A Dragon's Thoughts And Stories On Windjamming

Read Some Of My Stories And Get An Idea Of What Windjamming Is Like. For Those Who Have Windjammed Before Remember What It Is Like

The cool part about windjamming as a single (or even a couple), is no one is left out in the cold. I told a friend of mine that the first windjammer cruise I had was (until last April's Windjammer cruise) the best vacation I have ever experienced. I have been on the big cruise ships and loved them, even the resorts which I liked, but windjamming took my breath away and still does. Before my first windjammer cruise the key to a great vacation was having a relationship with the opposite sex. The closer the better. It still is very important mind you. :-)
On my first windjammer cruise in April 94 (have taken seven since then) I did not have a romance with any ladies. It took me a month to figure out why it was the best vacation ever. My friends could not understand because I could not tell them. I wrote my trip report and read it again a couple weeks later. I finally figured it out. It was right in front of me.
I enjoyed my vacation so much because I had a great time, I laughed a lot, I smiled constantly, I danced all the time. I made female friends, good friends and made good male friends. I remember sleeping on the deck one night with a group of about eight of us. We raised the sails around eleven that night. We had bought bottles of champagne for the raising of the sails. We all helped to raise the sails and the ship sailed out into the dark sea. The song Amazing Grace was playing which it always does with the raising of the sails. The captain shut off the ships lights on the top deck. The song played on as we looked up at the wonder of the millions and millions of stars. The sea of stars is what someone called them. we all drank our champagne, each of us taking turns telling jokes, some were so funny, some were just dumb. It did not matter, we all laughed, kidded each other and laughed again. In that moment of time we all had the same thing in common, the stars, the song, the jokes. After an hour of our comradeship some fell asleep and some of us stayed awake, we were silent now. The wind was light, the air was warm, the moon was only a quarter full. . I looked up at the sea of stars. The ship was rocking lightly causing the stars to look like they were rocking too. It was such a wonder looking up at the starry night. The Milkyway so visible. It was amazing looking at millions and millions of stars, so bright, so clear, so close. It was a night of wonder, I was a little boy again, the wonder of a child's innocence. It was magic.
It took me a long to fall asleep.

I can not come up with quotes, the story I just told is not even a man's point of view. It is a humans point of view. Males and Females, we all enjoyed and felt the magic that night.

On with my thoughts. It is very easy for men to meet women (and visa versa) on a windjammer cruise, it does not even have to be a singles cruise, it can be a normal mixed couples/singles cruise. The ship does not hold 800 or 2500 passengers, you do not meet someone for a minute then never see them again. There is no rush because you think that this might be your only chance to talk to that person, that you may not see them for days. On a windjammer you will see them within minutes, certainly less then an hour. You can just say hi and have small talk, go on your way only to meet up with the person again later, again saying high, increasing the small talk to something more. Buy her a drink perhaps. Tell a story, talk about what island we will be on tomorrow, ask what her plans are. Maybe even get her to agree to hang out with her and her friends the next day on the island.
You can meet by just going on a taxi tour that travels around the islands showing the sights. A taxi holds up to 10 people on a lot of the islands. This is a great chance to get to know other people. Later that night on the ship you have more to talk about, laugh at some of the things that you saw or did that day. The friendship has started.
The two best ships for singles are the Polynesia being number one and the Flying Cloud being the second. It is the Polynesia that sings to the singles... She visits the best islands that the average single can have fun on. With only 126 passengers you get to know a lot of them real quick. Being outgoing helps a lot especially the first night or two but even the ones that are hesitant find that they make friends rather easy. for every outgoing person there is a shy person. The shy mix with the shy and find that they are now outgoing. Being handsome or pretty helps but it does not control the final outcome of the cruise. As I said before people become friends then looks are less important.

Here is another story for you.

My first windjammer cruise. It was April 1994, I went alone and was assigned a cabinmate. He was fifty. He was a Lineman. The ones who put the power lines back up when the storms blow them down. He was from Ohio. It was a cold winter that year, he worked long and hard in the extreme cold putting the lines back up. it was one of the worst winters he ever experienced on the job. He came on the cruise and was very sad. His son died a year prior, his wife left him, he had just kicked his daughter out of the house, she had a kid and was a junkie. He loved her deeply but she stole, lied, cheated. He had no choice, he felt like he was a failure as a father, husband and human being. I thought he was a nice guy, life just was not kind to him. He was depressed. The first two days he stayed in the cabin a lot which hardly anyone does. He thought about his life and his troubles. I tried my best to get him to come up and join us, he tried but it just did not work. I really felt for him but could do nothing to make him have as good a time as I was. I gave up trying to force him to have a good time.
The third night a band came aboard and we all danced. Suddenly later that night I noticed that he was dancing with some lady. I was happy that he was out. From that night on he was always on deck, he was laughing and smiling. He was now walking around talking to people, joking, joining in the activities. He was having fun.
The last night on the ship he told me that he never expected to have a good time, did not want to have a good time. He never wanted to even go on the cruise but friends talked him into it. He found that from the moment he asked this lady to dance things changed. He had fun and had smiled for the first time since his son died. He was sad that the cruise was almost over, but no one could take away what he had gained, there was a chance that he could still have his life back.
I say the magic caught him. That Lady who asked him to dance started the magic. She never knew it but she helped a man heal. It is magic you know, human magic, no doubt about it.

Here is how the opposite sex meets on a windjammer singles cruise. I will be saying a lot of YOU because believe me the women do the exact same thing the men do.

The first thing is that all the passengers arrive on the Pier in St. Maarten about two hours early (because of plane arrival times). Everyone starts saying high and a lot of the folks go to a local bar and have a few drinks. The normal questions are asked, where you from, what is your name, is this you first time windjamming (most say yes) how did you find out about it (most from friends who have windjammed before). After all that is done then a group of around 6 to 25 people walk around the town (Philipsburg) and look through the windows. It is Sunday so the town is dead and the stores are closed.
Then we end up by on the Pier (Capt Hodges) were we meet new windjammers. Right now everyone is in a very good mood. It is the best of times. Some of us take a quick swim with new friends we have met, some of us hang out at the pier and check out the new arrivals or try to impress someone we happen to like, some continue to walk the town. The ship holds 126 passengers and they all board the ship at 5:00pm. Well almost all, there is a later flight arriving that night which usually brings in another 10-15- people.
At five pm we board the launches to the ship. As we arrive to the Polynesia you always here the aaahhs (if that is a word) since most people have only seen something like that on one of those real old Errol Flynn movies on the life channel or something like that.

We board the ship, are given free rum swizzles (rather strong) and then checked in. Checking in takes about a half an hour. After we go to our cabins and check them out, we all go up to the top deck to look around the harbor and also to see and talk to our fellow passengers. Already you can see some matching. We buy drinks (which I swear are real strong that first night), then dinner is called. We have a buffet dinner (which is excellent), get done eating. get another drink and go on the top deck. This is where the real mixing starts taking place. You look around, check out everyone now that most are aboard and the band (the ship always has a reggae band that night) is starting to set up for playing its music. You look around, say hello to just about everyone and steer towards the ones that interest you the most. There are all ages, sizes, shapes, personalities so you have lots of choices to match what you are looking for. You find that you make friends with the same sex first. That goes for males and females. Of course for the males the friendships with other males are quick and you break out of it (keep the friendships handy for the next day) bringing one or two other guys with you. That is when you start talking and saying hi again to the opposite sex. Ok, the ladies. You do small talk, find out if they are interesting and if they are if they might show some interest towards you. You keep that in mind and move on to the next group. Now sometimes you just flat out stay there because you hit if off right away with someone!! After visiting the other groups of people you find that the band is ready to play.

When the band starts, well you start asking ladies to dance. Strange as it seems no one starts dancing during the first song. Some brave soul has to get out there and start dancing so others will follow. I have done that at times because I learned that is the way it is. people are still somewhat shy <g> Finally by the middle of the song a whole bunch of people are dancing. By the second song even more a dancing. You can see the smiles and laughing on the peoples faces. The ones who are dancing and even the ones who are watching. The cool part is that you find not only the beautiful people are dancing but the shy types or not so beautiful are too. It must have been the drinks and the atmosphere you think. By this time everyone starts to realize that the songs are forty five minutes long!! And that is a lot of dancing. After the dancing you go for another drink, you offer to buy one for the person you danced with, if she says yes you buy her one. You do the small talk thing to find out more about her and then say goodbye for now and continue your visiting Most folks want to meet the other people too. You find your male friends you made earlier and say high. You get a drink and start walking the deck to say hi to others. If you see someone you would like to dance with you ask her. That first night is mostly meeting different people. You find that you meet all sorts of different people. It is fun, you find that you dance a lot (both male and females), joke, laugh and just plain have fun. You also see some of the "Heat and Seek" which are the ones (only a few mind you...about ten couples) which are already matched. I have had this happen to me before and it is a mixed thing. It depends on who you meet and of course visa versa.

You find that a few of you (about a fourth of the passengers) stay up very late (till 3am) and talk about anything that meets your fancy. About then you are laying on a mat on the top deck. There are either you and the opposite sex or a group of males and females. It is by all accounts a very good night for most everyone.

That first night is where most people lay the groundwork for the next few days of the cruise. The second day the ship sets sail. that is where everyone lays out on the deck for some sun. There are mats all over to lay on. You find that people who you met, danced with, talked to are the ones you lay down next to and start chatting. It is an all day sail. It is an excellent feeling sailing. Everyone notices how neat it is. Everyone is in an excellent mood. This is great. It is easy to communicate with people, tell jokes, kid around and just plain laugh. You start cementing friendships with females and males. for the ladies it is with fellow females and males. You look around and find that the females are in little groups talking to each other and to males who are also now in little groups. It is a day for cementing friendships.

That night the ship does some activities like Crab Races (little crabs having to cross a circle) and other little things. They know this is the night where people continue to cement their friendships. If the next day the ship arrives in St. Barts (for example) people are asking what to do on the island. There are always a few like me who have been to the island and have answered the question to others who in turn tell others (of course they make it sound like there idea) and next thing you know little groups are forming to tour the island and do things like beaching it, shopping (still a female thing I might add) and just traveling the island. That second night is when you really (both male and female) find the person you like. Males as friends (for us guys) and females for liking. If you are real lucky you will fall "In-Like" with someone for the rest of the cruise.
There is dancing (by CD's) down by the bar and people are dancing and drinking. The music echo's up to the top deck and you find some of us dancing and talking at the same time. It is hard to describe that second night. For some of us it is the best night, it is the final conclusion that started the first night. Strong "Likes" and friendships are made that night.
Most people stay up late into the night, doing the usual, laughing, smiling, dancing, drinking (but most of us not too much drinking since we do not want to act like drunken jerks), call it casual drinking. Talking, asking each other questions that new friends make. It is a great night

The third day is the day where everything comes together. It is a tuesday. We arrive on St. Barts. Our little groups get together and have our adventures on the island. Me I always walk around the town of Gustovia and show everyone what a beautiful town it is, then I rent a mokie (which is an oversized golf cart) and we go off to the beach. It is always Saline beach which is very french and the unofficial clothes optional beach on the island... Well Governors beach is too and I like that one also. Saline has not refreshment stands, no drinks or food. So smart ones (like me) brought a foldable cooler, stopped at the grocery store by the airport and bought, wine/soda, cheese, ice, meat type spread, bread (French of course) and some snacks. We go to the beach. Normally about four to six of us. Half male and half female. Best group. We have a blast. Most of my fellow passengers have never been to a French Beach and are amazed. The water is perfect, the sand is great, the views are out of sight. lately it seems the women will try topless without us even asking. Every female (almost) is topless. The cool part about it and a very important part is making sure that the guys you are with do not make a big deal about it and NEVER bring out your camera...bad mistake :)
After a few hours on the beach we travel the island and see some great scenic sights of coves and beaches. Amazing. Great time for camera's. We travel up driveways hoping that the person who owns the beautiful home is not on the island and we can check the outside and of course look at the great view from the cliff the house is on. There are many homes like this. These homes cost in the millions (a lot of them) or at least half a million. You wonder if it is a movie star who owns it. Women love to look at these homes and they enjoy it very much which makes a normal male happy. Of course i like them too <g>

Later we head back to the ship with French Wine. Everyone was asked to pick up a bottle of wine for a wine and cheese get together at 5pm. We all drink wine, everyone that we met says what a great day they had. After the wine it is shower time......Later that night there is a band playing for us at the L'Select in St. Barts.....

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