Ashed in Antigua

After spending a quiet new years eve in Barbuda we decided to come back to Jolly Harbour in Antigua for a few days. We had planned for a trip to the island of Montserrat sometime in the coming week, but now we’re not too sure. After being out in the dingy for a few hours we wondered why our eyes were so itchy and sore.

Arriving back at the boat we saw that the decks, hatches, cockpit, everything was coated with a fine layer of grey dust with a consistency of ashes. That’s weird we thought. Could it be from the nearby boat yard, or maybe a construction site? Turns out it was actually volcanic ash spewing out of the volcano on nearby Montserrat. The ash cloud was high enough to get caught in the winds blowing our way. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has increased the Hazard Level from a three to a four. I’m not sure what that means, probably that it’s best not to visit Montserrat this week. Check out more pics at http://www.mvo.ms/


These pictures were taken just before Christmas on our way past the island enroute to Antigua. We could see the clouds of ash billowing out of the crater all the way from Guadeloupe.