incredibly steep climb (over 200 steps) to its peak. The island had been a fort at one point, and there were cannons up there and the views were spectacular. I do not like to hike (or do anything on land) and I certainly do not like to hike in my bathing suit. But I will admit the views were worth it.
It was a pretty full day punctuated by a massive thunderstorm that lasted all night and probably dropped at least 6 inches of rain. Tough to imagine residents of neighboring islands being living in tents or under tarp roofs and having yet another storm pass over. This morning we started to hear stories of washed out roads and peoples whose homes have flooded. It’s hard to watch these islands and these good people take such a beating again and again.
We stayed relatively dry on our small boat. Hopper and John, who are guiding with me next week, dropped in for our slideshow. It was fun for them to get to see these guests, the first to swim the Grenadines and Saint. Vincent with us, and hear our stories of intrepid adventures.
There are some groups of guests who really click - with each other, with us and with the environment we are here to enjoy. This was one of those groups, and saying goodbye to them this morning was hard. Each of them had something special to say about our week and the water time we spent together. Each of them really GET US and what we do, and I think they would each say they are definitely going home better. I miss them already.
Tomorrow starts a new trip and we will retrace our strokes back to Grenada over the next 6 days. Jason would like to show us a few more spots on St. Vincent before we head south, so there are more new adventures ahead.
Miriam, Myssie, Samantha, Debbie, Marcus and Martina, you all filled my heart this week. Your efforts, your courage, your willingness to give over to this experience, your faith in us to guide you - this is why I do what I do. Thank you. It’s such an honor to share this with you.
Love always,
Heather