Windjammer Barefoot sailing- not a FOO-FOO ship

Disclaimer- I now sail on 'foo-foo' ships....

But I do miss those wonderful barefoot cruises. We first ran into this cruise line when we docked (in a big 'foo-foo' ship) next to a WJ tall ship and the Amazing Grace (the motorized ship that delivered food & supplies). As we were admiring the WJ sailing ship we were invited onboard to look her over by who we later learned was the original captain that started it all. (Don't get me started about his children that ruined his cruise line.)

After that, we had to book a couple of cruises on the Flying Cloud and Legacy. Our first cruise we learned to enjoy the luxuries of a shower without a water temperature control.....just hold that button in and take whatever temperature comes out. We lucked into a 'buy one get one' and so took back to back weeks out of Tortola. For the week-end 'stowaway' on board we had the pleasure of eating with the crew. That first cruise had only 43 passengers on board so we all became close. Loved when they brought out the rum punch and snacks every afternoon....which is when someone would think to moon any foo-foo ships in the area!

Instead of overhead announcements I remember a sweet girl 'Nisa' who ran through the ship with a little tinkling bell to announce breakfast in the mornings. And every day through the cruise there was always a seafood special with whatever the cook was able to catch on his line. Loved those cruises!

You can still sail windjammer style.....and even on one of the old WBC ships: Mandalay. We've been tall-ship sailing since 2000, and we are lovin' it. Not as raunchy as some of the old WBC sailings, but still a whole lot of fun, on beautiful ships sailing to gorgeous islands with a great crew---and CASUAL is the operative word, just like Capt. Burke's WBC ships.

Below is a link to what I wrote about the current tall ships. Note that Island Windjammers has its third ship now, Vela, which is undergoing a major refurb and will be sailing in late December, with 30 passengers. We've also sailed on Windstar and Star Clipper tall ships and enjoyed them....but windjammer sailing, well that can't be beat.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2107234

And WBC's Legacy? She wallowed in the waters in Costa Rica for 3 years, til she almost sank due to 200,000 gallons of water inside her. We saw here there just after she had been pulled to the docks, water being pumped out. But her beautiful wood interior had been destroyed. She was broken up for scrap about 2 years ago.....a very sad photo for anyone who ever sailed her can be found somewhere online: Legacy's figurehead laying atop the heap of cutup wood, etc, all that was left from that ship.

Thank you for this information! It sounds wonderful and now I have some fun things to research:D:D:D

My favorites are Arabella, and Island Windjammer's (IWJ's) Diamant.

I haven't sailed on Mandalay under new ownership yet.

FYI: IWJ was recently a winner of Cruise Critics "15 Best Small Ship Companies"

Island Windjammer's newest tall ship, Vela, has just completed her sail from the Panama shipyards to her new home port, St. Vincent.

The former Tole Mour, a teaching ship, will be ready for her first tall-ship lovin' passengers in late December. I'm already signed on, of course.

You can see IWJ's Island Girl #3 at islandwindjammers.com. Whoohoo!!:D

Correction: Vela is spending the next several months in St. Vincent to complete her refurb. Then she'll move to St. Lucia, which will be her home port, with cruising beginning in late Dec.