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| CARRIACOU ISLAND, GRENADINES |
We set sail shortly after 7 and as we head North from the Grenadines it looked as though it would be a fairly bumpy ride since we would be sailing against the wind the whole day, and 100 miles. The skies were mostly clear with some white fluffy clouds around - but during the course of the day we did have a short rain shower although Captain Todd Burgman managed to avoid it except for a few odd drops. Todd used the sails all day but along with the motor since he was tacking with the Wind Spirit and if he had been using sail only it would have been a longer and bumpier ride.
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| SAILS UP ON THE WIND SPIRIT |
After breakfast most of our clothes were rolled or packed, or ready to pack. We are so close on our suitcase weight limit this time we were trying to determine what we could wear or put into our carryon bag so as not to overweight our checked bag - maximum 50 pounds! Then it was a welcome break off to the lounge to listen to Captain Todd Burgman. It turns out that Todd is a very experienced Tall Ship sailor and Captain - not only has he sailed many of them, he has also been a volunteer on many Tall Ships where sailors are taught, and various foundations have semester long courses teaching kids how to sail. He said the necessity is so essential to be able to work together as a team hoisting sails that it is a great development tool for kids and sailors. He said one major success story was when he took a girls only cruise from Los Angeles down to the Sea of Cortez for a semester - just one male engineer and carpenter on board - everyone else including first and second mates were female. He laughed when he said that as Captain he was also the "Doctor" on board and the thought of handling all these female adolescents medical issues scared him to death - but he was obviously extremely proud of the female crew and what they accomplished and clambering around the rigging like monkeys.
Todd has also worked on several movies including Master and Commander (Russell Crowe) and Pirates of the Caribbean where tall ships were required. He said that the stuntmen were quite frightened of being up in the rigging - I guess you have to spend a lot of time up there to feel comfortable being up there! Todd loves tall ships and said that the major Tall Ship events every year in Europe are amazing and worth going to should you get the chance. When I asked him about the Wind Spirit versus the Wind Surf, Todd answered that there is no comparison - the Spirit can sail circles around the Surf! The Wind Surf is currently the largest Tall Ship on the seas today both in length and tonnage. It was a very interesting presentation and we learned lots, along with about 20 other passengers who attended.
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| HOT TUB ON THE WIND SPIRIT DECK 4 |
By lunch time we had almost everything packed apart from clothes and toiletries for tonight and tomorrow morning - unfortunately it doesn't weigh any less than when we brought the bags on board! I had also spent a couple of hours on the blog while sitting on deck (in the shade) watching the seas roll by, along with the gunard flying fish skimming along the tops of the waves! Lunch was Jamaican jerk chicken and chips for me, with Terry enjoying salad, blackened tilapia and shrimp, along with crackers and stilton, and brie! Life can be very hard on board the Wind Spirit -decisions, decisions, decisions!!
It's now 330pm - there is a blackjack tournament in the casino, a Wii session in the lounge with the activities staff, and here around the pool the blender is going as folks order their libation of choice (strawberry daiquiri at the moment I hear). Many folks are relaxing with a good book at the side of the deck - there are about 30 sun cots on the pool deck, and an additional 14 sun cots on the next half deck up the stairs. There are about 44 wicker seats with cushions at tables, and 9 high chairs at the bar, and UB40, Jimmy Buffet and Jimmy Cliff (I can see clearly now...) are taking it in turns on the speakers - enjoyable but not blasting too loud. Yes, everyone is relaxing and doing whatever they enjoy the most on their day at sea, and the last day of this cruise.
Many folks are doing two 7 day cruises back-to-back so they will also be on the Wind Spirit next week and over the New Year when exactly the same itinerary is repeated.
As we sail along, it is quite the experience to be sitting in our cabin on deck 1 (the lowest), looking out the twin port holes, and watching the sky and then the large rollers and occasionally seeing the wall of sea water completely wash over the portholes!
We watched the sunset - not the best of the cruise but most definitely the last! The breezes were blowing through the pool bar and it was a relaxing couple of hours before changing for dinner in AmphorA. First we had a farewell from Captain Todd followed by a short photographic collage from Gonzalo - our week on board Wind Spirit had flown by but we enjoyed every moment - we shall for sure cruise again on the Wind Spirit - but first we had to get back to the cabin and put our two checked bags out for handling by the crew - we shall see them again in the morning on the dock - with luck! It was early to bed , hoping that you had kept everything back that you would need tomorrow morning! We docked around 4am, we were awake every couple of hours during the night - that always seems to happen when you know that the next morning you are on the move! The Barbados Customs officials came on board from 5-7am, Terry went along at 5:30am to pick up our passports and give the immigration official our completed arrival forms - soon we would be handing in our exodus forms at the Grantley Adams airport when we leave for St Maarten.
Saturday December 29, 2012 disembark Wind Spirit and
fly with LIAT to St Maarten (via Dominica, Antigua)
At breakfast we said our Goodbyes to Ari and Putu while we had a fast rain shower and a massive double rainbow on the horizon - yes, the showers are still very much in the area. As we were about to leave the ship, I realised that I no longer had my ship ID card - this wasn't important for disembarking the Wind Spirit but really annoyed me since it had a brand new unused SD card for the camera in it. The little folder with these two items had been stuck in my pocket like glue for the whole week, but even though I returned to the cabin and Veranda I could not find it anywhere - frustrating!
We walked along the dock through the rain puddles (maybe 300 yards) and waited for about 15 minutes until our large bags arrived and then headed out for a taxi to the airport. The dispatch man sent over the taxi to us at the curb - "wait there , wait there" he said. The first taxi we sat in and our bags were loaded in the rear, the tax driver got in and said "Hello Mr and Mrs Harry Long!" we said no, that's not us - so out we got with our bags and walked further along to the taxi stand. We were loaded again with our bags into a van with about 12 small seats, where we waited for about 30 minutes until 6 other folks had been loaded with us. We then took a scenic drive of Barbados as we dropped off folks from the Wind Spirit at the Hilton, 2 ladies from the Star Clipper at Accra Beach Hotel, the last two from the Wind Spirit at the Little Arches guesthouse by Enterprise Beach and then a few more miles where we were dropped at the airport at 9:10 am by our taxi driver Emerson $35 USD for the two of us (it would have been $35 each with Wind Spirit but a faster arrival!).
No problem, our flight doesn't depart Barbados until 1:30pm. We checked in (my bag was 52 pounds and Terry's is 43 pounds) - we are carrying too much for our 5 week stint - my carryon bag weighs 32 pounds and Terry's is 36 pounds - that's a total of 163 pounds between us and I think the heaviest things are books, shoes, computers, plugs & cables, and toiletries! The other interesting thing is that we have a one way ticket from Barbados (via Dominica and Antigua) to St Maarten - so the agent at the checkin counter wanted to see our ticket for the cruise we are taking on the Tere Moana from St Maarten to Costa Rica. She disappeared "to see her Supervisor" and returned about 15 minutes later. They had taken photocopies of the entire 3 pages since we were flying in to St Maarten with only a one way ticket!
The sun is shining and we are now sitting in the comfortable area outside the terminal using free WIFI from the local communication company LIME sitting next to a waterfall (very loud) and cool breezes blowing through. We love Barbados and are sorry to leave without having more time to spend here and drive around the island - I guess that means we hope to come back - soon!!
Sent from my iPad
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