Barefoot Cruises
checking in, it was time for a wonderful buffet dinner on deck, then off to check out the Legacy for the Stowaway Party. The Legacy is a
beautiful, newly built steel sailing ship, but due to insurance regulations, is missing all the lovely wood we love on the older ships. We had a
foo-foo cruise ship tied up at the dock also.
had left and was replaced by the foo-foo Club Med 1, a sailing ship wanna-be. At Storytime, Captain Casey told us a little about the
history of Antigua and the island tour offered for the morning. We decided to do the tour and off we went to Nelson's Dockyards and
Shirley Heights. This is the most southerly point on Antigua with a splendid view of English Harbor and Eric Clapton's "summer" place.
We arrived back at the ship for lunch buffet on deck and cast off for St. Barth's around 1pm. Unfortunately we promptly ran aground on
a sand bar and had to be winched back to the dock to try again, much to the amusement of the crew of Club Med 1. This time we cast
off successfully and proudly sailed away to the strains of Amazing Grace. The day was spent at sea. We had some scattered rain showers
and a nice easy, quiet sail. We expected to arrive at St. Barth's around dawn on Tuesday. After dinner, we lounged the night away on
deck looking at the most incredible starry sky. There were stars I had never seen before blazing away in the heavens. A truly incredible
sight. We went to bed to the gentle rolling of a ship under sail.
arriving at St. Barth's with the Legacy close behind. The
Polynesia was already anchored in the harbor. Watched a
beautiful sunrise over the hills of St. Barth's, then found the
storyboard and headed to breakfast. At Storytime, Capt. Casey
told us about the day's activities and a little about St. Barth's. We
opted to hike over to the airport. Well, this hike involved walking
up and over pretty steep ridge and down into a valley where the
airport was. In order to land at the airport, planes have to
transverse a narrow pass thru two ridges. It is quite exciting to
be seated on a rock at the top of the pass and have a plane
come in right over your head and then drop "like a stone" down
to the airport. We stayed at the top point for a while and
watched the cars at this intersection. The easiest way to describe
it would be "ordered chaos". There is no stop sign or traffic light
and it appeared to be every man for himself. We headed back to
the ship, stopping at the lighthouse along the way for some
Kodak moments.
beautiful French natives dressed up in outlandish costumes and paraded for us tourists…what a hoot! After dinner, many of our
shipmates headed back ashore for the CARNIVAL party at one of the local pubs. The Windjammer fleet takes over this pub and closes
off the street and a good time is had by all, shipmates and natives alike.
activities and opted for the Rainforest Hike that afternoon. After breakfast was Storytime with Capt. Casey. This morning we
discovered we had a retired astronaut on board. "Pinky" Nelson had flown aboard the Challenger, Columbia and the Discovery. During
the trip he had just introduced himself to people as a solar astronomer. (Pinky is currently on leave from the University of Washington to
become Deputy Director of Project 2061 for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This is a program to
improve science education from grades K-12. If you would like more info on Project 2061, visit: http://project2061.aaas.org/ ) Capt.
Casey promised us two talks by Dr. Nelson, one that evening and one the next day. The Capt. also announced that we would be at sea on
Thursday for the Eclipse, between Guadeloupe and Montserrat. This was met by thunderous applause from all assembled and turned out
to be the right decision. After Storytime, we decided to share a cab with two shipmates, Charles and Natasha, and take a whirlwind tour
of the island, starting to the Southeast on their 8 million dollar road to nowhere. This road transverses a beautiful mountain following along
the ridge and sides. Our taxi driver, Martin, was very knowledgeable and friendly. There were many Kodak moments to be had. After we
got to the end of this road, we turned around and headed back to the other end of the island to visit Brimstone Hill Fortress. What views!
left by the Carib Indians hundreds of years ago. Then we stopped at Caribelle Batik to stock up on the softest, most beautiful handmade
batiks I've seen. The Sea Island Cotton is hand dyed and then made into scarves, blouses, skirts, you name it. The Rainforest hike took us
into the St. Kitts rainforest. Here we saw a diversity of plants, many birds and evidence of green monkeys. Our very knowledge guide
explained how the plants were used for medicinal purposes and their many other uses as well.
After dinner we set sail for Montserrat. Dr. Nelson, our Astronomer/astronaut, gave a wonderful talk about what life is "really like" aboard
the Space Shuttle. When someone asked what's it like to walk in space, he replied "It's great! Everyone should try it!!!!" Everyone headed
off to bed dreaming of Eclispe Day on Thursday!
moment! You could feel the anticipation in the air!! We were situated somewhere between Guadeloupe and
Montserrat, which was spitting and sputtering.. After Storytime, Dr. Nelson gave another enchanting talk
about the Solar System and the "Big Bang" theory. He spoke in laymen's terms that us commoners could
understand. We were all spell-bound. Afterwards we just floated around under sail watching all the various
ships and small boats appear on the horizon. Club Med 1 had dogged us all week and showed up right on
schedule. The Windjammer ships, Polynesia, Mandalay and Legacy were there also. It was like rush hour in
the Caribbean. Bill and I were situated at the stern, near a group of astronomy buffs. At approximately
1:50, someone yelled "First Contact", we all ran for our eye protection and the fun began. People around us
had been to other eclipses and tried, unsuccessfully, to describe what we were about the experience.
Totality would be at 2:34 and last about 3-1/2 minutes.
lucked out and they didn't interfere with the Eclipse. We decided to
watch the clouds on the horizon to see if we could see the shadow
before it was over us. The shadow band was traveling at 1,000
mph, so we only had seconds. At precisely 2:34 (give or take a
second) the horizon clouds went dark and then it was as tho
someone turned out the lights. It didn’t get pitch black as some
described, but it got dark enough!! Totality is simply amazing and
awe-inspiring. We could clearly see the corona and solar flares
were everywhere. Jupiter, Mercury and Venus were also visible
near the sun. Right at the end, Bailey's Beads appeared and then,
as if that wasn't enough, a spectacular Diamond Ring! Then it was
over…and the lights came back on! The Eclipse was celebrated
with a champagne toast for all on board, provided by
lifetime! We were told that many people who opted to go to the beach on Guadaloupe, including Dr. Hale, lost the eclipse to the clouds
and didn't see totality. What a bummer!
Montserrat, remember Montserrat? Decided not to be outdone by the sun and let loose with an eruption, which sent a column of smoke
and ash high into the sky. What a sight! We were 8 miles off-shore, so we were safe.
We set sail for Nevis and got amazing views of the lava flows and the destruction the volcano had done to this beautiful little island. A
beautiful sunset followed with the green flash at the end. At swizzle time, we had a wine and cheese party - everyone on board participated
by buying a bottle of "cheap" wine on Tuesday at St. Barth's. We then played Sea Hunt, a sea-going version of Treasure Hunt. After dinner
we had the traditional costume party and a wonderful time was had by all.
Paradise! Found the storyboard to decide the activity for the
day…our options were an Island Tour, snorkeling trip or another
rainforest hike. Bill and I, along with Gail and Bruce, opted for the
Rainforest Hike. We went ashore and meandered around
Charlestown for the morning, found the outlet for Caribelle Batik
and spent more money. After lunch on board the ship, we headed
out on the Rainforest hike. It turned out that this hike was much
better than the one on St. Kitts. On this hike the trail was barely
there most of the time and we scrambled up gullies and down
washes, over dry creek beds. Our guide was exceptionally
knowledgeable, explaining the various plants and their uses. We saw
monkeys and many birds, especially hummingbirds. There were
many Kodak moments coming down from this hike, every turn
brought a better vista than before. Nevis' peak was clearly visible
and quite photogenic.
a Caesar salad right before our eyes, with much fanfare!
We set sail for Antigua during dinner and this time Amazing Grace brought tears to many eyes. After the second seating for dinner, dessert
was Bananas Flambe' on deck. Everyone had a rousing good time and went to bed wishing it didn't have to end the next day.
I'd like to commend Windjammer on a wonderful ship and crew. Annie, the purser, Bridgette, the Activities Mate and the rest of the crew
made us feel right at home. Captain Casey was a trip and his right hand man, Paul, was a sweetheart. It will be a real shame when we lose
these beautiful old tall ships to insurance regulations.
quarterdeck. There were many tearful goodbyes, as we had all made fast friends during the week's cruise. Our flight was originally
scheduled for 9:05 on BWIA to Miami. We were bumped to 10:20 because so many people were flying out. This was one of the busiest
times Antigua has seen in years. All because of the Eclipse! It appeared that we'd have enough time to clear customs and make our
connection with American Airlines at 1:30 in Miami. That is, if the 10:20 flight left on time! Well, it was not to be. The flight left 40
minutes late, which would leave us about 30 minutes in Miami. No way could we clear customs, get our baggage, check in with American
and make the connection. Not gonna happen! Our stewardess told us to go to the BWIA counter and they would take care of us. So we
relaxed and enjoyed the flight to Miami. When we arrived at Miami it was 1pm. It took us 20 minutes to leave the plane, so as we were
walking thru the terminal to customs we waved goodbye to the American Airlines plane leaving the gate at 1:30. We cleared customs, got
our bags and headed to the American counter to see what they could do. The best they would do was put us on standby for the 7:20 pm
flight to Philadelphia. Not the most appealing choice. We headed off to BWIA, since it was their problem anyway. After two trips to the
counter, we ended up with First Class seats on the 4:35 flight on USAirways to Phila. What a treat! Since we usually fly "in the back",
this was a wonderful surprise ending to an amazing vacation.
| ECLIPSE DAY Picture Page |
| Nevis Picture Page |
| St. Kitts Picture Page |
| St. Barth's Picture Page |