Wreck Week highlights history – The BVI Beacon

Under a bright moon June 20, five divers rolled backwards off a dinghy near Salt Island.

Above them rose Black Rock Point, which claimed the Royal Mail Ship Rhone and the lives of 123 crewmembers and passengers during a hurricane on Oct. 29, 1867. In the inky waters below lay the remains of the Rhone, which they explored over the next hour using bright waterproof torches. The shipwreck — which became the Virgin Islands’ first national marine park in 1980 — is the crown jewel of the territory’s ubiquitous dive sites. But many scuba-certified tourists are more focused on sightseeing than the Rhone’s tragic history.

As part of Wreck Week this year, a new cultural activity was held to help change that.

To bring attention to history of the Rhone and the island where it wrecked, the VI National Parks Trust and the BVI Scuba Organisation collaborated to organise a commemorative wreath-laying ceremony the afternoon of June 20 on Salt Island.

As about two dozen attendees gathered around, NPT Director Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal opened the event by explaining that it’s important for the dive industry to connect with the territory’s history.

Then she introduced five women who grew up on the island and passed the microphone to some of them.

“Yes, growing up on Salt Island was fun,” recalled Daisy Grant, who attended the event with three daughters. “We were able to play as we like; go in the sea whenever we wanted. And it was fun. Before, we could even eat the salt. At that time, there was plenty of salt.”

The Rhone was included in previous Wreck Weeks in 2019 and 2023, but this year was the first time a wreath-laying ceremony took place before participants dived the site, according to BVISO President Kim Huish.

“The Rhone is [the National Parks Trust’s] only underwater national park, and it is such an amazing wreck,” Ms. Huish said. “We’ve got people that have lived and worked in the dive industry here that have dived it literally seven or eight times a week for years and still love that dive.”

This year, more thought was given to what the Rhone means to the territory, she added.

“It’s easy to forget and it’s easy to tell funny, silly stories rather than remember [the Rhone] was a place of tragedy,” Ms. Huish said. “It was a year of tragedy actually.”

The wreath-laying ceremony, Ms. Huish said, will continue in future years.

June 20 was the fifth day of the week-long event, which was designed to raise awareness about the dive industry and its importance in tourism and marine conservation in the territory.

Attendance

About 350 people participated in Wreck Week this year, and more than 100 attended the last day of cultural festivities on Saturday at Nanny Cay, according to Ms. Huish.

“I believe we have laid a really solid groundwork for next year,” she said. “We have already started discussions with specialist crewed yacht flotilla brokers and will be able to get The Moorings a head start on their bareboat flotilla marketing for next year.”

Other dives

On the first day of diving June 16, St. Thomas-based coral biologist Dan Mele and Tortola-based dive instructor Matt Anderson — both underwater photographers hired to promote the event — dived the Playground and Twin Towers dive sites near Little Jost Van Dyke. The next day, they took on the wreck of the Fearless, a World War One-era minesweeper of a similar design as Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso.

“[The Fearless] sits in about 80 feet in Great Harbour,” Mr. Anderson said. “The visibility wasn’t great, but we were still able to get some shots. Lots of sergeant major eggs. Really nice conditions. Super flat out there.”

Afterwards, he and Mr. Mele visited the former Willy T, which was sunk after Hurricane Irma to serve as a dive site.

“We had big schools of silversides down there, which makes for some really nice shots inside,” Mr. Anderson said. “Visibility cleared up, so we had a nice big snapper following us around. In all, it was good.”

Refrigeration ship

The next day, the pair dived the Chikuzen, a Korean refrigeration ship. While wind noise drowned out most conversation atop the dive boat Sea Monkey that day, Mr. Mele was able to shout loud enough to tell this reporter his hopes for diving the 1981 wreck.

“I am really hoping for some bigger, charismatic megafauna,” Mr. Mele explained.

“You know, I’ve never dove [the Chikuzen], so all these BVI wrecks are first times for me. It sounds like this is a spot that’s a good chance of seeing some bigger fish. Maybe some sharks, turtles, things like that.”

Though no sharks crossed the divers’ path that day, a sizeable goliath grouper was spotted lounging inside the wreck.

That afternoon, they visited sunken tugboats at Wreck Alley, where they saw a large stingray and other marine life.

June 19 marked a midway point in Wreck Week, and Messrs. Anderson and Mele dived the “Sharkplaneo” sculpture and the Kodiak Queen.

The last planned dives of the week were held at the Rhone following the onshore wreath-laying ceremony.

As in past years, Friday was reserved for a beach clean-up on Anegada organised by the Tortola-based non-profit organisation Beyond the Reef.

On Saturday for the first time, end-of-week celebrations were held throughout the day near the stage at Nanny Cay to further blend diving with the territory’s history and culture. Beginning in the morning, Heritage Dancers and others performed as vendors served food and local produce.

“[The VI] has a long history of farming and locally made stuff,” Ms. Huish said. “There wasn’t a choice, you know, in the fifties and sixties: If you didn’t make it here, you didn’t have it. So that’s part of the theme of [today].”

In past years, Wreck Week has ended with an evening celebration, but this year the Humane Society’s annual Casino Night was scheduled at Nanny Cay on Saturday night.

“We pivoted and decided to do a farmer’s market and local craft fair,” Ms. Huish said. “And, I mean, the vendors here just have some amazing, beautiful handmade stuff. And the food: oh, my goodness.”

In the coming years, the BVISO hopes to further expand Wreck Week activities.

“What we’re hoping is that the charter yacht companies can think about doing flotillas: One of the crewed yachts can think about joining in for a dive or two,” Ms. Huish explained.

“The way that people who are already certified can participate is by, if they’re residents, they just sign up with the local dive shop.”

Tourists, Ms. Huish added, may have to plan ahead, because dive gear inventory in the territory is “quite small.”