Montserrat An Elusive Target

Dawn and I enjoyed the view of this beautiful island from Pinney's Beach yesterday, and got up and under way by 7 am towards Montserrat. The clouds were dark, and totally enclosed the volcano's cone. The forecast was for 16-18 knots from the east, and we had to motor in low wind conditions for 20 minutes. The wind had a lot of south in it initially, but we thought it might improve to the east as we got out from under Nevis. It didn't happen. The wind grew to above 20 knots, with stronger gusts,
and the wind direction stayed 135 degrees magnetic (almost on the nose). By 11, we were only 1/4 way across (half way to the Kingdom of Redonda, to those who know about these things), and the waves were building. We had tacked to the east to get over the 20m shallows, but found the deep water waves were no better. We tried motor-sailing at a different angle, and found that we could not do 5 knots, and that the boat was falling hard off the tops of the waves. Deciding that there was no easy way
to make safe harbour in Montserrat by nightfall, we turned around and headed back to Nevis.

Sounds like a waste of a day, right? Well, not exactly. We caught a cute little ciro mackerel, and filetted and cooked it. It, in a whole wheat bun, went well with the red wine we have been consoling ourselves with. The trip back was a blast, too; with us hitting 8.7 knots surfing downwind on those big breakers with nothing but two handkerchiefs up for sails.

We're back at Pinney's Beach, looking at this beautiful mountain island in bright sunlight, with just a tight little cloud around the cone. The wind is strong, and the wind generator is making awful noise, as we bob more than usual in the surf twisting around the south of the island. The only mean stuff is what we are saying about those who create these weather forecasts: They were a minimum of 30 degrees off the wind direction, and 30 % off the wind strength. Somebody could get hurt!!

We're fine, but we have also heard some disturbing news about our local environment. Jeanne Chown, who intends to come aboard in a week in Guadeloupe and travel to St. Lucia with us, tells us that the socio-political problems in Guadeloupe are dire, with general strikes, gangs, and social and racial unrest - all related to the global economic situation. Dominica may also be affected. This leaves us in a bad way, both in our ability to pick up and enjoy the company of Jeanne and Doug in a week,
and in our travels in general. Somehow, we thought like others: We could go to sea and turn our backs on the global economic situation. It ain't so.

Hopefully, it isn't as bad as we are imagining it, and we just have to do a good passage to find safe islands. In the interim, we're safe and happy. We'll keep you posted. If you know something we don't about Guadeloupe, Dominica, or other islands, keep us posted.

Laurie & Dawn