Southern Caribbean Volcano Warning

A warning to any who haven't ever had experience with volcanic eruptions. Be extremely careful about washing your boat after any ash lands on it. The ash is very fine and very sharp and rubbing as you might in a normal wash will remove finish. You need to lightly spray or just let rain do it's job over time. I've talked to people years after Mount St. Helens erupted and they talked about destroying their car finishes.

Just so you guys know, I am 100 miles east of the La Soufriere volcano and we have been pummeled by HEAVY ash falls since the 9th. Right now it is falling heavy. Every five min I have to sweep off a fresh coating. You guys may say...well just leave it until it subsides. You can't! If it gets wet, it is very hard to move and it solidifies so it is best to keep it moving when it is dry before any rain falls. It is quite the headache.

Leaf blower would be like sandblasting. I'm sure (or hope) he's carefully doing a very light brushing and no rubbing. As to escaping upwind, means relocating to a different island and even St. Lucia seeing some plus one turn of the wind currents and the ash turns as well.

Very wise not to let get wet. That was difficult to avoid in Portland after Mt. St. Helens and they still had ash in the streets two years later.

Best of luck in dealing with the volcano. I sure hope not too many lives lost in St. Vincent. They won't know for a good while as those who didn't evacuate may just be covered in ash in an area no one can reach now. We think of hurricane evacuations but hurricanes don't kill everything in sight. They indirectly cause deaths. Volcanoes do so directly with their ash.

The ash is a combination of materials. Remember many volcanoes have a particular rock makeup that is igneous which is essentially rock glass. When this igneous rock is fragmented in explosions very fine glass is created. That is VERY harmful to inhale for humans and animals as it can cut the insides of your lungs. For washing of boats and even cars you have to be careful. It is probably best to blow it off with a leaf blower or even a powerful shopvac when it is dry. If you rub that stuff it will damage your paint job.

I stand corrected on the leaf blower then as I felt like the pressure would be adverse. Definitely no rubbing.

And water is your enemy.

Here's just one of many good videos. Even ash in Barbados. Everything covered. I really feel for the livestock and animals.

More eruptions likely as volcano turns tropical paradise St. Vincent into 'battle zone' | AccuWeather

Trust me, I would know!

Our house, on a peninsular in Antigua, was the closest to Montserrat. When she blew 20 odd years ago, the ash covered our house, cars and garden. It was the garden that suffered worst, killed everything. The vegetables tasted kinda funky for the next few years afterwards.

Barbados Hospital car park.

Now, or you still talking about the Monserrat volcano?

Jet streams and Tradewinds can carry ash a long way.
Remember a few years ago when an Iceland volcano shut down
all air traffic in Europe?

Exactly, winds happens.
Been dodging volcanic ash a few times in my 37 year flying career.
Nasty ****, the sharp glass particles will make your windshield unusable and will destroy your jet engine in minutes.

I read the book written about the British Airways b-747 that lost all 4 motors

And after they tried to re-light the motors, without much success, the Captain came up on the PA (Passenger Announcement) and explained they were the worlds biggest glider and they were indeed trying to restart the engines, no success so far, but thank you for flying British Airways.
(They got two engines started at a lower altitude and made a successful landing somewhere in Indonesia or Thailand.)

Oh, I remember that. Real seat of the pants flying.