Antigua Jolly Harbour Marina

Petronella
Sun 7 Apr 2013 07:03
We had an easy 15 mile sail along the coast and arrived off Jolly Harbour at 13.00. The entrance is a dredged channel and although we should have had plenty of water according to the chart we were aware that there had been silting and that the depths were reduced. We headed carefully in and sure enough the water shallowed until we only had a foot or so under the keel. Luckily it was calm so we very cautiously crept in and made it into the marina without any problems.
 
We decided that whilst Petronella was tucked up in a safe berth it was a good opportunity for us to do a couple of day trips by ferry to some other islands. So Wednesday morning found us bound towards Barbuda on a quirky wave piercing ferry that was a sort of waiting room on floats. It actually went quite well and we had a good 25 mile crossing albeit with a somewhat jerky motion which did not agree with a number of the passengers!   Barbuda is a flat coral island about 15miles long bounded by beautiful sandy beaches and coral reefs. It has a population of about 1500 and is very undeveloped and low key. We had a lovely day being shown the limestone caves that were inhabited thousands of years ago, the large Frigate bird colony on the edge of a large lagoon and the village of Codrington.  For lunch we were taken to a deserted beach where there was a tiny beach bar and our party of six sat in solitary splendour and were fed grilled lobster and white wine. Wonderful!
 
                                                                 
                                                                               Our floating waiting room!
 
                                  
                        Barbuda's fabulous beaches and coral reefs                                      What a view from your cave!
 
                                                      
                                                                   Wild cactus found close to the caves
 
                              
                           Our guide getting us closer to the colony!                       Frigate Bird colony (white heads are the young)
 
                                                             
                                                                          Our young beach bartender
                                                                                                           
The next day we visited a very different island and had a very different experience.  Montserrat is a mountainous, ten mile long, volcanic island 25 miles to the south west of Antigua and is a British Dependency. It had a population of 12,000 in the 1980's.  It has had a very tough time as in 1989 it was hit head on by Hurricane Hugo with winds of over 150 mph.  90% of the population was left homeless and £200 million worth damage was done. Just as they were beginning to recover in 1995 the volcano which had been dormant for many years suddenly became active. The whole south of the island had to be evacuated including the capital Plymouth where the majority of the population was based. Over the next two years the volcano was at times very active and Plymouth was completely destroyed and buried under ash. It just looks as if an atom bomb has been dropped on it.  Many people left the island to come to Britain and the population is now down to 5,000 or so.  Even now sixteen years after the major eruptions life is still very difficult and they constantly live under the threat of another eruption. However most of those living on the island today are pleased to be there and and the mood is generally upbeat and very friendly.
 
                            
                            What's left of Plymouth after the eruption                        Wildlife still survives (iguana on centre wall)
 
We were very fortunate as our tour guide Winston had been the Deputy Police Commissioner at the time of eruption and for some years after and he was able to fill us in with much of the background detail.  He is a lovely guy and still optomistic for the future.  However it really bought it home to us when he showed us the area where his house had been together with some other rental properties he had owned and explained that they had to just walk away from it all with no compensation. They couldn't even take their furniture or belongings.  The south of the island is still an exclusion zone with restricted access but he was able to take us to a ruined hotel which had overlooked Plymouth. We could see how the acid discharges had eaten away the metalwork and the ash had found it's way into the building and completely filled the swimming pool.    
 
                              
                                      The hotel office                                              The swimming pool with pool steps filled with ash
 
We left on a positive note as Winston took us to Little Bay where they are starting to build a new capital.  Pride of place is a new cultural centre funded by the proceeds of a concert organised by Sir George Martin who had had a studio on the Island and featured many of the artists who had recorded there.
 
                             
                      Winston & Martin with ash covered Plymouth                         View back towards Little Bay Harbour
 
As we travelled back on the ferry we realised that we were very fortunate to have been able to make the trip and see the deva stating effects of a natural disaster for ourselves. It has certainly given us plenty to think about as when seen on the TV sat in your living room at home if doesn't register in the same way.
 
We have decided that Antigua is as far north as we will go on this trip as we want to give ourselves time to explore some new islands on our way back as well as revisiting some of our favourites, so we will be leaving after the weekend.  We have booked a place ashore for Petronella at the Spice Island Marine boatyard in Grenada for the middle of May and we will leave her there through the hurricane season which runs through to December.