Today, the sun finally shone through the clouds, yet my morning was a little patchy. Although the roosters have been AWOL since day 1, I was woken by something a little more interesting: a lizard. He was scratching on the screen right next to my bed as he crawled around my wall, nearly falling on me. Even though he was present in the room, it still didn’t frighten me that much since I suddenly got out of bed to realize the sight of the precious sunlight. Thus I go outside to bask in the sunlight that I see will make my pale white skin finally bronze (don’t worry mom…I am definitely using gallons of sunscreen on my body); however, on the way outside I stubbed my toe. Nevertheless, I get dressed, wake up Richard and Drew, and head down to the taxi station with them two and Will Cormier. Immediately, we are whisked away by our taxi driver Glenn and taken to the marina where we meet the Dive BVI staff for breakfast. After breakfast, our group got on the esteemed Sea Dragon and we cruised 30 minutes to the Wreck of the Rhone, our dive site for the day. Our objective for the day is to complete a two-tank dive and to explore all the parts of the Rhone underwater, and obviously, we do just that. For a side note, I decided not to wear a rash guard so that I could get a little color. Regardless, our first dive, we explore the bow of the boat for about 25 minutes. While we are diving we see such a wide range of organisms including French Angel Fish, purple sponges, squirrel fish, and squid. We finally arrive at the site and enter inside the boat, a dark and mysterious home where many fish live in as well. Coral has grown on every inch of the wood. Making our way through the wooden beams is quite a difficult feat, yet we eventually exit the extravagant portion of the boat and explore the outside. Towards the bottom of the boat is where most of the schools of fish lie, such as the grouper and the yellow tail. They remain stagnant until we decide to reach out and touch the fish. After about twenty minutes, our small group of five heads back to the boat. We take a break by eating a little snack and jamming out to music that we make ourselves (everyone says that we all sing so well…especially Doc). Anyways, in between the breaks, we take Mrs. Gruninger, Kaela, and Mrs. Kirby to Cooper Island. On our way back to the wreck site, Casey tells our entire boot about the story behind the Wreck of the Rhone. Long story short, a hurricane comes and hits the boat before it has enough time to make it ashore, and it runs into a large, rough rock before exploding. Nevertheless, he story is extremely interesting and I think it would make a better story than the Titanic, but our focus should be on the second dive ahead of us. We eventually make it back to the wreck after about an hour and a half surface interval in between the two dives. We transfer rut equipment onto a new tank and make our way back into the water again. this time we explore the stern and propeller of the boat that had landed about 100 yards off from the bow of the R.M.S. Rhone. Underwater, we explore the silver spoon made of silver (duh), a black and white tiled floor that reminds me of a disco, and we even get to rub the lucky porthole #26, which is lucky only because the passenger of that compartment was the only actual passenger to survive. After the dive, we resurface to head over to Cooper Island to meet up with Kaela, Mrs. Gruninger, and Mrs. Kirby for lunch. We have a delightful filling of fish and chips at Bath and Turtle. I feel that I am a little burnt, but I could care less as I am surrounded by one of the most beautiful places in the world. While eating, our rout watches as a game of, as Joe calls it, Polish Horshoes ensues. So, after lunch we decide to play before getting a tour of the beach club on the island. The owner of the club gives a very Eco-friendy talk about all he has done to improve the environment in a area that has a very fragile ecosystem. He has transformed his entire resort into a self-sustaining area through his use of a “farm,” solar panels, and biodegradable eating utensils. His furniture is even recycled from old ships that have been broken down. He has done a lot to improve the island’s resourcefulness. After receiving a small tour of his site, we take a small trip down just about 100 yards to go snorkeling, the last time in the water for the day. There, we see a whole new set of marine life: Baracudas, Eagle Rays, and “swordfish” (I put this in quotes because they weren’t swordfish, but they had a needle pointing out of their nose which made them look very similar). We swam all around the bay for thirty minutes leaving our backs unprotected to the setting sun. Casey even swam with a gun to kill some lion fish, although she never actually found any. We head back to the boat and then back on shore after forty minutes of snorkeling. After showering and reviewing the pictures of the day, me and Will Cormier head back down the the taxi site to wait to go to dinner on the marina. While waiting, Will and I play some frisbee while the sun sets. At dinner, we all enjoy each other’s company while we eat cheese burgers and salads. Finally, we all head back to our stop in order to write our blogs and we just explode about how awesome the day was! Regardless, tonight is all about an aloe bath session and tomorrow is all about coral replanting. Can’t wait!
