Woke up in the huge and dramatic Gorda Sound. I think this must have been a volcanic crater judging by the size and shape. This is the most northerly point we are travelling with Ron. Next time we are here we will getting ready to cross to St Martin. Heading south to Salt Island to dive the wreck of the Rhone.
The Rhone was a cargo ship that foundered in a storm in the 19th century. Parts are in water shallow enough to snorkel over. We took a conveniently placed mooring buoy between the dive boats and eagerly kitted up. This is reputed to be a good dive though we were sceptical after the numerous descriptions of 'amazing dive', 'no, 1 site' failed to live up to their hype.
Its a great feeling to be able to start a dive by stepping off the back of your boat. It's what we plan to do more of. The three of us swam over to the dinghy buoys before descending and swam out in the direction of where we thought it would be. An hour later we surfaced over the Rhone's 3 anchors which were lying under the stern of Jackster. This was one dive that did live up to the hype. Fishing and taking lobsters in not allowed in a national park and the 2 giant lobsters we found in the wreck knew this. I think they must have had a copy of the rules pinned up in their dens because they were fearless, coming out to chase us off their patch, claws clacking. Big boys and would have been even better in the cooking pot!
Second dive of the day was the reverse of the first one, from the anchors at the stern around to the bow. David and I were relieved Ron could do this because he may have asked for his money, or worse, the Toblerone, back if we'd failed to deliver.
Night was spent on a mooring buoy outside the Bight on Norman. I persuaded the boys to do dinner while I lay back and watched the moon come up over the cliffs. Now that's what I call a perfect end to a perfect day
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