<BACK TO NEVIS> <BACK TO CARIBBEAN PAGE> <on to guadeloupe>
Mar 25th - After a 16 hour night sail from Nevis we arrived at 9:30am in Little Bay and dropped our anchor. A pretty harbour with clear water and relatively quiet, except for the construction of the new Port Authority building. We took early siestas to catch up on lost sleep and cleared in at customs, then had a lazy day of snorkelling and reading trashy novels. In the evening 'Quietly' arrived from Nevis after a pleasant day sail, and we had them over for dinner.
Little Bay 
Mar 26th - Decided to take a look at the island today, so we motored ashore with 'Quietly' and had some beers at Moose's bar, watching BBC news as we waited for our taxi. The taxi arrived and Peter introduced himself as our driver. Then we clambered into his van, named "Trust No Cloud" and we we're off!
Moose's Bar 
He showed us the temporary government buildings, all converted containers, and told us about the island as we wound through the trees and up hills to eventually arrive at the new Volcano Observatory. From here there was an unspoilt view of the volcano, a safe distance away, and we spent our first few minutes gawking at it! Then we went inside to the main room where there was a tour, and learnt all about the history of the volcano. Since 1995, when the first big eruption happened, the northern half of the island has been closed off, so now the inhabitants that are still living on the island, (many moved away to England and Ireland) are situated in new government funded houses in the South. There have been more eruptions since, or pyroclastic flows, one in 97, an one in 2001, from which they've learnt more about the volcano, and have built the new observatory to prevent any more disasters like the 95' eruption. Before then the volcano was believed to be dormant, so when the eruption happened no one was prepared, and roughly 19 people died, and the capital, Plymouth, was completely destroyed, blanketed over with ash. Now only the top of a monument that stood in the centre of town sticks above the ash.
View from the observatory > 
After we'd had a look around, watching the seismographs, and seeing how the volcano has grown over the years, we went outside to look at the volcano again. Peter was waiting for us, an he told us about how he lost his house in the eruption of 95' and went to live in Birmingham, like many others. But unlike many, he came back to his homeland, and is now living in a new house with his family. We all climbed back in the van after snapping some photos, and Peter drove around the new housing estates that have been built. They are all brightly coloured, in blues and reds, with houses for the elderly, and a new school. Each house has an amazing view as the whole estate is perched on top of a huge hill. For government funded buildings, they we're the nicest we'd seen, spaced out, well kept and friendly. As we drove around it seemed like everyone knew Peter, and he honked his horn as we passed by kids chasing us down the street, and friends waving hello. He even stopped at 'Victor's Grocery store" so we could buy some fresh bread and eggs! So if you're ever on Montserrat and need a ride, we recommend Peter!
One of the signs marking the
exclusion zone > 
Andrea and Peter with his van >
Victor's Store >
Mar 27th - Our friends off of "Cheshire Cat" had recommended that we do a night sail past the Soufriere Volcano to Guadeloupe. So at 9pm "Quietly" and us raised anchor and sailed in tandem around the northern part of the island, staying out of the exclusion zone, at least 2 miles away from the island. Around midnight we caught our first glimpse of the red hot lava as it poured down the volcano. It wasn't like you see in the movies, with rivers of lava streaming out, but it was definitely the highlight of the voyage so far! As we came round the island we got to see more and more, a small red moving stream to the naked eye, but through binoculars you could see it blow out of the volcano and stream down the hill, sometimes suddenly exploding again as it collided with something on its way down. A couple of times there were 3 or 4 streams pouring down the volcano at once, coming together, then separating, and eventually cooling off into darkness. I wish we could of somehow documented it, with photos or video but it was too faraway, and it happened so quickly, that only the human eye could see it. An amazing sight! The first volcano we've ever seen at night!
At 10am we picked up a mooring at Pigeon Island, just off the west coast of Guadeloupe, and we're reunited with a boat we'd met earlier in St Martin, "Willow".