16:18.359N 061:47.964W

1610 LT Sunday, 11 March

 

 

Motored around the north of Montserrat to pass down the east side and thence to Guadeloupe. On the way we get a partial view of the volcano, the top being shrouded in clouds/steam/smoke. We were not disappointed. Hot rock was being expelled and came rolling down the upper slopes, one after another, leaving trails of smoke and steam. Difficult to capture on camera, but you can make out below the huge lava flows and new stuff tumbling down the slope in the middle.

 

 

Set sail and engine off.  Sailing again in the sunshine.  Ballyhoo out the back.  This time we are sure to be lucky!  But the fish just weren’t biting.  Instead, we had to make do with a sail-by of a deep sea drill rig working in 1000 metres off the SE of Montserrat.  How they do that, I do not understand.  Here it is.  As you can see the conditions are very nice, but it blows up a bit as we approach Guadeloupe and we stick in a reef or two for good measure ....

 

 

... and arrive in the charming bay of Deshaies at 1600.  Lots of boats here but still plenty of room for us.  This time it looks very welcoming and positively civilised after all the little islands that we’ve been visiting.  We are looking forward to spending more time here in the weeks ahead.