The Mayflower Swim
June 27, 2006
Preparation
In real estate the words, “Location, Location, Location” is the mantra for the industry. In swimming, and especially open water swimming, “Preparation, Preparation, Preparation” are the key words in our sport. On June 27, 2006 Marcy MacDonald and I found out how important these words are.
Initially, Marcy and I wanted to swim from the tip of the Cape, next to Provincetown, and swim to the barrier outside of Plymouth Harbor called the Gurnet to the north or Goose Point to the south of the opening of the harbor. While not exactly the path the Pilgrims used to go from Provincetown Harbor to Plymouth, slightly more than 375 years ago, it was fairly close. However, due to the rip currents off the tip of the arm that would have forced us either out into the Atlantic or well south off our course, we decided to start the swim further south at Corn Hill and end just south of Plymouth Harbor at a place called Manomet Point – 20 nautical miles away. With our departure and landing set, we prepared for the swim.
Number 1:
Get To Know the Waters. In my past swims I would consult various people, review the “Eldridge Tide Charts,” purchase and review the costal charts, and rely on those that live on the waters where I plan to swim. Marcy and I did just that: we purchased charts, we talked to our boat captain, Eric Scherer, who earns his livelihood plying the waters of Cape Cod Bay and we looked at the tide charts to confirm when and where we should start. While I could not consult an Eldridge map of Cape Cod Bay showing the movement of the water due to the tides, we all felt we had the next best thing: someone who is on the water almost every day of the year.
Number 2:
Select the Time and Pray For Good Weather. We chose to swim before the July 4th holiday for a number of reasons: We didn’t want the Bay to be full of summertime boat traffic. We wanted the Bay to be at least English Channel-warm around 60 degrees or so, and we wanted a day where the winds were calm and the Bay waters were flat. On June 27, the Bay was in the high 60s, well above our expectations, but the weather forecast called for relatively high winds coming from the south. The good news was that the forecast called for diminishing winds and the winds to swing around from the southeast, so we hoped to outlast the winds and ride them to our goal of landing on the western side of Cape Cod Bay.
Number 3
Swim, and Swim a Lot In Both the Pool and In Open Water. We did prepare extensively for the swim. Marcy is training for another attempt to perform a triple-crossing of the English Channel in 2007 while I am always planning a swim for charity each year. This year I was able to start double sessions about 4 weeks ahead of the planned date, either in a 50 meter pool down in the Philadelphia area or in open waters of Long Island Sound and or the Housatonic River. I was able to swim with the kids on the Upper Main Line YMCA where I did one set with them: 34 X 100s, long course, on 1:30 and another set where I did 10 X 200s on 3:05. In both of these sets I used my heavy paddles, pull buoy and tube. Using the heavy paddles and tube allowed me to put maximum pressure on my shoulders without injury. As I got closer to the swim, I dropped the heavier paddles for smaller ones, but kept the tube. Finally, I dropped the paddles and tube from the practice. We also practiced swimming together at Hammonassett so neither of us would delay the other when we stopped to float and eat. Unfortunately, except in the first hour, I rarely swim near Marcy or the Boat. Marcy and I both swam each of the last 4 Sundays before the swim at Hammonassett Park, a stretch of 2 miles of beach in Madison, CT. There we had both calm and seas. Our last swim was a “100” 4 lengths of the beach, 8 miles or 12,800 yards.
We went up to Cape Cod a few days before the swim. Unfortunately, the weather was not helping us at all. The east coast was caught between two weather patterns that were bringing warm air up from the south. By the time we arrived in Cape Cod, the weather front that had been over us for a number of days backed up north and west. The weather pattern had stalled and all we could hope for was a switching of the winds from the south and west to those that came out of the south and east. It turned out to be a forlorn hope.
The day before the swim, Marcy and I went up to Provincetown to see a good friend of hers: Gunter who owns Exuma. While there we saw the sign for Cape Cod Times. We knocked on the door and met with Eric Williams, their local reporter. We walked down to the beach and he took some nice pictures of us staring out into the harbor. While he kept calling our swim a “stunt” we kept trying to tell him that we are trying to raise money and awareness of the horrible disease called epilepsy that afflicts my daughter Kate. When we looked out over the Bay towards the Massachusetts main land, all we saw were white caps, not the calm waters in which we hoped to swim. While we exuded confidence in our ability to master this piece of American waters, Mother Nature might have had something else in mind.
The Swim
All things are ready if our minds be so.
Henry V, Act IV, Scene iv
William Shakespeare
The forecast for the day was for warm temperatures with winds of 10 – 15 knots out of the south. During the day the winds were to diminish and swing around so they came out of the south east. These are far from ideal conditions, but the swim was certainly doable.
Marcy and I jumped into the water from Eric Scherer’s boat and walked to the shore below Corn Hill. (Corn Hill is the place where the Pilgrims or Old Comers found Indian seed corn to be planed in the spring. This corn helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in Plymouth.) At about 6:20 AM, we left a place where the water could not get behind us and started our historic attempt to be the first people to swim across Cape Cod Bay.
What we had hoped for when we were out in Cape Cod Bay was a lolling sea with a reach or distance between each wave of at least 6 to 8 feet and a wave height of 1 to 2 feet. What we had was severe chop of 2 foot or less in reach and wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. Two dimensional cameras cannot truly show how bad the conditions were. Perhaps the video that is part of this year’s swim record will show how much our supporters were thrown around on the boat. Whenever I looked over at the boat, the person in the bow was holding on to a rope so that they would not be thrown around inside the boat. That should have been a tip off that conditions were far less than perfect, but we were not smart enough to take the hint.
Within the first 30 minutes of the swim, I had to jettison my yellow, silicon bathing cap for a more traditional cap because I couldn’t keep it on my head due to the wave action in the Bay. While we did stop for me to get a new cap, I didn’t get anything to eat or drink as I usually do not stop during the first hour. After swimming for one-and-one-quarter hours, we had made great time and had probably swum 3 nautical miles. From there the distance we covered each 1/2 hour diminished dramatically. I had problems swimming close to Marcy and the boat. Marcy was in her usual place within feet of the boat. I should have stopped trying to breathe on both sides as when I breathed to the left I tacked well into the wind and away from Marcy and the boat. I would then use the wind and waves to come back to Marcy and the boat.
In reviewing the log of the swim our speed continued to decline as the waves grew higher and the winds continued to pick up while remaining stubbornly out of the South and West, almost directly into our faces. After 3 hours 50 minutes we had only gone 4.5 nautical miles. At 6 hours, 20 minutes Marcy said that she wasn’t happy being in the water. While we were close to half way, the winds had picked up and were either close to Force 5 or over 15 knots and the waves were up to 5 feet. I remember seeing Marcy and the boat get slammed by a wave that really knocked them both around. I had probably been rolled over on to my back by that same wave just a few seconds before. I didn’t want to ask but I am sure Marcy was as unhappy with me not swimming near her as she was with the wind and waves. At that point, we decided to take each half hour feed as it comes and see what progress we were making.
In Marcy’s mind she was worried about the risk of injury. Having lost 3 to 4 months of training after her last injury, she didn’t want to risk such a loss of time in the water with her triple English Channel Crossing next year. I too have had some minor injuries, but that really wasn’t in the back of my mind.
At about this time we did see two sail boats that passed us as they went to who knows where. What was interesting is that except for these two sail boats and one fishing craft near Corn Hill at 6:30 AM, we did not see any other craft on Cape Cod Bay. That fact should also have been a clue about the weather we were facing in the Bay, but we were still not listening to Mother Nature. Also, while we did not see any marine wildlife, we understand that there was a whale under us as detected by the depth finder on the boat. Finally we both thought that the Bay was very, very clean. Spending billions of dollars to clean up our waters is paying off not only for all Americans but for us crazy open water swimmers.
At 8 hours, 10 minutes, Marcy had had enough. She had calculated that with the current conditions we were, at best, attempting a 14-hour and not a 10- to 12- hour swim. While Marcy felt great and looked great in the water, there was no point in risking any injury and being out of the water at a crucial point in her training for her attempted triple-crossing of the English Channel.
I gave it another 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the conditions only worsened. When I realized that I had only gone 1/4 of a mile in that time, discretion being the better part of valor, I got out as well. While I also felt great and was swimming well, there was no reason to keep swimming as in my heart of hearts, the effort to complete the swim was more than I felt I could give due to the conditions of the Bay.
When we got out of the water and continued to head west to let Marcy off at the beach where we had hoped to land, the winds and the waves continued to pick up. We figured that by the time we landed we were in Force 6 winds of over 25 knots and waves that were building to 6 feet. Until we reached the shelter of the inlet where we landed the winds continued to blow hard from the south and west, almost directly into our faces. These are not safe conditions for anyone swimming or traveling on the water.
Conclusion
Cape Cod Bay is not a simple swim. It is longer than the English Channel. The tides are tricky because of the influence of the Cape Cod Canal which changes direction twice as often as the rest of the Bay. More preparation for the swim, especially in calculating the effect of the tides on the western side of the Bay is a must.
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
William Greenough Thayer Shedd
High Calvinist of the American Presbyterian Church
(1820-1894)
While disappointed with not completing the swim, we are not disappointed with our effort. Marcy and I both feel that we can complete this swim. We do need better intelligence. We will try this swim again. During the remainder of the summer we will review the tides more closely. We may even plan a relay of 4 swimmers to better figure out the tides inside Cape Cod Bay.
Perhaps next year, as Marcy tries to become the first American to complete a triple-crossing of the English Channel, I will again try to cross Cape Cod Bay.