Amaris sails the world
Monteserrat, Caribbean Islands
April 25, 2014
The road less traveled by...
Traveling up and down the Caribbean Island chain typically involves stops Northward at Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St Martin. These islands have great anchorages, plenty of restaurants, fuel, services, and provisioning options. Heading Southbound, the same islands are used in reverse - although people may chose to anchor in a different bay thus still exploring what appears to be a new place again.
There is however an alternative - less attractive option of (again Northbound) Dominica (lovely), Guadeloupe (again-lovely and easy provisioning), Montserrat (difficult rolling anchorage with active volcano/exclusion zone), Redonda (interesting history - no safe anchorage), Nevis/St Kitts (actually lovely with a few protected places on St Kitts but noted for high crime), Statia (again with the rolling anchorage), and Saba (rolling anchorage). After completing that run, a cruising yacht may seek the protection and calm of St Martin - where they may want to never leave.
For our southbound trek, we chose the less attractive route. I can claim this had much to do with how the winds were blowing - but Shawn and I certainly like finding the "road less traveled." Montserrat is certainly on the road less traveled by - and is usually bypassed by most cruisers even if they are doing the St Kitts. In the mid 90's, Soufriere Hills (a funny name for a volcano) erupted burying the southern half of the island including Plymouth, the capitol - and the one attractive/protected anchorage. Ironically, Jimmy Buffet, who wrote the song while staying on Montserrat "I don't know where i am gonna go when the volcano blows" (not real title obviously) had left before the eruption. The island has no town center and everyone is living and operating out of temporary structures (envision shipping containers on concrete blocks) that line the three mile stretch of road between Little Bay and Salem.
After anchoring in Little Bay, we enjoyed lunch out. The mile walk back burned off the delicious "mutton" that I had. Mutton as it turns out is what is served when the cook doesn't know if they are cooking lamb or goat. Ironically, all we saw on the island were lamb, goats, and ONE LIVE COW. So, if I think they should be able to identify goat from lamb unless Bessie stops mooing. Nonetheless - it was quite tasty and I didn't have to wash up.
We both wanted to see the active volcano of course. We hired a recommended guide from our cruising guide book. Joe drove us around the island after a 15 minute lecture about our being 7 minutes late. We were actually 10 minutes early - however were sitting in the wrong spot. Joe then gave us a 5 hour tour of the island during which time he said no fewer than 100 times how his tour, which included photos, was so much better than the other offered tours. I am still confused if he was telling us this to reinforce his high cost (400 EC or aproximately $150 US), build his ego with a captive audience, or cover the awkward pauses when Shawn and I had nothing to say. The tour covered a lot of houses that were buried in mud, bridges that were covered (in mud), and finally a hotel with a pool that was filled (with mud/ash). We did get some nice views of the volcano, watch as sand was being processed for export (apparently a tour highlight), and see the other cow on the island (it was dead and by the smell of things-had been for quite some time.) On a fascinating side, Montserrat has invested in a steam electricity plant that uses the heat from the volcano to heat water (from a spring) which can turn a turbine to generate electricity. Unfortunately, they have only built the steam tube-and never connected a turbine. A massive amount of steam and free energy (probably enough to power the entire island) billows into the sky.
Although Paul McCartney did a bit of recording on Montserrat before the explosion, we felt the need to no longer look like we belonged in the Beetles band - translation, we needed haircuts. We hired a cab to find a barber - and find a barber we did. This same barber we did scare! The exact quote to Shawn - "I have never seen hair so fine and blonde." Words that always inspire confidence in the consumer. We both received haircuts (that were great in the end) entirely provided with clippers and a significant amount of conversation that neither of us understood. How i wish we had the woman from the movie "Airplane" that speaks Jive to translate for us.
And the best part of Montserrat - the flies. Somehow while at anchor we were able to fill the boat with flies! Fortunately this happened once previously in the Med and we were now prepared - thanks to our friends Sue and Benita that joined us shortly after the Mediterranean experience with fly paper - once readily available and now only available in ACE hardware (probably left over inventory from the 70's).
All that said above - we enjoyed Montserrat. The people of the Caribbean continue to be very friendly. Going out of the way to this island allowed for more "real" interactions with the locals. The people are struggling to find a new identity with half their island inaccessible - and are getting there. Little harbor is in a state of transition and a new wharf is being built to reduce the surf action in the bay and create a new town center. There continues to be a fear that the volcano will erupt again - which explains the fear people have of rebuilding the south half of their island. That said - there were some beautiful homes available (likely on the cheap) including that previously occupied by Jimmy Buffet - with a clear of the Soufriere Hills Volcano. And thanks to brisk winds, we were given a great sail to Guadeloupe at the conclusion of which we opened all the hatches and blew out the remaining flies.
