LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 209:
Monday, March 18, 2002
Anchored Deadman Bay, Peter Island, BVI.
0855 A charter boat drops its anchor just to leeward of us; Chris notices that they have not put out very much chain. The boat drags the anchor about 30 yards before the anchor snags on something. The scope looks like about 1.5:1 so it is surprising that the anchor has caught. It does not hold for long, though. The heads in the cockpit are looking about, in sort of a quick side-to-side scan so it is apparent that the crew is aware the boat is dragging.
0908 Rain begins; it comes down in torrents - some of the heaviest rain we have seen yet in the West Indies - a regular cloudburst. The crew of the boat next to us is repositioning.
0915 The rain stops. The boat next to us is repositioned and appears to have put a little more chain in the water; its anchor appears to be holding.
0940 We are underway, bound for Cooper Island to position ourselves for scuba diving this afternoon.
0950 We motor into Sprat Bay to take a look at the Peter Island Resort. Sprat Bay is small; there are 6 moorings here and some slips and alongside docking available. Anchoring is not allowed. The Resort appears to be about the only development on the island and it is done in an elegant manner. The island has a pristine appearance that is quite different from say Tortola. There do not seem to be many guests at the resort at the present time. One can get to the resort by ferry, helicopter or private yacht. We witnessed a couple of helicopter arrivals yesterday, as the helipad is close to where we were anchored in Deadman Bay.
0956 We motor back out of Sprat Bay and take up a course to go north of Dead Chest Island and on to Cooper Island. Our destination is about 4 nm straight up wind, so we will motor to get there and recharge the batteries with the engine as we go. The wind is E 13-16 kts and there is a little chop; boatspeed is about 3.5 kts with the engine running at 2200 rpm.
1105 We set the anchor in Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island. The anchor is in 54 feet of water with 200 feet of chain rode deployed. Our position is: 18 22.982 N 64 30.937 W.
1430 We report to the dive boat pier to go scuba diving. The dive boat takes us to the west side of Salt Island to dive on the wreck of the Rhone. We learn from the dive master that the Rhone was greater than 300' in length. The following is an excerpt from the 2001-2002 Virgin Islands Cruising Guide (10th ed) by Nancy and Simon Scott. They credit the original write-up to "R.M.S. Rhone" by George and Luana Marler. "The Royal mail Steamer Rhone.
On the morning of October 29, 1867, the R.M.S. Rhone was at anchor outside Great Harbour, Peter Island. The Rhone, under the command of Captain Robert F. Wooley, had left Southampton [England] on October 2 1867, and was taking on cargo and stores for the return crossing. The R.M.S. Conway, commanded by Captain Hammock, lay alongside. The stillness of the tropical day was undisturbed as the sun blazed down from a clear sky upon calm seas. As the morning wore on, the barometer began to fall, hinting the weather might deteriorate. The seas, however, remained untroubled. Although the captains alerted themselves, work was allowed to continue.
Captain Wooley hailed Captain Hammock that he did not like the look of the weather and, as the hurricane season was over, it must be a northerly brewing. Wooley felt they should shift to the northern anchorage of Road Harbour, Tortola. About 11 am, the barometer suddenly fell to 27.95". The sky darkened and with a mighty roar a fearful hurricane blew from the NNW. The howling wind whistled through the shrouds and tore at the rigging. With engines going at full speed, the ships rode the storm. At noon there came a lull in the storm. The Conway
weighed anchor and headed toward the northern anchorage of Road Harbour. As she steamed across the Sir Francis Drake Channel, she was hit by the second blast of the hurricane. Her funnel and masts were blown away and she was driven onto the island  of Tortola. The Rhone tried to weigh anchor during the lull, but the shackle of the cable caught in the hawse pipe and parted, dropping the 3000-pound anchor and some 300 feet of chain. With engines running at full speed, she steamed seaward in order to seek sea room to weather the second onslaught. She had negotiated most of the rocky channel [the Salt Island Passage] when the hurricane, blowing from the SSE, struck, forcing her onto the rocks at Salt Island where she heeled over, broke in two, and sank instantly, taking most of her company with her." In considering the description of the event and in comparing with the chart, it seems that the hurricane passed directly overhead moving in perhaps a SSW direction. If the description of the event is accurate, it would seem also that the ships might have been better off to have remained at anchor when the eye of the storm passed over, as they would likely then have been in the lee of Peter Island and thereby protected from the second blast of the storm. To make that decision, however, would have required that the storm be recognized as a hurricane rather than a northerly blow. Our understanding of weather has improved a little since the 1800s!
1500 We go over the stern of the dive boat with our scuba gear on. As we look down on the Rhone, the thing that impresses me most is that the wreck is strewn over a large area of the bottom. Much of it has collapsed over the years flat onto the bottom. We go to a maximum depth of about 65 feet. There are lots of fishes of many types. We spot one barracuda hiding under the wreckage and there is a Hawksbill turtle here on the bottom. It swims away when we get close. I attempt to take some pictures but the camera is not working. I later discover I
forgot to position the lens-switch before sealing the camera into its waterproof case. We spend about 50 minutes in the water before ending the dive.
1700 When we return to the boat we find there is a Sunsail charter yacht anchored next to us. It looks a little too close and it is on a rope anchor rode. If the wind shifts more into the north later and the scope on the charter boat is less than 200 feet, there may be a conflict. But maybe I am being a bit over caution us!
2200 The wind is blustery and the boats are swinging about but we seem to be ok with respect to the charter boat. The charter boat's halyards are slatting against the mast and making a good deal of noise.

Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Anchored Deadman Bay, Peter Island, BVI.
0500 I hear a thump and get up to investigate. The wind has shifted more into the north. We have swung and bumped together against the Sunsail charter yacht that anchored too close to us yesterday. I find myself fending off with a boathook from the charter boat's bow. There does not appear to be any damage to either boat.
0505 I crank in 25 feet of chain rode.
0515 We are still too close. I take up another 25 feet of chain rode. This leaves the scope at slightly less than 3:1 in rather blustery wind conditions. There is no sign of life on the other boat. Apparently no one aboard felt the
boats bump together. I am uncomfortable with going back to sleep while remaining on less than 3:1 scope.
0530 After turning on the radar and navigation systems, we weigh anchor in the dark and move north about 50 yards. Here we reset the anchor on 200 feet of chain. GPS Position: 18 23.003 N 64 30.932 W.
0623 Sunrise.
1000 We go over to Cistern Point in the dinghy and do some snorkeling.
1150 We are underway, bound for Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, a distance of 6 nm..
1330 We take a look inside the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour and then return outside to the anchorage under Cow Hill.
1342 Lord's Prayer is anchored in 13 feet of water on 75 feet of chain rode at position: 18 27.282 N 64 26.393 W. Engine time is: 259.6 hrs.
1430 We go ashore and buy a gallon of gas for the dinghy. We do some looking around. There is a pretty good boatyard here reported to be a popular place to haul out during hurricane season. We have heard that Steve and Linda Dashew's Beowulf is hauled out here, so we wander through the yard to see if we can find her. Sure enough, she is here. Seventy-three or so feet long and constructed of aluminum, her topsides are unpainted. The beauty is in the practicality! Rigged as a ketch, the boat is long and slender; she is built for fast passaging under sail or power and sea kindliness. If memory serves correctly, I believe I recall reading that her range under power at 12 kts is 2,000 nm and that she will sustain an average about 300 nm per day under sail. That is a lot faster than Lord's Prayer! A trip that would take Lord's Prayer 12 days would take Beowulf about 4 days.  It is interesting to note that Beowulf's fin keel and spade rudder are in separate pits dug out under the boat. This allows the yard to block the boat much lower to the ground - certainly a good thing in event of hurricane force winds. There are quite a number of similar pits around the yard for this purpose.
1600 We stop at the customs office to see what the local procedures are for clearing out. We are interested in completing BVI departure clearance paperwork for the boat prior to sailing over to Trellis Bay where Chris will catch a plane home.  Trellis Bay has no customs office so clearing out here before going there would allow me to sail directly for home from there without the need of returning to the customs office here.
2120 We are experiencing blustery winds under the lee of a high hill on Virgin Gorda.
END OF LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 209


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