Wind Star Lisbon to Barbados, 11/9-29

[rafinmd]

The swells that arrived Tuesday evening took on a life of their own. I cut my Wednesday morning walk back a bit to 12 laps of staggering, and continued with about another 4 in the group walk, a total of about 2 miles. The moon continues to get thinner but still shine brightly in the early morning sky. Clouds at the horizon are continuing to mask the sunrise but some beauty still shows through.

 

It wasn’t exactly program but the crew held their weekly drill Wednesday morning. We had a simulated fire with lines stretched and a “victim” fully packaged on a backboard ready for evacuation. The scenario included moving one of the muster areas to the pool deck to escape “smoke”, and ended with a simulated “abandon ship”, with Captain Ivanov soon coming on the PA to remind us that any future alarms should be considered the real thing.

 

After the drill rules were announced for a boat building competition that will end with judging in about a week. Daily trivia was still a challenge for me and my team.

 

The daily report from the bridge is compiled at noon and announced at 1. On Wednesday we are starting to get some favorable effects from the trade winds and with the sails we are making about 11 knots (Top cruising speed without the sails is about 10). We need to average 8 knots to make Barbados on time. We learned we would cross the Tropic of Cancer overnight. I found today’s weather a bit too windy for lunch in the Veranda’s outdoor tables.

 

While “My Fair Lady” was playing in the lounge, the same 4 of us met with Richard Campbell in the Veranda for the second installment of “Writing Your Legacy”. Among the exercises we did was creating a 6-word memoir. Mine was “Math, Cycling, Outdoor, Fire, Changing, Travel”.

 

At the evening update Gonzolo thought there was a good chance that the swells would ease off soon. As of Thursday evening the change is minimal.

 

Cloud9 presented “The Great American Songbook” after dinner. My spirit was up for it but the body didn’t cooperate.

 

Thursday was much the same with a very slight reductions. I again walked 12 laps first thing in the morning but did the full 9 laps in the group walk, about 2 ½ miles total. Despite crossing into the tropics the weather was also pretty much the same, a very little bit warmer. People are enjoying the lounges on the sun deck but there’s not much real sunbathing yet.

 

Waiter Miko did a morning demonstration of Napkin Folding and after lunch the Sports Directors and Doctor did a session on CPR and use of the defibrillator. While “My Fair Lady was playing in the lounge, the usual 4 showed up for “Writing Your Legacy” with one additional midway through the session.

 

Today’s parting shot was inspired by the “Writing Your Legacy” program. We talked today about passions and dreams, and I was reminded of one of my long-elusive dreams of doing a full world cruise. I’ve done several segments, but never the full 90-100 day cruise. In March I finally found one within my grasp and put in a booking, only to cancel it just a few months later when another exciting possibility (Northwest Passage around the top of North America) opened up. Our goals, dreams, and passions are very important, but we should never let them blind us to the opportunities that may come from new directions.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Some things change rapidly in the Atlantic and sometimes very slowly. The swells that have been following us have started to abate ever so slowly. As we move west sunrise gets about 20 minutes later each day and today it came after Flavia’s walk started. I walked 12 laps early, 10 more with the group, and another 6 around lunch, putting me up to about 3 ½ miles for the day. The weather is gradually getting warmer, with fewer towels being used as blankets for people on the lounges by the pool.

 

A morning activity was “human bingo” where we were given a sheet of questions about crew members where we would need to do some digging into their information. I picked up a sheet but never quite got around to filling it out. There were more people at trivia; I still didn’t do very well. While I like most of the things Gonzalo does, I find his habit of continually asking “how many of you think you have at least ‘x’ right?” very annoying. We’ll find out soon enough how well we did.

 

Tea on the Wind Star is normally some goodies laid out by the pool bar. Friday was “Dutch High Tea: in the lounge with a sumptuous buffet and waiters coming by with the tea. It was excellent but I still missed the live music from Cunard and Crystal teas. “Writing Your Legacy” held an abbreviated session adjourning in time for Tea.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/tea1.jpg

 

 

Before dinner Gonzolo held a panel discussion with 3 of the ships personnel, Executive Chef Daren (Phillippines, ex Canada), Spa manager Flavia (Brazil), and 2nd Engineer Ash (UK) discussing their backgrounds, life on the yacht, and what they do on their vacations. I decided on another dinner in Candles, this time with the chicken entree. We gained another hour overnight.

 

On Saturday morning the seas actually calmed a bit. What was recently a stumble now resembles a normal walk, although there is still an occasional lurch which keeps the walking interesting. On larger ships (even the Wind Surf) I routinely start each morning with a 5-mile walk on deck. It certainly hasn’t been routine on the Wind Star, but I finally completed 5 miles (40 laps) today in 4 separate sessions over the course of the morning. While a few ships have “jogging tracks” as short as the Wind Star, the guy lines for the masts and some very narrow passages as well as the sills by the pool deck make the walk a bit more challenging than the distance implies.

 

The warm temperatures have stayed with us, likely now permanently. I missed the morning fruit carving demonstration (I assume similar to the one on the cruise) but did get to the towel animal demonstration after lunch. My steward, Shaka, made an elephant.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/towels.jpg

 

At the noon report it is official that we are more than halfway to Barbados, with 1427 miles completed and 1191 to go. For the last day we have been running on one of our two engines, making about 8.6 knots. I asked about that and a vessel like the Wind Star basically has 2 speeds, one using 2 engines and the other using one. The engines pretty much run at full load, as running at reduced load is neither fuel efficient nor good for the engines.

 

Today’s movie “An Affair to Remember” was apparently quite popular as attendance was down a bit at “Writing your Legacy”. Dinner this evening was the on-deck barbecue, I think my first while under way. The food was superb but it was a bit dark. The planned deck party after the barbecue got moved into the lounge but was enjoyed anyway.

 

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/deckparty.jpg

 

As today’s parting shot I thought I was reasonably fluent geographically, but my IPAD threw me a curve. I forgot my alarm clock and have been using the IPAD’s alarm function. This of course requires keeping the unit’s time up to date. I prefer changing time zones by setting the hour directly, but that’s not the IPAD’s way. You need to find a city in the correct time zone and use that to set the time. That may not be too difficult most of the time but the North Atlantic poses a challenge. My GPS works the same way but it lists the cities in order of their deviation from GMT, so often I’ll set the GPS first and use the city that I find on the GPS to set the IPAD. For my current time zone the GPS simply says “GMT-2:00", no help for the IPAD. I finally found the answer setting the time on my video camera in the space between Greenland an Iceland was “Fernando de Noronha”, a tiny island off the coast of Brazil that appears to have a time zone all to itself. The IPAD is supposed to be intuitive and I guess I should have known that this stretch of isolated North Atlantic is on Fernando de Noronha time but I’m afraid I didn’t.

 

Roy

[Boston Traveler 24]

Roy,

 

I am enjoying your updates and the pictures you post on your blog. This is an interesting journey and enjoy reading your updates. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences!

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip to Barbados!

 

Karin

[Strenz]

Roy, great reporting and through you I remember my 2 TAs, how great they were, however a lot calmer, we have flat seas both times. Wonderful memories. Thanks so much for taking the time. Happy sailing. Susanne

[rafinmd]

Thank you Karin and Suzanne.

 

I surprised myself Sunday morning with another 5-mile walk, 15 laps right after 5AM, 15 more around sunrise, and another 10 with Flavia and the group. While the sun is still coyly announcing it’s presence the moon is now rising after sunrise and is no longer visible in the morning.

 

Windstar crossings are pretty well known for not having a lot of program and this is holding true. On Sunday the 2 trivia teams came out in a tie, we had the daily “Writing Your Legacy” session, and Gonzolo held a Q&A session with 4 crew members from areas that make up the majority of the crew, 3 stewards (dining, rooms, and general public areas), and one sailor (working pretty much behind the scenes on a crossing but running gangway or tender services on a cruise.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/crewq+a.jpg

 

On Monday I decided that with the restrictive walking space on the Wind Star 2 5-mile days was enough and cut back to 3 miles. At around 10:30 the bridge officer came on the PA and advised we had shut down our engines and were proceeding under sail. We were making about 5 knots and he said if we remained on sails we would reach land about December 2. We continued under sail through trivia (my team lost under protest) and restarted the engines about 1PM.

 

Lunch today was a barbecue around the pool deck, a little less formal than our dinner but still very nice (and seeing everything being prepared in daylight was a bonus). Tonight we leave behind Fernando de Noronha time and go to Greenland time, something I can relate to a bit more. I spent part of the time gained in the lounge with Cloud9, and did some work on Tuesday’s Legacy story.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/lunchbbq1.jpg

 

Today’s parting shot has a bit of a local flair. While Cunard provides nice worship services on Sundays at sea I haven’t had that amenity either in Lisbon or on the Wind Star. I’ve been playing tapes of the services from my own church (all for weeks where I was out of town). This week’s service marked a September farewell to one of our long time and distinguished members who provided years of excellent leadership to the congregation but is moving to a warmer climate. Connie A, I hope you are now enjoying your new home and thank you for your service.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Tuesday got off to an ominous start with a heavy rain at 5AM. I did my online line work early and when I went out about 6:30 there was a break in the rain long enough to walk just under 1 ½ miles before a drizzle resumed. I did walk another 9 laps at the 7:30 group walk for a total of 2-½ miles, but the rains came and went for most of the day and I never did any more walking. The clouds were quite heavy but somehow the rising sun actually came out better on camera than it did in person. Guest Services Attendant Reich gave a short lesson in Tagalog mid-morning. I have reaffirmed that I’m not good at languages but we did close with a tagalog song. Morning trivia was a stunning 35 questions and dragged on until well past noon.

 

The best weather of the day came around noon but I stayed in the Veranda to hear the daily navigation announcement. A wine tasting cut into the attendance at the Writing your Legacy program. It might have been cut further but for what I think is a Windstar weakness. One of the group members might have gone but his partner insisted that they take the unlimited alcohol package which did not include the tastings. In my opinion that should have been included.

 

The stormy weather left few people on the pool deck and it was a good day to stay inside. I completed a number of chapters of “Last Stand at Khe Sahn” and am now about 1/3 of the way through the book. I do much of my reading on airplanes and should be nearing the end of the book by the time I land at BWI. A benefit of the stormy weather was that it was accompanied by winds. The engines were shut down about 8:30 and stayed off until dinner time, most of the time under sail we were running 5-6 knots.

 

Dinner Tuesday was at Candles. It was moved into the Veranda due to the weather although one couple apparently strongly requested outdoor seating. The lamb chops were a lighter meal than most of Candles offerings but very nice.

 

The weather Wednesday morning was much improved. I walked 12 laps starting about 5:30, 12 more after a cup of coffee, 11 with Flavia’s group walk, and a final 5 about 9:30 for about 5 miles. Clouds obscured the sunrise but some nice colors did show through.

 

My morning was a bit busier than normal with Bingo (no fee, no cash prizes) at 10 and trivia at 11. I (or my team) had wins today in both activities. Gonzolo confirmed (and elaborated on) the change in itinerary I thought I had heard at Tuesday’s update. We will now dock in Barbados Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning. We will have a final cookout on the pool deck Friday evening. The engines were again shut down about 8:30 but today were restarted about noon. We used both generators in the afternoon as one generator would have us in Barbados roughly 4 hours later than planned.

 

In the afternoon I spent a short time in the hot tub and we discussed end of life in the Writing class. This evening’s meal was a “Gala”. We have all been issued invitations with one of the people on the ship (mine was First Officer Rui). We met for cocktails in the lounge at 5:30 and were each escorted to our tables for a 5-course meal. Having arrived by Cunard I took the “Gala” title pretty seriously with nice comments from the staff and other passengers. Chef Daren described the meal as “your world on a plate” with ingredients from around the world and introduced each course in turn. At each course a line of 7 waiters came out, circled a table, and placed all the dishes in front of each person at the table simultaneously. At the end of the meal, Gonzolo introduced the Galley, Service, and Bar Staffs, and the dinner adjourned

 

As today’s parting shot, wishes for a happy Thanksgiving to American readers, and I hope you Canadians have wonderful memories of your Thanksgiving.

 

Roy

[Strenz]

Happy Thanksgiving to you Roy. Thank you for your generous giving of with your writing, most enjoyable. I hope we might see you onbord at some point.

Happy Sailing. Susanne

[stcruise]

Happy Thanksgiving, Roy!!! Thanks for all the updates on the crossing and may the remainder of your trip be smooth sailing.

[rafinmd]

Thanks, Suzanne and Suzanne (and Tom)

 

The day got off to another rainy start. Coffee was already set up before 5:30 so I grabbed a cup and went back to my cabin to take care of internet activities, and the rain had stopped when I returned. My walk was 1 ½ miles around sunrise and another 1 ½ miles later, mostly in Flavia’s group walk. The rest of the morning was mostly reading and writing, with a poor showing in trivia.

 

As of noon we have completed 212 miles, mostly on one generator and have about 240 to go. With one generator we will just about make the Bridgetown pilot at 4PM Friday. At our final “Writing your Legacy” session we discussed end of life issues, waiter Yogi took photos of the group (with 1 recent addition), and we received certificates from Richard, adjourning in time for tea and a snack.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/writing.jpg

 

Despite the morning rain it was a warm, delightful afternoon on the pool deck, and the day ended in a beautiful sunset. Candles was set up for a final time but chef Daren had provided a special Thanksgiving dinner with either Turkey or Ham (my choice). We gained our final hour to get on Barbados time and we had the crew show for the crossing, ending with a song done by nearly the entire crew.

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/finale.jpg

 

Today’s parting shot is from an unexpected place. I really don’t follow basketball but a quip from retiring Jason Collins hit a nerve. “Basketball is a young man’s game. Father time is undefeated.” Something a retired basketball player and a retired actuary can agree on. Well said.

 

Roy

[kazu]

enjoying your posts immensely Roy.

 

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[Strenz]

Hi Roy, enjoyed your posts, lived vicariously through your posts, glad everyone arrived safely or I should say everyone will arrive safely, let us know where and how you will do your next posts. Stay well. Merci encore. Susanne

[Snow cat]

Hi Roy

 

I too have been enjoying your posts!

[dandee2]

Thanks Roy,

 

Glad to hear everything went smooth. Very nice of you for posting your story. Will be aboard Wind Star on Dec. 6th and already started to pack :)

 

Have good trip home.

 

dandee2

 

P.S.: Is Yogi the same person from our trip last year on Wind Surf?

Edited November 28, 2014 by dandee2

[rafinmd]

Thanks all. We docked about 3:45 at the "Sugar berth" (3 monster sugar loading hoppers along side, a berth often used by smaller ships). I'm in the terminal trying a long deferred windows update. It got to 88 percent downloaded pretty quickly but has stalled since. OK. Appears to have fully downloaded. Will certainly have a wrapup; not sure if it will be before of after I'm back home.

 

I think there's more than one Yogi, I'll try to find out if he was on the Surf last year.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Progress day by day (noon):

 

November 17: 220 miles (18 hours)

November 18: 247 miles

November 19: 249 miles

November 20: 260 miles

November 21: 255 miles

November 22: 216 miles (25 hours)

November 23: 206 miles

November 24: 195 miles (1 hr sail)

November 25: 189 miles (25 hours,2 hrs sail)

November 26: 166 miles (10 hours sail)

November 27: 213 miles

November 28: 212 miles (24 miles to go)

 

The morning was very nice and I was out early and walked my first 12 laps before sunrise, with a total of 24 for the day, with a bit of additional walking later on land. In the morning we had an opportunity for a Titanic moment with photographs on the bow sprit courtesy of the sports team. The final trivia was a 75-minute marathon, but of little avail for my team.

 

By 11 we were beginning to see a faint line of land on the horizon and it was immediately on our Starboard side when trivia ended. Our noon update indicated that our rondezvous with the pilot had been moved forward from 4PM to 3 PM, and about 2:45 we saw him approaching. We came in past Mein Schiff 1 and P&O Azura, making a pretty tight turn to pull up to the “Sugar berth”, a space typically used by smaller ships. The first lines went out about 3:35 and we were cleared to go ashore somewhat after 4.

 

I went ashore to use the free wifi. High on my list was checking in for my flight tomorrow, but the airline insisted on supplying my passport details, a bit problematic since the purser still has my passport. I did accomplish some important business including computer updates and walked past the British Warship Iron Duke on my way back from the terminal.

 

Before dinner Captain Ivanov gave his farewell remarks and we adjourned to a final banquet under the stars. I walked back to the terminal for more wifi and got a photo on the way back to the ship, where line dancing was under way up on the pool deck.

 

Today’s parting shot will be a brief summary. My first Windstar crossing was 5 years ago on the Surf. I like small ships but I think for me the Wind Star may be overdoing ‘small’ a bit for a transatlantic. Memory sometimes distorts things but my recollection was that the Surf was considerably more stable in the open ocean, not enough to be really bothersome but a definite difference in comfort. The Writing Your Legacy program was a really pleasant surprise and I’m a bit curious about it’s future. I think previous management has cultivated a niche market in crossings with little program and time will tell how well change will work out.

 

Roy

[Oahucruiser]

Enjoyed every moment of your voyage, Roy, and looking forward to your time on the Ryndam in a few weeks. Safe journey home. ~Patti

[Boston Traveler 24]

Roy,

 

Thank you for taking us along on your travels! Very interesting crossing ... Appreciate your pictures and blog!

 

Karin

[dancourt]

Roy

 

I have enjoyed all your blogs and photo's on your voyages starting in New York and found them very interesting.

 

Thank you for putting in your time to do the reviews & safe journey home.

 

Susan

[rafinmd]

Thanks, allI learned at my final breakfast that my Yogi is not the one on the Wind Surf. I believe that the Wind Surf Yogi is now Dining Room Manager.

 

When I woke at 5 a few people with early flights were already on their way to the airport. Mein Schiff 1 had left overnight but was replaced by the Royal Clipper and the Royal Princess. My final walk was a reasonably brief 10 laps with more to come in the airports. This is about my 4th visit to Barbados, originally disembarking here from the Wind Surf in 2009 and returning 3 times for port calls.

 

With a mid-afternoon flight I booked a Windstar tour and transfer. 6 of us left the yacht at 8:15 for a couple of stops in Barbados. We went first to Harrison Caves. Barbados is unique in the Caribbean as the only island that is not volcanic. The sedimentary rock that makes up the island has a lot of limestone and Harrison Caves is a result. It has been explored since the 17th century but has only been open in it’s current form since 2010. The tours are conducted via an electric tram through tunnels that were blasted out of the rock.

 

Our second stop was the Sunbury Plantation House. Active as a plantation house since 1693, the final plantation owners passed away in 1981 and the house was separated from the plantation and opened as a museum. In addition to tours the house has a dining area where we enjoyed a buffet lunch before heading for the airport.

 

I never find flying pleasant and this was no exception, not even in Business Class. My 3:40 flight to Miami was a half hour late leaving and somewhat late on arrival. I am registered for NEXUS/Global Entry but Miami was still a disappointment. There were clear signs for Global Entry but apparently a new system is being implemented and guards insisted that all US Citizens use new automatic kiosks. The problem was there was a long line for the kiosks, and they were blindly telling us to move into a space that was packed and not moving. We were told to move to the right but literally could not do so without stepping on somebody’s head. After a half hour we were sent to another line, and from that point getting to the Global Entry was possible. Half the terminals were vacant.

 

My flight to Baltimore was listed as on time and boarded on time, but as pushback time came there was a maintenance issue. We left late and arrived 35 minutes late. I had Airport Shuttle reservations home but the original arrival time was approaching the end of their day. After about 15 minutes at the luggage claim they called and said my van was waiting, although I’m sure it was after the end of their service hours. I boarded the van about 1AM and got home about 1:30.

 

I had hoped to post on the last day sooner but it’s been a hectic day. I was late to church due to a dead car battery and the afternoon was spent at the Baltimore Symphony (a substitution for the concert on my plan for last night. I finally got a chance to put some thoughts after dinner.

 

My parting shot is thus a bit belated. I learned on the tour that today (Sunday) is the anniversary of Barbados’ independence. Happy Birthday Barbados.

 

Roy

[Strenz]

Sailing is so much better than flying. We would rather sail any day for any amount of time. We have Global entry, in January I hope it is fixed in Miami, we will be going through Miami, we have whizzed through in JFk and Boston. What a disappointment. Thanks again, we so loved your logs. Stay well, happy sailing,hope to meet you sometime on a Windstar cruise. Susanne

[kazu]

Glad to hear you are back safely Roy. Sorry to hear about the flights and the lineups.

 

Thanks so much for taking us along. it was wonderful:D

[rafinmd]

Just FYI I've posted my writings from the "Writing Your Legacy" sessions at:

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/extras/qm2-to-wind-star/

 

The facilitator has indicated he is speaking with Windstar and is likely to be back on future crossings. If he is I highly recommend it.

 

Roy