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The Sailing Ship Caledonia If you like the idea of old tall ships and casual cruising the sailing ship Caledonia could be the ship for you. She sails on the east coast of Canada in the summer and in the Caribbean in the winter. We sailed on her for six days from Antigua to St. Maarten with stops in Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts and St Barts.
Many weddings are held at the gazebo overlooking the beach, and part of the wedding package is a table for two served at night by candlelight on the beach. Very romantic. We also spent time kayaking through a mangrove trail with nearby South Coast Horizon Eco-Tours.
Another good place to stay or have lunch is the famous Admiral’s Inn at English Harbour -- they really know how to fry a flying fish and are within walking distance of where you board Caledonia down the road at Falmouth Harbour. Manager/part owner Ethelyn Phillips who has worked with Admiral’s Inn for 30 years showed us around the buildings built from ballast stone and bricks that were part of dockyards, offices and quarters. The 14-room Inn, with its marine art and room windows looking out on the boat-filled harbour, makes you feel a part of the history, as does the museum and other old buildings built in the 1700s that were part of this dockyard for the refit and repair of British Naval vessels. The harbour had a narrow entrance, making it a haven from hurricanes and easily defendable. In fact during attack, a strong chain and timber boom could be drawn across the narrow entrance to stop enemy ships. Admiral Horatio Nelson was here in the 1700s. Now, Eric Clapton has a home nearby and hangs out here as well as yachters from around the world. On Sunday afternoon we boarded the Caledonia. The ship, with the name Akurey, was built in 1947 for the Icelandic fishing fleet, later used in Norway and the Great Lakes as a research vessel under the name of Petrel, then Cape Harrison. In 2002 Doug Prothero, CEO of Canadian Sailing Expeditions, saw her in St. Johns and rebuilt her into the 245 ft. sailing barquentine she is today. (A barquentine has three or more masts and the front mast has square sails.) Wiring, piping, air conditioning were installed as well as watertight doors to meet latest SOLAS requirements.
Our cabin had a lower double bed and an upper twin and a private bathroom. The shower was hand-held, connected to the sink. There were 10 cabins like this. Other cabins included four suites with a queen bed, 11 cabins with two single beds, and four cabins with two single beds and shared washroom facilities. There were also two quad cabins with four single beds.   The food is excellent. Chef Jason recently retired from working at an upscale restaurant for a less stressful experience and kept passengers happy with three meals per day onboard as well as happy hour appetizers on deck, fish cakes being an outstanding favorite. There is a library aft. The dining salon has seating for 76. Passengers can use the ship’s one and two-man kayaks. On our voyage, the ship anchored out at port stops, and two zodiacs ferried passengers into port. There are stairs between decks, but no elevator. Entertainment consisted only of lectures by local authorities at breakfast before the day’s island visits and one evening of steel drum music. The last evening Jordan, a new crewmember, brought his guitar on deck and sang his original compositions.
The bridge is totally open and Captain Kim Smith and First Mate Kathryn Whittaker welcomed passengers wanting to know more about piloting and sailing.
Our first day was at the island of Montserrat devastated by the volcano eruption that began in 1995 that made half of the island uninhabitable. A van tour took us to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) from where we could see the former town of Plymouth and the airport now buried in ash and volcanic debris, the abandoned studio where Sting, Clapton, Paul McCartney and Elton John once recorded, and the many homes abandoned in the still-restricted exclusion area.
Scientists at the observatory constantly monitor the volcano emissions and warning earthquake activity. The alert level was at 3 when we were there, smoke visible arising from the cone. We toured one area where we could walk on the mud-packed desolate landscape where lava, rocks, and mudflow had denuded the trees and covered houses to their roofs.
It was an eerie quiet barren landscape punctuated by leafless tree trunks and rooftops poking up through the river of mud. Our guide said when a child she used to boil eggs in the steam vents of the volcano; as an adult she saw the volcano eruption come barreling down the mountain at 200 m.p.h. wiping out her two shops. But Montserratians keep smiling. Much of the island is blooming with flowers and the island’s reefs are undisturbed. There is a new airport; and a new port town, called New City, is being built; a cultural center with a700-seat auditorium already finished, and offices and shops soon to be finished. On Tuesday we anchored off the island of Nevis. Passengers could see the island on their own or take a guided hike in the rainforest to see vervet monkeys, locally called green monkeys, or go horseback riding. Admiral Nelson married a Nevision woman named Fanny Nisbet here in 1787. Alexander Hamilton was born here in 1757and later became the first U.S. Secretary of Treasury. Nevis was well-known as the first stop for ships arriving with slaves, and the slave center was next to Alexander Hamilton’s boyhood home, where a museum stands now, and what he witnessed there is thought to be a major influence on his opposition to slavery, a man ahead of his time in trying to end it. There is a strong emphasis on education in Nevis and the literacy rate is 98%.People are hard-working – throughout the island sugar plantations have been converted to hotels and restaurants, and many islanders keep bees and produce honey. Highlight for us was to be present at a testing of site #3 of Nevis’ geothermal project. The site was in the foothills of the island’s central volcanic mountain. A 20” drill had been used to drill down almost 3,000 ft. to tap into 260 degrees Centigrade at 700 psi pressure. The engineers told us to park our car facing downhill for a quick getaway if things started to go wrong and they gave us earplugs to lessen the jet-engine noise of the steam as it was released under the huge pressure.
With geothermal, the deeper you drill the hotter the source is. There will be a power plant here that is expected to produce some electricity within a year. Kerry McDonald, CEO of West Indies Power and director of the project, told us that in 2010 the geothermal project is expected to supply all electric power to the families and businesses on the island, making the island totally energy independent. When the project is completed, he said, Nevis will be able to generate hundreds of megawatts of power, enough to supply much of this part of the Caribbean with power going by underwater cable to such nearby neighbors as St. Kitts, Anguilla, St. Maarten, and the Virgin Islands. A great positive impact is expected with an increase in job opportunities and a clean environment for residents and visitors. Already a school is being set up to train needed workers. Spokesperson Alastair Yearwood told us that he is planning a development of 16 town houses all using the geothermal power and hopefully using electric cars. As the steam and water roared out of the release pipe we felt like we were standing on a mountain where history was being made. The next day we visited St. Kitts, another island with an extinct volcano and lush tropical vegetation. Passengers could go on an island tour by jeep and visit a beach for a swim, or they could go o The next day was St. Barts. Most passengers went swimming or snorkeling. Some went into town and there found goods and services incredibly expensive. A simple shampoo and blow dry $50, a bottle of water $5. The only bargain was a shuttle to a fishing village and back. This was the day that any brave passengers who chose to could climb the rigging. Four men and one woman went up, Gary went all the way to the top.
As we went from island to island we frequently were anchored at the same ports near the Royal Clipper, the largest sailing ship in the world, a sight to see as she sailed away with all five masts fully square rigged.
Sea Dream Yachts were anchored near us at several islands, and a thrill for everyone was the Maltese Falcon, a $700 million privately owned sailing yacht with square sails fully controlled by computers, underwater lights at night giving a mystic glow, and sleek lines that honored the raked hulls of the past with the space-ship looks of the future. What an interesting comparison we made with our 1947 old ship.
By Shirley Linde, www.SmallShipCruises.com www.canadiansailingexpeditions.com
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n a rainforest hike or go horseback riding.
