Midnight Laughs and Splashes

We traded our early morning swim for Eggs Benedict and a slightly later 3 mile swim from Peter Island to Norman Island. We had our full flotilla in force: The Promenade, guest Craig in a Kayak, Deckhand Bob in the dinghy, and we guides towing a second kayak with a rope looped around our ankle. Guests Amy and Pam set a nice pace with Heather between them, matching strokes. Mark chugged along, invincible as ever, and usually near Yafa, who loves this type of challenge. John and Frances swam together, steady and unwavering.  

We stopped every 20 minutes to re-group and drink some water or have a snack. The crossing took 2 hours and 40 minutes, and came off without a hitch. The experience of our staff is showing this trip. The finish line was Soldier Bay on Norman Island, where we quickly dove into some conch fritters.

A quick motor around to Pirate’s Bight gave us a nice place to spend the afternoon. Some guests took the dinghy to the beach bar, while Heather and I went SCUBA diving. It was only my second time, and I’m getting a lot more comfortable under there. We saw 2 trunk fish eating a dead octopus and I found a cool pair of sunglasses on the bottom. Not bad.

Another quick motor brought us to Angelfish Reef. The winds were so calm that we decided to swim outside the protected bay, into the open Caribbean, around a huge rock formation. Turtles led our way around the point, and it was so calm we even got to swim through a cut in the rocks that we’ve never swum through before. Heather grabbed her big camera housing to take her famous swimmer portraits while I led a free diving clinic. Happy hour consisted of an unnamed green cocktail and green popcorn in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

After dinner most of us hopped in the dinghy for a trip to the infamous Willy T’s. In order to protect the innocent, I won’t divulge all of the activities there. Let’s just say there were tattoos applied to untanned places and women lying on the bar covered only only in whipped cream and cherries. Typical Willy T’s stuff. Guides took the early dinghy home to preserve their abilities for the morning swim. I think I heard laughter and splashing in the middle of the night. Hmmm our 8am swim may turn into a 9am swim.

Hopper