Montserrat to Deshaies, Guadeloupe

We leave Montserrat early as the predictions for today’s weather are for light winds.  Mike looks at the exclusion zones around Montserrat’s coast and notices that they are not as far out to sea as they were last time we were here so he decides to take us down the west coast so that we can see the buried capital of Plymouth.

As we sail down we can see that the Soufriere Hills volcano is steaming and smoking like mad today, and for some time visibility through the sun is poor but beautiful in its own way.

Photo:  The Soufriere Hills volcano hidden behind steam and smoke

Approaching the area of Richmond Hill, just north of Plymouth we are suddenly greeted with the smell of sulphur as the light wind is blowing towards us from the volcano.  As we get closer to the remains of Plymouth, the sun gets higher and the wind shifts slightly affording us a better view.

 

Photos:  Views of Plymouth buried in volcanic ash and rock

It is an eerie and sobering sight.  Lush green hills to either side and ash grey in the middle - the flows of ash and rock find the areas of least resistance to surge down.

The volcano has been regularly active since July 1995, the most recently explosions being in December 2008.   Earlier in that year, the dome partially collapsed and this can be seen in some of the photos.

Photo:  The partially collapsed dome

Photo:  The pyroclastic flow which destroyed the south of the island in 1997

Apart from one small fishing boat, there are no other boats out today.

The winds die as we pass the volcano.  Maybe the air is sucked in over the island, I don’t know, but we have to get the engines started, and so begins the routine for the next few hours.  We do manage to catch a fish but it is another barracuda which manages to wriggle off the hook just as Mike goes to try and release him.  Then he just lies there, still alive on the bottom step and Mike has to nudge him off with the tip of his shoe before he swims off, slapping the water with his tail in a very pissed off manner, soaking Mike in the process.

For lunch Johanne and I crack open king crab claws to make a crab salad.  This is time consuming and messy but the result is worth it.

Photo:  Fighting with crab claws

The afternoon is spent reading, doing sudoku, dozing and listening to music, although as it’s my music, Mike frequently jumps up to bypass something with the words ‘what’s this crap?’

Photos:  Same day, same men, same books different seats!

At some point in the afternoon I chastise Steve, again, for not replacing the empty water bottle in the fridge.  Even before I dish out his punishment, he is practically on his knees pleading with me not to put ‘that’ photo in the blog.  Oh boy, am I enjoying this or what?

We arrive in Deshaies late in the afternoon, and everyone has a nap.  Except I cannot sleep and get up again and make tea.  The sunset is beautiful, and I play with the new camera again taking ever more colourful photos as the sky changes.

Photos:  Sunset views from Deshaies

We have barbecued pork fillet with pineapple relish and coconut rice and watch another three episodes of Gavin and Stacey, polishing off a couple of bottle of wine in the process.  Steve and Johanne are such a bad influence (and we are so easy to lead!!!).