Sailing Windjammer Barefoot Cruises aboard the "Yankee Clipper".

Sailing:

All sailing was done when we were up and awake (at least most of us). We were anchored every night. Most of the time we used the diesel engines in combination with the two or three sails. A couple of times we were in full sail, I think we turned off the engines in those cases. We also had a chance to help hoist a few sails.

Food & Drink:
The food was always good and usually hot. It does tend to cool off on deck so getting in line early pays off. The rum swizzles were excellent, but I think we could have used larger glasses. The table wine was OK. I preferred the white over the red. We did not spend much at the bar, but the daily specials were always tasty. The water was fine, tasted good and was cold enough.

Accommodations:

The cabins were small, as expected. But for those of us who pack light it was fine. Kind of like traveling in a motor home. Beds were comfortable and air-conditioned. We found ourselves wanting to cover the porthole with a blanket to keep the morning sun out.

Top Side:
The one thing that would have been nice would have been to have some deck chairs with back support. There are not a lot of places where you could sit with something behind you. I found myself standing a lot leaning on the bow rail. The deck boards get hot in the afternoon so footwear is important.

Weather:
Generally beautiful during the day and comfortably cool nights. Only had rain once during the day while on the boat (sprinkles for about 20 minutes, if I recall). Seas were excellent. Only one day, around Kick'em Jenny, did we bounce the bow enough to get us wet on deck, and then only about 5 or 6 times.

Story Times:

Story times were informative, but not necessarily stand up comedy. That was OK since we were there to sail and snorkel. The one on Union Island (last day before returning) ran a little long, to cover all the 'How to settle your account', and arrange for cabs to airport, etc…

SUNDAY, MARCH 16th
Richard drops Michelle and I off at MSP airport to begin our 20th Anniversary celebration. Kids will be home alone for a week. Uneventful flight to St. Louis, then on to San Juan Puerto Rico. The flight to Grenada was delayed about an hour while we waited for a flight attendant to arrive, have a little dinner, and clear customs. Finally got to Grenada and picked up the company taxi to the ship around 9PM.

Captain Julian met us on the gangplank with a handshake and a big smile. We found our way to the salon for our briefing with Purser Jane. Dinner was nearly over, but there was still hot food for us and one rum swizzle. A band was playing near the bow, but no one was dancing. Near the end of the evening we met a trio that had just crossed from England on a private sailboat in 18 days. Not sure why they were on the ship, since they were not paying customers, but they were very nice and very interesting. They were a father, daughter and boyfriend. Apparently the boyfriend is in the recording business and has worked with some big names. We checked into our cabin, #25. Roughly 10 x 10 with bunk births, combination head/shower, and a small bench.

MONDAY, MARCH 17th - GRENADA & CARRIACOU

Morning Excursion:
Up early and out for a short island tour (arranged by Windjammer). A large Foo Foo ship had pulled in behind us over the night. This reminds me why we chose WJ.

We stopped in town for a quick hit in some spice shops, then on to Annandale waterfalls. There was a young man there who would dive from the top of the falls to the center of the pool for 5 bucks. If we had the time I was going to do it myself but the schedule was tight and the pool bottom unknown - the wisdom of age won out... We made a stop at

a roadside spice stand where we got a demonstration of how the various spices are harvested. It was actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately their prices were about 20% higher than in town. One word of caution: when they say Saffron they really mean Turmeric. We headed up to Fort Frederick to get a nice view of the harbor and a little history lesson from a very nice park attendant. Our guide was interested in making it very clear that the 1983 U.S. rescue mission was very much appreciated.

Afternoon Set Sail:
The crew put up one of the jibs to pull us off the dock around 1:00 PM. They fired up the diesel and headed out to sea. We sailed all day with the motor running. The seas were kind to us. In the Kick'em Jenny waters north of Grenada it got rough enough to splash the forward top deck a few times, otherwise easy sailing. We pulled into Carriacou early evening and had swizzles and dinner on board.

Evening:
The plan was to take the launch ashore in the evening and go up to a bar that had a band and a nice view of the bay. Michelle and I decided to stay on shore and poke around - everything was closed in town. The folks that went up to the bar found no band. We all headed back to the ship and made an early night of it.

TUESDAY, MARCH 18th - MAYREAU

Morning Sail:

Set sail from Carriacou past Union Island for Mayreau. As we approached Mayreau we found a Foo Foo ship (with five masts for sailing - weird) and a couple of Catamarans that brought out the pirate in Captain Julian. They broke out the 10 gauge cannon, hoisted the Jolly Roger, and blasted The Flight of the Valkyries (or did I imagine that?). No moons from this deck this time. If we had done this a little later in the week we might have seen a few. Salt Whistle Bay anchorage was occupied so we found an anchorage around the point.

Afternoon Beach:
After a wet landing on the beach everyone went their own ways. Several folks walked into town and up the long hill and down to Salt Whistle Bay. Michelle stayed on the beach shelling, snorkeling, and playing cricket on the beach. I opted for the short cut to Salt Whistle. This involved a hike through some thorny brush, up a washed out road to the main road and down to the beach. The beach is beautiful. The snorkeling was OK but not spectacular. I made it all the way to one of the points and back. The hike back to our beach was a little more interesting. After I got off the main road and onto the wash, picking out the right entry point into the brush was challenging. There sure are a lot of thorny bushes on Mayreau.

As it turned out the best snorkeling was right on the beach where we were parked. I ran across a barracuda being chased by a huge school of what looked like large herring. Lots of coral structure near the points. Saw lots of sea cucumbers, several huge starfish, lots of urchins, and the various small reef fish. We tried to swim out to a wreck but it was in a busy boat traffic area so we bailed. Swimming without a flag is too dangerous in heavy traffic.

Evening anchor:
We moved the anchorage to a different bay on Mayreau (the Foo Foo ship had left). Before Swizzle time the captain let us jump off the boat in two different places. Either on the side or off the Widows Web. I gave both a try, it was great fun.

The Widows Web seems like it is about 20-25 feet off the water. It was great. One brave soul even did a back dive off the side of the boat (about 15 feet?).

Crab Races on deck with Para mutual betting. The victorious crab was a long shot and the winning bettor donated her winnings to an island charity. Dinner was in a picnic area on the beach with a large local band. After dinner we made the steep walk up to the open bars on the bay side for the Mayreau Pub Crawl. It seemed like once we left a bar it closed and the staff joined us at the next bar. Lots of dancing, no one got horribly out of control, and most of were back on board by midnight.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19th - TOBAGO CAYS

Morning Motor:
We motored over to one of the larger Tobago Cays and anchored off shore.

The island is basically deserted except for boat traffic, and the ever-present T-Shirt vendor. You can walk across the island in about 5 minutes from beach to beach. We also took the hike up as far as we could get on the large hill no the island. The view of the other Cays and surrounding islands and all the boats was very impressive. Michelle and I snorkeled around the island from beach to beach in about an hour. The structure here was very impressive. Lots of coral and fans. Lots of reef fish (but not in large schools). A few spiny lobsters. There was a stronger than normal current that helped us part of the way around the island, but then hindered us on the backside a little. I think we were on the island until around 3 PM.

Afternoon Sail:
We weighed anchor from Tobago and headed to Bequia. We put up all available sails (they were actually missing two sails so not all were up) and turned off the motor. It was great fun. Both Michelle and I took a shot at the helm, 'Keep it at 20 degrees'. At no time did we ever have to tack.

Evening on board:
The infamous PBLT costume party (formerly known as PPP).

All costumes were fabricated from what was on the ship. I went as the Last Pool Towel Boy - costume was not very creative but the title was. Michelle scavenged some tin foil and was able to make a crown and torch and go as Lady Liberty. There was a nice older couple that went as Tarzan and Jane. The winners were dressed as a Porta Potty and a Tampon, really very creative. It was a beautiful night so I slept on deck. They say everyone should do it at least once. It was nice, but definitely need a blanket and a place out of the breeze.

THURSDAY MARCH 20 - BEQUIA

Morning shore excursion:

Some folks took the Mustique tour. Others took the Moonhole tour. Both tours got good reviews. We took the excursion that went to a nice pottery and artist studio, the Turtle Sanctuary, and the whaling museum (very nice views of the harbor from here). Apparently Bequia is allowed to take 2 whales per year. The whaling museum is about 40 x 20, one room. The Turtle Sanctuary is a privately run aquarium. The owner scoops up baby turtle off the beach right as they hatch and raises them to a survivable size and releases them. Apparently this improves their odds, instead of being eaten as hatchlings. We got to see him release one into the wild. He drills two small holes in the rear outer edge of the shell and then sets them on the shore. Eventually they head for the sea and start looking for food right away.

Afternoon in town:
Then it was into town for some shopping. We picked up a bottle of wine for the wine tasting party on the boat that night. We also picked up a chart of the islands for the captain to draw our course on. A nice souvenir.

Evening on board:
Swizzles and dinner with a wine tasting party. Lots of wine courtesy of the passengers. Lots of line dancing led by Mate Sylvester. Limbo contest ensued. Michelle won the passenger division but Rodney the bartender was overall champ. It looked like it was going to be a late night for a lot of folks on deck so no sleeping on deck tonight.

FRIDAY, MARCH 21st - UNION ISLAND & GRENADA

Morning Sail to Union Island

We sailed to Chatham Bay on the back side (unpopulated side) of Union Island. We did not get there until almost noon and then a long story time about settling bills, tipping, turning in gear, Grenada excursions, ….. On the way to Union Island we saw Whales leaping in the distance and a few dolphins (?). Sadly they were only visible a few moments and you had to be looking in the right place.