We fled north towards Nevis, watching in wonder as Montserrat was engulfed in clouds of ash. It looked to us as though the volcano was having a major upheaval. That evening, however, when we found Radio Montserrat and tuned in to the evening news, not a word. Volcano? What volcano?
Volcano on Montserrat being uppity to our undiscerning eyes.
Tot Club member Graeme Knott is something of an expert on Montserrat and has written a thriller set on the island and in the area of the volcano. He said the people of the island are compeletly inured to the volcano’s belches and rumblings. Spewing ash and steam? Not worth a mention. He also said we were wise to have run away since the ash contains sulphuric acid and is extremely bad for just about everything. It can cause severe pitting of stainless steel fittings. It is also, we discovered, a hazard because it makes surfaces very slick...like having a layer of talc...so moving about on deck must be done with even greater than usual caution. It is also a pain. It is extremely fine and sifts into everything.
Volcanic ash on our stern solar panel.
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