St. Kitts-Nevis Channel Swim

Swim route in magenta; my actual swim in yellow

I woke up around 5:45 am and already felt woozy with anxiety for this swim. The water has not been that pretty lately, and if it weren't enough that locals were telling me I would drown, they also decided that if the water didn't get me then the sharks surely would. It's not a common thing to swim the 2.5 mile stretch between St. Kitts and Nevis! So my nerves leading up to this day were on edge of course.

We made it to Cockleshell beach around 7 am and didn't get on the boat carrying us to Nevis until nearly 8:30 or so. That boat ride was such a terrible idea. Doesn't make one who is already nervous feel any better going over the exact route that she is about to swim. The boat bounced in the waves and it seemed like it took forever to get to Nevis. I kept watching for the rocks that would denote the half way point, and once we passed I gasped at how far away Cockleshell looked at only halfway!!

Once we made it upon Nevis you could already see how bad the swell had been earlier in the week. Smelly sea grass was in piles along the normally calm and serene beach. I walked past all this and made my way to the register tent. I picked up my bright green swim cap marked with the number 60, had my leg branded with the same number, and made damn sure I got my blue bracelet that would give me access to my 20% off Margarita at the finish. I was set.

So we finally took off from Oualie beach some time after 9 am. I allowed the more "elite" swimmers to get set and ahead. I was doing this thing with a snorkel and fins. My hat goes off to those who did it without any props (good job Becky and Royston). Once I had my fins on and made my way past the murky muck of sea grass I was off. I kept the Brocks (fellow volunteers and snorkelers) within my sight until half way between the rocks and the point off of Oualie beach. The part where I ended up losing them was when the water started to clear up and I could see the bottom. I guess I was getting a little distracted with watching the sea floor and the little fishes that when I finally popped my head up I realized I couldn't find my buddies. There were still some swimmers in the vicinity, so I decided to keep going.

Through half the swim I was in my own little fantasy world, all set with a soundtrack as well! I was mesmerized by the way sunlight cascaded through the water in luminous streams and found the swaying sea fans nearly hypnotizing as I kicked on past. At one point I even caught a glimpse of a sea turtle rocking back and forth in the current. All of this to the song "A Long December". I don't know why this one, but it became the theme song of my swim:

And its been a long December and theres reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last. I cant remember all the times I tried to tell my myself to hold on to these moments as they pass... Its been so long since Ive seen the ocean...I guess I should

It was fun up until I realized that I somehow was too far to the right of our swim route and the waves were getting higher AND I did not have a single swimmer or kayaker near me!! It did occur in my mind that I could drown or get eaten by a shark and no one would know until they realized I never made it ashore. I contemplated waiting a while till I was sure the kayak I could see in the distance to the west could see me. Then I realized my predicament wasn't so bad because then, in between the troughs of the waves, I could catch glimpses of swimmers further off course than I was!! It was no use sitting and waiting for someone to catch up with me, we were just all too spread out. So for what seemed like the next hour or so I just kept battling the current and waves until I could make it to the point that protected Cockleshell beach from the cross current. Once I made it into that protective cove I was home free. I could see there were about 30 to 40 swimmers/snorekelers already on shore. In total there were 68 who set out, and except for a few, everyone made it in. All the PCVs did it in less than 2 hours, and after comparing stories it sounded like most people had veered off course at some point, some more so than others!! And for our accomplishment we got medals, but not just any medals... we got the "Nevis Olympic Triathlon - 2006" medals!! That was the icing on the cake!!! I might embellish a bit to my grandkids about how I competed in the 2006 Triathlon on Nevis... ha ha.