Christmas Eve. We had arrived. Our home for the next three years. The Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. We had also made it through our first offshore journey. We won’t dwell on the submarine conning tower appearing in the Tongue Of The Ocean trench behind us, the gigantic tarp that wrapped around the prop and stopped us dead in the water at midnight forcing John to go overboard in 6000 feet (1.8km) deep water to cut it loose, the machine gun carrying security guards on the docks in the Dominican Republic….no, that was all behind us now. On to the next adventure!
Virgin Gorda is beautiful. The waters of the surrounding area crystal clear aquamarine. The diving was phenomenal. Schools of brightly colored Tangs, Angel fish, Tuna, Amberjack, Christmas Tree worms, Yellowtail Snapper, Moray Eels, Barracudas, Sharks, Manta Rays, Sting Rays and the wreck of the RMS Rhone. We became very familiar with her. Four dives a week on her for three years. Two dives a day on the reefs. Around 14-16 dives a week including night dives. A LOT of diving.
RMS Rhone ( Royal Mail Steamship ) Wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the BVI on 29 October, 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people.
I learned to drive (and park!!) the big Dive boat Sunchaser, lead dive groups, fill air tanks while John made underwater videos every day of our groups of divers and then spent the afternoon editing the movie to show at the outdoor movie screen every evening along with the obligatory sundowner. Usually a Piña Colada, a Frozen Mudslide or a glass of red wine. I LOVE the tropics!
We had three wonderful years at Kilbrides Underwater Tours in the BVI. We met great people. We had a fantastic boss, Mike (who we miss terribly) and his partner Amy who is a super artist!
The day trips to Anegada, lunch at the Pirates Pub and snorkeling over the reefs and finding ancient cannons covered with coral. The photo shoot at the Baths, which put us on the cover of Scuba Diving magazine.
Hopping into Ramming Speed, Mikes runabout, to zip over to Tortola at sunset for dinner…..it was a very special time in our lives. Even getting to know Bert Kilbride himself, who at our going away party, presented me with a wonderful plate he had salvaged from the wreck of the Rhone.
The experiences were amazing, unimagineable and eye opening. The two enormous hurricanes, Luis and Marilyn, that arrived within a 10 day span of each other. We managed to come out unscathed from both but gained so much knowledge. How to deal with disasters, weather, storm prep, mooring lines, boat repairs and heeding warnings.
Our time in the BVI was truly life altering. It set us up for all that was to come. It also made us realize that we had absolutely made the right choice in tossing off the dock lines.
Dinner!
The Baths
Spotted Eagle Ray
Titan Trigger Fish