Spring 2001 SEAmester East Journal
Sent weekly from sea by on-board SEAmester coordinator and professor Chris Hamilton ...
SEAmester Log, Part 2 March 19, 2001
Mona Island, Puerto Rico
Hello there everyone, much has happened since my last entry two weeks ago. First, I must backup and describe our entry into English Harbor in Antigua. We didn't just sail in and drop anchor, no, this historic harbor with Admiral Nelson's Dockyard deserved a show, and a show we gave. After dropping Jill, our videographer, on shore to capture the event, we entered the harbor under full sail, every soul on board at full attention and standing by, crouched low so as not to interfere with the captain's view. We glided past the sailboats anchored at the entrance, past the multimillion dollar yachts tied at the pier then, in a space just slightly larger than our vessel, we rounded up and tacked our bow through the wind shifting all sails to the other side of the ship and sailed back out to our anchorage, to the cheers and applause of several onlookers. With that grand entrance we announced our arrival in Antigua and began our visit. That afternoon we explored the geology of the Pillars of Hercules (an ancient volcanic pyroclastic flow eroded by the sea to form a series of striking pillars marking the entrance to English Harbor), and the biology of the tropical rocky intertidal zone and snorkeled offshore.
Over the next few days we explored more of the island, including the capital St. John's (a classic West Indian town) and a hike across the xeric (dry) scrubland and spectacular coastline up to Shirley Heights for a dramatic sunset. We all had a bit of free time to call home, get ice cream and haggle over prices with the local laundry lady, Mrs. Baltimore. We also got an excellent slide show presentation by Dr. Reg Murphy, a local archeologist involved in many island projects. By this point the weather forecast had changed, the winds we were expecting from the south west did not show up, instead we were expecting strong swells from the north east, apparently originating from a storm that you all had up there. This would make going ashore in Montserrat or even Dominica difficult if not dangerous, so we opted to spend a few days safely anchored behind Green Island, a little slice of Caribbean paradise on the east coast of Antigua. We spent our time with classes, plankton tows, swim calls and our first pin chase (a competition among the students to identify and find various lines and parts of the ship).
We had some very pleasant sailing during the passage from Green Island to Dominica, cruising past the active volcano of Montserrat (which we decided to bypass for the moment because of the imminent swells) and joined for a spell by a small pod of pilot whales. As we approached Dominica and sailed down its west coast to Roseau where we planned to anchor, we were awed by the magnificence of this lush mountainous gem of an island. Columbus, when describing Dominica (which he discovered on a Sunday, Dominigo in Spanish) to the queen of Spain, crumpled up a sheet of paper, threw it on the table in front of the queen and said "That is Dominica." A few hours before we reached our destination on the southern part of the island those on deck spotted a distinct line of white capped waves approaching the clear cobalt blue waters we had been sailing on all day. The captain was alerted and he called for the crew to drop the outer jib. The squall hit us with in a few short minutes and woke us out of our comfort zone with 25-30 knot winds, heeling the Harvey Gamage, drenching those on deck with rain and spray and giving us a heck of a ride for about an hour. The winds died as quickly as they appeared and we gently motorsailed into Roseau to clear into customs by 1730 then a few miles down the coast where we anchored Mediterranean style (done on steep coasts with the bow pointing seaward, anchor down and stern pointing toward the shore with two lines tied to palm trees on the shore).
Students first impressions of this new land were not all positive, considering the obvious poverty on the coast that we had just anchored in front of. The following morning we were shuttled into the mountains by our Rastafarian guides for an extraordinary hike that turned everyone into a lover of the island. The hike began on a wooden water pipe the carried water from the hills down to the settlements on the coast then took us up into a beautiful tropical rainforest for about two hours of uphill hiking and sometimes climbing. As the vegetation began to change with the altitude we found ourselves descending into a barren depression reeking of sulfur. This was the Valley of Desolation, a center of volcanic activity with many fumaroles spewing hot steam and mineral laden and colored waters. Very little vegetation was growing in the sulfur rich air giving the valley a bizarre contrast to the surrounding lushness, one almost expected pterodactyls to come flying over the hills. We had not yet reached our destination, through another patch of forest and another desolate valley and up one final hill, the second largest boiling lake in the world, probably about 1/3 of an acre, gray as clay and shrouded in sulfurous mist, an incredible sight to behold. We had been hiking for over 3 hours and this was a perfect place for lunch. Our guides brought local foods for us to sample, including dozens of the best grapefruit and oranges most of us had ever tasted. The hike down was somewhat less arduous than the hike up, and included a dip in some hot springs and at the very end a cool water swim and a waterfall, the perfect way to end an incredible and sweaty hike. Needless to say, no one was interested in going to town that night and nor were folks staying up late chatting on deck, we were exhausted.
Dominica continued to charm us all during the next few days of our stay. We visited the town of Roseau, another classic West Indian town, this with a French architectural flair, the Botanical Gardens and the local produce market. The following day, about 7 went scuba diving on a coral reef and another dive in Champagne Bay, so called because of the volcanic gasses bubbling up through the sediment, making one feel as though they were swimming in a glass of champagne! Those who were not diving took an island tour led by our friends and guides from the other day. They took us swimming in a beautiful river, treated us to several varieties of local produce and flora including cinnamon, cloves, bay rum leaves, cocoa and much more. We also visited the only reservation for the Carib Indians, the original inhabitants of the Caribbean, were they showed us their traditional basketmaking techniques, and a glimpse of their domestic life, including outdoor kitchens and agricultural self sufficiency. The Carib kids were curious about the piercings that our students had in their lips, tongues and bellybuttons. The island tour culminated at Trafalgar Falls, where our guides strategically brought us at the end of the day so that we would avoid the hordes of tourists from the cruise ships. The falls were spectacular, another great ending to a very special day.
The next day we were bound for Montserrat (when sailing we never say "going to" as it is too certain, which sailing is not) where we arrived the following morning after an overnight sail. After clearing through customs and immigration we all went ashore where some folks from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (www.mvomrat.com) were waiting to take us on a tour of the island. We piled into the bus and learned some of the island's recent history en route to our first stop. In 1995 the major volcano on the island, thought to be extinct, proved that it was not. Over the next few years and with several small to medium scale eruptions, the lower 1/3 of the island became inhabitable, including the former capital of the island, Plymouth. The population dropped from 12,000 to 2000 as Montserratians left for other islands, including England and those who stayed behind began working to rebuild their island's infrastructure and to salvage what remained of their identity. The geologists led us around the island, showing us various ancient volcanic deposits which held the students' interest for a short while. Everyone however seemed to perk up when we began to get closer to the volcano and we could see some of the direct impacts of the recent eruptions. The grand finale was after a climb up yet another steep hill (someone suggested we call the trip "Climbmester") where we had a view of the entire volcano spewing ash and steam and what remained of the city of Plymouth that had been buried by volcanic ash and debris. A colossal sight, especially when one considered that only 7 years ago Plymouth was as vibrant and colorful as Roseau where we just left. Its difficult to describe the view with words, although modern day Pompeii comes to mind. Maybe, dear reader, you know someone on the ship who will be able to show you their photographs or the video footage of the volcano and its devastation.
Before returning to the Gamage that night we encountered the beginnings of St. Patrick's Day festivities, odd you might think in the Caribbean, but the Irish were some of the first Europeans to settle Montserrat, in fact, their passport stamp is a green clover! So we opted to stay that night giving students the option to go ashore for the fun. The following morning we stayed anchored off Montserrat having classes and waiting until the afternoon's festivities on shore, which never materialized, so we raised the sails and headed down the coast of Montserrat for an 'at sea' view of Plymouth before turning west, bound for Mona Island.
After a few very pleasant days of sailing with the wind, and along the southern coast of Puerto Rico for the second day, we approached Mona Island. The island looks unlike any we have seen thus far on our trip, and quite honestly, quite unlike any I've seen in my life. It is a flat topped, table of an island, rimmed by 100m limestone cliffs interrupted occasionally by pure white sand beaches. We found our anchorage on the west coast of the island (using the island to block the winds from the east) and all went ashore in Sherman, our faithful yawl boat. We had grand plans to study the geology of the beach, then hike over the surface of the island looking for caves. Well, it turns out that we arrived during hunting season and there were 40 or so hunters spread across the island hunting goat, pig and cattle, descendents of animals brought to graze on this island that served as a source of food and water for passing ships for hundreds of years until the pirates took over. Well we did get to study the geology of the beaches, and crawl through some caves then had a cookout on the beach while socializing with the hunters, who were happy to share their delicious goat stew, cold beer and broken English conversation with us. Great guys. We stayed overnight on anchor then went ashore again the next morning to visit a mangrove swamp recovering from devastation by Hurricane George in 1998. Back on board for lunch followed by a few exams then underway again, this time bound for Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic and the oldest European founded city in the Americas.
Fair winds and calm seas,
Chris Hamilton
Past entries
Part 1
