Dalton W. Williams
Montserrat
Morning Sail with David
Montserrat Buss Tour
Montserrat Volcano Observatory
March 2002
Montserrat
Never in my life did I ever expect to be near an active volcano, but here we are approaching the island of Montserrat with it's very active Volcano. I must admit it is with some trepidation that we approach. But this is my dream... to explore and learn new things. Join Gretchen and I on the island that rumbles...Even from afar you see the plume of steam and ash rising from the Volcano.
The
sail to Montserrat made for a long
day! We left Nevis at 6:24 this morning with Gretchen taking the first watch
while I caught 40 more winks of sleep. If we could have sailed direct to
Montserrat it would only take a little over five hours, but with the wind coming
directly from Montserrat we had to motor east around the end of Nevis and
then tack north east to sail easterly before tacking south into Montserrat.
After working our way east for eight hours, we could finally turn south for another three hours to Montserrat arriving at Rendezvous Bay at Montserrat a little after six in the evening. We cleared in the following morning just around the corner at the port in Little Bay.
With the eruption of the Montserrat Volcano in 1997 destroying the old capital city and port. Most of the population left the island shortly after the first eruption, fleeing to neighboring islands and to Brittan. Over the years since, many people have returned to the island are are slowly constructing a new main settlement on the north end of Montserrat including a new port complex. While the construction continues, the Port, Customs and Immigration offices currently located in portable offices. Just stop at the security trailer and they will point the way for you.
Morning Sail with David
While waiting for the afternoon tour of the Island, David from Gallant and I took a morning sail. One of my traits that can just drive me mad is my "A" type personality which refuses to accept that I can not do everything.
That trait served me well in my profession where the computer and networking systems I designed worked very well. But ... Mother nature and sailing are not quite so controllable ... {sigh} A 28 mile trip requiring a 58 mile eleven hour sail, and I was pretty frustrated at not being able to sail Quietly closer to the wind.
David
having done a lot of racing offered to try to
help me figure out some techniques
to make better progress sailing up wind. It was a beautiful morning with
15 knots of wind, just perfect for working out up wind sailing. What he
immediately saw was that the jib sheet cars were about five feet too far
forward. This made a dramatic difference as we first moved them back and
then tweaked them. Thanks David!!
Montserrat Buss Tour
Today is Sunday and after our tour of Montserrat yesterday II must tell you that I enjoyed the tour and learning about Montserrat the most of any of the islands I have been to so far.
We took a 3.5 hour taxi tour of the island with Peter as
our guide and buss driver. He had lived on the island for most of his life
and is one of the islanders who had lost his home and had to move because of the
volcano. He drove us through all of the island that is not in the
prohibited (they call it the exclusion) zone stopping a some of the 16 churches
that serve the population of 3000 people and through the neighborhoods built by
the government for the people who have lost their homes to the volcano. Peter
was lucky enough to be able to purchase some land and build a new house on a
hill in the safe zone where he has a view of the ocean.
After
touring the island Peter stopped at the "supermarket" for us. This was a
plywood building with plywood floors where I was totally amazed at the selection
of fresh vegetables, apples, lettuce and though limited in quantity, just about
anything you might want. Here we purchased Dove Ice Cream Bars which were yummy
and some fruits and vegetables. I even found a Diet Pepsi in the cooler!
Pardon me for a minute while I take hot biscuits out of the oven and get ready to tell you the amazing story of my tour of the volcano…
Montserrat Volcano Observatory
The
highlight of the tour was the hour we spent at the
volcano observatory talking with the scientist there. They have a clear view of
the volcano from a distance of only three miles across two valleys thus they are
well protected. They have remote sensors spread out all around the volcano
including remote cameras so I imagine you can bring up current images as we were looking at out the window sitting there
where ever you are reading this on your computer.
The Montserrat Volcano has been erupting constantly for
most of the past year putting out lava equivalent to three refrigerators per
second. The scientist told us that when it started the volcano was a small one
but now it has grown to be one of the largest active volcano's. The photo
to the left was made in 2002. In it, the green and dark grey landscape at
the bottom of the photo was the volcano before it started erupting in 1997.
The lines show it's growth in only the past year! It is now a very
dangerous volcano if they get enough rain to trigger lava flow. As I understand it,
the molten lava around the volcano cone is over 500 feet thick of still molten
lava held in place by the thin outer crust of of cooled lava. Rain, as little as three inches, could cause the collapse of the
cone sending all of the molten lava down the slopes into the sea at over 70 miles per hour.
We could actually see this in small flows
as we sailed by the volcano that night. As a large piece of new lava would break off the top
and roll down the side, the side of the mountain would change from black to red
fire as the thin crust was broken as the piece rolled down the mountain.
Absolutely one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen. It looked like
someone was spilling buckets of florescent paint down the mountain. The fire red glow comes from the new rock which is
around 800 degrees Celsius.
Absolutely beautiful! We just sat and watched for two hours as we sailed
by with oooo's and ahhhhh's like watching fireworks!
We have also enjoyed the beautiful beach at Nevis, learned how banned oil becomes Statian oil, and been thoroughly amazed and awed by the Volcano on Montserrat. This part of our journey has truly been extraordinary. We are about to explore the islands and anchorages of "Mountains and Mangroves."