Duke & Miss Terrie

Celebrate 18 years of marriage

Aboard the Yankee Clipper.

Duke Divine

August, 1997

A short recap of the ship’s history… the S/V Yankee Clipper is a three-

masted 197 foot long sailing vessel built in 1927 by Alfred Krupp, a

wealthy German industrialist (it was called the Cressida then). One of

Krupp’s guests aboard was that Hitler guy. We captured it during W.W.II

and the Vanderbilts bought it for racing, and eventually it ended up

based in Grenada as part of the Windjammer tall ships fleet. That’s

where we found it.

Saturday, August 9.

Out of bed a 3am, on the road by 3:30am, check in at the airport shortly

after 5am, in the air to St. Louis by 6am, then change planes for a trip to

Miami, then board a BWIA jet for leaving the country. By the way, BWIA

is now my favorite airline. They cut no corners in service and customer

satisfaction. Stopover in Antigua for fuel. It is overcast, so we cannot

see Montserrat today. It does clear up on the final leg of the trip into

Grenada. We landed at that nice airport the Russians built when the

occupied the island briefly. The darned thing is built out into the water,

so as we approached all I could see out the window was ocean. I really

wondered if the pilot was lost, because until we actually touched down I

could see no land. Even then it was just a thin paved strip. It is now 7pm

and we have to stand in line in a large hot bug infested metal building

waiting for immigration to check our papers. This took a good hour, but

we walked out to the street and immediately got a taxi. We asked the

driver to take us to the dock first to see the ship, and even though

Carnival was in full swing and he had to get through two police

barricades, he got us there. As we rounded the Carenage (street around

the harbor) I looked out across a sea of anchored yachts and tried

unsuccessfully to figure out which one was ours. All of the masts ran

together, so I couldn’t pick out any three-masted vessel. The driver

finally redirected my attention out of the harbor and to the docks (and

up). Towering above the dock buildings, and high above anything else

in the harbor were three lighted masts… that was the Yankee Clipper!

We knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore. After the brief look we were

taken back to Grand Anse beach and the Coyaba Beach Resort. The

place was beautifully landscaped and right on the beach. After looking

around and trying the find what kind of animal was making so much

noise (bizarre frogs) we decided to get some sleep (perhaps our last

chance).

Sunday, August 10.

We got up early and tried to get on an organized island tour.

Unfortunately the Carnival shuts everybody down, and nobody was working.

Plan B was to try to organize a private island tour, but all of the tour

operators were closed and the taxi drivers didn’t want to tie up too much

of their party time. We finally found one lady who said she would make

her husband pick us up at noon for a tour. Rather than waste time on

breakfast, we decided to hit the beach. This was the only beach near

population that we would be at, and it is a good thing. The beach was

wonderful, but it took us awhile to learn how to enjoy ourselves without

having to deal with vendors. First it was a guy selling coral necklaces,

then a hair braider, then a guy wanting to rent lounge chairs, then a lady

selling sarongs, then a guy with a palm-leaf hat who wouldn’t leave us

alone until he was run off buy a guy selling spice necklaces, then a

policeman yelled at us to Get Over Here and scared us until we realized

he wanted us to see some coral necklaces that a friend of his was

selling, then a couple of guys selling shells came by and we escaped

into the water. Nobody bothered us in the water (well, except for the boat

that came by to see if we wanted to water-ski). The beach was white

sand and not crowded (except for vendors) and we stayed until just

before noon. As we were changing the front desk called to tell us our

taxi had arrived.

Trevor the taxi driver was amazing. We told him we couldn’t board until

5pm and he said he would show us anything we wanted to see on the

island in the next five hours. His mistake, because I wanted to see the

top of the rain forest (and it was during the rainy season there). First he

took us to the dock and got the customs guy to open the gate and let us

drive in. We pulled around the banana warehouse and got to see the

ship up close as Trevor threw our bags aboard. It looked even more

impressive in the daylight. We drove around St. George a bit, seeing the

various Carnival festivities and then headed up to Fort George. We

walked around the fort that guards the harbor and looked at the old

buildings and cannons. Trevor showed us some of the tunnels that

undermine the whole place. I guess the tunnels allowed the soldiers to

get from various places to the guns quickly. This is a major tourist

attraction for the island, so it surprised me to round a corner and see

underwear (men’s and ladies) draped over cannons drying in the sun.

Trevor explained that the fort is used as a police academy and it was

apparently laundry day. Anyway, then we headed for the hills and saw

plantations of banana, petain, guava, coconut, star fruit, coffee, cocoa,

cinnamon, cashews, avocados, breadfruit, nutmeg, mangoes, and lots of

other stuff I can’t remember. At one point Trevor climbed a nutmeg tree

and brought us examples of the largest local crop. We visited

Annadale Falls, and Grand Etang lake. The lake is high in the rain

forest in the crater of a volcano. Guess what it does in the rain forest? It

rains. The mist and the rain kept us from seeing much of anything, and I

have pictures to prove it! On the way back we went to Fort Frederick,

which has guns pointing inland. The island changed hands between the

French and British many times, and one of them figured out that all the

guns were pointed out to sea, so they landed on the other side of the

island and captured the city from behind. Then they build fort Frederick

to keep it from happening again.

We ended our tour back at the harbor around 4pm and we still hadn’t

eaten all day. Trevor pointed out that no restaurant or bar would be

open because of Carnival. Lucky us. So we walked around the harbor

for an hour not eating or shopping, just waiting to board the ship.

Customs let us through the gate promptly at 5pm and we boarded the

Yankee Clipper. The captain greeted us and we sat up on the top deck

meeting fellow passengers and enjoying snacks and drinks. About

twenty of us boarded that night. After receiving our room assignments

(Captain’s Cabin #2) we spent some time unpacking. Our cabin was

wonderful. It had a private head and shower, double bed, picture

window and one window on the door. We discovered that we could lie in

bed with the curtains open and see nothing but ocean. Later we had

dinner on the top deck and a soca-beat band for dancing. We spent

most of the night meeting crew/passengers and watching the craziness

go on in the town. We were warned not to go into town this night unless

we wore clothing that could be destroyed. Two factions will playfully

either paint you blue or smear used motor oil all over you. Either way is

unpleasant. Sunday night at Carnival consisted of bands loaded on the

back of flatbed trucks parading around town followed by dancing masses

of blue or black coated islanders. This went on all night. The band on

deck seemed to play all night also, as the drum set was directly above

our cabin.

Monday, August 11.

Happy Anniversary! We were awakened at 6am by the continuing

sounds of bands playing in town. By this morning they had gotten much

rowdier. Stumbling out of my cabin to gaze bleary-eyed over the rail I

saw a sea of blue people dancing through the town. After a quick

shower we joined the crew on deck to watch the festivities, dance to the

music, and greet new passengers (who thought we were nuts).

Everyone asks me about the food. Yes, it was good. But life aboard a

sailing ship doesn’t really revolve around food. Just so I don’t repeat

myself too much, everyday started with bloody Mary’s, juice, coffee, and

fresh pastries around 6am for those that wanted it. At 7am someone

came by the cabins ringing a bell for breakfast, which was fairly typical

American fare with a few surprises. Lunch was usually top deck or on

the beach. Afternoon snacks were rum swizzles, cheese, crackers, and

various appetizers. Dinner was generally in the dining room (aft of main

deck, with picture windows on three sides and a balcony off the back).

There was always two choices for dinner, and you could have both if you

wanted. The first night at sea was either roast duck or lamb. Wine was

included with dinner. An evening snack was about the same as the

afternoon snack and served around 10:30pm. Oh, and there is no dress

code on board. People usually put on a shirt (the guys) for dinner, but

not always. Nobody wore shoes the entire trip. Mainly everyone just

wore swimsuits and went barefoot.

At around 9am the captain held “storytime” which is a daily event where

he tells us what has happened overnight and what the days activities

may be. He said that all passengers had checked in except for 3, and

they were having trouble and would have to catch up to us, so we would

plan to set sail at 11am. Grenada’s harbor pilot came aboard at 11am

and we cast off the lines, and the loudspeakers began to play a bagpipe

arrangement of Amazing Grace. A short note here about the song… it

was written by a disreputable sea captain running slaves from Africa to

the islands. He got into a storm and his ship was breaking up, so he

prayed and promised to turn his life around if he was saved. He was,

and he wrote Amazing Grace. The owner of the Windjammer fleet had

similar experiences, so whenever sails are raised on his ships they play

the song. One of the things special about these trips is that you can pitch

in and work the sails if you so choose. I did. In fact, I never missed a sail

raising the entire trip. There is something very special about pulling the

ropes to raise the sails (seriously big sails) and first feeling the breeze

tug at the lines, then feeling the entire ship list to one side, then hearing

the water break at the front of the ship, and feel the ship surge forward.

Something about being part of the transfer of energy into motion was

exhilarating. It was such an exciting experience that I got tears in my

eyes a couple of times. Weird.

So, we sailed right out of Grenada harbor and headed north. It was time

to drag a book up to the top deck and just lounge around and get used to

the pitch and roll. Actually there was not much roll because the sails

kept the ship tilted to one side. About an hour out of port the captain told

us that the lost 3 were catching up to us. They were an English family

flying via Barbados and their jet had lost an engine there. Minor detail.

Anyway, the ships crew somehow found out the story and left someone

ashore to wait for them at the airport. When they got in they hired a small

launch to catch the ship. Seeing the tiny boat ride the swells next the our

larger ship, and seeing the family have to time their leaps just right to get

on the ships ladder, was a great sight. They were all seriously sick when

they finally got aboard. With the final 3 that brought our total passenger

list to 42. We weren’t going anywhere where the big ships go, but on the

way home I spoke to someone from Antigua who said one of the big

ones docked and 2000 people got off. No thanks, I’ll stick with the 42

passenger cruises!

The rest of the day was spent sailing. I think we sailed about 16 hours,

and I was awake for every bit of it (not by choice). After leaving the

protection of Grenada we got into some heavier swells, and by dark the

ship turned into quite a ride. At dinner Miss Terrie got sick, as did about

half of the passengers. I stayed on the top deck to give her a chance to

be sick all alone (and so I wouldn’t get sick with her), but by the time I

wanted (needed) to sleep we had sailed into a storm. Have you ever

tried to sleep on a really wicked roller coaster? Me neither, but that is

what my bed felt like. I would get the feeling of weightlessness at the top

of each wave, then slam into the bed when we hit bottom, not to mention

the creaking of the ship and the booms of slamming into waves. It was

an interesting introduction to sailing. It calmed by about 3am and I

dozed off only to be awakened by the anchor chains going down. We

had arrived at Bequia.

Tuesday, August 12.

Bequia is in the country of St. Vincent / Grenadines, so we had to fill out

immigration forms again. The entire island is involved in boat building of

some sort. Mostly small yachts. It was decided at story time that we

would all hit the stores in town and each buy a bottle of wine, then that

evening the ship would provide a band and snacks and we would have

a wine tasting party. We took an early launch to shore and had a tour of

the island which included various old forts and scenic overlooks. We

also went to their whaling museum, which was smaller than my office.

Whaling is still allowed on Bequia, and it is a family run operation. They

still use rowboats and harpoons. The guy with the license is in his

seventies and he told me they hadn’t gotten a whale in over 4 years. Our

captain explained the process this way… these old guys decide one day

that they are going whaling, they get together and talk about it and hit

every bar on the way to the dock, then they load their coolers into their

boats and row out to look for whales, eventually they come home empty

handed. A walking tour would have been better, but we didn’t know.

Around noon we took a launch back to the ship for lunch, then headed to

a beach for some snorkeling. We were back on the ship by 5pm for the

wine tasting party and entertainment by a local couple calling

themselves the “Honky Tonics”. Had a wonderful dinner of chicken

cordon bleu and Creole fish. We stayed at anchor during the night so we

could catch up on our sleep. Thank you captain! I didn’t get much sleep

because I stayed up stargazing until late.

Wednesday, August 13.

I got up early for the 5am sail raising. I was a little shocked that only one

other passenger was there. The two of us and two regular crew raised

the sails. Believe me, with only four people it can get to be a chore. I

have blisters to prove it! After that aerobic workout I went back to bed,

only to be awakened by the last call for breakfast. We were headed for

Tobago Cays and sailed past many small dots of land, so we stayed

topside and watched the scenery. Everywhere we went the Yankee

Clipper was the biggest thing around and attracted lots of attention.

Coming into Tobago Cays several small yachts did “drive-bys” to get a

closer look. This was rather interesting when we discovered that some

of those boats had relaxed dress codes (topless). On the way to the

Cays we also watched dolphins, and mate David gave us a short

astronomy course. We swam and snorkeled most of the day. I saw a

moray eel, and some others found a school of squid. We had lunch on

the beach, very nice. Late afternoon we were back on board for another

sail raising and on our way to Palm Island. Palm is a private island

developed by some rich guy who is friends with the owner of the

Windjammer fleet. We had a wonderful barbecue on the beach, danced

late into the night, and got to meet the owner, John Caldwell, and buy his

book to be autographed. The book doesn’t look like much, but he did a

fine job of signing it… you’d think we were old friends. We finally got to

taste breadfruit with this evening’s meal and I liked it. Another restful

night at anchor off of Palm.

Thursday, August 14.

Breakfast (Eastern Caribbean style) on board and then a launch back to

Palm to hike “highway 90” and hang out on the beach. I mailed my

postcards from this island, and I suspect nobody will ever see them

again. We set sail around 11am for the island of Mayreau. Once we

arrived Miss Terrie and I searched for our shoes and had a nice hike

over the island to a little beach on the other side called Saltwhistle Bay.

The hike was moderately strenuous and the day was warm. Most of our

company decided to hire a boat to take them back to the other side.

Purser Emily, Chief Steward Kenny, and Terrie and I hiked back over the

top and picked wild aloe plant on the way (sunburns). By the time we

reached the beach we were shedding clothing and running for the water.

It sure felt good to swim after that hike. We took the launch back to the

ship and lounged in the widows net out on the bowsprit for a couple

hours, had an afternoon snack, and then readied for the crab races. I

won $7. Dinner was on deck for the infamous BLT-P party (costumes

must begin with those letters). We had fun with our non-winning

costumes. I went as Pryce, our favorite crew-member. He loaned me his

uniform, rasta shoes, name-tag, bandana, and earring, and even

coached me on how to act. The two of us had fun with it. The costume

party ended with joke telling, music, dancing, and champagne late into

the night.

Friday, August 15.

7am sail raising and off to Carriacou, where it was market day in the

small town of Hillsborough. We did a little shopping and sight-seeing

(most shopped for the local Jack Iron Rum and Cuban cigars), then

motored over to the other side of the island to a beautiful beach. The

captain finally let us swim off the side of the ship, and we dove off the top

deck for an hour or so before taking a launch to the beach. There we

snorkeled for hours and just lounged around. Back on board for a 5pm

sail raising (the last one) and everyone (all 42) helped. The last dinner

was in the salon and the seas were a little rough, but the captain just

explained that we were dodging potholes. Miss Terrie and many others

compensated by excusing themselves to the balcony off the back of the

salon for fresh air every few minutes, and all made it through our last

dinner. There was champagne and much toasting, pictures, singing, and

then we went topside for the torching of some dessert covered in rum.

Although we tried to stay up late, we still were sleep deprived and went

back to the cabin to be rocked to sleep. We sailed back to Grenada as

we slept.

Saturday, August 16.

As we woke at 5am we were already docked at St. George, Grenada. I

don’t know why we booked the early flight out, but about 20 others made

the same mistake. After a bleary eyed breakfast we packed our bags.

As soon as I set mine outside the room it was whisked away to a waiting

taxi. At the airport the sight of 20 of us standing in line swaying back and

forth was comical. The flight back to the states on BWIA was wonderful.

This time when we stopped at Antigua to refuel I did get a good look at

Montserrat and the volcano. The domestic flight on American was

delayed (as usual) so we got home late, but were still in bed in Kansas

by midnight.

The only bad thing about this trip is that we try to do something nice for

every anniversary and now we are spoiled. We had already started

thinking about an Alaskan cruise. When we picked up the brochures

and saw those enormous modern ships with their uppity dress-up

functions and huge capacities we knew that we couldn’t do it. I guess

we’ll have to wait for a Windjammer to start doing the inside passage to

Alaska.