We departed Manchioneel Bay along with all the other yachts that morning and rounded Salt Island to find the famous local wreck of the RMS Rhone. The British Mail steamer was overwhelmed by a hurricane in October 1867. It has received numerous awards and featured in the 1977 film The Deep.
Green grouper on the RMS Rhone
We were very easily able to identify the site of the wreck by the cluster of about 8 boats on mooring buoys above it. Kevin went in first by snorkel to identify exactly where the wreck was lying and immediately that he was in the water he shouted up he’d found one of the anchors which was under our boat. He swam up to the front of the moored boats and quickly found the prop and prop shaft however reported back that the wreck itself was not as complete as we had thought and has been reduced to piles of plate presumably by the hurricanes passing the islands since. At only 10m depth and being able to see the whole structure by snorkelling we decided to see it that way instead, being frequent UK wreck divers previously this was really a bit too touristy a wreck site for us. When a boat on a closer mooring left we took that and went for a second look. You can see the visibility from the photos I took snorkelling at the surface.
The RMS Rhone propeller – broken blade damaged in the sinking?
The propeller shaft of the RMS Rhone
Collapsed plates of the RMS Rhone
Later in the afternoon we decided to visit the big smoke, Road Harbour, Road Town on its shores being the capital of the BVIs. If nothing else we wanted to go because of the number of yachts that we see around that are registered there presumably because of financial incentives, most of the superyachts we see seem to be registered there. There were three cruise ships in dock in harbour as we approached and we were amused to see a tv screen outside on the top deck of one so large we could easily watch the game of football being broadcast from our boat. There are a number of marinas in the inner harbour, but at an average price locally of £50 per night for us to moor there we opted to anchor for free just outside where quite a number of other catamarans were already anchored.
Road Town overlooking Road Harbour
That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a meal ashore and took the dingy into the dock at Village Cay marina dingy dock. However after walking around the large industrial looking area beyond it we only found two restaurants associated with the marinas. We opted for the Spaghetti Junction / Bat Cave and were very pleased with our choice enjoying New Zealand green lipped mussel (not a local dish but a favourite of Kevin’s) followed by Jambalaya pasta for Kevin and a seafood linguini
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