Twenty five years ago, I was sitting doing my homework like any good schoolboy. The wind was howling outside and, given the Middle Eastern location, the sandstorm provided some technical issues with what I wanted to do that day. Sneaking off to the beach would be tricky enough, let alone dealing with the visibility on the water. I slid Boards, my windsurfing magazine, over my math book and read about a windsurfing championship in the Caribbean: adventure racing, rocketing through the islands. Due to my imagination and a long-reaching determination, I wrote a letter to the editor stating that I had a passion for riding boards and a leaning towards literature and wondered if they had ever considered hiring a schoolboy to write for them. The editor sent a letter my parents stating that if I was determined enough, both the event and magazine would still be there once I paid my dues on and off the water. But in order to achieve both ideas to fruition, Bill Dawes, the editor insisted, and my parents agreed, that the prizes would be in the actual participation and understanding of everything, not just the trophies or titles.
Now HIHO, the original Caribbean windsurfing event I’d first read about as a youngster, celebrates its twenty-fifth year during the first week of this month. Life has its little circles and moments, and many of us have dreamed about a vacation or even a life here on the islands, and before you know it, you are here. Mostly, dreams can become reality.
In this issue, we examine the journeys of people who have followed their passions to visit or remain in the islands. This is also our annual underwater issue, and we cheer the sport of diving—one of the most fascinating sports out here, one that goes on silently, underwater and always with the greatest respect for the environment. We are delighted to have explored spots off Virgin Gorda and to have tagged along for the annual Reef Check.
This month on the water, you’ll see a lot of windsurfers, sailors, snorkelers and divers. We hope you’re inspired to join them.
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See you on the water,
Owen Waters
