Today’s Events
I woke up today at 6:15 and set up the table because it was our turn to serve breakfast to everyone. We set up the cereal in rows on the table then set out the drinks, yogurts, oranges, and muffins. Then after everyone left we cleaned up and tied the trash bag. Then we met up at the cattle guard and went to the docks to dive at the famous Rhone that is about 80 feet deep. When we first got to the Rhone we were doing the back section of the ship on our first dive that contained the bow and we saw sights like the hatch which was made famous from a movie called “the Deep”. We saw many interesting marine animals like a huge sting ray that swam over the crows nest, some big snappers, and a large lobster as well as a large bait all that is a school of small fish. Then we continued to swim inside of the ship because the crash created a tunnel of sorts that you can swim through. Then we saw a huge set of wrenches that were specially made for the ship and could not be fit on any other bolt. We came to the surface to take a break before the second dive and then we were briefed on the history of the Rhone. We submerged again to explore the other two parts of the ship that exploded when the Rhone went down. We saw the captains spoon, the captains rum bottle that was right by his spoon and the lucky port hole which we rubbed clockwise three times for three Italian wishes. We also saw some delicate sea horses hanging onto coral on the sand. Then after surfacing we headed to lunch at cooper island where we ate at the beach club. I got a mahi mahi wrap with fries on the side and then a bunch of people walked over to get some gelato. We drove to a bay right by the club and snorkeled to see animals in sea grass. When we first jumped in there were about three sting rays below and as we went around we saw animals that like to hang in sea grass. We saw a big eel, some squid, a sea turtle and many tarpon fish. We later came up and rode back to the docks where we cleaned out our gear and put up our tanks. Then we came down to the beach for dinner and had hotdogs and hamburgers. Just before and just after dinner we played ultimate frisbee on the beach. Then after the sun went down we all got waterproof flashlights and had a night snorkel led by Beth and Becca. I saw an octopus, a camouflage squid, and many baby squids swimming in packs. These animals all are nocturnal and don’t come out at night.
What I Learned
I learned all about the story of the Rhone. It was the first ship ever to be declared unsinkable and it was on a voyage to transport supplies in 1867 from the BVI to England when it was going to dock and it saw the yellow flags flying on the island that they were going to dock on. The yellow flags symbolized a yellow fever outbreak on the island so the Rhone kept going. They dropped anchor and set up planks so that the passengers of the Rhone and its sister ship could meet and talk. Then the barometer on the ships started to drop and the captains noticed it. Then they realized a hurricane was coming and they decided to keep all of the passengers on their own boats and strapped people down to their beds. Then their sister ship went to the nearest island and sank, but no casualties were suffered because they were close to an island. The Rhone’s anchor was wrapped around some coral so it could not move so they cut their chain. Now unable to dock because of their lost anchor the Rhone decided to run to open sea. The hurricane ended up smashing them into a rock that blew a hole in the boat. Then when the water from the hole hit the white hot fire room it caused an explosion that broke the boat more and blew more chunks everywhere cutting the distance of the ship from 300 feet to much shorter. All of the crew survived, only one passenger survived and the captain was thrown into the ocean. Nothing but his shoulder badges have been found of the captain to this day but it is said that he still haunts the Rhone to this day. I also learned about the island that black beard dropped off all of his mutinous crew. And I learned that the tarpon fish that we saw were around since ancient times. At the night snorkel we learned about how some animals are nocturnal in water just like out and how they mostly like to come out at night.
What I am looking forward to
The project presentation is tomorrow, I am nervous but exited to get it over with. I am also excited to look in the dive BVI shop and spend the 50 dollars that I won from winning the cabin olympics.
