Amazing Grace: Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' passenger-freighter offers a unique caribbean cruise.
A soft, mechanical rumble penetrated the mild, tropical air. Leaning against the ship's rail, my husband Dean and I watched the crane's mighty arm rotate, sending a suspended load of foodstuffs swinging to and fro.Crew-members in bright hard-hats--blue, red, yellow--reached high, stretching to grab the cargo straps. Cautiously they eased the suspended cases of beer across a narrow stretch of water that divided the two ships.
A deckhand's voice rang out, carrying the soft patois of the islands, "Careful, mon, this here's the brew!"
With 50 passengers onboard for this sailing, the Amazing Grace, the supply freighter of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, was plying the waters of the Caribbean from Freeport, Grand Bahama, on the north to Trinidad on the south. Her primary mission, the captain informed us, was to resupply the company's five sailing vessels: Flying Cloud, Polynesia, Mandalay, Legacy, and Yankee Clipper. Without frequent visits by the Amazing Grace, these smaller ships lack sufficient storage space to carry their food, fuel, and spare parts.
From our viewpoint as passengers, an equally important goal was the sampling of every highlight along a captivating string of islands. And the Amazing Grace's 13-day itinerary promised plenty of time for this.
Dean and I had embarked at Freeport on a Saturday evening and checked into our spacious, richly paneled cabin. Dean's concern at finding bunk beds diminished when I agreed to take the upper, and our shared concern about "bath down the hall" was allayed when we found a large sink in our room and four combination shower/toilet restrooms but a few steps away from our door.
Clutching glasses of the traditional complimentary Windjammer fruit drink, the rum swizzle, we joined others to explore the ship before dinner. We found a well-stocked library and a pleasant meeting room with piano and VCR. There was plenty of deck space for relaxing and a congenial bar in the fantail.
The 92-passenger Amazing Grace, originally named the Pharos, was acquired by Windjammer in 1985. A British government vessel built to patrol the North Sea, she had delivered supplies to lonely lighthouse keepers on the rocky coasts of England and Scotland. Though a "workhorse" vessel, she was still elegant enough to host Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family, whose pictures are prominently displayed at the entrance to the dining saloon.
Our trip began with two days at sea, allowing us time to meet our shipmates. This was easily accomplished around the huge round tables in the open-seating dining saloon. We found the group largely made up of seniors, many of whom had previously sailed on Windjammer's tall-ship fleet of schooners and barquentines.
It was Tuesday morning when the Amazing Grace pulled in at Grand Turk, largest of the Bahamian chain known as the Turks & Caicos. As crew-members sprang into action to deliver cargo onto the dock, passengers had two popular choices--a launch ride to an idyllic beach or a stroll through a small town lined with crayon-colored buildings.
Dean and I had long wished to see the Amazing Grace in action as a supply ship. But we'd known nothing of her other role--delivering "private cargo," various items on assignment that the ship delivers to small islands along its route. A special cargo operations officer for these duties, with the unforgettable name of Merry Christmas, checks off each of these deliveries on her clipboard. When the need to reprovision a Windjammer ship arises, Charles Fredericks, a native of Dominica, takes over the supervisory role.
Our next stop was an overnight at Tortola, largest of the British Virgin Islands. Here we watched as two huge items of private cargo--a speedboat and a pickup truck--were skillfully off-loaded onto the dock.
Passengers debarked for a variety of island tours or a snorkel trip to a rock formation called the Indians. Some elected to wander into town for a cold one at the very British Pusser's Pub & Mercantile. A few planned to have dinner onshore.
The next morning at "story time," Windjammer's daily passenger briefing, Captain Casey Planafavor announced it was time to reprovision the first Windjammer sailing vessel of the trip. Just across the waters of Drake's Passage lay Cooper Island, and there the Flying Cloud awaited the Amazing Grace' s services.
Arriving at Cooper an hour later, Captain Casey, as he likes to be known, maneuvered the 257-foot Amazing Grace snugly up against the 208-foot Flying Cloud. Ropes flew from deck to deck, and soon the two vessels were securely lashed together.
Three crew-members wrestled a huge gasoline hose across the gap between the two ships, and a no-smoking announcement boomed over the loudspeaker. Other workers climbed into the hold to stack case after case of foodstuffs onto pallets. As soon as each load was secured, the crane's arm lifted it from the Amazing Grace's hold and deposited it onto the deck of the Flying Cloud. For more than an hour, gasoline flowed into the sailing vessel's storage tanks, while boxes of frozen meats, huge bags of fruit, crates of lettuce, and a generous supply of beer passed through the air from the supply ship's hold to the tall ship's deck.
Captain Casey explained that the Flying Cloud is the only Windjammer vessel without space for a ship's laundry, so each week the Amazing Grace picks up her linens and returns them clean at the next rendezvous. "Just like having a son or daughter home from college," he added.
The passing days brought a combination of island exploring, snorkeling from pristine beaches, and local evening entertainment arranged by our lively cruise director, Sonja. St. Kitts turned out to be a favorite stop. This island is uncrowded, for its wharf was destroyed in 1999 by Hurricane Lenny, and no cruise ships larger than the Amazing Grace can tie up there.
We elected to tour a batik factory and Brimstone Hill, a huge fortress known as "the Gibraltar of the Indies." Other passengers, anxious for sunshine and snorkeling, were off to Orient Beach on the far side of the island. Captain Casey had told us to keep a sharp eye out for the island's famous green monkeys. "Don't set your drink down," he warned. "The monkeys will come up and drink your drink, staring at you over the rim of the glass."
That evening, as passengers gathered for swizzle time, a group of island youngsters came onboard to entertain. Brightly costumed to resemble peacocks, they performed three masquerade dances they'd learned for their island's carnival season.
Later in the week the Amazing Grace visited Dominica, site of the Emerald Pool, a secluded swimming hole fed by a sparkling waterfall. Known for its 172 species of birds and its fertile soil, the island seeks to attract increased tourism to stabilize its economy.
By the second week we had entered the waters of the Grenadines, a necklace of 150 small, perfect islands stretching from St. Vincent on the north to Grenada on the south. The ship stopped first at Bequia, famous for its whaling traditions. This was an important reprovisioning stop, for the captain of Windjammer's newest sailing ship, the Legacy, had issued a distress call. Their food supply was too low to carry them until the following week's scheduled rendezvous.
While the crew prepared the two ships for a cargo exchange, some passengers boarded launches to catch an island tour. A few signed up for a catamaran ride to ultra-private Mustique, island favorite of British royalty, such as the late Princess Margaret, and rock stars, like Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.
After lunch, her cargo hold filled, the Legacy pulled away and the four-masted schooner Polynesia arrived. Before any other cargo items were off-loaded onto her deck, we watched a new washing machine, dispatched from Windjammer headquarters in Florida, make its midair transit.
The next morning, Windjammer's smallest and fastest vessel, the Yankee Clipper, sailed up to be supplied. Since the Grenadines are her home base, the Yankee Clipper is never far from Bequia. Again the cargo crew sprang into action with gasoline hose and loading crane, while passengers enjoyed the extra hours strolling the streets of Bequia and admiring the bright, hand-carved model boats made by craftsmen who have perfected this skill over generations.
The next call was Mayreau, a beach stop. With only 200 residents, this small island is not a prime port for shoppers. The marine life, however, is excellent. Grabbing our beach gear, we hurried to the launches to enjoy this last chance for some fine sunning and snorkeling.
Arriving the next morning in Trinidad, passengers found no fewer than six shore excursions offered. The most popular turned out to be a sunset trip to the Caroni Swamp to view hundreds of scarlet ibis in flight.
On Friday, Dean and I, with more than half the other passengers, prepared to leave for the airport and home. However, 21 of our supply-side shipmates had elected to sail on the northbound 13-day trip to Freeport. Along the way, a full schedule of new islands awaited them.
The reason many reported they chose the 26-day roundtrip on the Amazing Grace is affordability. Except for one elegant suite on the top deck (running $2,875-2,975), the 13-day voyages cost only $1,300 to $1,575, per person/double occupancy (plus port charges of $150).
For more information contact your travel agent or Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (Cruise Travel Magazine), P.O. Box 190120, Miami Beach, FL 33119; or log on to www. windjammer.com.
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Author: | Jordan, Shirley |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Cruise Travel |
| Geographic Code: | 50CAR |
| Date: | May 1, 2002 |
| Words: | 1578 |
| Previous Article: | Cruise West to north slope. (Cruise News). |
| Next Article: | CCL aids hearing-impaired. (Cruise News). |
| Topics: | |