Chloe’s second chance.
Hopper began the day by leading a little BackRx - a yoga / pilates mashup that makes for a good pre swim stretch.
Let’s take a look at the Windy App, which I frequently use on SwimVacation.
Our end of the Caribbean is experiencing easterly winds of about 20 knots originating all the way from North Africa. I think it’s cool the way global weather patterns can have local effects, like the dust from the Sahara that can find its way across the ocean and affect hurricane formation here. The wind is making for some sporty swimming conditions this week, but our guests are up for it.
We woke in our quiet little bay at Carriacou Island, and plotted a swim to Anse de la Roche (beach with the rock). It is, indeed, a beach with a large rock on the south side of it. We swam around the rock, up onto the beach, back along the beach, then into a very slight current that I thought would be a lot worse.
Later, we checked into St. Vincent at Union Island. The governments here take quite a bit of cash from you to enter and exit, but the people here really need the influx of dollars. Union Island was almost wiped completely off the map by Hurricane Beryl, and there are still tents set up on the shoreline. Otherwise, recovery seems to be moving along pretty quickly, and I spot many new roofs. Most are hip-roofs, which is believed to withstand hurricane winds better.
We ha ome deck antics while Jason and Touché signed us into St. Vincent, with guides commuting between boats, diving from the top deck, and chef Jemima womanning the grill.
Off to the Tobago Cays, with its popular turtle sanctuary and Caribbean lobster bakes. Every time we’ve swum around these Cays on past trips, a current has appeared, slowing our progress to a halt. We wanted to avoid that today, so we planned a swim straight out toward an outer reef, along a line of buoys that forms the turtle sanctuary. The going was sloppy, the seas totally confused.
After a few minutes we spotted a man in a dinghy zipping around inside the sanctuary, yelling something. He came a bit closer and we quickly learned that: 1) he spoke French and not much English and 2) he couldn’t find his 12-year old daughter, Chloe, who was wearing a red shirt. He grew more frantic, screaming her name. He was zipping around the area where he last saw her. Guest Jill, who speaks French, knew that this was a mistake, and told him to go look in the direction the wind and waves would take her. He buzzed away. Immediately after that, guest Taylor organized a search line among the guides and guests, and the 9 of us spread out to comb the area. We covered about 75 yards, desperately hoping not to find a limp body on the bottom, when we saw the man in the dinghy buzz past us with a 12-year old girl in a bright red shirt. Chloe was alive and safe. She had drifted out and around the corner.
Chloe and her dad after the frantic search.
We were all a bit shaken from the incident, so instead of shaking ourselves up even more, we snorkeled around a little, then headed back to our yacht. Wildlife rewarded us - tons of turtles and southern stingrays.
Our good samaritan efforts were rewarded with turtles at every turn. Behold today’s turtle gallery.
I made a couple of batches of Painkillers (rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, creme de coconut, nutmeg dusting) and the sun set in brilliant reds as the moon rose. Jemima fried some sweet potatoes with 4 or 5 dips, one without a name. I called it Chloe's Second Chance. Jason had been cooking a Callaloo stew most of the day, and it came out rich and delicious. Guest Robert discovered bread and butter. A game of mahjong closed out the evening.
The lines banged against the mast and the boat creaked as we hit our beds. We thought about a 12-year old girl, and the life she’ll lead.
Hopper
A little video recap of our very turtle-y day with music of course by my son, Finn Weafer. XO HP