After breakfast we had an appointment today with Petra and Peter from SY WAHOO, who wanted to give us a few more tips for the Bahamas, that we want to visit in May. The two of them know their way around there very well and have been on a boat with a similar draft. After almost two hours we had added many crosses and asterisks to our area guide and feel well prepared for the visit to the Bahamas. But now Montserrat was on the travel list and slowly we had to hurry, so as not to get there in the dark. With a lot of wind, our CESARINA got going really well and we reached “Little Bay” on Montserrat well before sunset. The only anchor bay on the island was quite busy, but we found a suitable place further out. There wasn't much life to be seen on land. A pier for cargo boats and a couple of port buildings, next to it several buildings directly on the beach. We postponed our first shore leave until tomorrow. There were heavy downwinds in the anchor bay and we wanted to be safe first, that our CESARINA hangs securely on the anchor. So we spent a pretty shaky night without any further problems and cleared the dinghy after breakfast. We received a friendly welcome on land. A dock worker helped us, einen sicheren Platz für unser Beiboot zu finden, denn es gab kein Dinghi-Dock und an der Pier machen ja sonst auch noch Fähren und Frachtschiffe fest.
Das Einklarieren sollte auf Montserrat eigentlich mit dem Online-Programm „SeaClear“ erfolgen, aber anscheinend gab es keine Internetverbindung. So mussten wir die Formulare alle mit der Hand ausfüllen. Aber es waren nur zwei Stück und die Arbeit hielt sich somit in Grenzen 🙂 Nach einem Besuch der Port Control und des Hafenbüros war alles erledigt und wir konnten auf Entdeckungsreise gehen.
Der Insel Montserrat und ihren Bewohnern hat die Natur in den letzten 30 Jahren ziemlich übel mitgespielt. Begonnen hat alles im Jahr 1986, als der Tropensturm „Hugo“ große Teile der Insel verwüstete. About 90% the buildings were destroyed or damaged, the power supply collapsed and 400 Year-old giant trees bent over like matches. The island recovered only slowly from the destruction, but nice 1995 the life of the islanders was turned upside down by the eruption of the volcano "Soufriere Hills". After 400 Years of rest, the first water vapor explosions were observed in the middle of the year and in August the volcano spat a large amount of ash and turns day into night. The rising lava formed a new cathedral, the by the spring of the year 1996 continued to grow rapidly, until it finally collapsed. Lava, Rubble and ash poured out towards the sea and gradually reached larger and larger parts of the island. The evacuation of the residents was in full swing. The absolute climax of the outbreak was that 25. July 1997. Pyroclastic currents and hot ash clouds destroyed houses. The airport was also threatened. More than 20 People lost their lives during the outbreak. Until the end of the year 1997 the capital Plymouth was buried under a thick layer of ash, the airport was completely destroyed by the lava masses. Until the year 2000 the volcano raged with decreasing violence. Ash clouds rose again and again up to thirteen kilometers into the air. This was followed by a short period of relaxation. People tried to get back to normal. Parts of the island, which are now at a safe distance from Vulkan, They were allowed to re-enter and houses and hotels were cleared of ashes and rubble and put back into operation. But the calm did not last long. Already in the year 2002 The experts were able to measure increasing activity again and 2008 another eruption reached the remains of the capital Plymouth again. Lava currents flowed 400 Meters out into the sea and ashes 15 Hurled miles high in the sky. Not until the year 2012 the activities of the volcano weakened again and since then there has been relative calm to this day.
Even today, half of the island's area is a restricted area and may not be entered. During the natural disaster, the number of islanders is over 10.000 on tight 4500 People dropped.
Immediately after leaving the port, we were approached by the taxi driver Christian. Whether we want to do an island tour? With the sentence "I'll show you the best of the rest" he had already put us in the taxi and off we went. The tiny road headed south. Our first destination was the "Montserrat Volcano Observatory". We arrived there just in time for the helicopter to take off, every day at 12 O'clock for an observation flight over the volcanic area. A twenty-minute film showed the entire history of the volcanic eruption in dramatic images. Particularly appalling is the comparison of the images of the city of Plymouth before the eruption and the stone and ash desert, which you can find at this point today.
Then we make our way to the "Daytime Entry Zone". So we cross a dry river bed, in heavy rain that quickly turns into raging mud- and rubble flow becomes. The bridge, which crossed the river before the volcanic eruption, is buried several meters deep under ash and sand. The formerly popular residential area overlooking the sea and Plymouth has fallen into disrepair. Nature has recaptured this place. Driveways to houses and villas are overgrown, some of the trees also grow directly in the destroyed ruins.
We visited a hotel, which used to be one of the most popular on the island. It makes the impression, as if time stood still. In the office we find scattered documents from the year 1995. The furniture is missing in the rooms, aber in den eingebauten Kleiderschränken hängen noch die Kleiderbügel. Der Fußboden ist überall mit einer dicken Schicht Asche bedeckt. Auch der Swimmingpool hat schon bessere Zeiten gesehen. Bis obenhin gefüllt mit Asche und Sand wuchern dort jetzt Gräser und Blumen.
Von einem nahegelegenen Aussichtspunkt aus konnten wir noch einmal einen Blick auf die zerstörte Hauptstadt werfen. Aus dem Aschemeer kann man nur noch ein paar höhere Gebäude ausmachen. Die neu gebaute Kreuzfahrerpier liegt unbeschädigt vor der Stadt. Vor dort aus wird heute Sand in die restliche Karibik exportiert. Wohl das einzige Exportgut, das Montserrat heute zu bieten hat 🙁
After a good three hours we had seen and heard enough and saved ourselves a visit to the former airport. Nevertheless, the species surprised us, how people deal with such blows of fate. Many people still haven't left the island and are living their lives on the edge of the natural disaster in Caribbean good spirits.