Windjammer Sailing in the Caribbean
“She sails with amazing grace”
“She sails with amazing grace is the slogan for the Windjammer flagship S/V Mandalay. Indeed, she does, in more ways than one.
Each day as the crew (and any passengers who care to assist) hoist the sails of the 236-foot windjammer to begin the voyage to the next exotic destination, the ship’s sound system plays a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
There is something magical about a ship under sail, gliding silently through the Caribbean, the wind and salt spray on your face. It turns each of us into Midshipman Hornblower or Sir Francis Drake scanning the Spanish Main for enemy pirates. It’s a fantasy cruise.
By the end of the two weeks, there are a few moist eyes among the 70 or so passengers as sails are hoisted and bagpipes play for the last time. A Windjammer cruise is like that — you become personally involved.
The atmosphere is warm and friendly and VERY casual. Dressing for dinner means putting on a clean T-shirt. Windjammer cruises live up to their name. Shoes are seldom worn except when going ashore. Many of the ports of call are exotic enough to add to that atmosphere.
Palm Island, Bequia, Mustique, Tobago Cays, Mayrou, and Isle des Sainte are seldom called on by other cruise ships. Many are uninhabited and most have no airstrip. You really are visiting the most unspoiled of the Caribbean islands. Add to this more traditional and accessible ports of call such as Antigua, Montserrat, Martinique, St, Lucia, and Grenada and you have a perfect Caribbean sampler.
The Mandalay arrives at each port early in the day, allowing ample time for whatever activities beckon ashore. In some ports, shopping is the main attraction while others offer snorkeling or exploring tropical rainforests or volcanoes.
Some passengers may choose to stay on board and read or relax in the sun on the deck. Nighttime finds many passengers on deck as well. Except for the ship’s running lights, there are no lights on the top deck. In this part of the world, there are no major cities whose lights compete with the stars, and these are out in all their splendor. If you choose you may bring your blanket and pillow and sleep under the stars on a mat on deck. The sound of the ship cutting through the sea and the wind in the sails is better than any lullaby.
Early risers, besides being treated to a dramatic sunrise at sea, are offered coffee and cinnamon rolls or Bloody Marys. A full breakfast is served between 7:30 and 8:30 each morning. The buffet lunch may be replaced by a beach picnic at some locations. Sunset is rum swizzle time served with appetizers and followed by dinner with wine at 6:30 p.m. A late-night snack ensures that no one goes to bed hungry. The food is good and plentiful but certainly not gourmet. It’s home cooking with a Caribbean flavor.
In fact, if gourmet dining, casinos and discos, and nightly variety shows are your idea of a cruise, wind jamming is not for you. On the other hand, if you long to just kick back and read a good book while you work on your Caribbean tan or simply want to explore some little-known islands, snorkel, and perhaps fantasize you are in the age when the “tall ships” ruled the seas, then the Mandalay or other windjammer cruises may be just the ticket.
This is an excerpt from my first published travel article. I left out information about places to eat on the islands and stores to buy some great stuff because most of those are closed or no longer operating. The company Windjammer Barefoot Cruises declared bankruptcy in 2008, but the S/V Mandalay still sails, and the Caribbean and seeing it this way is always current.
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