For those still waiting to read about the BVC Annual Meeting and Lobster Bake weekend, I was informed after the fact that that edition of the Buzz was too long (I guess there was other news that took precedence?!), so it will be in pieces in future columns. No room for it now as Linda Hultin and Pam Gardiner had plenty to say this week. Thank you for their contributions!

From Linda; The sound of hammers and nail guns could be heard as Chuck House's hard working crew put a new roof on Hardscrabble. The bullseye for the seagulls looks great and I'm sure they will begin their target practice soon, not sure how the scoring will be tallied but I'm sure the committee will have it fairly awarded when the games begin.

It's becoming clear that we are nearing the end of the summer season as boats are being pulled out and the mooring field is looking a bit empty. It's always a bit sad to see another season fade into the sunset, but we can all look forward to gathering anew next year with new stories and fresh smiles around our village.

This past weekend was the annual Cabbage Island swim, which is always an amazing sight as swimmers and paddlers march their way to the south and back again. With the exception of the end of summer fire pit, which is scheduled for October 12th, this was the last scheduled Bayville event for the season. 

Pam contributed this first hand account of the swim; This year’s Bayville-Cabbage Island swim (the 12th Annual) was not for the faint of heart.  Indeed, for some, it was an epic challenge.   The weather was less than ideal- cloudy, cool air, fog, drizzle, a light chop. Even so, there was not a hint of weather-related hesitation from our intrepid participants.  While swimmers were rewarded with very pleasant 70-degree water, our boating support crew got a little, shall we say, damp.

Just after the starting “horn” (my husband’s guttural utterance) went off Sunday morning, the pack soon separated into three basic categories: 

1) The Elites-  George Messner (East Boothbay/W Hartford, Conn.), Brandon Villalta-Lopez (Lewiston/ Managua, Nicaragua), and the one-way each team of Hopper McDonough (Bath) and Heather Weafer-Perry (Bath)- of SwimVacation fame.

2) The Solidly Competent Open-Water Swimmers- Lib Butler (Brunswick), Emma Collins (Woolwich), Yours Truly Pam Gardiner (Woolwich), and Ceileigh Weaver (Ellsworth). Please note that the latter in this category didn’t know she was a competent open-water swimmer until this very day.  Way to overcome that fear of sharks!

3)The Newbies/Half-sies (one-way swimmers) - Charlotte Collins (Woolwich), Liz Flory (Portland), and Amanda Cardella (Topsham).  Charlotte did do it halfway once years ago and says that doing one length on two separate occasions is the same as doing the entire swim.  I say, “No, it is not!”  Try again next year, my girlie.  You can do it!

This year’s trophy – the "Swim Lessons? Really?” Award – went to our two absolute neophytes- Liz and Amanda. This winter, these two ladies were egged on by some anonymous instigator (which may have been me) to sign up for the Tri for a Cure. They replied, “Sure. But we’re going to need swim lessons!” After hard, hard work under the tutelage of Bowdoin assistant swim coach Morgan Cooper, they went from barely getting down one pool length  to competing in two sprint triathlons – with very respectable times. So impressive! Who would have thought that just months after taking swim lessons that they would be swimming a mile in the open ocean? I say, they’re ready to teach swim lessons!  And even though Amanda thought that she was going to die, that this was much harder than climbing Katahdin’s Knife's Edge, she persevered, tough as nails, determined to make it to those seaweedy rocks! Epic, indeed.

It must have also seemed epic to the Harbormaster who kept swinging by us stragglers time and again on our way back. A curious seal also visited us, possibly concerned as well...

Many thanks to our support boaters: Craig Collins (Woolwich),  Jule Farmer (New Jersey), George Messner the Fourth (W Hartford, Conn.), Peter and Jack Sillin (Yarmouth), Tina Weaver (Ellsworth- yes, she drove down today for the event!), Dominic Cardella (Topsham) and Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vermont).  And, of course, Heather/Hopper, Charlotte, and Liz (on their non-swim legs).  Couldn’t do it without all of you.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s swim!

Thank you Linda and Pam!