The Saba Rock Museum

ert Kilbride has been a professional SCUBA diver for over forty years. He introduced the now-universally-adopted resort course program. He became a wreck diving expert and appeared in many books and films. He has entertained many dignitaries of the world and received the title of "Receiver of Wrecks" from Her Majestie's Government in 1967.

Also in 1967, he built Drake's Anchorage on Mosquito Island which he had purchased earlier. It was in those early days that Bert became keenly interested in wreck diving. The island of Anegada, a graveyard of ships, was right at his doorstep. He was involved in the finding of 91 different shipwrecks among the dangerous reefs of that area. Most of these were discovered while he was being towed slowly behind a boat using mask, fins and snorkel!

The Royal mail steamship, Rhone, was wrecked during a terrifying hurricane in 1867. Today it is one of the finest wreck dives in the entire Caribbean.

In 1967, at the hundred-year anniversary of the sinking, a memorial service was held on Salt Island where the gravesites of many of those who lost their lives are plainly visible today. Kilbride was in attendance during the ceremony and during the recounting of the tragedy, someone told of a second anchor that had been thrown over in a desperate attempt to save the foundering ship. Bert decided to search for this missing anchor, and, diving to seaward of Black Rock he eventually found it. Later, with the help of Fergie Walker of the yacht Poseidon, they raised the anchor along with a barely-visible cannon. These artifacts, until recently, were kept submerged in shallow waters in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda.

Now, some 34 years later, on July 3, 2001, Bert has relocated both of these artifacts to the underwater lighted shallow waters off the decks of Saba Rock Resort for the night viewing pleasure of divers and non-divers alike. Somehow they seem at home here, among the swimming creatures of the night. Both nautical artifacts are in extremely good condition. The anchors ring at the end of the stock had parted, evidence of the impossible load of a 2,738 ton ship being driven shoreward by hurricane force winds.

Bert, now 87 years of age, is planning yet another wreck excavation: that of the 55-gun galleon San Ignacio. The vessel was wrecked on the Anegada Reefs in 1742. She had a cargo of silver and gold headed for remuneration for the men of the garrisons of Cartagena. This exploration awaits Government approval.

Bert Kilbride has resident status in the British Virgin Islands and owned Saba Rock island for 30 years. He can be found here much of the time working on the museum.