Montserrat
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Tue 27 Jan 2009 23:36
16:48.12N 62:12.47W Little Bay,
Montserrat
Yesterday we sailed from Jolly Harbour, Antigua
(pronounced Anteega) down to Montserrat. We averaged a
little over 8 knots in a fresh easterly wind. Mike had some success on the
lines, landing a small black fin tuna (delicious dinner!) and a large barracuda
(thrown back due to the threat of ciguatera)
We anchored off the north east shore at Little Bay.
Montserrat was severely damaged by the eruptions
of the Soufriere Hills volcano - which started to erupt in 1995, and
as recently as December 2008, continues to be an active volcano. In mid 1995,
Plymouth (the capital) was blanketed in a thick ash cloud and put into total
darkness for 15 minutes with a major eruption. Fortunately, unlike St
Pierre in Martinique, there was no superheated gas or lava flow at that time,
and no one was killed. The Governor had the town and surrounding area
(entire southern half of the island) evacuated, where it remains a deserted "no
go" area till today. Since then there have been a number
of explosions, lava flows and resultant fires, that have destroyed the
town completely. Sadly some farmers who had ventured back into
the "exclusion zone" illegally, died in subsequent eruptions.
The closest anyone can get to the area, is a
tour of an overlooking hill and a visit to the volcanic
observatory. All that remains of Plymouth are skeletons of some buildings
and large lava flows (like glaciers) that completely cover the middle of the
town. The golf course that was in a valley was covered by another of these lava
glaciers. It is a very eerie picture, with colours more akin to a moon landscape
than a tropical island. The shoreline has been extended into the sea, and
the dock that once welcomed massive cruise liners is now in shallow water,
while the old yacht anchorage is now 400m into the land.
Our photographs do not do the tragedy or visual
drama any justice. We have however bought a DVD that shows before and after
footage of Plymouth as well as very dramatic footage of the eruptions - that we
will bring home to show those interested.
Although few lives were lost, the impact on the
people has been enormous. The country was originally centred in the
south, where thousands of houses stand empty and decaying in the massive
exclusion zone. Many of the people lost everything and over 50% left the island
for the UK or other Caribbean islands to try to re-build their lives. There is a
fair bit of re-building and development in the north, where a new small
airport is now also operational. The locals are very keen to attract tourism
back to their country and what a pleasure it was to hear the police
(immigration) saying "thank you for choosing Montserrat as a destination". One
day when I have a little more energy I can bore and baffle you all with the
frustrating, unfriendly and quite bizarre customs & immigration
procedures of some of the islands.
Tomorrow we head north to the twin islands of Nevis
(Pronounced neevis) and St Kitts.