Swabbing the Deck

Nick was swabbing the boat deck to leave

Over the rail the bucket was heaved

The string wasn't tied on

So the bucket was gone

Brent and Nick dinghied out to retrieve!

20 Questions - All of us

What is your name?
Britton
Nick
Griffin
Carter
How old are you?
10
12
11
11
Was this your first trip to the BVI?
No
No
Yes
Yes
What was your favorite part of the trip?
Dolphin Discovery
Warm weather
Scuba Diving
Scuba Diving and Snorkeling
How was it to be on a boat with 9 people for 9 days?
Tight, I wish I had my own room.
It was kind of crowded but mostly I wished I had a bed to myself.
Fun!  Not as crowded as I thought it would be.
The boat was bigger than I expected.
What was it like?  What did you see?
In the water, we saw lots of rainbow fish.
I liked the hawksbill sea turtles, they seemed so calm underwater when I was near thim.  I saw 3 or 4 of them on the trip.
We saw so many fish!
It was so fun climbing the rocks at the Baths and the view from the top was amazing!
What did you see while you were scuba diving?
I was the first one to see a spotted moray eel; some other favorites were the smooth trunkfish and a humongo queen parrotfish.  I also liked finding the lucky porthole and the silver spoon.
I saw the lucky porthole, the silver spoon and lots of fish and coral.  My favorites were the trunkfish and the neon green and purple tubular coral.
I liked seeing the spotted moray eel when we dove at the Wreck of the Rhone.
My favorite thing about scuba diving was finding the silver spoon.
How was traveling to and from the BVI?
Traveling was tiring and it got boring.  My body was stiff and sore from sitting on airplanes.
Traveling was fine until the last flights, my iPod ran out of juice, I ran out of books and I was bored after I finished reading the magazine that I bought at the airport.  I couldn't fall asleep.
It was a long trip, but the bagels at the airport were good.
Traveling was long and tiring.
What did you do on the plane?
I played my iPod, read books and looked at magazines.  I fell asleep for a little while.
I read, played my iPod, listened to music and didn't sleep at all!
I did homework, read and played my iPod.
I did homework, read and played my iPod.
What types of fish did you see?
Some of my favorites were:  eels, rays, smooth trunkfish, stoplight parrotfish, queen parrotfish and sea turtles.
My top 7 fish were the sea turtle, cuttlefish, trunkfish, juvenile dusky damselfish, great barracuda, southern stingray and viper moray eel.
My favorite fish were rainbow parrotfish, cuttlefish and the dolphins.
I liked the cuttlefish and the stoplight parrotfish best.
Did you see the creature you most wanted to see?
No I didn't see an octopus, but my dad did and I'm jealous!
No, I didn't see an octopus.
No, I didn't see a shark, but my dad did!
Yes, I saw a stingray!  It was so cool how it swam, it looked like it was doing the wave.
How many different fish/creatures did you see?
Over 65!
What jobs did you have on the boat?
I helped in the galley (kitchen) drying dishes, held bumpers when we docked the boat, watched the dinghy and steered.
I steered the boat, bailed the dinghy, manned the dinghy when we docked and swabbed the deck.
I held bumpers when we docked and helped trim the sails, but my favorite job was steering the boat.
I liked steering the boat.  I helped with bumpers and did whatever I was asked to do.
What was your boat-name?
Princess-in-training
I didn't have one.
No nicknames.
I didn't have a nickname.
Did anyone else have boat names?
Not really.
How was swimming with the dolphins?
It was amazing and impossible to describe.  It was even better this time because we were the only ones in our group.
It was great!  My favorite part was the foot push.  It was just as exciting as last time.
It was fun!
It was different than I thought it would be.  I liked it!
Did anyone accidentally fall in?
No
How many sunny days did you have?
All
What did you miss most while you were away from home?
My animals and having more room to move around like in my house.
My dogs
My family at home.
Nothing!
What were your favorite things to eat/drink?
Key lime pie at Marina Cay and Strawberry Daiquiris with whipped cream at Marina Cay!
$50 lobster dinner at Marina Cay and Strawberry-Banana Smoothie at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan.
My lobster dinner at Marina Cay and Strawberry Daiquiris.
The swordfish at the Little Dix buffet and Strawberry Daiquiris.

Chiefs Kingdom Scuba Team

We took these pictures of Carter and Griffin while 30 feet down at the wreck of the RMS Rhone at Salt Island. Carter and Griffin are called the Chiefs Kingdom Scuba Team by our friend Mitch and we said that we would take a picture of something Chiefs while we were diving. It was hard to keep them and the towel still while taking a picture!

Griffin

Carter

Home Again, Home Again - Nick

This morning was awesome!  First I took an actual shower and had a cup of coffee (decaf).  Next, I went down to the hotel lobby where there was  a huge breakfast buffet.  I was stuffed after the buffet.  Then I went outside to a gigantic pool and swam and played tag with Britton, Griffin and Carter.  When we finally had to get ready to leave, I rinsed off, we took a taxi to the airport and got on the plane.  Most of the time I slept but when I was awake I was listening to music.

Time to Leave - Nick

Today we woke up really early and sailed back to the Moorings.  On the way over, the weather was so good that Shannon even steered the boat.  When we arrived, we cleared the boat of all our posessions.  Once the boat was empty, we drove (in a taxi) to Dolphin Discovery.  At Dolphin Discovery, we watched dolphins do tricks and even rode on them.  It was great!  After that we flew to Puerto Rico and stayed in an amazing hotel overnight.

So Sad - Britton

Saturday morning we sailed past some of the places that we had been and finally docked at the Moorings.  When we got there, I was sad.  We  ate lunch on the boat played on our iPods until it was time to turn the boat in.  We got our luggage off the boat and stored it in the lobby while we left for the one, the only...Tortola Dolphin Discovery!  That is one of my faovrite things.  So once we got there we looked around in the shops until they called our group.  We watched a video, got life jackets on and got into the water with the dolphins!  The first dolphin was named Einstein.  We got to feel him and learned a little bit about dolphins.  Then we did the dolphin kiss and danced with him.  We also had splash wars and made him sing!  It was amazing.  Half-way through the program, we switched dolphins.  Their names were Anibal and Neptuno and it was time for tricks.  First I did the dorsal pull.  That is when you are floating in a "T" formation in the water and the dolphins come from behind and you grab their dorsal fins and hold on.  That might sound hard, but it is the easier of the two tricks.  The second trick is the foot push, you lay on your stomach with your arms in front of you and feet pointing downward.  Then when you are ready, the dolphins come from behind and their noses push on the arches of your feet and you basically just stand on their noses.  Then when you are ready to stop you just dive or jump into the water.  Then all 3 dolphins did a couple of jumps at the end and we got out of the water to dry off.  We watched a video that they had made for us and we bought some pictures.  After we were finished, we got a taxi and picked up our luggage at the Moorings and went to the airport.  We took a short 40 minute plane ride ot San Juan and stayed at a beautiful hotel called the Caribe Hilton.  And boy was it a lot comfier to sleep!

The Treasure Hunt

At breakfast one November day

When Carter looked under his plate

A clue he did find

It was all numbered lines

A treasure hunt was now underway.

The book Treasure Island was the key

To solving this fun mystery

This clue soon was solved

Words and pages involved

As we journeyed along on the sea.

"Shore north to find shelter from the wind"

Searching North Sound beach went the friends

At the point was the clue

It told what to do

To Prickly Pear the group it did send.

"Broke fence post, ten feet and then dig"

The treasure they hoped would be big

In sand by the rocks

Griffin found a small box

Back on the boat, they continued the gig.

The next clue was resting inside

It started with, "I was once alive,

To continue your quest,

Find where my home rests

In shallow waters you may need to dive."

To Peter Island they followed the trail

No room to anchor so on past they sailed

In the shallows they looked

Caught a shell with their hook

On to Norman Island to finish this tale.

The final clue required some aid

On a map calculations were made

Nick marked the spot

Then excited they got

At dusk they prepared for their raid.

Treasure Point cave, they all dinghied inside

The old canister Britton soon spied

Then back to the boat

The dinghy did float

They divvied their pirate surprise.

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Location:BVI

My First Scuba Dive! Carter

My first scuba dive today was awesome!I had 4 pound weights to help me stay down. While we were descending Nick saw a great big huge sea turtle. During our dive Britton found a spotted moray eel. It was cool diving! We were able to see the only porthole that survived the blast that sank the Rhone. We also saw a silver spoon that was in the coral. After our dive we went snorkeling. We saw another huge sea turtle. Nick and I started to chase it. When we dove down and got closer we saw how big it was and it was just sitting on a rock. When we started snorkeling I was the first to jump in and it was cold! When I looked down I saw the biggest sting ray of my life! When I first saw it, it was buried in the sand. When it dug out it was even bigger! The way it swims is "BEAST", it looks like it is just gliding in the water. Britton saw another sting ray and her dad John swam right for it. He didn't know it was there and it looked like it was going to sting him. He also found a really old wine bottle. We also came to the end of our treasure hunt today. Billy Bones led us to a cave with bats in it that a treasure was in. We each got some gold coins. It was a cool treasure hunt.

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Location:RMS Rhone November 26

The Dive Griffin

I had to wake up bright and early this morning (7:00), to eat, change and prepare for my dive. So we sailed over to Salt Island early to get a mooring so the dive boat could come and get us. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the dive bot to come. When we were getting ready to dive I had to use 4 pound weights to help keep me down. We dove for about 45 minutes. My favorite fish we saw was probably the spotted eel. What shocked me the most was when I got a bloody nose while diving. All was ok though. I saw a school of squirrel fish and a really neat colored fish that was yellow in the front and black on the tail. While we were diving around the Rhone I saw the lucky porthole. It was the only one to survive the wreck. If you rub it 3 times clockwise it is supposed to give you good luck. I also saw a spoon that was still shiny. I also got to see the area that the only passenger survivor came from. He crawled out of the lucky porthole. All the hard work that I did in Arkansas last summer preparing for my scuba dive really did pay off. OK, back to the nose. When I was trying to go deeper I hit the wrong button on my BCD, (basically a life jacket that you can inflate and deflate while scuba diving. It does more, but that is a basic part). I accidentally hit the wrong button and added more air into ot. I starting shooting to the surface and was fighting to stay down. My dad grabbed my foot and pulled me down but by that time I had a bloody nose. It filled up my mask but I was ok. It stopped. We also went snorkeling and saw a ton more fish, a sea turtle and a sting ray. John disappeared for a while looking for an octopus. He finally found one, but it wouldn't come out of its hole. Poor John! Then we finished our treasure hunt. Billy Bones sent us into a cave where we found the treasure. Good ol Billy gave us each some gold coins. It was fun figuring out the clues. Well that is that! Another spectacular day in the BVI!





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Location:RMS Rhone November 26

Scuba - Nick

Today was by far my favorite day of the vacation. We first sailed over to Salt Island and rested for an hour or so before the dive boat came. When it arrived, we got out briefing and received out equipment. After that, we submerged. Underwater was like a whole different world.



When I reached the bottom the first thing I saw was a huge sea turtle. After it disappeared, I saw maybe 30 other species of fish from tube-like trumpetfish to the fat Bermuda chub. The group and I swam the ruins of the Rhone for about 45 minutes, all the while looking at the amazing view. Finally, I started to run low on air and the group returned to the surface. We then listened to the Rhone's story and gave back our gear. We then sailed past Dead Chest Island to Norman Island where we sadly ended our day.




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Location:The Wreck of the Rhone, Salt Island

Britton's Dive Log

This morning we woke up and sailed to Salt Island. Of course I was laying in bed while sailing because it was a little too early for me still. Then the dive boat came after breakfast. Our dive masters names were Kyle and Samantha, they both were really nice. We put our gear together, I had to put on a total of 4 pounds thence went to the end of the boat, jumped in and went down. My dad, my grandpa and Nick went down before all the rest of us and they saw a sea turtle! After some swimming around, I saw a little black thing that looked like a fish that was eating, straight up and down in the water, but then I got a closer look and saw that it was actually an eel! It was a spotted moray eel, I loved it! Right after that, Kyle and Samantha showed us a silver spoon that was used on the Rhone but now is surrounded by coral and rock. A couple of yards from that they pointed out the lucky porthole, as they call it. It was lucky because the one passenger who survived the wreck of the Rhone was staying in the cabin with that porthole about one hundred fifty years ago. Apparently if you rub it three times in a clockwise direction it gives you good luck. So of course I did that. We saw some huge queen (rainbow) parrotfish and some smooth trunkfish and more, but those were my favorites. That was our only dive so we enjoyed it as much as we could before we had to go up, we stayed down there for about 45 minutes. It was easy because it was fine equalizing for me, but the one thing I did not like was the cold water.







Spotted Moray Eel


After we got back to our boat, we went to Peter Island. Since there were no moorings we had to anchor. Well, we would have but it was too crowded so we were on our way out of that area when my dad was messing around with the mooring poll (boat hook) and when he pulled it out of the water there was a conch shell with the same type of numbers and writing as the other clues on it. It was signed B.B. (Billy Bones). We sailed on to Norman Island, our next stop and also the place where the treasure was. After we got there, we ate lunch and hopped right in to snorkel. Carter, Nick and my dad all saw a Ray right under them since they were in the water first. Then the rest of us hopped in too. After some swimming, we saw an eel, then swimming over to the small drop-off, we saw the same ray! After we all got a chance to see it, it swam away. Of course, like always my dad went off, still snorkeling after we all got out and he found an octopus. While he was doing that and taking pictures, we went to the cave to find our treasure. The cave was in the water so we took the dinghy over there and went in? It was pitch black in there but luckily we had two flashlights. We went all the way to the back of the cave and did not find it then right when we were turning around, I saw a silver box that shimmered in the dark! In it were gold coins. There were just enough one-dollar coins to split evenly. By then we were sure that we had found the treasure but if you don't believe me, there on the top of the box it said "B.B."






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Location:November 26, 2010

Clue #3 solution

In cove southwest of Dead Chest fifty yards north of beach in water along shore.






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Location:Peter Island

Treasure Hunt, Clue #3

I was once alive, but some swab got hungry for chowder. Now my abandoned house rests: 8-5-4 // 4-7-5 // 194-7-5 to 197-4-8 // 53-2-2 // 30-20-5+7 // 194-10-2 // 142/22/5 // 155-3-7 // 53-2-2 // 78-9-10 // 8-5-4 // 4-28-9 // 11-10-4 // 05-2-7

Billy Bones


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Location:Prickly Pear Island, November 23

Dive Time

We left Manchioneel Bay at 7:00 Friday morning so we could get a mooring at the Rohne site for our dive. We hung out until 9:00 when the dive boat came with our dive masters Kyle & Samantha. Kyle was from Texas and Sam was from Virginia. They were great! Here are some images from the dive. John took 754 pictures that day so here is a glimpse!


Just beautiful!


A silver spoon from the wreck that is embedded in the coral

Location:RMS RHONE, Salt Island November 26

Thanksgiving Day

We have had a perfect Thanksgiving day! Some snorkeled, some didn't. Lazy, relaxing, just what a Thanksgiving should be! Courtney & Shannon made Thanksgiving dinner in their swimming suits! (with Britton's help of course!) We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread, green beans, carrots, sparkling cider, and pumpkin and apple pie! We had a perfect dinner!




On our way to Manchioneel Bay.




Dinner!




Dessert! Yummy!!!!!!

Location:Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island November 25

Brent in Time Out

Brent had to sit in the dinghy twice by himself on this trip. Once when we ran out of water he went into the gas dock on the dinghy to see how late they stayed open. It was 5:00 in the evening & we thought they probably closed then. He found out that they were open till 6:00, but we had to save our mooring because we had already paid for the night and didn't want anyone to take it. (a mooring is a floating ball with a rope attached to it that is anchored to the sea floor. We tie up to them and stay the night). Brent stayed with the mooring ball while we went and got water. He looked funny in his dinghy all alone while the rest of us were gone.



He is hard to see, but he is out there.

The next morning we were leaving Gorda Sound and after we were going Chip realized the motor was down in the dinghy. We were sailing and he said someone had to go back there and pull the motor up. Brent volunteered to do it. Chip pulled in the dinghy line & Brent jumped in the dinghy.







Then we gave Brent a camera & he took a picture of us!

Location:Gorda Sound, Virgin Gorda November 24 & 25

So sad!

We are sitting in the Moorings getting ready to catch a jitney to the airport. We will post about Thanksgiving and our fabulous dive experience when we get to San Juan! We will also post about swimming with the dolphins and our treasure hunt. Carter and Britton will also update about injuries, (they are sure you are wondering).


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Location:BVI

Under the Sea

A Huge thanks to John! We would not have all of the awesome underwater images if weren't for him!


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Location:BVI Thanksgiving week 2010

Dinner in Gorda Sound

We went to dinner at the local pub. The food was great! Brick oven pizza was the hit!

Location:Gorda Sound, Virgin Gorda November 24

Getting Sad/Griffin

Today was great! Some of us went snorkeling, (Chop, Courtney, Britton, my dad and I), and we saw tons of fish. We saw trumpet fish and rainbow fish and a lot of others. The highlight of my day was the "feast" so to speak. It was awesome! We had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread, green beans, stuffing, cranberry slices, and are now getting ready to have pumpkin and apple pies. The mom's made it for us. Tomorrow should be really fun. We are motoring over to the dive sight of the Rhone where we are going to go diving. We have to leave early, as soon as Chop & Courtney wake up. I almost forgot to tell you about last night. We were in Gorda Sound still and we went to the Pizza and Pub and had dinner. When we were done we watched The Sandlot on a big screen and then walked down a dock with 2 huge fishing boats on them. The boats had lights shining down into the water. It attracted really big sea bass. We couldn't figure out what they were but my mom asked a dock worker and he told us.



I am starting to get sad because we are starting to get to the end of this trip. I am so happy that I was able to come on this once in a lifetime trip! I hope I can come again some time over my lifetime.


Posted in parts by: Griffin Hey in the BVI

Location:Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island November 25

Thanksgiving Day Carter

Yesterday and today were both amazing! Yesterday we watched a movie called The Sandlot on a huge tv outside by the beach on wooden benches. When were were on the way back to the dinghy to get to our boat we saw 2 huge fishing boats. They both had bright lights that shone down into the water that attracted fish. They looked like barracudas with yellow fins but we found out they were huge sea bass. For dinner last night I had a brick oven pizza that had pepperoni and Italian sausage on it. I also ate calamari for the second time and it was good. It is like little tiny squid. The cool part will be tomorrow, well, one cool part anyway! We are going to scuba dive at the RMS Rhone. Thanksgiving today was really fun. All of the food was really good. I now have 2 favorite Thanksgiving Days. One was when my mom and dad took me to the Chiefs game and now my all time favorite is being here in the BVI on vacation. I am lucky!


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Location:Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island November 25

The opposite of a boring Thanksgiving/ Britton

In the morning we went straight toward Manchioneel Bay. It was a good sail I have to admit. This time there really weren't any problems, (that's a good thing!). We sailed past most places that we already went to like the Dogs, (George). Then once we got there we ate while my dad checked out snorkeling. It was really choppy but all worth it. After he got back Grif, Brent, Chop, Mom and I went snorkeling. It was choppy but really worth it. We saw fish from small ballyhoo fish to big long trumpet fish. They were pretty cool! Then when we got back the turkey was all done. You can look for the picture of the feast on another post.



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Location:Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island November 25

The "Beast" Feast/Nick

This morning was "beast". First we sailed past Marina Cay, The Dogs, V.G. Yacht Harbor and the Baths all the way to Manchioneel Bay just off of Cooper Island. Just before we left Virgin Gorda a man drove up on a boat to our boat and sold us conch shells the size of footballs.when you blow into them, they make a sound like a trumpet. After hours of relaxing, the Thanksgiving feast was ready.



It was "beast". My favorite food was the pumpkin pie. After stuffing our faces we went on deck to look at the stars. Overall I had a "beastly" day!

(thank you to Grif for the use of his word "beast")

Location:Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island November 25

Happy Thanksgiving!

We may not be able to post tomorrow, so Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in the BVI to all of you! (not in the BVI)




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Location:Vivo Libre

Prickly Pear Island

We followed our treasure hunt clue #2 to the broken fence post and found an old metal box with the next clue. Then we swam, snorkeled and played on the beach.



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Location:Gorda Sound, November 24

Snorkeling at Gorda Sound

We saw lots of conch and starfish on the grassy bottom.


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Stingray below

Location:Virgin Gorda, November 24