Braving the Bogue

Early on the morning of Saturday, July 21, an anxious group assembled on the dock at at the Brac Beach Reef Resort in Cayman Brac. Five swimmers, including Lorri Jongeneel, were about to brave “The Bogue” (the local name for the channel between Little Cayman and Cayman Brac). Four of those swimmers were then planning to do something never before attempted: swim immediately back to the Brac.

The weather was fair, but sea conditions were not ideal. Despite rolling swells and strong currents, the swimmers reached the beach on Little Cayman’s Point of Sand after about three hours and 15 minutes. After a brief rest on shore (spent mostly eating, drinking, and re-applying sunscreen), Elizabeth Berns, Alex Harling, Kerri Kanuga and Andrea Roach stepped into the water again to swim back to the Brac.

The second half of this double-crossing was immediately difficult. Even though the swimmers had to fight the current through the channel to reach Point of Sand, it seemed the current was against them on the way out as well. The waves were even bigger, and the swimmers often lost sight of each other or the boat. “Progress was very slow, and it was a struggle to stay positive as the hours dragged on,” Andrea remembers. The swimmers could stop to rest or rehydrate, but open water swimming rules dictate that they mustn’t touch a boat or any flotation device. So, a “rest” would mean treading water with one arm while using the other to catch a bottle of Gatorade thrown from the boat and then try to swallow more of its contents than the surrounding sea water. “It was like swimming in an industrial washing machine,” Lizzie recalls.

The trench between the Sister Islands is more than 4,000 feet deep, so for most of the swim they saw nothing but water beneath them. “It was impossible to tell how fast we were going and sometimes difficult to know even which way to go,” Kerri recalled, “We are very grateful for the support of the people on the boat – even if they weren’t always completely honest about how much further we had to go.” On the boat were: Erbin Tibbets, his son Erbin Jr, Charlie Kirconnel and then Lorri who joined the support team after her single crossing was complete. It was a long day for them as well, with little shade and few creature comforts and not much to do but watch the swimmers struggling in the rough water. All told, it took more than six hours to complete the return swim back to Cayman Brac.

Cayman’s waters are ideal for open water swimming. Conditions in most areas are favourable, the water is clear and warm, and swimmers are unlikely to be bothered by any sea creatures more dangerous than mildly annoying jellyfish. This sport is certainly growing in popularity, as evidenced by the ever-growing number of participants in the annual Flowers 1 Mile Sea Swim and other open water events. In addition to these organized swims, enthusiasts are getting together independently to swim Cayman’s friendly seas. Alex, Andrea and Kerri – along with Jill Zadny – have already completed a stage swim around the entire island of Grand Cayman, which included a swim across the North Sound from Rum Point to Barker’s Head in West Bay.

“We are always on the lookout for more challenge and adventure in and out of the water… mostly in,” Alex admitted. Too right!