17:09.00N 62:37.75W

3 April – The weather has settled and we are ready ourselves for the off to Montserrat. We recover a very muddy anchor chain, pick up fuel and set off heading for the north of Montserrat in order to pass Plymouth. After a short while it is evident that we are not going to make it around the northern tip before dark and change plans for the south and head directly to Little Bay. This in fact is the only point of entry to Montserrat now. We anchor at 17.00 and settle in for the night aboard. The approaches to Montserrat are truly spectacular with cliffs descending shear to the water. Wind shear from these cliffs plagued us for the last few miles.

4 April - Montserrat has suffered badly in recent years firstly with Hurricane Hugo in 1989 which devastated the island and then the main eruption of Souffriere in 1997 which wiped out the capital town of Plymouth, some smaller settlements, forest and farmland. Luckily there was plenty of warning and there were only a few fatalities. This event and the subsequent evacuation of the Island lead Clare Short to state that they weren’t giving the Islanders Golden Elephants in response to parliamentary criticism. Since then there have been regular volcanic events, the last was in 2010 which buried the remainder of the old airport. There is still no let up and there is a strong possibility that further volcanic eruptions will occur.

As it can be imagine this has devastated the economy of the country. Fortunately, it could be said, for the Islanders it is still a British Protectorate and gets the support of the UK Government. The Union Fag flies outside the Governor’s Office.

In order to get an idea of the level of devastation and have a look around the island we recruited the services of the local taxi driver Joe joining forces with Peter and Christene Tanner who had also dropped their hook in Little Bay. Joe is the self proclaimer guru on matter Monatserratian. He knows everyone and everything, probably not that difficult in a country of 5000 people. As we were driving around he stops to chat the Premier and introduces us to him, hi Mr Premier, The one thing that Joe has that sets him apart from all other taxi drivers on the island and doesn’t he let you know it, is an Ipad with thousands of photos on it. Now Joe is ‘a lovely lad’ to quote Norm but we began to tire of seeing photos before and after the volcanic event. Toward the end of the tour one was loosing the will to live and we were glad to be dropped off at Tina’s Cafe for a bite to eat. To be fair he showed us lots of interesting things, the settlements half buried in ash and now consumed by secondary growth on the fertile ash, the total devastation of Plymouth, the remains of the golf club and the disappearance of bridges under mud flows. One other thing which was of great interest was the fact that George Martin of Beatles fame had bought a property there many years back and converted it into a recording studio, Called the Air Studio, all the great and famous in the pop world performed and recorded there. Ebony and Ivory was recorded there with Paul Mac and Stevie Wonder. The Stones played there, Police, Sting, Eric Clapton, etc. This was seriously damaged by Hurricane Hugo in ‘89 and was never rebuilt. We went into what remained of the session room and control room. George Martin still owns the property and he still visits the island each year but no one knows of any plans to recreate the studio facility. We found the bar from the Air Studio in a beach front restaurant owned by and American musician. The owner knew George Martin and confirmed there were no further plans.

But, there are grand plans to create a new capital town and the basic outline is there but it a few years away.

We enjoyed our stay in Montserrat. We find the least developed islands the best, including St Vincent and Dominica

 

Approaching Montserrat from the South

 

Little Bay Montserrat

 

Settlement Abandoned after Effects of Eruption and Ash Deposit

 

What is left of Plymouth, the former Capital

 

Plymouth, what’s left of it

 

Keep Out

 

Little Bay

 

Grand Plans, Note the Marina along the Coast

 

Little Bay Anchorage with Redonda in the background

5 April - We said our goodbye to Montserrat and sailed away early on Friday heading for Nevis. We passed below the towering cliffs of Redonda the Ailsa Craig of the Caribbean on route to Charlestown, Nevis, a charming little place bustling and full of interest. After clearing in through C& I we were asked to moor up about a mile north off Pinney Beach. Tomorrow I will be attempting to climb Nevis Peak. Norm is not so easily lead after he followed me up Soufriere on St Vincent, never again he declared.

 

Charlestown, Nevis

 

Charlestown, Nevis

 

RT with Nevis Peak in the Background

 

6 April - Unfortunately, when Saturday came the beautifully clear peak of yesterday was covered in cloud after a night of heavy rain. The first guide wouldn’t go, too wet, we found another less fussy and headed off. It was like no other walk I had been on before. The first kilometer or so was normal, stumbling through the rain forest until the ground reared up and for the next what seemed for ever it was vertical roots, rocks and mud with fixed ropes. In fact it was an easy scramble/climb with lots of tree stumps and roots to hang onto, but very steep in places. The ropes were the most useful on the descent. It was worth the effort, goodness knows what Norm would have made of it. Good job he stayed on RT I think. No nice views from the top.