Wednesday

After last night's stroke video analysis, it made sense to put some of Dave's tips to work in the water. We did some focused swimming; take a concept such as "loose hands", then swim a couple hundred yards thinking about it and practicing it. We combined this with a buoy turn clinic and beach starts and finishes. We put it all together with a mock "race", practicing these elements; beach start, proper sighting, drafting, pack swimming, buoy turn, beach finish. Guest Patty picked up on the program very fast, cruising around the buoys like a swim guide.

 

Guides hit the water with style and splash. Dave in Super Hero form, Hopper prefers the back dive.

  

Linda, Shawn and Patty leap from Promenade.

  

Mark, Greg and Peggy go in head (or belly) first.

We lingered in White Bay most of the day, while I kept dropping hints about our evening swim; Peter Island to Norman Island. 3.8 miles. It was a bigger swim than many of our guests had ever done, and the guides spent a considerable amount of time getting them pumped up. Heather, Dave, and I spent some time devising the safety plan; guide with float bag in front, guide in middle of pack, guide in back of pack with SUP. Escort vessels; our 65' yacht, plus deckhand Felix in the dinghy. We planned to keep the group somewhat compressed by stopping for a quick break every 20 minutes. When 3:30 rolled around, we jumped in, wind at our backs, but heading directly into the sun. The bottom dropped off slowly, until all we could see below was endless blue.

The sun started dipping below the horizon by the time we reached the tip of Norman, and the guests were ecstatic as they reached the Promenade, which Bazza moored just around the corner. Painkillers came out (a drink not a pill), seafood scampi was wolfed down, war stories from our swim swapped. Later several of us headed to Willy Ts for the usual mischief. Tomorrow morning's swim might turn into an afternoon swim.

- Hopper

 

A  lovely spotted eagle ray joined us in White Bay. Fearless leader Hopper hams it up in front of our SwimVacation banner..