Eddie Would Go

my new favorite ritual is morning coffee on the beach across the street. the sun is low enough where it doesn't feel lethal and the water is as calm as it's gonna get. i usually just take a quick dip or two, but thanks to my canon elph 100hs camera zoom i was able to confirm that vessel on the horizon was the alii nui, a tour boat sometimes captained by my friend tim. i'm a poor judge of distance, but i guessed it was within my ability to swim to it, so i donned my goggles and took the plunge. i breaststroked leisurely, pausing to drift every so often to assess the currents. about 2/3 of the way out i started to have doubts as it still seemed so far off. and what if tim wasn't there--would i make it back to shore without a rest aboard? the water here is a comfortable 76F or so, but even that will get you hypothermic if exposed long enough. taking "eddie would go" as my mantra (conveniently setting aside that he died in his final attempt), i upped my pace with a long crawl stroke and saw i could close the remaining distance pretty quick. i asked the first snorkeler i passed who the captain was and was relieved to learn it was indeed tim. he was a little surprised to see me (didn't even know i was on island) but took it in stride. we caught up as i got warm, then he lent me swimfins which made the .7 nautical mile return trip fast and easy.