Well usually our days are pretty relaxed; good food, great diving and fair winds. But last Wed. was certainly different. We were on our way to dive the Wreck of the Rhone on Salt Island in the BVIs. We had just left Norman Island (also known as Treasure Island). Our on-line weather service was calling for heavy showers and thunder storms, nothing unusual this time of year, especially if a tropical wave is due to pass. As we rounded Peter Island a squall was coming up and we decided to bring our sails down and head for Salt Island and wait out the storm and dive after lunch. Well the squall just kept coming and building very rapidly. We finally got the sails down, but not before we ripped our main sail. Because of the direction of the wind we decided the head for the lee of Tortola. Well as we headed east we were steadily getting blown off to the island and we were not able to make the point. We finally turned around and ran with the waves and wind all the way back to St. John. When we got to Lienster Bay I checked the internet and found out that this typical wave had turned into a tropical storm as it was passing us, bypassing the tropical depression stage. The headline in the local news paper the next day was TROPICAL STORM TAKES VI BY SURPRISE. Even the weather services were caught with thier pants down. No damage was done, only a few power outages. The next few days were fabulous and the Rhone was, as always, the best.
Opus