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Summer 2004 Scuba News Letter
Hello all! This is my summer edition newsletter to all our family, friends and dive buddy's. All is going well at UBS with a busy spring and summer with lots of interesting things going on. We have a new boat arriving soon and have had to deal with the trade Wind Yacht bankruptcy, which left some of your vacations high and dry. Overall though we are all well and happy going strong and looking forward to a little slow time this summer so we can off gas for next season. We can't wait to meet old friends coming back down and new divers to make friends with.
Whats Inside this Newsletter?
 New Dive Boat
Congratulations
Virgin Islands Search and Rescue Article
New Gallery On Our Web Site
Your Photos
The Story of the Wreck of The RMS Rhone
Your Messages
New Dive Boat
Hi, this is Tony. Kate has asked me to describe and explain our latest expansion at UBS, a 28 foot custom made Baha Cruiser dive boat! This will be our third dive boat. This new boat will allow us to cater to groups of family and friends in a more comfortable manner. We were able to have the manufactures design it to our specifications. Kate and I went to the Ft. Lauderdale boat show in May with this boat in mind and had the dealers at the show redesign it, just for diving! It has a full cabin that will prevent any of us from getting wet, even in the roughest conditions. We added, two transom doors, a huge swim platform and two ladders, all for easy entry and exits from the water. Two 150HP Honda Four Stroke engines power it. This boat even has a changing room and a head (a toilet for those non-nautical types). We designed the tank rack system similar to Reef Dancers with a large cooler in the middle. There is plenty of seating up forward and around the transom. I will be sending out one more email with pictures of it after it arrives. It is supposed to be here in early August. It is being shipped in a cradle straight to St. Thomas from Florida. I even built a new dock, just for her! Oh yea, we will be doing a full christening and naming her "Reef Chief".
Here is kate on the new dock I buit for Reef Chief.
Congratulations !
As always here is a list of all of you who completed a dive course with us since my last newsletter. Well done and keep up the good work always stay safe and come up slowly!!!!!
 Scuba Diver
Joyce Marks
Harry Miller
Junior Open Water Diver
David Rieck
Kelsey Rieck
David Merryman
Bryce Graunstein
Nikhil Crain
Mary Catherine Houten
Nicholas Charrington
Freddie Charrington
0pen Water Diver
David Re
Stacey Graustien
Will Barker
Blair Barker
John Barker
Annie Terral
William Terral
William Grayson Terral
Thomas Terral
Melody Ryland
Lindsey Woods
Samantha Grody
Alex Grody
Sean Crain
Patricia Stern
Caleb Couen
Sarra Heyn
Nicholas heyn
Robert Waldschmitt
Robert (Bob) Waldschmitt
Chris Waldschmitt
Edward Burdett
Adrian Thompson
David Hinegardner
Lindsey Woods
Samantha Grody
Alex Grody
Sean Crain
Patricia Stern
Caleb Couen
Sarra Heyn
Nicholas Heyn
Edward Burdett
Lana Woods
Garrett Thompson
Craig Natorp
Jamie Natorp
William Hanilron
Paul Houck
Dana Koerner
Brad Statz
Patrick Gregerson
David Merryman
Jim Metz
Ruth Metz
Cooper Ashley
Katherine Parker
Nathanial Parker
Jennifer Parker
Henrik Parker
Patrick Munson
Kent Graustein
Stacey Graustien
Will Barker
Blair Barker
John Barker
Annie Terral
William Terral
William Grayson Terral
Lana Woods
Thomas Terral
Melody Ryland
Robert Waldschmitt
Robert (Bob) Waldschmitt
Chris Waldschmitt
Junior Advanced Open Water Diver
Sophie Powell
Advanced Open Water Diver
Lucie Powell
Michael Feenan
Sean Calarco
Andrew Lewis
Rescue Diver
Clive Shute
Laila Stjerndrup
Deep Diver Specialty Course
Mandy Wilson
Night Diver Specialty Course
Mandy Wilson
Wreck Diver Specialty Course
Mandy Wilson
Miranda Curtis
Navigation Specialty Course
Miranda Curtis
Medic First Responders Course
Virgin Islands Search And Rescue Squad ( VISAR)
Virgin Islands Search and Rescue
As we all know, the waters around the BVI are a wonderful playground for swimmers, snorkelers, divers and yachtsmen. Considering the numbers of people above and below the waters of the BVI the occurrence of accidents is very low. There is no National Life Guard or National water medical help or water ambulance service in the BVI.
Therefore, in 1988 a group of local residents decided to start a voluntary search and rescue organization. This organization has been a lifesaver for 187 people so far and has helped over 1800. VISAR receives two or three distress calls every week on average. Distress calls are answered at any time of night or day and in all weather conditions, except when a hurricane warning is in force or when winds exceed a sustained 40 knots.
VISAR has two rescue vessels that are specially designed and equipped Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) of a kind developed at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Inshore Lifeboat Centre. They have to be extremely tough getting a lot of battering during their lifetime.
More often than not assistance can be provided without the need for launching one of the two rescue craft. Where this is not the case, one or both craft can be sent racing to the rescue within a matter of minutes.
VISAR is a completely voluntary organization, which survives only on donations of money and resources from individuals. All members of the crews are also voluntary which means that the business that they work for and their families must be always aware that at any moment there may be a pager go off and the crew member will rush off to help someone in distress at sea. 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The crew also donates every Monday evening and several evenings through out the month for training.
UBS Dive Center can always be counted on to respond if called out or if we are closer to the distressed vessel that the VISAR rescue vessel coming from Road Town. We also provide the external certifications for crew as Medic First Responders. We have been doing this since 1995; each crewmember has to be certified to maintain their place on the VISAR boat. The certifications are run two evenings a week throughout April and May. Below is a list of those who continued or were newly certified thorough us this year.
We would like to recognize the dedication of the VISAR crews and the families and business that share their loved ones with strangers at sea that need help.
This newsletter is going out to almost 2000 divers and sailors who have enjoyed the BVI waters; if we all donate $5, we will be making the BVI safer for everyone.
Follow this link to find our more info and to make a donation.
http://www.visar.org
Please give generously and send your donations to: The Administrator, Virgin Islands Search & Rescue, PO Box 3042, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. US and British tax payers may be entitled to tax relief on donations.
Chris Haycraft - Owner Island Yacht Management
Alex Davidson - Conch Charters
Tom Meads - Trust Company
Simon (Sam) Welch - Tortola Marine Management
Chris Simpson - BVI Yacht Sales
Paul Warnock - Nanny Cay Marina
Richard Voisey - Self Employed
Gerard Kraakmann - Self Employed
Chris Ruffell-Smith - Owner Tool Town
George Lane
Sarah Summers - Caribbean Wave
Richard Woodbridge - Island Yacht Management
Andrew Waters - Conch Charters
David Harris - Normandy Trust Company
Christian O'Connlbarch - Island Yacht Management
Martin Van Houten - North Shore Yacht Charters
 Rental Packages Upgraded Again!
This summer I have spent an impractical amount of time making some great rental info packets for all you equipment renters out there. They come in a hard ring binder and all the pages are laminated so they will stand up to a little "diver use." I have included the following. If you can think of anything else, you would like me to include, just drop me a line.
Rental Equipment Care and Understanding
Safe Diving Practices
Recommended Night Dive Sites
Moorings Use Regulations
Mooring Location Map
Air Fill Station Location Map
VISAR Fundraising and Info
The RMS Rhone National Park Underwater and Mooring Map
UBS Special Package Prices
Dive Boat Break Down Price Info
The Profile Dive Computer Instructions With Pictures Of The Screen Layouts
The Resource Dive Computer Instructions With Pictures
First Aid Basics with:
BVI Emergency Contact Phone Numbers
International Diving Emergency Phone Numbers
Dive Injury Sign and Symptom Sheets.
Marine Injury Info and Treatments
GPS Coordinates of 50 BVI National Park Dive Sites.
A Copy of the Current Dive-Training Magazine (for some light reading)
A BVI Road Map (if you want to have a day ashore at one of the Islands.)
New Gallery Page On Our Web Site.
In February, Tony bought me an underwater digital camera. I have had lots of fun taking pictures of some of you and some of our fishy friends. The quality of my photography is getting better especially with a little help from Photoshop!!! I have set up a gallery on the http web site. Have a look and maybe you will see yourself. Any pictures from you that you send me will also be added, remember to make a caption and a date so we will all have a reference and will be able to credit you for your amazing or not so great shots.
 Your Photos!
I have received a lot of pictures from you this spring here are a few of them:
The Barkers being certified while vacationing on Yacht Three Moons.
Tony With The Resort Course Divers From Sailing Yacht Aristocat II
Scott On the Dock With Newly Certified Divers of the Truscott Family.
As all of those of you who read my last newsletter in December 2003 may remember I asked for your underwater pictures so we could give a prize out in this newsletter to the best. I know a lot of us are trying out these new underwater camers now the price has dropped a little but the pictures from Karen and Joel are an insperation to all of us who are still learning. Here are a couple of the pictures they sent from their Sunsail Charter in the BVI in the Spring of 2004.
As you rent our basic packages for your charter each year, next year you have won a full package free for the week.
Well Done!
Karen and Joel Schulman
A Queen Trigger fish
Crinoid
Octopus
The Story Of the RMS Rhone.
The Royal Mail Steamship Rhone, was built in 1865 in Southampton England by the Millwall Iron Works. The internal frames, lower masts, and hull plates were made of iron and the decking and upper masts were wood. The hull was 310 feet long and 40 feet wide. It had a draught of 25 feet and displaced 2700 tons. For propulsion, it had a 500 horsepower steam engine connected to a 70-foot long shaft. At the end of the shaft was a three bladed 17-foot diameter bronze propeller. The Rhone also had sails on its two masts and used these to save fuel (coal in this case). It was a large and fast vessel and could sail or steam at 14 knots.
The Rhone and her sister ship the Douro were built to service a contract the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company had with the British Government. The Government would put out a contract to deliver mail to various parts of the Empire. Companies would bid on it and then hire ships or build new ones.
RMS Rhone had the Caribbean part of the contract. She would sail from England six times a year for a six-week cruise. Stops would include Bermuda, Danish Virgin Islands (now the USVI) and South America. She could carry 300 passengers and some cargo to supplement the mail income.
The Rhone had two good years. She had survived a storm in the English Channel and was considered a safe and seaworthy vessel. Almost unsinkable, where have I heard that before?
Her career was cut short on October 29th, 1867. Early in the morning, she was at anchor in the Great Harbour at Peter Island. Along side was the paddle wheeler, RMS Conway. The two crews were busy transferring passengers and cargo between the ships and the stewards were preparing a brunch on the aft decks. Captain Woolly of the Rhone and the Captain of the Conway were talking about the storm clouds that were forming north of Tortola .They agreed that it was too late for a hurricane and must have been the first of the winter storms. The decision was made to raise steam in case they needed to move. It was clearly the case as the north wind strengthened and forced the Rhone and Conway back against the lee shore of Peter island. The Captains decided to sail into the wind to Road Town Harbour to get shelter and save the vessels from grounding. The Conway went first and left so fast that its Chief Engineer was left behind on the Rhone. The Rhone's anchor was stuck in the coral and it could not be freed so was left behind. This was a problem for the Captain because it was his biggest anchor at 3000 pounds and he had left 300 feet of chain behind. He now had no choice but to make for open sea and ride out the storm. As a footnote, the anchor is still in Great Harbour and can be dived on.
Captain Woolly headed south out to the Caribbean Sea and instructed the crew to secure the ship and passengers by tying them down. It was a bondage cruise! (joke). Keep in mind that Wooley still thought it was a storm. As he cleared Salt Island, the eye of the hurricane passed overhead. The wind shifted direction and strengthened and blew the Rhone onto the rocks at Salt Island. As the ship was battered against the rocks, salt water rushed onto the boi | 