Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
RHONE DAY! RHONE DAY! Some of us woke up at 4 am, along with our three facilitators, to move the boat to the wreck, but most of us slept in till 7. To kick off the morning, our facilitators and our divemasters (woohoo) had some Khaos Monster energy drinks, and we listened to Sandstorm. Our divemasters went for the day to lead dives of the wreck of the Rhone. JT had a blast leading the new open water divers and seeing their reactions, in addition to him leading a first dive technically certified. The rest of us took our sailing exam, and all of us passed!!! So proud of everyone, especially Luke C. After we went for a hike of Salt Island.
Katie W loved the views from the island and the experience. She also climbed a palm tree. It was a beautiful view from the top, and we saw some goats. There were so many cool rocks. When we got back to our boat, we enjoyed a swim to cool ourselves off and then proceeded to tan. For lunch, we enjoyed Ramen, which was super tasty. We had more free time after lunch, which Maya spent reading peacefully. Then it was finally time for all of Avizia to dive into the wreck of the Rhone. The RMS Rhone was deemed unsinkable by the British Royal Navy, similar to the Titanic, which of course, sank. It was a mail ship that was not supposed to carry people, yet the passengers of a different ship, the Conway, were moved to the Rhone due to a hurricane, and it was believed to be safer because it was supposed to be unsinkable. Unfortunately, the crew tied down all of the passengers to their beds, hoping it would keep them in place and prevent any injuries.
Additionally, the captain was well-experienced with storms. As they were leaving GHP, their anchor got stuck, and they decided to leave the anchor and head to sea. They hugged close to Salt Island with the intention to avoid the blonde rock, a shallow area, but instead, they were pushed into the rocks and ended up sinking at the southern tip of Salt Island. Only a few of the staff survived, and the remaining bodies were recovered by residents of Salt Island. Queen Victoria was grateful to the residents of Salt Island for their help, so instead of them paying their taxes, she requested that they send her one pound of salt per year for Christmas dinner. We dove the wreck at around 50 feet of depth. Everyone had a blast, and Spencer and Ellie took pics of their go-pros. Grace did navigation for her dive and helped Luke C with his troublesome weight belt. Luke A led Ellie, Anna, and me on our dive and showed us some pretty cool fish around the wreck. A super cool part about the dive, Maya and Sofia’s favorite, was a swim through the propeller area. We motored back to GHP and took our ocean showers. We have a four-boat raft with BDV, Friendship, and Shamwari tonight. I saw my sister, who is working on a boat in the BVI’s, which was a fun surprise. Anna and Grace made us a lovely breakfast for dinner. Paige was happy that today was her last day at AQ of doing the dishy pit.