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Every sailor dreams of sailing on an old Windjammer. Even with all the modern decendants of these sailing ships, there’s something about these classic workhorses that evoke legendary visions of sailors and the sea. When the opportunity presented itself to sail for a week on the Polynesia, a 248-foot, four-masted schooner, part of the Windjammer Barefoot Cruises fleet, we jumped at the chance. The Polynesia was originally the Argus, built in 1938 in Holland, and sailed out of Lisbon, Portugal to fish the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and all the way up to Greenland. In those days it was dorry fishing and about 50 dorries were stored on her decks. When they reached the Banks, the dorries would set out, one man to a boat, and fish for the day. Then, if the fog didn’t fill in or the weather didn’t catch them, they’d row back to the ship and unload their catch. It was a tough life which Allen Villers wrote about in his book, “The Quest for the Schooner Argus.” Parts of the book, along with wonderfully descriptive photos appeared in the May 1952 edition of National Geographic magazine. The schooner was acquired by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises in 1975 and christened the Polynesia. Now, instead of a load of 950 tons of salted fish, she carries a load of oiled passengers, eager to share an adventure aboard this legendary ship. Needless to say, extensive modifications were made to the ship to accommodate passengers. Another deck was added above the main deck, which has the house and seating for enjoying the cruise. On what was the main deck (deck A) is a bar, the galley and ten cabins. There are two more decks below, holding 40 cabins and three larger ones aft on deck B. They’ve done a nice job of making it difficult to even notice the changes. Everything looks as if that’s the way it has always been, preserving the appearance and historical feeling. We boarded the Polynesia at St. Johns, Antigua on a Sunday afternoon. The boat looked majestic sitting at the dock and we were excited that we’d soon be sailing on her. After a hearty breakfast Monday morning, we attended the “Captain’s Storytime,” which was basically an update on weather and activities for the day. With a skull and crossbones on his hat and a gold ring in his ear, our Captain Neal was the vision of the crusty seafarer. Couple that with his booming voice, Scottish broque, and mischievious twinkle in his eye, we were already tasting the salt air and the promise of adventure. We didn’t sail until that afternoon so, while some went off on a snorkling encounter with some stingrays, others went into St. Johns. Antigua Antigua (Ant-tee-ga) is a facinating island as it exemplifies what basically created the divying up of the Caribbean Islands by the seafaring powers of Europe, namely sugar. Prior to boarding the ship, we’d spent four days at the Hawksbill Resort on Antigua and explored the island. Remnants of the windmills that powered the presses that squeezed the juice from the sugar cane are scattered about the island. The first sugar plantation on the island was called Betty’s Hope. The windmill there has been restored, along with a small museum telling of the plantation’s history. There is a model of the layout with main house, overseer’s house, slave quarters, kilns and windmills. It is quite illuminating. There are copies of manifests documenting the inventory of slaves, who had to be constantly replenished due to the hellish conditions of the work. Of course, with sugar such a valuable commodity, it had to be protected. Admiral Horatio Nelson built his dockyards on the island, which we’ll get into later. By the way, if you’re on Antigua and considering renting a car, don’t, at least if you’re a Yank. With the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car and driving on the left side of the road, next to three-foot deep tropical rain gutters, on roads maybe a lane-and-a-half wide, it can be unnerving at best. During this time we stayed at the Rex Resorts’ Hawksbill Resort. It’s an all inclusive resort featuring four beautiful beaches and excellent service. There’s a variety of accommodations, from small bungalows on the beach, condo-style appartments, to a private cottage on the rocky point extending into the ocean. We were in a cottage but didn’t spend much time there as there was nice swimming and snorkling at the resort’s four beaches. My daughter, Sonja and I sailed around the Hawksbill Rock, for which the resort is named, on a Sunfish and enjoyed surfing the ocean waves and sailing with a sea turtle. Most everyone there was British and the dress code for dinner was shirt with collar and long pants for the men. Interestingly one of their beaches is a nude beach. Definitely an all inclusive resort. Back to the ship! Sunday afternoon we left the dock, heading for the Island of Nevis. As we headed out to sea, Amazing Grace was played over the ships speakers and the crew, with help from the passengers, raised the sails. It’s a sight that we’d see many times in the coming week but it never ceased to instill its magic. Nevis We anchored off Nevis and awoke to some interesting news from the Captain. Nevis is the island that’s been hit by more tropical storms and hurricanes than any other island in the Caribbean, and she was again about to live up to her reputation. Tropical storm Chris was headed our way so we had two choices; to ride out the storm at Nevis, or to run south away from the storm. The decision was made to head south so, instead of exploring what is a fascinating island with a variety of activities, we headed south. Being it was the first week in August, on the cusp of the hurricane season, this really didn’t come as a big surprise. We all settled into a long day’s sail but not until we had a quick swim off the ship, “walking the plank” in all manner of creative styles. Our course took us past Montserrat. In 1997, huge eruptions of lava, rocks and ash changed the face of Montserrat forever, basically destroying the southern half of the island, including it’s captiol, Plymouth. More than half of Montserrat’s inhabitants moved away after their homes and businesses were destroyed. Still active, we watched as plumes rose from the volcano as we sailed past the island. We anchored behind Guadaloupe for the night and headed for Isle de Saints the next morning. ...continue to We Be WindJammin' Page Two ...back to 48° North title page. | |
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The Rex Resort's 'Hawkbill Resort'
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Nelson's dockyard on English Bay.
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Ruins of a sugar mill on Antigua.
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Launch heads for Isle de Saintes.
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Guest and crew hoisting sails.
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