November 11, Wednesday afternoon in Nevis

Moored safely off Pinney's Beach near Charlestown.

We went to Montserrat on Monday morning after challenges with the clearing out procedure and bank machines which refused to dispense cash. Enn and Dana are reduced to penury as there is only one machine in English Harbourand it won't give them any at all. It gives me varying amounts, depending on how it is feeling, but Monday morning, none at all. After a long meeting with the teller inside the bank, I managed to come away with a substantial sum, hoping to stave off starvation until we reach a more amenable ATM.

The wind had shifted into the NW, making the normal reach to Montserrat a beat, however there was only 5 knots of it so it is a motor all the way. Lovely day and good views of the volcano as we apprached the island. We rounded the cape to approach Little Bay on the north west end of the island and came into the tiny bay in a strong north swell. The waves pounded the beach and made the us wonder if going ashore was possible. The bay has moored fishing boats and a commercial wharf, all tight up against a cliff face. We dropped anchor between the wharf and the moored boats and hoped for the best. Rolly poly all night, but otherwise comfortable.

In the morning, the dawn brought two dark and menacing squalls, with thunder and lightening, one filling the western horizon and the other over the mountains to the East. The easterly squall hit us hard, dragging the anchor, so we upped anchor and went out to sea a bit in the torrential rain to wait out the squall. As the cumulus cloud mixed with the volcano, the ash joined with the rain and rained down on us. A very fine dusty sand, grey brown in colour, coated everything and made its way inside Django. K and Dana and Enn wanted to go ashore, but I was definitely not leaving Django alone in this insecure anchorage, so offered to stay aboard while they did a tour.

All set, until we began dragging again. So decision made, we upped anchor and pushed off for Nevis to the North. As we pulled away, we had a clear view of the volcano and then she belched a huge plume of steam and ash into the air and pyroclastic flows came billowing down her sides towards the sea. It looked like a major eruption. The wind had come round to the South southwest and within fifteen minutes, Little Bay was being doused in ash. As we continued on to Nevis, the volcano erupted several more times, send a huge ash cloud out over the sea, obliterating the view of Antigua and, eventually of Montserrat itself. I was quite happy being away, as I swept up as much of the fine ash as I could from Django's decks. I have saved a small bit for Leah, who has travelled the world in search of an active volcano and has been frustrated so far. This Montserrat volcano is truly a force of nature to behold.