Our sail to Montserrat was wonderful! It was our first stress-free
sail. We were very excited to check out
this natural wonder, home to the Caribbean’s most active volcano.
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| By Godot13 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| The Soufriere volcano on Montserrat |
We departed Nevis at 8am, hoisted our mizzen
sail for the first time, and sailed “jib and jigger,” meaning that we used our genoa
(forward sail) and mizzen (aft sail), but not the main.
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| Sailing "jib & jigger" |
This configuration beautifully balanced the
boat. We were actually able to relax,
since the boat practically steered itself.
We hardly had to touch the helm.
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| I wish sailing were always this easy! |
There was a lot of Saragassum seaweed along the way, but with a full keel, it is usually diverted to the sides and does not get caught in our propeller very easily. When we are under sail and the motor is off, we put the transmission in reverse so the propeller doesn't spin. This makes our chances of catching lots of seaweed less, and is better for our transmission. Underneath all of this seaweed is an entire thriving ecosystem. It would be quite possible to find baby sea turtles, mahi mahi, crab, shrimp, and lots of other creatures taking refuge under these floating islands.
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| A huge patch of Saragassum seaweed |
Our last couple of miles was directly into the wind, so we took in the
sails and motored the last bit.
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| Approaching Montserrat |
The anchorage in Montserrat was not very protected,
but it sure was pretty. The choices of
where to anchor were very limited due to the bay being small, needing to leave
a path to the dock for the big ferry boats and huge cargo ships, the swirly changing
winds, the shallow coral reef, and the steep drop off. We needed to pick a spot that would allow for
us to swing in any direction without ending up aground, in the channel, or on
top of another boat. We had to let out a
lot of scope (amount of anchor chain in relation to the water depth) so we
would have good holding (7:1 scope is typically a good amount for overnight
stays, meaning if the water where you drop your anchor is 25 feet deep, you should
let out 7 times that amount of chain, or 25 x 7 = 175 feet). We are very happy to have bought our 65lb.
MANTUS anchor.
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| We're so happy with our Mantus anchor! |
It digs in very well and
has never dragged on us yet. Some may
say a 65lb anchor is overkill, since most people with our size boat usually
have a 40-50 pound anchor. But we
decided to get an over-sized anchor so we can sleep well at night and not worry
about dragging and ending up in a bad situation.
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| Skeeter and Momo setting the anchor |
Unfortunately we didn’t sleep well at night, but that wasn’t
our anchor’s fault. The swells (waves)
came into the bay from a different direction than the wind, leaving us sitting
beam to the swell (sideways) and bobbing hard from side to side. We only stayed in Montserrat for 2 nights
though, so it was doable for that short period of time.
We didn’t even bother to put the dinghy motor back on the
dinghy. We had removed it for the trip
from Nevis – we learned the hard way that towing the dinghy and motor behind us
put unnecessary wear on the motor and we risked losing it to Davy Jones’
locker.
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| Its better to have no motor on our dinghy on passages |
We used our SUP (stand up paddleboard) paddles in
the dinghy and paddled ourselves to shore the next morning to check into customs
& immigration, which only cost us $35EC ($13 US), and they checked us in
and out at the same time.
As we were walking out of the port area, we were approached
by a friendly guy. It ended up being Joe
Phillip, who we had read all about in our guide book. Chris Doyle described him as, “fearless,
entertaining, and knowledgeable.” He did
not disappoint. Even though we told him
we wouldn’t be able to do a tour this visit, he still was very generous with
his stories, his very well thought out island information pamphlet, and
pictures on his I-pad to accompany his stories.
As a former teacher, I was very impressed with his ability to make
everything he said intriguing through the use of visual aids and personal
stories. He was so charismatic and personable. We learned all about Montserrat, the
devastating volcanic eruptions, and how the land and the people were affected
by these events. We talked with him for
well over an hour. We were sad that our
budget didn’t allow for us to take a tour ($150), but both of us agreed that we
would like to save up and do a tour with the one and only Joe Phillip next time
we visited. And maybe we could get some
other people together to split the cost, since he could take 6 people on a tour
for the same price. We were convinced
that no one could be as dedicated to making his tour the absolute best, and no
one had the caliber of stories and first hand experiences as this man.
I would highly recommend a tour with
Joe. He’s a popular guy, though, so you
should set it up in advance through his email: joephillip@live.com, phone:
1-664-492-1565, or by contacting him on VHF channel 08, call sign Avalon, when
you arrive in port.
Because we are on a limited budget and we enjoy walking to
better absorb our surroundings, we decided to hoof it in the general direction
of the Volcano Observatory, 7 miles away.
We wandered along the main road through various quiet rural mountain
towns, and alongside windy lush green jungle between towns. The island was truly the most beautiful one
we had seen so far. The natural beauty
of the dramatic mountains, green foliage, bright flowering trees, and ocean
views was stunning.
About 4 miles in it began raining, and a really nice woman
named Maritz pulled over and offered us a ride.
She was headed to the town of Salem, which was close to the volcano
observatory. She had been living on the
island for 30 years or so, and was there for all of the volcanic destruction
that began in 1995. Maritz had seen a
lot of changes in Montserrat, and said that the island was really suffering
since nearly two thirds of the population fled the island. The former bustling capital of Plymouth is gone;
even its tallest buildings are buried beneath tons and tons of pyroclastic
flows. What the island needs, she said,
is people; people to come back; people to invest here and strengthen the
economy. There are still plenty of safe
areas on this island paradise, physically unaffected by the volcano. How long Montserrat takes to bounce back will
depend on people. She sadly lost the
restaurant she owned to a fire back in December, so she said she’d be happy to
take us all the way up to the observatory because she had nothing else to
do.
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| The volcano observatory & research center |
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| This helipad is regularly used by scientists studying the vocano |
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| The Soufriere volcano in the distance |
At the observatory we took in the impressive views, looked
at samples of rocks from the volcanoes and things recovered from the wreckage, then
watched an intriguing video about the Soufriere volcano. It is very different to the Hawaiian
volcanoes that people are most familiar with, due to the type of lava that
comes from it. Hawaiian volcanoes have
basalt lava, which is very fluid. The
Soufriere volcano in Montserrat has andesite lava, which is a million times
thicker than basalt. Instead of rivers
of glowing red lava pouring down a volcano, andesite based volcanoes have
explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows.
A pyroclastic flow is basically a super hot and super fast landslide that
destroys everything in its path.
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| "Volcanic Debris (5809856144)" by David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada - Volcanic DebrisUploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volcanic_Debris_(5809856144).jpg#/media/File:Volcanic_Debris_(5809856144).jpg |
It was crazy to look across at the active volcano, seeing
steam rising up off of it.
It was even crazier
to look down toward the former capital of Plymouth and see it completely
erased.
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| "Montserrat Golf Course (5809291829)" by David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada - Montserrat Golf CourseUploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montserrat_Golf_Course_(5809291829).jpg#/media/File:Montserrat_Golf_Course_(5809291829).jpg |
The old airport was covered
too.
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| "Montserrat Exclusion Zone - Old Airport" by Pat Hawks - Own work. Via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montserrat_Exclusion_Zone_-_Old_Airport.jpg#/media/File:Montserrat_Exclusion_Zone_-_Old_Airport.jpg |
Looking at before and after images
was bone chilling. The volcano itself had
changed shape and size dramatically over the years. The island grew and the bays shrunk. There is an extensive exclusion zone, decided
upon by some the world’s top volcano scientists who are constantly observing
and studying the volcano. There hasn’t been
any major activity since 2010 when the dome of the volcano collapsed, but more
activity is expected.
It is impressive
to see how resilient the local people are who lived through the
devastation. Those people who lived in
the area that is now the exclusion zone were set up with emergency housing in
public buildings such as schools and churches, living in close quarters with no
privacy. Joe Phillip was one of the many
people who lost his home. He lived in a
high school classroom for 2 years before he was able to move to another place.
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| Many people lived in this high school after the big eruption |
After our visit to the observatory we walked back down the
mountain to Salem. We got lost on the
way, ending up in a little neighborhood called Hope. It was a very rural area with fruit trees and
goats everywhere. When we realized we
were going the wrong way, we turned back and were approached by a drunk
man. His name was Mickey. We stopped and talked to him for a half an
hour, discussing everything from the volcano to Jesus to good and evil to
different kinds of people. Before
continuing on our way, I asked if I could take a picture with him and his
goat-herder friend, David. And I asked
David if I could take a picture of his goat herd.
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| With our new friends Mickey and David in Montserrat |
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| David's goat herd |
We walked for about 3 miles, then we decided to catch a bus
the rest of the way. Sometimes I wonder
how many miles we have hiked in these flip-flops so far…at least a hundred
miles, without a doubt. A few repairs
gluing the soles together, and a few shoe laces strung through when a strap
breaks, will get you countless miles out of a good pair of flip-flops! Thanks to my friend Jim, who repaired my flip
flops the first time by drilling two holes through the sole and stringing a
string through!
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| Jim can fix anything. He's a genius! |
It was a wonderful day.
We met lots of locals, enjoyed the natural wonders of the island, and
learned tons about maybe the most interesting island in the Caribbean. We almost skipped Montserrat, what a bad
decision that would have been! It is
filled with resilient, kind-hearted people, is breathtakingly beautiful, and so
incredibly interesting with its volcanic past and present. We are very eager to return and experience it
in more depth. Montserrat, we love
you!
