From Montserrat We Go

Bright and early on Wednesday morning, we raised anchor and set of down the west coast of Montserrat. This would take us past the island's erstwhile capital Plymouth. Today it is utterly abandoned, occupied only by drifts of muddy ash and gradually encroaching greenery. It and the lush farmland around it were abandoned when the volcano made its presence known with engulfing swathes of hot mud, ash, steam and sand. Today, enterprising islanders mine the muck for the sand which is used up and down the islands in construction. Positive told us it is considered among the best sands available because it contains no salt.

Plymouth is off limits, deep in the exclusion zone. Sailing past it was not permitted until just a couple of years ago. The view is extraordinary. We moved slowly past the scene, wrapped in our thoughts. Hardly a word was spoken until we reached the end of the island.

Plymouth today--a ghost town.

Speechless.

The volcano, still seething, looms behind Plymouth.

We sailed well south so we could head almost directly back to Jolly Harbour. Our guests had a flight out the next afternoon, and we had an engine that needed care and feeding.

The crossing was uneventful except for the arrival of a pod of dolphins, who joined us for a brief spell. There were about 10 of them, bounding through the waves beside us. Most of them seemed very small, making me think it was a dolphin kindergarten class on a field trip to learn about boats.

We arrived in Jolly Harbour in the late afternoon and WW went ashore for ice and to talk with our mechanic. He learned that a vicious blow was headed our way, with 25 knot winds gusting over 30 kts. It was due to start kicking up a fuss on Friday evening. He arranged to have the engine pulled the next day, Thursday.

As our Eager Crew prepared for departure the next morning, we drew up to the boat yard wall. A charming young Dominican man (from the DR, not from Dominica...can be confusing) with almost no English immersed himself in the engine compartment, sloshing about in spilled fuel and other vile liquids. He disconnected all the connections that bound our port engine to the boat. After several hours, including that during which we bid the Eager Crew a fond farewell, the engine was liberated. A forklift arrived and our Dominican gently eased the engine up through the hatch. As it emerged, he smiled broadly and announced, "I bring out baby!"

The labour is almost over.

Delivery!

It looks so small...

We decided to waste no time. It was about 3 p.m. and we cast off and beetled straight off for English Harbour, arriving a bit after 5 p.m. We planned to sit out the blow in the safety of the best harbour  in the Caribbean.

Thanks to Enn for the Montserrat photos.