Channel of Bones – The “Aloha” Swim

Aloha: meaning: Aloha is an essence of being, love, peace, compassion and a mutual understanding of respect. Aloha means living in harmony with the people and land around you with mercy, sympathy, grace and kindness.

So how has Hawaii the “Aloha State” have one of the scariest Oceans 7 swims?

I thought of this swim after my North Channel swim in July 2023 (Blog: Journey to completing the North Channel.) It took me some time to emotionally commit to book for the 42km “Channel of Bones” swim. Why? Because I was scared, scared of the length, the big rolling seas, the sharks, the jellyfish and the 70% failure rate.

Many swimmers have horror stories of this swim and the month before my swim more stories emerged:

I was getting very nervous.

We did some sightseeing, checked out the potential sites for the swim finish, swam with soon to be new friends by the famous Outrigger Canoe Club and headed to the local catholic church for mass. There Elspeth and I were greeted with a lei and asked to do the offertory procession. The priest gave a great sermon…. his key message “have faith in God and Jesus and have faith in yourself because They have faith in you”. What a great message to hear when facing a huge personal challenge.

So now that my spiritual health was good, I needed to work on the physical. I had been a little worried about my right shoulder and on Tuesday I had a maintenance day with a physio, chiropractor and massage appointment. On Wednesday, the day before the swim, I went to Mass and discovered that it was the feast day of St Damien of Moloka’i- now if that wasn’t a great sign I don’t know what is!

Photos: St Damien of Molokai and Fr Michael Dalton at Holy Trinity Church Honolulu

Andy Donaldson had strongly advised me to fly to Moloka’I – not to take the boat as he had found that trip took a lot out of him (sea-sickness) so Koru and I flew over.  We arrived and were collected by Daniel a warm and lovely driver who has taken many swimmers to the start of the swim. (His number courtesy of Andy as well)  He gave us a tour of the Kepuhi resort and Koru and I found a beach cabana to shelter and rest under prior to the swim. At 3pm I had some of the left-overs from last night’s dinner and around 5.00pm we started the sunscreen routine, at 5.30pm our pilot board appeared on the horizon.

One of the fun parts of this swim is that you swim out to the boat through the surf carrying the dry bags.

My maternal instinct did kick in whilst I watched Koru (a very competent swimmer) swim through the surf. Its true, even when you don’t need to, you never stop worrying about your kids. Then we boarded the boat and headed to the start. Sarah greased me up and I had a drink. We opened the dry bags to find not a lot was dry! Squashing too much gear into them hadn’t worked! Luckily Koru could wear some of my dry toweling robes.

I jumped back off the boat and swam to shore. Throwing my hands up I signaled my entry back into the surf and at 5.59pm the swim had started. Swimming into the sun was quite difficult and my kayaker Marley was in front of me which meant I was having look up which strains your neck. At the first feed I asked him to not be too much in front and he quickly adapted.

Photos: Getting ready to start and Koru watching mum swim

I tracked the kayak during the early evening by following the shark shield that trailed like a long thick rope under the kayak. It quickly became dark and stayed like this for almost twelve hours. I found the first three hours quite disorientating- trying to anticipate the waves in the dark and making sure they didn’t smash into your face was pretty challenging. Everything had to be done by feel.

The night sky was full of stars which I glimpsed from time to time when I swam, however after a few hours the sky did cloud over. Later the sky cleared and the stars reappeared. I stopped shortly (for about 15 seconds) to look up and drink in the wonderous experience of being where I was in a vast ocean.

There wasn’t light above the water only – underneath me was a light show every time I pulled my arms through the water the plankton performed their bioluminescence light show.

The dichotomy of darkness and light all at the same time did take some time to adjust too.

Photos: Swimming through the night

I fed fast (following the advice of coach and open water legend Philip Rush) and there wasn’t much talking to the crew, I signaled I was okay with thumbs up, reported on my peeing (as we wanted to keep an eye on hydration given this was the warmest water I had swum in!) and I just kept swimming.

Two hours in I was stung and then stung again at four and six hours – always the Portuguese man of war jellyfish wrapping around my right arm. I kept praying to St Damien and chided him a little for letting me get stung -however I remembered he was the patron saint of lepers and they had a way worse time than me so I reverted to being thankful for the privilege of being in such a unique space and doing something seriously special.

The swim continued through the night punctuated with the 30 minutes feeds. At each feed we would catch up with the big boat, the crew would throw down a bottle on string, I would drink quickly and then set off once more – myself and a kayaker. Around 5.15am the sun began to rise. I had been swimming fast as I found the warmer water (itself a new experience for me) most enjoyable. For the first time all my energy could be used for swimming fast, I didn’t need to use energy to keep warm. I was starting to feel confident that I could do this swim, but I also know it’s never over until you reach the shore and there is a lot that can go wrong.

And go wrong it did. I screamed, swore and leapt up from the water as my foot hit a jellyfish, then bam another one on the right arm. These were not like the other jellyfish. I have been stung by a lot of jellyfish in my time (most recently in Foveaux and the North Channel). This was the most painful set of stings I have ever experienced. I swore and cried. I immediately felt the poison coursing around my body….Hold on I thought – my heart beat quickened and I could feel a level of swelling in my mouth. I started to monitor how I felt and knew the next 20 minutes would be vital.

I cried some more and prayed for the pain to go away – then I realized that was not the most reasonable ask so I just prayed that it would become manageable. I knew this was time to dig very deep. I thought of the charity I was raising money for Kenzies Gift and the kids who have lost mum, dads, siblings and the funds I raised would be able to help. I thought my pain will go away but theirs lasts a lifetime. This helped me get the pain into perspective. I also knew I never wanted to try this swim again and the only way to be in that situation was to finish it. At this point Tony, one of my crew from NZ, was kayaking for me and it was comforting to know a friend was right beside me.

I put my head down, kept swimming and 20 minutes later I knew that the effects of the poison would not get any worse. I just needed to avoid any more stings. I could see the shore at this point – however I guessed I had 3-4 hours left. At the next feed Sarah told me “you are caught in funny currents- you need to give it a real push” and push I did. In some ways this not so good news helped me keep focused on swimming, swimming and swimming some more…for 3 hours more.

The pilot Mike Twigg Smith had said close to shore he would get in and swim to the finish with me. Teee one of the kayakers told me the lead boat was going to stop soon and Mike and the crew would jump in. I saw Mike and we started the final 400 meters. (Thanks to all the crew, Mike, navigator Kainoa, kayakers Teee, Marley, and my own kayaker Tony)

Sandy Beach where we landed has a notorious surf break – Mike told me to stop and wait between sets of waves which we did but inevitably as you swim/surf in you get tossed and turned. Once through the final wave I stood up and raised my arms delighted to have completed the swim 15 hours and 7 minutes after I started. Lauren, Sarah’s cousin and Elspeth greeted us on the beach with a lei for me and photos followed. I had a quick shower at the beach with other swimmers who were mightily impressed that I had just swim from Moloka’i and also by the welts and stings on my right arm.

Photos: The Finish (and the stings)

This swim – whilst it was probably one of the scariest prior to swimming did turn out to be for me the Aloha swim. Why?

There was love -shown to me by so many.

• Locals who showed me so much kindness, welcomed me, swam with me and helped me with blenders, dry bags, gave advice (Mike Spaulding Candes Gentry, Ward, Cindy, Lauren, Holy Trinity Parish).
• The crew Sarah, Koru (in finish photos) and Tony and Elspeth who spent two weeks travelling to Hawaii and supporting me on and off the water.
• The open water swimming crew in Wellington (the Spud Buds, the Washing Machines, Philip Rush) in New Zealand and Ireland (many of them – a special shout out to Stephen Redmond who was regularly in touch with my crew as I swam).

• Also a shout out to Andy Donaldson – it is very special to be doing some of our Oceans 7 swims at the same time and being a part of each other’s journeys – plus sharing advice and stories! 
• Friends all around the world who reach out with messages of support and congratulations.
• Then my wonderfully supportive family – I called my husband and mum as soon as I could when I finished.
• Mike Spaulding said it best when he texted me “you got it done in spite of huge obstacles lots of people love you including your Hawaii family”

There was peace – peace in my mind as the challenge approached, peace in the large dark ocean as I swam at one with nature, respecting the ocean the life in it and the life it gives, there was deep gratitude to God.

There was compassion – compassion as I felt for those who suffer pain and loss. And those that have showed support at compassion with their donations for a great charity helping kids too- If you would like to to donate click: https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/4-3-2-1-4-swims-3-in-the-usa-2-open-water-triple

For me this swim will never be the Channel of Bones, it was so much more special that that.

They should rename it!

I will always be grateful for the chance to experience my “Aloha” swim.

Thank-you to all who were a part of it.

12th May 2023 Moloka’i to O’ahu 15 hours and 7 minutes – First Irish Woman, fastest Irish swimmer. 98th Crossing.