Windjammer Polynesia

[CruiseDirections]

I just found out that Capt Neil Carmichael long time Capt of the Polynesia and other ships in Windjammer's fleet passed away in December '09. He was only 51 years old and leaves behind his young children. Rest in Peace, Capt Sir!

 

Nancy

[G'ma]

My first Windjammer was back in the mid-1980's. A friend and I took a B2B on the Fantome which, at the time, was sailing out of Nassau.

 

I'll never forget the departure from that port! The Captain, dressed in full Pirate's regalia (including his sword) climbed out on the tip of the bowsprit, raised his sword to the sky, holding the line with his other hand and shouted "Away"......with 2 bagpipers blasting Amazing Grace and several hundred locals and tourists watching, Fantome pulled away and was soon under sail.

 

I sailed on Fantome many times. It was a favorite..as was the Polynesia. I loved the whole experience, the atmosphere...the laid-back attitude. What a sad end to a wonderful ship and crew..and to a great company.

 

I've been on a few of the more upscale "sailing vessels" and they cannot come close to competing with the Windjammers of the Caribbean.

 

Besides, these upscale ships don't hold "boat-races".......:eek::D

[G'ma]

Found a few pics.....here's one of the boat-race on Polynesia:

 

 

Poly standing at anchor off Nevis...I think...could be Saba...

 

 

Raising sail at departure from St. Maarten:

 

 

End of the boat races right before we all went overboard to clean off the Guiness!!!!!

 

[2RetiredCDRs]

I had the pleasure of sailing and working aboard Polynesia between my sophomore and junior year of high school in 1979. I was on an all-year school calendar, so this was actually during the month of September. My parents booked two 7-day back to back cruises and then decided to pay $500 to send me down for a month as a “sea cadet.” The plan was for me to go down a week ahead of them, they cruise for the two weeks in the middle, then I stay one more week. I worked side-by-side with the crew for four weeks cleaning staterooms, making beds, riding bow on the motor launch to ferry passengers, and even taking steering watches at the helm during night sailings between islands.

 

Just before heading for the airport to fly down to St. Maarten from San Francisco, CA, hurricane David, a category 5 hurricane, ripped through the leeward islands and was heading up the Florida coast. Hurricane Frederick wasn’t far behind, and looking back at it, I can’t believe my folks put me on that plane to fly me into the region, especially since I was only 16 years old at the time. My flight was stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a night to wait for Frederick to pass. I then made it to St. Maarten only to find the island in shambles with no ship in port, no rooms available in any functional hotels, and very little drinking water on the island. Polynesia had offloaded passengers before David came through and pushed well out to sea and out of the paths of both storms before returning to port 2 or 3 days late. My luggage was lost and I never got it for the entire 4 weeks until I got back to SFO (where it had been the entire time).

 

Captain John Green was in command at the time with Rudy Herbert as his First Mate. The head cook was “JD” Jones, an ex-boxer from the U.S. I worked closely with Pearl Walters (from Nevis, I think), making up staterooms for the first set of passengers after the storms. I’ve got a Windjammers Barefoot Cruises certificate signed by most of the crew and a lot of the passengers I met during my stay, which is why I can share their names after so long a time. I do remember “Lorin the Sail maker” who taught me to make my own sailcloth vest on board. I remember “Craig the Diver”, the ship's master diver, who gave me a crash course for “tourist scuba certification,” after which I was able to join him on an 80 foot deep dive in crystal clear water (off Anguilla I think), followed a few nights later with a night dive off of St. Barts. Looking back at this after later really qualifying PADI, I didn't even know/understand about decompression stops, but it all went well...

 

Here is a photo of most of the crew (except the Captain who never seemed to be around much):

Here is a photo of Polynesia at full sail:

Here’s me at the front of the motor launch getting ready to return to the boat with a load of passengers:

 

All in all this was an incredible adventure for a young man! I learned a lot about myself, I met a few girls along the way, and I eventually joined the U.S. Navy and served for 24 years, due in large part to my experience on Polynesia. I'm sorry to hear about Windjammers, the beautiful tall ships, and especially the fate of the wonderful, hardworking crew.

[IronKitten]

Wow, such memories!

 

My first cruise ever was on the Mandalay. Because of me talking about it, DH has been wanting me to look for another small ship line for us to take a trip on.

 

Too bad the photo place lost almost every roll of film I had from that cruise :(

[Island Runner]

Ahoy there 2RetiredCDR's!!

 

Love your post and that crew photo really got to me. I was on the Poly when Frederick hit in 1979 and I rode out the storm at sea with Captain Green and a less than full crew. I believe we only had 10-12 crew and 20-25 passengers. Left the bay in St. Martin on Sunday night right before the storm slammed into us. Quite the ride I can tell ya. Lost the mainsail one afternoon and had to put up another sail during the blow. That was fun. I was assigned the midnight watch since the skipper was short handed and I had some sailing experience. I'll never forget it as long as I live. We came back into the bay before dawn Thursday but the authorities wouldn't let us off until Friday as I recall. I was 25 then. Living in FL now and very sad to see the line is no more. Love to hear from y'all!

Island Runner.

[2RetiredCDRs]

Thanks for the response, Island Runner.

 

It's nice to hear from someone I may have actually met. While you were toughing out Frederick at sea, I was waiting for you and the Polynesia to come back, first in San Juan as the storm hit, and then the final days on St. Maarten in the aftermath.

 

I also remember those beautiful mid-watches under the stars, helping to raise the sails, and the open-ocean "race" and "pirate attack" on the Flying Cloud on the 1st day both ships set out to sea. With the Jolly Roger flying we approached from the stern, out-sailing the slightly smaller ship, then attacked with water balloons and a rail-side mooning before we broke off.:D

 

Those were definitely memorable times...