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Reflections on Completing Our First Star Clipper Cruise

by David and Barbara Thompson

January 28, 2014

SPV Star Clipper

Back in June, 2013, we received an emailed solicitation from Boat US to take, for half the regular price, a one-week Star Clipper Cruise in the Caribbean. We had frequently thought about sailing the Caribbean, but in a small chartered boat that we would sail ourselves, so we read farther and decided to check out the Star Clipper cruise. It sounded appealing, so we signed up. We selected a seven-day cruise around the Leeward islands, departing Saturday evening, January 4, from Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, and returning there the morning of Saturday, January 11.

Itinerary for the 7-day cruise

The Star Clipper was conceived as a sailing passenger vessel by a successful Swedish businessman and investor Mikael Krafft, who grew up in Stockholm and, while growing up, developed a love for sailing. His dream was to build a line of cruising ships modeled after the fast clipper ships of the1850s, and was realized in 1992 when SPV Star Clipper rolled off the launching ramp. Two other clipper ships of this line followed: A sister ship, the Star Flyer, and a larger version, the Royal Clipper.

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Star Clipper is a steel-hulled 4-masted Barquentine 387 feet long and 58 feet wide, with 85 passenger cabins, four decks, a luxurious dining room, two bars, two small swimming pools, and a library. She sails with a crew of 70, including bartenders, restaurant waiters, and cabin stewards. On our cruise there were just 125 passengers, so over the week we got to meet and socialize with many of them.

4-masted Barquentines have square-rigged sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the other three masts. While the promotional materials specified that we could help sail the Star Clipper if we wanted to, in fact there was not much help needed on this modernized ship. When her sails are hoisted, the halyards are wrapped around electric winches, so it only takes one crew per halyard to pull the halyard tail from the winch and lay it into a coil on the deck. No need for a line of helpers to grunt and pull on the halyard here! The square sails on the foremast are on electric window shade like rollers, so the deck officer can just push buttons on a control bar to raise and lower these sails.

We traveled under sail power for most of the voyage, using the engines just for maneuvering in tight spaces in harbors, and for sailing directly upwind to reach our anchorages. We sailed from late afternoon or early evening, through the night, arriving near the target island after sunrise the next day, and usually taking a couple of hours to sail or motor to the cove or harbor and drop anchor. So many pleasant hours could be spent on deck in the morning imagining that we were piloting this vessel on our own private Caribbean cruise. When sails were hoisted, inspirational music was played, Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise - 1492, from the Ridley Scott 1992 movie of the same name. It was so grand and glorious!

Our cabin was small but comfortable--room for a double bed, with a small bathroom that included a shower with oodles of hot water, plus a shelf that could serve as a desk, nice closet space, and a TV that sometimes tuned in CNN International. There was also a VCR, but we didn't see any CDs to check out in the Library -- but who would, when there is so much to see and do on the cruise. Wireless Internet was available, for an extra fee ($18 for 4 hours on line), but those who used it said it was very slow and not reliable. But really, the point of taking a cruise is to get away from the Internet and other distractions, right?

views of our cabin -- looking aft and looking forward

On the next page are more pictures taken on board the vessel.

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The external wheel forward -- used mostly for show Looking forward from the aft deck

The "Tropical Bar" amidships, with Igor the bartender The Dining Room below

Staircase from dining room up to the Piano Bar The Library -- on the same deck as the Tropical Bar

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The Cruise

Day 1 - Saturday - en Route to Nevis

On January 4 we got on board at 4 PM, went to our cabin to unpack and stow our suitcase, had drinks and appetizers at the Tropical Bar, then mustered for a training session on lifeboat and fire procedures. After that we had the first of our elegant 7-course dinners, where we were seated by the Maitre d' with 6 other guests. At 10 PM some passengers, ourselves included, assembled on the upper deck for the departure. We pulled away from the Philipsburg Cruise Ship Dock shortly after 10 PM, but a stiff 25-knot wind was blowing us sideways back into the dock, so heavy use of the bow and stern thrusters was required, plus assistance from a tugboat as well. That took more than an hour. Barb and I sat on the upper deck just behind the mainmast to partake of the activities, with David wearing his spray top, tied-down hat, and sailing gloves, thinking he might get to help hoist sails. But, as noted above, he did not get to do that. Once we well clear of the dock, sails were hoisted -- just the jibs and staysails--and we headed south, with wind from the northeast, on a beam reach on a port tack. With that much wind we were heeled about 15 degrees to starboard. Soon we were in good size waves, and the ship was both rolling fore-and-aft, and rocking sideways, so we needed to hang on to something to keep our balance, and we found it very difficult to walk on the tilted deck.

After half an hour or so of sailing we decided to retire for the evening, and clumsily made our way over the tilted, rolling deck to the staircase, and then down to our cabin, holding onto handrails for dear life on both sides of the stairs and passageways. Once there we started to undress to get ready for bed. While we were up on deck, the rolling and pitching of the boat didn't bother us, but once in the cabin, it did, and we both suddenly started feeling nauseous. That, plus the tilt of the boat requiring me to grab on to the edge of the mattress to keep us from sliding to the low side made for an uncomfortable few hours in bed. Finally, about 3 AM, the ship turned more downwind and the rolling subsided and we got to sleep. But on awaking, we still felt nauseous and deprived of sleep. At that point we weren't sure that taking this cruise was such a good idea (although this night turned out to be the only one with the tilt, pitching, and rolling -- for the remainder of the cruise we had excellent sleeping conditions).

Day 2 - Sunday - Nevis

Star Clippers helps passengers book a variety of paid island excursions for each island -- but they need to be booked at least a day in advance, and some excursions fill early and others get canceled for lack of sign-up. These excursions are provided by local purveyors not affiliated with Star Clippers, but are booked for the guest by them, with payment charged to the guest's ship account.

Via the Internet, prior to our departing for St. Maarten, Barb did extensive research on each of the 6 islands, and decided that we could go ashore and do self-guided tours of the towns and attractions, for every island except Antigua (where there was no town to visit near the harbor where we anchored). So we did not sign up for any excursions except one on Antigua.

For Nevis, there are some interesting venues to visit in the port city of Charlestown, but on Sunday, they are all closed. These included the museum of the birthplace and boyhood home of Alexander Hamilton.

And, because we still hadn't recovered our sea legs from the night before, we elected not to go ashore at all, and just stay on board, get some sun on deck, and catch up on our sleep. We ate a light breakfast and a light lunch in the elegant dining room, and by early afternoon we were feeling better.

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We departed at 5 PM for the next leg, en route to Dominica, and soon we were racing along in the wind and again rolling in the waves. Consequently, at dinner, we opted for a light meal, and selected just soup, sorbet, and dessert. We were sitting this time in a 6-person booth with a nice couple from Tucson and a very nice couple from Tampa. Suddenly, at about the time the main course was being served, the ship was hit with a gust of wind that caused her to tilt ever farther to starboard, and all the dishes on all the tables slid to the low ends, and some tables slid to leeward as well, and a couple of guests on the uphill side fell off their chairs. Very dramatic! Immediately the captain who had been eating dinner with us in the dining room leaped to his feet and ran up the stairs along with his second in command, and shortly after they must have reduced sail, since the ship then seemed to slow down and tilt less. Miraculously, during the big tilt, Barb's still full glass of red wine remained upright, so all that got spilled in our booth were several glasses of water.

After dinner we retired early, looking forward to our arrival in Dominica.

Day 3 - Monday - Dominica

We have mentioned above the available guided excursions, and for the town of Cabrits in Dominica, we decided to just do a self - guided walking tour. We should also mention that, in addition to self-guided tours of the islands, there are also opportunities for ship-provided water sports, including windsurfing, Laser sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, and swimming, all free, at a local beach. And for guests who don't care to leave the ship, there are fitness activities plus story time and history lesson gatherings, and of course, use of the library, and the bar, and swimming and sunbathing on the upper deck.

Dominica was the only island we visited where the ship tied up at a dock, near the town of Cabrits, making it easy for passengers to come and go while we were in port.

These Caribbean islands have been governed by different nations over the past 500 years -- primarily Spain, France, and England. And the governing of many islands changed hands several times during this period, although generally stabilizing in the late 1800s. But Dominica, named by Columbus during his second voyage, was inhabited by Carib Indians who fiercely defended their island from European habitation, and Spain was never much interested in the island, so starting in the 1700s the island was governed first by France, then England, then France, then England, etc, and continuing into the 19th century. Dominica became an English Crown Colony in 1898, and became an independent nation in 1978.

During one of the English occupations, a magnificent fort (Fort Shirley) was built high up on a hill overlooking Roseau's harbor, which gave the defenders a strategic advantage when confronting invaders coming by sea. It has been restored with historical accuracy and is beautifully maintained, so naturally it was where we wanted to go first on our self-guided walking tour. Here are some pictures:

Cannon overlooking the bay Officers Quarters Commemorative plaque

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Afterward we walked to the town of Cabrits. There was not much there. We did see some wild goats making themselves at home in the ruins of a hotel construction site. BTW, Cabrits is derived from the Spanish word for goats, cabras.

At 5:30 PM we pulled away from the dock and set sail for our next stop, in the Iles des Saintes, which is just 20 miles or so from Cabrits. We cruised slowly through the night to get there. That evening we watched a Frog Jumping Contest on the deck outside the tropical bar.

Frog Jumping Contest Barbara holding a frog

Day 4 - Tuesday - Iles des Saintes

When we awoke on Tuesday morning we learned that there was a Star Clippers publicity photo shoot scheduled for 8 AM, so we ran up on deck with our camera at the ready. A drone with a camera was flying overhead as the Star Clipper and the Royal Clipper maneuvered in close quarters with all sails up in a quiet breeze in the waters near the island. We got several pictures of the Royal Clipper and we imagine that guests on that vessel got several pictures of the Star Clipper. And someday we'll get to see, in a brochure or on the website, pictures of the two ships sailing and the island in the background - and maybe we'll be in them! Here are two of our pictures:

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Royal Clipper - starboard side and port side

Royal Clipper is one of only two five-masted, full-rigged sailing ships in existence. She carries more passengers and a larger crew than does the Star Clipper. Both ships cruise the Caribbean and also the Mediterranean.

Iles des Saintes is actually seven islands, and the two inhabited ones are the adjacent islands Terre de Haut and Terre de Bas. The principal village, on Terre de Haut, is named Bourg.

On the morning of April 12, 1782, in light winds between Dominica and the Iles des Saintes, 35 English warships engaged 36 French ships in the largest sea battle ever fought in the western Hemisphere. In this battle, the English carried the day, putting an end to French expansionism in both the Caribbean and the Americas. In this battle the tactics, pioneered by Admiral Rodney, were subsequently used by Lord Nelson in his victory at Trafalger 23 years later.

Although the French lost the sea battle, they got to keep the Iles des Saintes and neighboring Guadelope, which are today in the French Departement d'Outre Mer, and their inhabitants are French citizens. And the island is decidedly French in character and feeling. After the Star Clipper anchored in the harbor at 10 AM, we took a tender ashore to the village of Bourg and started our own self-guided walking tour.

High on a hill overlooking the harbor is the beautifully restored Fort Napoleon, and although it was a hard climb to the top of the hill, we made it to the fort in time to enter before the gates closed at Noon, and we spent a delightful hour walking around the fort and visiting the museum and gardens contained within its walls. Here are some pictures.

at the entrance to the fort the museum looking into a garden

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views from the rim of the fort

It was a warm day, and therefore a sweaty hike up to the fort, although not so bad walking back down. But by the time we got to the bottom of the hill we were quite thirsty. So we stopped at a cafe for soft drinks, and then we walked around the town, and then David had lunch while Barb went shopping.

Enjoying a cold drink at the Internet Cafe Street scene, Bourg

Dress Shop City Hall

After our walk and lunch we headed back to the ship, had our daily Mojitos and appetizers at the Tropical Bar, ate dinner, and then attended the fashion show on deck, where crew members modeled the merchandise available for sale in the ships store. In the meantime, the ship had hoisted anchor and set sail for our next Island, Guadeloupe.

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Day 5 - Wednesday - Guadeloupe

If you look at the map on page 1 you'll see that it's a very short distance between Dominica, Iles de Saintes, and Guadeloupe, and even though we generally left the departure anchorage by 5 PM, and didn't arrive at the next island until 10 the next morning, our sailing through the night must have been just drifting in the general direction of the next anchorage. That certainly was the case last night.

So we arrived at the harbor for the town of Deshales, Guadeloupe and anchored a little after 9 AM. Guadeloupe, as previously mentioned, is, and has, been an island in the French Departement d'Outre Mer, and Deshales, like Bourg, is very French in appearance and character.

The ship's tender -- actually one of the four 52-passenger all-metal lifeboats with powerful diesel engines and shade canopies -- dropped us off at the Deshales town pier around 10 AM. We walked around the town, and knowing that a star attraction here is the botanical garden, and only 1.4 KM from the park at the town pier, decided to hike up there to check it out. We figured that 1.4 KM -- about 1 mile -- would be an easy 15-minute walk. But we forgot to take into account that it was up a steep, winding road, and that today was another warm, humid day. So it took us an hour and a quarter, including frequent stops in shaded spots to catch our breath and drink some water. Once we got there we discovered that the admission charge was 30 Euros, way more than we wanted to pay to see some trees and shrubs.

So we sat by the pool just inside the admission gate and cooled our heels for half an hour as a passing cloud dropped some heavy rain showers all around us.

When we decided to head back to town, as we were walking through the parking lot, a complimentary Botanical Gardens shuttle passed us, stopped, and asked if we wanted a ride to town. Of course we accepted, and five minutes later we were back at the park by the town pier. Had we known about the free shuttle, we could have taken it up the hill and saved the exertion.

passageway from street to a restaurant on the harbor Catholic church

Starting up the road to the Garden an hour and a quarter later the pond where we cooled our heels

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After that adventure, we bought some homemade coconut candy from a street vendor and then walked around the town some more. The last tender back to the ship left at 2:45 PM, and we were on it.

The crew hauled anchor at 3 PM, and the next two hours were spent providing guests the opportunity to go out on a photography boat and take pictures of the ship. So sails were hoisted in the lee of the island and we cruised for a while as a couple of the inflatable sport boats, with photographers on board, circled around so they could take pictures. We already had pictures of a Star Clippers ship, so we decided to just enjoy the sunshine on deck and watch the photography boats ply the waters.

Taking pictures

After the photography session, some of the sails were lowered and we headed out for our next island, Antigua. This was going to be a longer haul than either of the previous two.

That evening, before dinner, we attended a maritime history presentation on the subject of the origin and demise of the clipper ships, 1821 - 1869, and then went to dinner. This evening was the Captain's dinner and the ships officers were all dressed in their formal evening uniforms; the main course was lobster tails; and after dinner the Captain welcomed us, gave a speech, and led us in a round of champagne toasts. One of them was: "to our wives and girlfriends -- and may they never meet!"

After dinner we gathered near the Tropical Bar for the weekly talent show -- where crew -- and some guests -- displayed their talents, including singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, and a magic show. Very entertaining!

Day 6 - Thursday - Antigua

When we awoke and climbed on deck around 7:30 AM we saw that we were approaching Falmouth Harbour on the island of Antigua. This Island has been British since the 1667 Treaty of Breda, and was for a long time a primary supplier of sugar, grown on sugar plantations, processed in over 150 sugar mills, and exported around the world. Sugar was the islands primary industry until about 30 years ago, when it was replace by tourism. The island gained independence from England in 1981.

Falmouth Harbour has an extremely narrow channel connecting it to the Caribbean, and navigating through it, in the waves, wind, and tidal currents was challenging, and took almost two hours. We dropped anchor just inside the channel, exposed to both winds and waves, making it very difficult to load guests onto the tenders for the trips ashore -- in fact, the first departures were delayed until after the ship could re-anchor in slightly calmer waters.

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Barb and I had elected to do a shore excursion here on Antigua since there is not much of a town adjacent to the harbor. The plan for the day was arrive at the town dock around 11, walk around the town and then over to the nearby beach where the ship's crew was preparing a beach barbeque lunch to be served at 12:30. And we did just that, confirming that there is, in fact, not much to see and do in the town. We arrived at the beach a little after noon, and the walk, which had been described to us as about a mile up a steep hill and then back down, turned out to be much easier than yesterday's climb to the botanical garden. When we arrived at the beach we wanted to change into our swim suits that we planned to wear on the excursion, but the rest rooms at the park adjacent to the beach were closed, so we hiked into a secluded spot in the nearby woods and changed there. The beach barbeque was scrumptious, with plenty of food, and we ate our fill. Here are some pictures:

Offloading guests arriving from the ship Beach barbeque buffet

After lunch the twenty four who had signed up for the afternoon excursion hopped on a 24-passenger micro-bus to start our adventure. This excursion was billed as an Eco-tour, focusing on the costal ecology of Antigua. So we started with a wild 30-minute bus ride to the opposite end of the island on narrow and sometimes eroded roads, driving on the left side of the road (English, remember) to a small resort where we hopped onto two 12-passenger Carolina Skiffs with powerful outboard motors. These took us a short distance to a mangrove pond where we offloaded into twelve two-person kayaks, accompanied by a kayaking guide and an escorting motorboat.

And for the next hour we kayaked around and through the mangrove pond, learning and seeing how the mangroves protect the land in the tidal estuary. This was somewhat educational, but it was also absolutely delightful paddling our kayaks in the sunny, breezy, but protected water in the pond. Barb was in the forward seat in the kayak, and I was in the rear, and the trick was for me to synchronize my paddle strokes with Barb's so that we would go straight, except when we needed to turn. And we pretty much mastered that.

After that, the next part of the tour was a visit to Bird Island where we had an opportunity to climb to the top of the hill and look over the bays and see how trees had protected the land, and then to go snorkeling to see how the marine life survived in the shelter of the island. But to get to Bird Island we had to get back on the Carolina Skiffs and then bounce, for half an hour, over the ocean waves at the opening of the bay turning sharply left and then right to stay in deep enough water, and hanging on for dear life as we went (fortunately we all did have life jackets on).

We arrived at Bird Island and did our hike. Barb and I elected to stay on the beach and skip the snorkeling, but we did swim in the refreshing tropical water while the snorkelers were snorkeling.

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Overlooking the bay where we would tour arriving at Bird Island

Souvenir shop on Bird island

After our hour on Bird Island we headed back to the resort in another exciting ride over the waves, and another intimidating bus ride back to the town pier where we picked up, at 5:30 PM, the last tender back to the ship. And at 6 PM we set sail for our final island of the cruise, St. Barthelemey. After dinner we picked up the Hells Gate Steel Band who entertained us on deck for a couple of hours before we headed for bed.

Day 7 - Friday - St. Barthelemy (aka St. Barts)

Columbus discovered St. Barts in 1493, naming it after his younger brother Bartolomeo. It is a French island, part of the Guadeloupe territory, and has long been a hideaway for the European rich and famous -- a little bit of Paris in the Caribbean. But there is also a little Swedish in the islands heritage. Louis XVI ceded the island to Sweden in 1785, in exchange for free port rights in Gothenberg, but France got it back in 1878 after King Oscar II, unhappy with the costs of ownership coupled with the lack of agricultural productivity, retroceded it for a modest sum of 320,000 francs. The Swedish heritage is still reflected however, through the name of the capital city, Gustavia, and the names of many of its streets.

The Star Clipper anchored in the harbor at 10 AM, and Barb and I took the 11 AM tender to Gustavia. We walked around town, following a detailed walking tour in a brochure we picked up at the visitor's center. Gustavia is definitely upscale, especially in contrast to some of less prosperous towns in some of the islands we have seen this week. We took shelter at the bar of a popular restaurant while a brief rain shower kept us off the street, and enjoyed one of our daily Mojitos there. This was definitely a fun place

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to walk around. We were amazed -- but probably shouldn't have been -- by the sizes of the elegant yachts docked and anchored in the harbor. Here are some pictures:

St Barts harbor Yachts at the dock

Old anchor, dredged up by a container ship The Wall House

Episcopal church c 1878 church interior

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Catholic church -- memorial to lost sailors St Joseph statue

We headed back to the ship at 3 PM, took a nap, went to the bar for our Mojitos, only to learn that the mint had all been used up. So we settled for rum punches instead. Then we ate our final dinner on board the ship -- bountiful as always. After dinner we saw a short movie up on deck - Around Cape Horn, the story of a clipper ship trip around Cape Horn back at the beginning of the 20th Century. Sailing a clipper ship was much more rugged back then -- it took them 3 weeks just to get out of the North Sea, sailing in freezing rain and gales, and then days to get around Cape Horn in the strong westerly winds with blowing snow. After the movie we packed our suitcase for disembarkation tomorrow.

Day 8 - Saturday - St. Maarten - Again

It's only about 20 miles from St. Barts to St. Maarten, so again, after the anchor came up at 10 PM last night, we cruised very slowly towards St. Maarten, arriving there at the cruise ship dock at 7 AM Saturday. Fortunately we didn't need to get off the ship until 10 AM, so we slept in and enjoyed our last ship board breakfast before disembarking.

We have not yet described how fantastic the food has been on this cruise. A continental breakfast of pastry, fruit, juice and coffee is set out at 6 AM for the early risers, and from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM there is a full buffet breakfast with ample quantities of hot food -- pancakes, French toast, waffles, sausage, Canadian bacon; regular bacon, potatoes, scrambled eggs, several kinds of fresh fruit, juices, pickled herring, and pastries, with omelets made to order, and all fresh and hot.

We ate lunch on board the ship only once, and we ate lightly that day, so we can't describe the lunch offerings. We know that lunch buffets offered several choices of main plates, with soup, salad, and desserts available.

Dinners were sit-down affairs, with seven courses -- appetizer; soup; sorbet; main plate; salad; cheese; and dessert -- and 3 menu choices per course. You didn't need to take all seven courses, and we never did, but we could have. A waiter visits the table once all guests are seated, and after bringing beverages, takes our order for the first 4 courses. After the main course is completed and the plates removed, the waiter returns to take our order for the last 3 courses. You can order wine by the glass (which we did) and by the bottle, with the House varieties priced at 3.50 Euros per glass and 16 Euros per bottle. And if you don't drink an entire bottle at one meal, the waiter will re-cork it and put it into storage to be brought back for your next dinner. More expensive wines are available, topping out at 70

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Euros per bottle. At the end of the dinner, you just sign a ticket, and the amount is added to your ship account.

We could get accustomed to that!

So at 10 AM we disembarked, signing a credit card slip for the accrued amount on our ship account, which was just our bar bill and the fee for the one shore excursion we took on Antigua. We also added in a gratuity for the waitstaff and cabin stewards-- recommended at 8 Euros per day per guest, which is what we gave.

Many guests had departed the ship earlier, in order to get to the airport in time to catch a flight home. However, when we booked our air travel in November, we elected to fly home on Monday, to get a cheaper airfare. So we were in no rush to leave the ship. At the time we made our air reservations, we also booked a room for two nights - Saturday and Sunday - at the Holland House Beach Hotel right on the beach in Philipsburg. And now, after leaving the ship, we collected our luggage and grabbed a taxi to the hotel. We could have walked there from the cruise ship dock, but not wanting to be dragging a heavy suitcase and two carry-on bags made us decide to take the cab -- and the $4 cab fare made it an easy decision.

So we said good-by to the ship and checked into the Holland House, ready to enjoy two and a half more days of Caribbean sun. What a fun cruise!

Holland House Beach Hotel

We'll be back!

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Star Clipper Sail Plan