Passing the Island of Montserrat

We were finally ready to leave Deshaies, Guadaloupe for the island of Nevis. Sailing north and west, we passed Montserrat to the east. After a long period of dormancy, the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat became active again in 1995 and continues to spew ash and gasses. We'd been warned to stay two miles out from the west side of the island to avoid collecting ash on the boat. As we passed, we could see the volcano clearly with its peak puffing out smoke and ash. "Soufriere" is a French word meaning "sulphur outlet" and we could smell the sulphur in the air as we sailed.

The eruptions have made more than half of Montserrat uninhabitable. In 1995, the capital of Plymouth was destroyed and about two-thirds of its population, or 7,000 people, left the island.  In 1997, the airport was in the lava path and was completely destroyed. Montserrat is a British territory and there was a lot of controversy regarding the effort and amount of aid coming from the British government following the eruptions in 1995-1997. The people even rioted in protest. For the most part, tourism stopped but is now slowly returning.

We never landed on the island, but I took pictures as we sailed past, on our way to Nevis.