Today we got an extra half an hour of sleep so our day began at 8:30 when the taxi picked us up. From there we drove to harbor and ate a fruit filled breakfast. It was a rather short breakfast compared to others, lasting only about ten minutes. Once breakfast was done we headed to the boats. Our destination today was the wreck of the R.M.S. Rhone. The Rhone sank in October of 1867. It was the most advanced ship in its day, and was being used as a cruise ship when it sank. The ship was in hurricane and it’s stern smashed into a huge rock. The rock split open the hull and water rushed into the boiler room, which caused a huge explosion sinking the ship. Roughly 150 people died there almost all passengers. The sunken ship developed into a natural artificial reef over the course of the 150 years it’s been under the sea and is the first under water marine park in the British Virgin Islands. We began our dive at nine and we slowly sank to the bottom of the bow of the ship. The ship was covered in life. I saw some of the most diverse types of life and I am now able to understand how reefs are considered the underwater rain forests. Our dive instructor, Jeff, took us around deck of the bow and through the port side. I wasn’t expecting to go through the ship, so it was quite a shock to enter into a black abyss that was barley being lit by the window holes. Our group corkscrewed around various debris from the fist class cabins. Unfortunately I had camera problems again today, this time my battery died right as we were exiting the ship wreck. We resurfaced pretty soon after that because we reached a depth of 80ft and at that depth you burn through air really fast. We took a thirty minute break and headed to the stern of the ship. The stern was definitely ten times cooler than the bow. There were hundreds of schools of colorful fish and the wreck was more out in the open than the bow. We swam through the rudder and saw the huge twenty foot propeller laying on a rock. This dive was a little bit shallower so we got to stay down longer. I saw a huge 3 foot barracuda and a Grey Angel ( look them up) I was kicking myself for not charging my battery. Our dive leader took us to the site where one passenger survivor made it out. The glass from his window was still intact and you could even see his room number still etched into the door. After grazing over the ship a few times we went back up to the dive ship. We then left for Cooper Island Beach Club for lunch. I had an exquisite chicken sandwich, but unfortunately my friend managed to spill his drink all over myself and the table. After lunch we took a tour of the facilities on the island because they are nearly all self sufficient, renewable, and ecofriendly. We then snorkels for an hour off the island. I saw a beautiful eagle stingray, but managed to get stuck in a current with Gavin Patterson, Matt Mills, and Will Comier. We moved maybe three feet in five minutes and to make things worse Matt’s snorkel wouldn’t work and kept taking in water. Eventually we made it back to the boat just as everyone was getting back on and we were done for the day
