We leave Nevis just after 7am. No other boats have arrived in the night and we are still the only yacht in the whole bay. The only signs of life are the fisherman casting their nets.
Photo: Local fishermen
When I say we set sail, I mean Mike and Steve set sail; Johanne and I don’t emerge until some time later once it starts getting a bit rougher when we are out of the protected waters of the bay.
Amazingly we only motor sail for a couple of miles, then have enough wind in the right sort of direction to switch them off. Mike puts the rod out and we wait.
After all yesterday’s activity, we are a little disappointed that all is quiet. In a sea which is literally teaming with fish, not one seems to want to jump on our hook and give us a free meal.
Just after 10am, I wander down below to get a t-shirt on and just a glance in the direction of my bed is enough to lure me onto it. I am aware of Mike coming down a couple of times and general wandering footsteps over my head as people trundle around the boat, but I manage to cat nap until lunchtime!
Photo: Montserrat’s volcano clothed in ash filled clouds
We arrive in Montserrat around 3pm after a slow passage as the winds are light and from a bit to far south so we have to do a few tacks. We are almost immediately greeted by a plague of flies. Not mosquitoes, but plain, ordinary, pesky flies. Within minutes there are about 30 in the cockpit and salon. Steve gets his new toy out – the electric fly zapper – but they are too quick for it and we resort to shutting the boat up, putting the air conditioning on and dousing the interior of the boat with fly spray. We wait in the cockpit until it is safe to go inside and I sweep up as many as I can.
Mike goes over to customs to clear in only to find out that they close at 3.15 on Fridays which means we will now have to pay a supplement to check in tomorrow. Everyone goes for a nap except me. Well two in one day would be a little excessive wouldn’t it. Instead I do my PC stuff and then prepare the marinade for tonight’s dinner.
Photo: Yet another beautiful end to the day
Dinner was Chicken Pelau which Mike complained was not up to its usual standard and we watched Slumdog Millionaire which was brilliant. The boys went to bed earlier than us – we just sat up giggling.
The fisherman had clothes on!! Not like the ones by Pussers in their green underpants! Looks like you are all having a great visit. Are you going ashore in Montserrat? Chicken Pelau sounds yummy. My mom and dad are here visiting and I made the chicken caesar for them...they LOVED it!! We eat it once a week. We have all enjoyed reading the blog. Are you going to look for your truffle paste in any other place before ARC? I feel so bad that you can't find it. I managed to get some here and did the pasta thing with it. Yummy! I hope you get some..
ReplyDeleteMuch love,
Heather