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Changes in Latitude Tour
Changes in Latitude Tour
I made this video shortly after we completed our trip last May, and I was holding it back to post it with the trip report. It is obvious that the trip report will never get done. You can, however, see where we were. We wrote a draft which I can plug in here in small parts.
For those of you who prefer the executive summary, let’s start with the highlights. This was a 12 day 11 night trip that started on Friday May 21 and ended Tuesday June 1. That meant that we only needed 7 days of leave because of the two weekends and a holiday. This was our third year to stay at Luna Vista. We really like the central location and easy access of this villa. We packed our Polar Bear 12 pack cooler full of meat from home. We ate four meals outside of the villa - a breakfast at Donkey Diner, a lunch and supper at the Beach Bar, and supper at Shipwreck Landing with Maggy. We did have a small amount of food left that we gave to our villa hosts.
The primary activity was scuba diving. We were certified as open water divers two years ago. Last year we spent our time improving our skills and knowledge. This year we completed our advanced certification. Our schedule, including the advanced course, took eight days over a nine day period and included 16 dives. We also found time for our favorite beaches and a couple of new ones.
This is the first time since we started going to PR, STT and STJ that we were not able to do everything we wanted due to weather. It rained Thursday, part of Friday and smaller portions of Saturday and Sunday.
For those of you who have heard enough about someone else’s trip, here is the video.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/12902619" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/12902619">Changes In Latitude, Changes in Attitude Tour</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2089558">Jim Gallagher</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
The highlight of the trip was our dive of the RMS Rhone. Thursday’s dive started early. We were taking the deep dive and wreck dive to complete our advanced certification. We were going to the RMS Rhone. The Rhone reached its watery grave in 1867. The stern and propeller are in shallow water near the rocks of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands. The bow is in much deeper water. The majority of our dive group had never seen the Rhone, and Terry gave us a briefing on what to expect. One of the effects of diving to 75 or 80 feet is the air does not last as long. One of the goals is to conserve as much air as possible. Terry asked us to get into the water and descend hand-over-hand down the mooring line rather than swimming to the bottom. The remains of the ship came into view as we swam along the bottom. The fore mast is lying in the sand with the crows nest still in place. Divers can enter the starboard side of the hull and swim toward the rear. The fish were plentiful and very large. The bottom time was a very short 30 minutes. Some of the time was spend getting to and from the wreck. The area around the Rhone is known for its currents. There was almost no current on this day. After a lunch on the boat, we quickly got back into the water to dive to the stern and where we saw the huge propeller. This was one of the first ships that was capable of sailing under wind power and steam. It is generally accepted that when the hurricane pushed the mail ship into the rocks and ruptured the hull, the cold sea water hit the hot boiler and caused an explosion. In this section of the ship divers can find an intact port hole and galley floor tiles that are still adhered to the deck. There were numerous large lobsters and fish. The weather was rainy on and off all day. It rained on the way back to Cruz Bay and stopped as we arrived at Customs. Soon after we got back to Low Key and the Beach Bar the rain started again. Well, there was only one choice – sit at the Beach Bar until it stopped.
During a break in the rain, we headed back to Luna Vista. This marked the first day since we started going to the Caribbean that we could not do whatever we wanted due to weather. We hung out in the villa and watched a movie. Even after all this time, “Good Morning Viet Nam” is still funny. I kept looking out the window agreeing with the movie the weather was “hot and sh***y” all afternoon.
We always look forward to our trips and this one was no exception. The countdown tends to make the wait longer and the stay on St John shorter. Even with the technology problems and weather’s impact, it was still a remarkable trip. Although we are not certain of when we will be back there together, we know we will. We’ll pull up a stool at the Beach Bar, order a bushwacker, and listen to the live music. We'll see the Forumites gathering at the foot of the stairs, toast our friends who are there and those who can no longer be there in person, and watch the Sun set over St Thomas once again.
JIM
For those of you who prefer the executive summary, let’s start with the highlights. This was a 12 day 11 night trip that started on Friday May 21 and ended Tuesday June 1. That meant that we only needed 7 days of leave because of the two weekends and a holiday. This was our third year to stay at Luna Vista. We really like the central location and easy access of this villa. We packed our Polar Bear 12 pack cooler full of meat from home. We ate four meals outside of the villa - a breakfast at Donkey Diner, a lunch and supper at the Beach Bar, and supper at Shipwreck Landing with Maggy. We did have a small amount of food left that we gave to our villa hosts.
The primary activity was scuba diving. We were certified as open water divers two years ago. Last year we spent our time improving our skills and knowledge. This year we completed our advanced certification. Our schedule, including the advanced course, took eight days over a nine day period and included 16 dives. We also found time for our favorite beaches and a couple of new ones.
This is the first time since we started going to PR, STT and STJ that we were not able to do everything we wanted due to weather. It rained Thursday, part of Friday and smaller portions of Saturday and Sunday.
For those of you who have heard enough about someone else’s trip, here is the video.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/12902619" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/12902619">Changes In Latitude, Changes in Attitude Tour</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2089558">Jim Gallagher</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
The highlight of the trip was our dive of the RMS Rhone. Thursday’s dive started early. We were taking the deep dive and wreck dive to complete our advanced certification. We were going to the RMS Rhone. The Rhone reached its watery grave in 1867. The stern and propeller are in shallow water near the rocks of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands. The bow is in much deeper water. The majority of our dive group had never seen the Rhone, and Terry gave us a briefing on what to expect. One of the effects of diving to 75 or 80 feet is the air does not last as long. One of the goals is to conserve as much air as possible. Terry asked us to get into the water and descend hand-over-hand down the mooring line rather than swimming to the bottom. The remains of the ship came into view as we swam along the bottom. The fore mast is lying in the sand with the crows nest still in place. Divers can enter the starboard side of the hull and swim toward the rear. The fish were plentiful and very large. The bottom time was a very short 30 minutes. Some of the time was spend getting to and from the wreck. The area around the Rhone is known for its currents. There was almost no current on this day. After a lunch on the boat, we quickly got back into the water to dive to the stern and where we saw the huge propeller. This was one of the first ships that was capable of sailing under wind power and steam. It is generally accepted that when the hurricane pushed the mail ship into the rocks and ruptured the hull, the cold sea water hit the hot boiler and caused an explosion. In this section of the ship divers can find an intact port hole and galley floor tiles that are still adhered to the deck. There were numerous large lobsters and fish. The weather was rainy on and off all day. It rained on the way back to Cruz Bay and stopped as we arrived at Customs. Soon after we got back to Low Key and the Beach Bar the rain started again. Well, there was only one choice – sit at the Beach Bar until it stopped.
During a break in the rain, we headed back to Luna Vista. This marked the first day since we started going to the Caribbean that we could not do whatever we wanted due to weather. We hung out in the villa and watched a movie. Even after all this time, “Good Morning Viet Nam” is still funny. I kept looking out the window agreeing with the movie the weather was “hot and sh***y” all afternoon.
We always look forward to our trips and this one was no exception. The countdown tends to make the wait longer and the stay on St John shorter. Even with the technology problems and weather’s impact, it was still a remarkable trip. Although we are not certain of when we will be back there together, we know we will. We’ll pull up a stool at the Beach Bar, order a bushwacker, and listen to the live music. We'll see the Forumites gathering at the foot of the stairs, toast our friends who are there and those who can no longer be there in person, and watch the Sun set over St Thomas once again.
JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....
