But first – Salt Island. Although this year we did not hike on the island it is worth noting that Salt Island contains three evaporation ponds. For a period of time these ponds were an important source of salt for Her Majesty’s Navy. Although the property of the crown, the locals operated the salt ponds. Each year the Governor accepted as annual rent a bag of salt. In 1845 a bag of salt was quoted at a shilling.
We tied up to the national park mooring ball and swam over to the wreck. As we got close it was clear why the Rhone went down. You can see her stern in 30 feet of clear water. It’s not necessary to scuba dive, snorkeling in the surface works well.
The Royal Mail Steamer Rhone sank on October 29th 1867 when an unexpected hurricane hit. She was anchored outside Great Harbor, Peter Island when the hurricane arrived. When there was a lull in the storm she weighed anchor to try to get to a northern anchorage in Roadtown, Tortola. As she headed over the hurricane hit again and the Rhone lost her masts and funnel. It was impossible to anchor and she headed out the channel between Salt and Peter islands to get some sea room. She had negotiated most of the rocky area and was at the last point to navigate when the wind blew her onto the rocks at Salt Island where she sank instantly.
After snorkeling at the Rhone we headed out through the channel, safely navigating around Peter Island where we saw a pair of dolphins and a turtle. We then sailed on a broad reach between Peter and Norman Islands and headed to the Indians for our final snorkeling location.
After good snorkeling and lunch we around Flanagan Island, and back up the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Roadtown and the Moorings marina. After securing the boat and taking care of cleaning, everyone headed to the showers where we took an extremely enjoyable afternoon shower. In the evening we used the dinghy to get across to Village Cay marina for dinner and drinks.
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