Montserrat

April 28, 2011

We again left Nevis and headed south to Montserrat. This day the winds were still 20-30 kts, but we were ready for them. there were not rain showers threatening either. We had a 2nd reef in the main and a reefed jib. The dinghy was on the bow deck. Our only problems was that wind was not north easterly but south easterly so we couldn't quite head where we needed to go. We passed Redonda and could barely see Montserrat due to the clouds around the volcano. Eventually we had to

tack to get closer to Montserrat. The wave or swells were 6-9 feet. We came into Little Bay and anchored off the beach adjacent to the ferry dock by 5:30 (1730). The customs office had closed at 4 p.m. so we could not check in until the next day. We called the Becker's friends Randy and Nancy Reynolds, our hosts to let them know we had arrived.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Charlie went to check in about 9:00 and did not return until 11:00. the Reynolds picked us up at 12:30. Montserrat was having a holiday because it was the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton so not many places were open for lunch. We did eat lunch at Mariete's Gourmet Garden, whose owner is Dutch and is always open. The Reynolds took us on a brief tour of the Island including the area added by the volcanic flow. the flow followed a river bed which is now full of rocks and muddy-looking sand. They are now excavating this ash to sell it. We met some of the ex-pats at their favorite bar: "Uncles" . We even met a couple from Charleston. They have a house in Montserrat but also one on King Street. Other couples were from Canada, Texas, and Nebraska as well as the UK. We retuned to the R

eynolds to watch some of the Royal Wedding reruns.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

We returned to the boat to run the generator to charge the batteries. We needed to defrost the boat freezer so we took all the frozen food and some of the refrigerated food to the Reynolds. We also brought some of our laundry to their house to wash. They had contacted their hair cutting person who agreed to curt both Charlie's and my hair. Then we had lunch at Tina's where we also ordered a pizza for later that evening. Back at the Reynolds, we enjoyed their lovely swimming pool overl

ooking the Caribbean Sea. They have a great view. Their neighbors, Sally (Amer.) and Tony Simpson ( a Brit) joined us for cocktails and later our pizza.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

I fixed a sausage, hashbrown potato, egg casserole for breakfast for all of us. We had some of the watermelon I bought in Nevis. We went back to the boat to charge the batteries again. The snubber line had chafed through so Charlie fixed that. We went to a fund raiser Bar-B-Q at the Woodlands Beach, a volcanic beach to benefit the animal shelter on Montserrat. We met many nice persons including the Governor of Monterrat. He is appointed by England. they ike this new Governor very much because he seems more interested in doing beneficial things for the Island. His name is Adrian Davis ( of Davies) and his wife Su is Chinese. We talked to some of their friends about our problem of needing to get some water on to our boat. Several said they would look into it for us. that night we spent some time trying to make a list of the islands and the stops we should make on our way south. Randy suggested that we go to Trinidad instead of Grenada. It is about 100 miles from Granada so it would be an overnight sail. We looked at marinas/boatyards in Granada and Trinidad. Charlie made a reservation in Trinidad for June 19, 2011.

Monday, May 2, 2011

It is another holiday in Montserrat: May Day or their Labor Day so many shops are closed. Nancy and I did find a grocery open so I could buy a few things. Greg Mehring, an ex-pat from Nebraska arrived with many coolers full of water. He and Charlie went to the boat and put the water into the water tank. Hooray! We now have water. We are very grateful to him for helping us solve this problem. I had a leg of lamb in our boat freezer so we cooked it for our Monday early dinner. Charlie wanted to be back on the boat Monday night so we could get an early start on Tuesday for Guadaloupe. Luckily we were able to find an immigration guy at the port ( drinking beer at a nearby outdoor bar) who could check us out.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

We left Little Bay Harbor about 0745. The winds were light but we put up the sails. Randy and Nancy called us on VHF and waved as we sailed by their house. During our sail down the coast of Montserrat, we could see where the volcano covered much of their former capital, Plymouth, with lava. We could also see several other areas where the lave flowed down the mountain

to the sea adding some land mass. As we sailed out from the shadow of Montserrat, the winds picked up and the waves also grew. About 2/3rd of the way to Guadeloupe, we put the second reef in the mainsail which reduced our heeling and allowed us to sail closer to our course. We arrived at Deshaies bay about 4:30-5p.m. We did take the boat off the bow, but did not put the motor on it. After talking to a couple in a small dinghy with a grandfather, mom, dad and two boys rowing back to their boat, we also pulled up our dinghy using the rope bridle and used the cable to lock it. They had had their dinghy with 15 horsepower motor stolen off their sailboat that morning. It is so sad when crime spoils such an lovely vacation and site.