Yankee Clipper Trip Report

January 1997

By Burke Long (Ellen is his wife)

Ellen and I arrived in Grenada in the early afternoon. We were met by

the ship's agent and taken to the Nutmeg to enjoy a few drinks before we

could board. There were close to a dozen of us there waiting to board

the clipper. Since it was Sunday, nothing in St. George was open

(except for the Nutmeg). We walked around the cornage to the ship, and

were asked by several locals if we wanted a walking tour. We were also

asked if we wanted to buy some pot. We declined both. Note: we have

heard that it is not uncommon for the local authorities to setup stings

to trap tourists into buying illegal substances. We boarded the ship

and were met by Captain John, and Kimberly the Purser. We had the

obligatory swizzles (apple juice in my case) opened our account for the

bar, and settled in to our room. We had dinner on board, listened to the band

for a while,

and retired early.

Day 1 (Monday)

After breakfast, we took the taxi tour of Grenada. This is essentially

a ride to either Annandale Falls, or the "bottomless" Lake. Our group

decided on the falls. On the way, our driver Salami gave a very

informative presentation on Grenadian agriculture. This included his

climbing a nutmeg tree to show us the different stages of nutmeg growth.

He also showed us how they get mace from the nutmeg fruit, and

explained the process used to get nutmeg to the table. He also stopped

and did the same for cocoa beans, coffee, and various tropical plants.

A 15 minute ride turned into an hour, but we had a great time. At

Annandale Falls, there is a man with a guitar that plays until you give

him tips. There are also islanders that will jump from the falls into

the pool of shallow water below, also for tips. There was also a tariff

to go see the falls (although this disappeared when we returned alone the next

week).

The scenery is breath taking, and it is a great

photo stop. Look for the little lizards, they are VERY cute. Going

back down the mountain, we stopped at a spice shop. After that we went

to a couple of neat spots to get some pictures and buy some Cuban cigars.

We got back to the ship in enough time to attend the safety drill, and relax a bit

before we tried to set sail. I say tried, because it took us a while to get out.

The port was full, and the channel that we had narrow, and the YC didn't

want to get into reverse. After a little fussing from the harbor pilot,

we were underway. The first night at dinner we lost almost a third of

the passengers. The seas were not that rough, but between people not

taking Dramamine before setting sail, and the split pea soup (which was

great!) we had a pretty empty saloon. Ellen and I again called it an

early night and turned in after laying on the deck trying to remember

our astronomy.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

We arrived in Bequia early, I know this because I was sleeping under the

anchor winch. After breakfast and a disappointing story time, we took a

resort dive SCUBA course, followed by a 30-ft. dive. The dive was

fantastic! I highly recommend that anyone not certified who wants to

dive, take one of these courses. It was worth it. After lunch, we

missed the launch to the dock, so I suggested that we take the launch to

the beach (instead of waiting for an hour). In my defense I would like

to say that I though that we would land on the beach closest to the

dock, not the one at the mouth of the harbor. After a wet landing, and

a mile hike, we caught a taxi (which is a pickup with seats in the bed)

which took us the final few miles into town. We had a few drinks at the

Gingerbread, and then took a tour of Amazing Grace before returning to

the ship for snacks. Snacks and dinner were uneventful, and we were

beginning to think that the captain had deserted us. It seems that his

wife (from Germany) was on board, and the Captain was seldom seen. The

exception to this was when the launches were active. He was the first

one off, and the last one back. The captain did appear long enough to

hold crab races. I fared miserably in the betting, and fear that I may

be a little short for the mortgage this month. Since our fellow

passengers had little tolerance for sailing, we spent the night at

anchor in Bequia.

Day 3 (Wednesday)

We motored out of Bequia, and headed for Mayrou. We sailed part of the

way, which the captain was proud to point out at another disappointing

story time. If not for the Fodor's that Ellen brought, we would have

known nothing of the islands that we were visiting, except for Palm

island, which if the captain's descriptions were right, would be the

greatest place since Eden (and noted we should DEFINITELY buy the book . ..

wonder what kind of kickback WJ gets from these books, the way they are HIGHLY

recommended). At Mayrou, we hit the lovely beach, did some

snorkeling, had lunch (sent from the ship), snorkeled some more, and

returned to the ship in the late afternoon. We set sail and

sailed/motored the few miles to Palm Island. At Palm, we again met the

Grace, this time with cannon fire. She departed and we anchored.

Dinner was on Palm, and as billed John Caldwell was indeed there. If

you don't know, John Caldwell turned Palm Island from a swamp into a

resort, he also had a little adventure in a 29-ft sailboat as he crossed

the Pacific alone. Dinner was great! Palm sucked. The bartenders must

have needed glasses, because they didn't seem to see any of us there,

except Capt. John and wife. They had great service and attention all night.

We got to meet John Caldwell, and we bought his book for only $5 over

cover price. After dinner we went back to the ship.

Day 4(Thursday)

This was day 2 on Palm Island. There was a morning run around the

island. We passed on this as it was at 6:30. At another boring story

time we found out that we would be spending all day at Palm, and could

only use a small section of beach by the bar (the rest of the island is

reserved for guests). Several brave souls snorkeled there, among the

speeding boats. Ellen and I walked "Highway 90" around the island (I don't

know if this was something we were really supposed to be doing, but no one

or signs, like those for the beach, said that we couldn't), and

found that the battle with swamp on palm is not completely won. We had

lunch on Palm courtesy of the ship, and then returned to Yankee Clipper.

Since the days activities consisted of Palm Island only, a few of us

arranged for a SCUBA trip. We dove on a British gunboat that sank in

1918 in 30-ft of water off of Mayrou. This was an excellent dive! We

saw all kinds of fish and lobster, and eels, and coral, and more. The

ship picked up anchor in the late afternoon, and we sailed to the other

side of Union Island (which we never actually visited). It was here

that we held the BLT&P party. I got dressed a little early and hit the

bar. My pink satin dress, blonde wig, and 46DD breasts were a huge hit.

Others got into the spirit, and by the time dinner rolled around most

of the passengers were in some sort of costume. After dinner on deck,

the captain appeared as the Pope, and the judging got underway. The

custom on board the Clipper is to take three pairs of finalists, and

have two pairs (two males, two females) tie for first. I was in the group that

tied for first.

Day 5(Friday)

We picked up anchor in the morning, and headed for Carriacou. We spent

the morning in town, and in the afternoon, the ship anchored off of

Sandy Island. Here the ship ran a snorkel launch, and a launch to Sandy

Island. The Captain also let us swim from the ship. Ellen and I stayed

on the ship, and slept in the sun, and later jumped from the ship for a

brief swim. We set sail in the early evening. Before dinner, the

passengers all got together for group photos. That night was the

Captain's dinner, only without the Captain. We got the traditional

Ceasar Salad show, followed by prime rib. Due to safety concerns, desert

was on deck. This was a good thing, because the banana flamb

¬ would

have lit the salon on fire. After desert, there was a round of

champagne financed by passenger collection. Again, the crowd dispersed

early. This time however, Ellen and I stayed up. Two of our singles, Chuck

and Mary Ann,

Ellen, and myself stayed up drinking, and talking with the crew. We

were scheduled to dock in Grenada around 12:30 am, so we decided to stay

up to see St. George at night. We spent the later half of the evening

sitting all the way forward. Between the alcohol, the meteor shower,

watching Grenada slowly sail by, stargazing, and the conversation, it

was a great evening. As we pulled into St. George, we noticed a rather

large ship docked in the harbor. As we got closer to the dock, we

discovered that it was a private motor yacht, just slightly longer than

the Clipper. As we were tying up, several people from the yacht became

very curious about the Yankee Clipper. In fact they invited us over for

drinks. So, shortly past 1am, the four of us headed over to the yacht.

It turned out that the yacht was a private charter boat out of France.

The crew was mostly 20ish Englishmen, and they thought that the four of

us chartered the Yankee Clipper. After a brief tour of the yacht, the

crewmen that we met opened up a few bottles of wine. If seems that the

ship charters up to 20 people at a flat rate of $75,000 per day.

They had 2 speedboats, 2 jet skis, and a couple of Zodiac launches on

board. From what we saw it was a floating palace. At 2:30ish, we

crawled back to the Yankee Clipper and went to sleep.

Final Day (Saturday)

Needless to say we were not on the early flight. We slept in, and had a

late breakfast. Since we had camera problems on the first island tour,

we arranged for a quick tour to get replacement pictures. This was a

great idea, as we saw everything that both tours saw on Sunday, and

more. Upon returning to the ship, we had a rare occasion. The Captain

ate lunch in the same room with the passengers. This didn't mean that

he talked to them, but he was there. We packed, and got ready to leave.

While waiting for our time to be up we heard the Captain mention that

the ship would move to take on supplies, and then have to dock in the

harbor. Unfortunately, the Captain didn't feel like telling the 5

people that were on back to back weeks before they left for the day. I

know that I would have been upset if the boat were not where I left it

when I got back form the beach. Not to mention, that no one ever

mentioned a launch schedule to return to the ship. We did pass word to

three out of the five before they went ashore. Sadly, the taxi did

come, and our second Windjammer came to an end. Our fellow passengers

were mostly older and dull, the itinerary was a bit slow, and the

Captain abysmal, but the crew was first rate, and LOTS of fun. All in

all it was a great time. Would I sail the Yankee Clipper again? You

bet! Are we planning on another Windjammer? Yes, in fact we are

currently plotting which ship to take next.

Burke Long.