A group of scientific and adventure tourists visited Montserrat last weekend, as part of a three-week volcano viewing cruise around the Caribbean. They were traveling on the picturesque looking schooner, "Sir Robert Baden Powell," which could be seen at anchor outside Port Little Bay for a few days. The cruise was the brainchild of well-known resident and videographer David Lea, who was interested in the idea of making a video on volcanoes in the Caribbean. David met the schooner's owner, Captain Karsten Borner, while in the island of Saba, and the two got together to organize the three-week cruise. The group of 20 passengers, plus six crew members, are visiting 11 volcanic islands in all - Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Martinique, Dominca, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St Kitts, Nevis, St Eustatius and Saba. About half the group consists of professional geologists or volcanologists, either working or retired, with the rest being people who are interested in volcanoes and also keen on sailing and/or diving. Many of the group made the trip over from England, Germany or the United States especially for this cruise, which was advertised in a professional geology magazine under the title "Scientific volcano expedition - millenium adventure cruise of a lifetime!" David Lea and his son, Sunny, are also a part of the group, and David has shot a lot of video footage on the various islands and on board the ship, with the intention of eventually editing these into a video about Caribbean volcanoes. Most of the visitors are experienced sailors and enjoy taking part in the many sailing tasks on board the schooner, which was able to sail with full sails between several of the islands, depending on the wind strength. In spite of the mature age of many of the group, these are fit and energetic people with stamina, who have done several strenuous hikes, like the one to the top of Mont Pelee in Martinique. The visitors are enthusiastic about the tour, which is the first of its kind for this boat. Highlights of the voyage so far, besides Montserrat, included the grotto and boiling lake in Dominica, the sizzling cauldron in the volcanic crater in Guadeloupe, and the visit to Mont Pelee on Martinique, where the famous 1902 and 1929 eruptions took place. The group climbed Mont Pelee, which now looks like a normal mountain, green with trees, grass and tropical plants. They report that the town of St. Pierre, which was totally destroyed in the 1902 eruption, killing 29,000 people, is a thriving town again, although not back to its former size. This gives us some idea of what the Soufriere Hills and Plymouth might look like in 70 years' time. Some group members were also able to dive and view the wrecks of ships that sank during that eruption. While sailing over from Guadeloupe to Montserrat they were able to view the devastated southern coastline and what was Plymouth from the sea. On Montserrat they got a close look at Plymouth from Richmond Hill, and were able to get views of the devastation in the east from the Jackboy Hill area. They also visited the MVO and toured the north, but were unable to go diving due to the stormy weather. The rough seas also had them grounded for two nights on land, giving them a chance to experience Montserrat's small guest house and bed and breakfast accommodation. At all the other islands they had slept on board the boat. The 140-foot schooner was built in Germany in 1957 as a tugboat, but in 1971 it was bought by Captain Karsten, who converted it into a topsail schooner of the Baltimore Clipper design. As a former Boy Scout, he renamed it after Sir Robert Baden Powell, the founder of the world-wide Scout movement. For several years the boat was used for diving and sight seeing tours in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, but about three years ago Captain Karsten transferred it to the Caribbean for the winter months, and now does half the year in the Mediterranean and half the year in the Caribbean, with the boat making the passage across the Atlantic twice a year. The schooner and its captain are based in St Maarten while in the Caribbean, and specialize in diving tours, which take them to many islands. This is the first time the boat has done a specialist volcano cruise, but judging from the success of this trip, and the enthusiasm of the passengers, it will not be the last.