ep56 - Sailing Montserrat - Hallberg-Rassy 54 Cloudy Bay - Dec 2018

Very lively sailing from Antigua to Montserrat in the Leeward Islands. Explored the devastation of Plymouth by volcanic eruption in 1997. s/v Cloudy Bay (Hallberg-Rassy 54) departs Antigua, the island of beaches, and sail to Montserrat, the island of active volcanos. This sailing trip was an exciting broad reach in big Atlantic swell. As usual in this season, it was perfect sailing weather between the islands. Rather than a direct route to the anchorage, we intentionally circumnavigate Montserrat, passing to the south of the island rounding the Soufriere Volcano that erupted from 1995 to 1997. It destroyed the main town of Plymouth on the west and the airport in the east, leading to total evacuation of the southern half of the island, which remains so to this day. Close hauled up the lee side (west) of the island we had a clear view of the pyroclastic flows and huge boulders over what was Plymouth, down slope from the crater which is still gently smoking H2S gases causing strong acid rain downwind. We anchored in the rather rolly Little Bay, the main and only harbour, and explored the island with the usual rent-a-wreck car. We accidentally managed to get into the exclusion zone of Plymouth to see the eerie scene of destruction, before being shoo’d off by security! In contrast to the volcano, the rest of the island was very lush green and the people extremely civilized and polite. Is that what happens after 25 years with no tourists we wonder? After 2 relatively sleepless nights being disturbed by a combination of rolling and cargo ships wanting us to move, we depart for smoother waters of Nevis…. Hopefully! Montserrat is clearly an under-visited island. 27-30 Dec 2018