Ash squall, tiny turtle.
I’m not a boat guy. I’m not great at knots, and I get seasick pretty easily. Yet here I am working on boats for 18 years. On SwimVacation we always hire a licensed Captain (also called a Skipper), who in addition to being fully responsible for the safety of the boat, also does the bulk of the boat stuff.
Here in St. Vincent, our Captain is Canyon Duncan, owner of Nirvana Yacht Charters. He was born and raised here, and has spent much of his life on one kind of boat or another. He’s knowledgeable of the local waters, kind and thoughtful, great with guests, and he whisks our paperwork through the notoriously cranky immigration office. He’s taken us places not many others have gone these last two weeks, and we are better for it.
We woke in Chateuabelair Bay, and plotted a swim course to our cliff jump spot. It’s about 800 yards of some of the most satisfying swimming on this planet. Healthy corals and sponges, lots of fish, clear water, an overhanging rainforest canopy with roosting snowy egrets, and freshwater springs that bubble out of the forest to cool you off. Heavenly.
Exquisite bird and marine life accompanied us on our morning swim to our cliff jump spot. - HP
Where the fresh water enters the sea, a halocline is created at the interface of salinity change - it makes everything blurry, like heat waves on the street. You can see this in the last two photos above. - HP
We had fun taking turns swimming underwater through these incredible beams of light filtering down through the forest canopy overhanging the sea. I made a little video here with original music by my son, Finn Weafer. XO - HP
The middle of the day was HOT, so we stayed in the shady spots on our yacht and drank cold club soda. This didn’t prevent Mal from producing an incredible quiche for second breakfast. Her fruitful compression socks continue to delight us.
I’m so fascinated by the north end of St. Vincent. Largely roadless and sparsely populated, most of it is comprised of a volcano. Foliage clings to the steep hills in greens I didn’t know existed. Tiny marijuana farms dot the steep slopes, makeshift shacks and tents are tucked away for the itinerant farmers. There are a few temporary fishing camps, but it’s basically wild from Chateubelair to the small town of Fancy, 8 or so miles or so up the coast. The last eruption here occurred in 2021, which was a big explosion that blew off the top of the volcano and spread ash everywhere, causing the displacement of over 20,000 people. Rivers of mud and ash flowed to the sea down the ravines. We can still see these ash flows today.
We sailed north all the way to Fancy, volcano looming above us, brisk wind blowing us along. On the return trip, we plotted the same swim we did here last week, from a lush little bay to one of those mud and ash outflows which features a stunning jet black sand beach. We jumped off the yacht when Canyon gave us the OK, into water that is 300 feet deep. Endless blue beneath us. We swam to shore, then along the coast, zig-zagging through reefs. The ocean was a little bumpy and wild, but we made it to this tree that everhangs the water, branches almost touching the sea, with at least 50 feet of depth below us.
As we were taking a break there near our intended finish, we noticed a little cloud of something where the ash flow meets the shore, a beach, really. Then it grew bigger, and the wind picked up tenfold out of nowhere, blowing a huge cloud of ash in the air and out to sea. Canyon had the yacht positioned 100 yards off the beach, and we saw the gust hit it, rocking the heavy 46 foot catamaran around like a toy. Canyon backed away from the outflow and repositioned the yacht safely.
You can see the ash storm coming from the flow in the background of this photo as we took shelter under the tree. - HP
We held onto the tree branches, largely sheltered from the tempest. This was likely a phenomenon known as a williwaw, when cold, dense air from high on a mountain rushes down rapidly. The ash ravine created a perfect funnel for it.
At left, Canyon managed to capture a little video of his vantage point of the williwaw.
When the winds died down a bit, Heather and I decided this was no longer a good pickup spot, and turned this group around to swim back to our put-in spot for pickup. Heather called Canyon on our waterproof radio with that info, and we all got back safely. We saw a baby hawksbill turtle on the way.
After all of that, Mojitos and a sunset seemed pretty great. Mal put out sliced steak with cauliflower rice and spinach salad. Whipped ricotta with passion fruit for dessert. We sat around and talked about our immigrant ancestors and families. A tiny sliver of a moon set. Bats squealed and skimmed the sea surface. Rain pitter-pattered on our hatches as we went to sleep.
Hopper
