Contemplating her no-swimsuit situation, Laura Cotton tried on the captain's t-shirt.

“Well … I looks like we came ill prepared,” I said. “I didn’t tell anyone to bring swimsuits. I came straight from a TV interview myself.”

Oh … I’m sure it won’t be a big deal. It’s only a three-hour cruise so the swimming stop can’t be all that long. We’ll make due.

That is what I convinced myself until we stopped at Cotton Bay. (I know … I like that name, too.)

It was glorious.

The sun shone bright, the water shone clear and for the first time in a month my phone wasn’t ringing nonstop. But here I was stuck on the boat as the others dived in … and my three journalists guests were stuck with me.

“I have a pair of shorts and a t-shirt you can borrow,” offered the captain. “Put them on and dive in.”

I shook my head and heartily thanked him.  He made me keep the clothes any way …. just in case.

I perched myself at the edge of the boat watching the Tourism folks cool off in the crystal clean ocean water.

Hmmmmm … they certainly look like they are in no hurry. Oh my goodness! What a perfect day! Too bad I didn’t bring a swimsuit. Poor Rea, Simone and what’s her name! It’s all my fault that they don’t get to enjoy it either. I wonder how unprofessional it would be to dive in with my clothes on. My shirt would dry quickly and this short linen skirt would, too. I wonder if they would follow my lead. I wonder if they are only not jumping in because I’m not. Hmmmm …

I hopped up from my perch and made the decision.

Handing the captain’s shorts to Simone and the t-shirt to Rea I said,  “Ok … I think we should get in. It’s too nice of a day. I’m going to swim in what I have on. You may take these if you wish.”

I held my breath for fear of their reaction and released it when their faces broke into wide smiles.

The water was too nice not to jump in ... fully clothed.

Within five minutes, the group in the water included four additional swimmers in an assortment of t-shirts, shorts (the captain donated another pair) and every day clothes.

It was truly one of the most enjoyable two hours I’ve experienced in the islands. And my media friends (for they were true friends after the experience) echoed the same sentiment. That one spontaneous decision broke down many formal barriers and forged invaluable relationships.

Now my swimsuit is in a constant item in my bag on any island tour – land or water.

Maxine, the radio personality, greeted me, I waited through the rest of the song, a paid political announcement (it was election time after all in Trinidad & Tobago) and Fashion Week’s 30-second commercial.  Now … my turn.

You know the really annoying screech that sounds when a person calls into a radio station and has his/her own radio volume on high?  Well … the feedback I had was 10 times more distracting. Every time I talked, I heard a two-second-delay echo.  I was hearing my own interview through the phone receiver.

“We had the largest ever … we had the largest ever …”

Have you ever tried to think about what to say next when what you are presently saying is being repeated – in your own voice – back to you? It’s extremely difficult to ignore the “voice” and focus on what should come out of your mouth next.

At first, I paused to regroup my thoughts and then when I heard the pause in the echo, I realized I’ve paused too long.  You never want your echo to catch up with you – that means dead air!

I literally had exercise some mind detachment – like cutting a connecting wire – to be able to ignore what was playing back in my ear other than Maxine’s questions.

Because it was a live interview so I couldn’t interrupt the interview to correct the technical glitch so I just dealt with it – and the knowledge that I probably sounded like an out-of-time record player.

Just another live interview experience to add to my portfolio – filed next to the live radio interview completed as I was getting my car jumpstarted in the middle of a busy Atlanta road and when a Peoria TV reporter asked if I was single and offered to set up me during a live interview about new airline service. Gheesh.