Sunday morning, we were up bright and early preparing to
leave Nevis after spending just over a week at this beautiful and extremely
friendly island. We were sailing to Montserrat via Redonda.
As promised in last week’s update, I would tell you something
about “The Kingdom of Redonda”
Redonda is a HUGE rock some 1000 feet high and one mile long.
One can NOT anchor there; it is a difficult and dangerous island to land at and
climb.
Information taken from
Chris Doyle’s The Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands – 13 edition.
“In 1865 phosphates
were discovered and mining began. In 1872 the British decided they had better
take over Redonda before the Americans did and they annexed it as part of
Antigua.
Phosphate production grew, 100 people worked the island and
personnel and equipment were pulled up and down on a two-bucket cable car
designed so that the weight of the up-going load was balanced by seawater,
which was first pumped into a reservoir at the top, then used to fill the
descending bucket. In those days there were houses on the top and a wharf.
In 1914 the phosphate production stopped and the mining lease
was finally given up on 1930. In 1978, Antigua, now independent and keen to
confirm owner ship of the rock, set up a post office and issued a series of
stamps to commemorate 100 years of phosphate mining. There was talk of
reopening the mine. The post office was abandoned a year later and subsequent
landslides and hurricanes have destroyed it”
There is also the story of the “Kingdom of Redonda” which is
quite entertaining reading about Matthew Dowdy Shiell who in 1865, after having
eight daughters eventually had a son. He was a bit of a sexiest and wanted his
son to have a kingdom while he felt his daughters could just go and get
married, so he laid claim to Redonda. This son was crowned King Filipe I of
Redonda.
Other equally interesting characters like John Galsworth who
was crowned King Juan I of Redonda followed by Jon Wynne-Tyson (King Juan II)
and King Robert (Bob the Bald) – who obtained the royal role after King Juan II
became tired of his “royal role” and abdicated on April 1, 1998. Bob the Bald
was a colourful character who lived in Antigua. His royal yacht which was
apparently equally as colourful as its owner, was used in the film the Pirates
of the Caribbean. There are a few discrepancies as to who exactly is the
rightful king of Redonda which makes this “rock” a rather interesting place to
sail pass.
Our sail to Montserrat was enjoyable and it took us about 7
hours to sail the 35nm. The port of entry is now Little Bay, so we headed for
Little Bay which is exactly that – little. We eventually found a spot to anchor
and we were relaxing in the cockpit by 2.30pm.
Since it was Sunday we were unable to check in, otherwise we
would have to pay the custom officials between $80 - $100US for over time so we
decided to fly our yellow quarantine flag and wait for the Customs and
Immigrations Offices to open on Monday morning at 8.00am
Monday morning Mel and John checked us in and by 9.30am, the
four of us were walking up to the main road to catch a bus that would take us
up to the Montserrat Volcano Observation Centre.
Montserrat is known as the “Emerald Isle of the Caribbean”.
Information taken from Chris Doyle’s The Cruising Guide to
the Leeward Islands – 13 edition.
“Montserrat’s first European settlers were Irish who arrived
from St. Kitts in 1630, having experienced problems with the Kittian
Protestants. A second wave of Irish settlers arrived in 1649, after Cromwell
conquered Ireland. They began as smaller farmers growing mixed crops but once
sugar became the main crop, the economy changed. Slaves were introduced and the
smaller farms became uneconomical and many of the Irish returned to their
homeland. They left behind smiling eyes, Irish names such as O’Brien, Dublin
and Ryan and an Irish stew called “goat water”. Today, Montserrat is known as
the other Emerald Isle.
Montserrat is the only other country in the world – other
than Ireland, that celebrates St Patrick’s Day by having a public holiday –
apparently they have a whole week to celebrate St Patrick’s Day!
Montserrat has two different and contrasting landscapes. The
southern part is very stark and barren and is dominated by the Soufriere Hills
volcano. Plymouth was once the capital but all that remains of this once
vibrant town are ash covered burnt out buildings.
The northern part is where most of the population now live –
Little Bay is where the new capital is being developed – slowly.
In 1995, the population of Montserrat was about 11,000 and
they farmed, fished and were involved in the tourist industry. In 1995, the
Soufriere Hills volcano first erupted. Major eruptions happened in 1997 which
led to the evacuation and eventual destruction of the capital Plymouth.
A few years later in 2003, the dome of the volcano collapsed
and the volcano showed signs of going to sleep but in 2006, there were several
more eruptions. In February 2010 the biggest ever eruption happened and the
exclusion zone was extended. The volcano continues to smoulder and smoke.”
We enjoyed our time at the Volcano Centre and our time
walking around Salem where we waited for another bus/taxi to take us back to
Little Bay.
The rest of the afternoon we spent on the boat relaxing and
preparing for our sail to Antigua.
While we were in Little Bay, a Royal Navy Battle ship was
also anchored close by. The ship was on its way to Martinique.
By 7.00am, Tuesday, we were on our way to Antigua sailing
passed the NE part of Montserrat where we could see the volcano from another
angle.
We had a great sail to Antigua. The distances between the
islands are not great distances – from Montserrat to Antigua it was only 25nm
so it took us just over 4 hours as we were doing about 6 knots.
We arrived at Jolly Harbour Customs by 12.00 and were all
tied up along our dock by 12.30.
Blue Moon were not far behind us.
We had decided to stay in the Jolly Harbour Marina for about
a week as we were a bit concerned about a low pressure system that was forming
in the Atlantic. We also had quite a few things to fix on Passages like our
battery charger had packed up, our macerator pump had also given up the ghost
and there were a few other things to fix – the never ending maintenance on a
boat. Maintenance in paradise!
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Mel organised, fixed and
repaired the battery charger, macerator pump and a few other things while I
cleaned the inside of the boat and polished the port holes and some of the
stainless steel. It is amazing how the salt air rusts the stainless on the
boat. We use a product called Spotless Stainless which gets rid of the rust and
acts as a protective coating for a while.
We were also receiving 6 hourly updates on the low pressure
system as we were concerned that it may turn into something nasty. On Thursday
afternoon, the low pressure system became a named Tropical storm – Tropical
storm Bertha. We noticed on the updates that Bertha was passing 120nm south of
us but we would still experience winds 25 – 35knots over the next day or two
(Friday and Saturday).
Friday, we made sure the boat was secure along the dock and
Mel put out some extra lines. We took down any items on the boat that could go
flying away in the wind and enjoyed a night staying on the boat. At the marina
we have cable T.V. which is a real treat so we have been catching up on the
worlds news (what a sad state of affairs – plane crashes and planes being shot
down, the awful and continuing situation in the Middle East – oh dear!)
Saturday, we spent the morning waiting for an electrician as
our air-con is playing up. We only use our air con when we have shore power.
The electrician came and gave us his pricey quote and then Mel, Linda (from
Blue Moon) and I caught the bus into St Johns (the capital of Antigua).
Antigua is preparing for Jouvert (Joovay) – information taken
directly from Wikipedia.
J'ouvert (French pronunciation: [ʒuvɛʁ]) is a large street party during Carnival in the eastern Caribbean region. J'ouvert is a contraction of the French jour ouvert, or dawn/day break.
J'ouvert is celebrated on many islands, including Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Sint Maarten, Dominica, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. It is also a feature of New York City's West Indian Day Parade held on Labor Day, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and Notting Hill Carnival in London, both areas that have a large Caribbean ex-pat communities.
The celebration involves calypso/soca bands and their followers dancing through the streets. The festival starts well before dawn and peaks a few hours after sunrise.
Carnival was introduced to Trinidad by French settlers in 1783, a time of slavery.[1] Banned from the masquerade balls of the French, the slaves would stage their own mini-carnivals in their backyards — using their own rituals and folklore, but also imitating and sometimes mocking their masters’ behavior at the masquerade balls.[2]
The origins of street parties associated with J'ouvert coincide with the emancipation from slavery in 1838. Emancipation provided Africans with the opportunity, to not only participate in Carnival, but to embrace it as an expression of their newfound freedom. Some theorize that some J'ouvert traditions are carried forward in remembrance of civil disturbances in Port of Spain, Trinidad, when the people smeared themselves with oil or paint to avoid being recognized
We walked around Market Street in St Johns for about 2 hours
before heading back to Jolly Harbour marina by taxi.
Monday and Tuesday of next week are public holidays here in
Antigua due to Jouvert and we intend going into St Johns to watch some of the
activities. So here we are in Antigua at the end of week 33 – until next week
when we can tell you about our Jouvert experience.
Keep well. Take care.
Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx
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| Montserrat from another angle - sailing to Antigua |
