Cane Bay Fills with Mermaids!

Who doesn’t love mermaids? The first weekend in November, Cane Bay was filled with ‘mermaids’…both by land and by sea! The Mermaid Mixer is a fun, women only splash or dash event held each November at Cane Bay.  Participants, or ‘mermaids’ as they are called, sign up to either run 3 miles or swim 1/4 of a mile.  Relay teams of one runner and one swimmer are then selected at random (hence the ‘mixer’ part) in the hopes of introducing participants to new women here on St. Croix.

The beauty of this event, especially to someone like myself who has recently taken up ocean swimming, is that it is non-competitive.  In fact, they don’t even time it – so women of all ages and fitness levels feel comfortable participating, making for a variety of mermaids taking part. This year there were 50 of us mermaids, making a total of 25 teams. This was my first year participating and I am definitely not in any kind of shape, especially competitive! However, having such supportive women around cheering me on was very encouraging…even as the swimmer that was the very last one back to the beach!

While the day started off rainy, the sunshine came out in time for the participants to celebrate in their accomplishment with their fellow mermaids over rum punch on the beach at the finish line!  To top off a great morning, local business donated a slew of raffle prizes which were given away by random drawing at the end of the event.  This mermaid won herself a well needed massage!  Other great prizes included restaurant gift certificates, swim lessons, jewelry, and Cane Bay posters donated by us here at gotostcroix.com!  Not to mention that each participant received an adorable handmade mermaid memento to commemorate the event!

If you didn’t participate this year, mark your calendars for next year!  This is an amazing event that will leave you feeling accomplished and encouraged, and (hopefully) you will gain a few new girlfriends here on St. Croix as well!

-Jennie Ogden, Editor