The route was out the harbour, down and around the east end (bottom left) (this section was wrought with strong currents), up the backside (lower right side) (the waters here had Portuguese Man-O-War), around the west end (upper right), and back along the inside (upper left side) where there was crazy boat traffic.
The total distance was about 8 miles; it took me 3 hours and 16 minutes.
Here we are just after rounding East End Rock. The current was very strong, the water was perfectly clear and I could see the seaweed on the bottom laid all the way over, pointing right at me. I was swimming in place for a while, only making headway when the wake of the sport fishing boats propel me a little bit at a time.
Here I am swimming past our house.
Here we are nearing the western end of the island. By this time I was feeling a lot better about the Portuguese Man-O-War, and the prospects of finishing the swim without an interaction. I did see quite a few turtles on the back side of Man-O-War, and a barracuda in the 5 to 6 foot size range.
Here we are just passed the Low Place, where the island thins down to about 20 feet across, this was about 3/4 of the way.
After we finished we were met on the dock by various celebratory family members.
I am not sure how many people have swam around Man-O-War, but I doubt too many. Most of the locals I talked about it with seemed to think I was nuts. They are probably right...
