Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Island swimming update

Ready - Go!

Island Swimming

Over Labor Day weekend Pete and I went to my aunt and uncle’s cabin at Priest Lake.  This meant I could use their boat to reach some islands to swim around.  On Sunday I swam around two little guys, Papoose and Four Mile Island.  Pete, Rachel and Michelle dropped me off and took bets on how long it would take to swim around them.  We were all surprised when it only took 4:28 to get around Papoose. Four Mile Island was a little bigger and took 12:48.

On Monday I planned to swim around Baratoo Island, the biggest of the islands.  But it was rainy and cold.  I decided instead to swim around the Twin Islands since they were smaller.  I didn’t want Pete to have to sit freeze in the boat for an hour and a half while I swam around Baritoo.  And, I didn’t really want to swim in the rough water and the rain.  When we got to the Eastern most Twin Island I was thinking how it seemed a lot less fun than it had the day before.  But once I dove in, it was great, the water was warmer than the air and I quickly became absorbed in the task at hand.  Not that it was a big task, these islands only took about 6 minutes each, so no real accomplishment but I was that I’d made myself do it instead of using one of the many excuses I came up with.  I was just getting back in the boat at 10:55 when Diana Nyad finished her historic swim from Havana to Florida.  I’ll remember that I was doing something for less impressive or taxing but that I was accomplishing a goal just to prove to myself that I could do it too.

I only have one island left and I think I can talk Pete or my mom into one more trip to the lake to kayak out to Baratoo with me and then escort me by kayak as I swim it.  

Pete suggested that next summer I try to swim all of the islands in one day.  That already sounds more exciting than just swimming all of them over the course of the summer.  I can’t wait for next year!