Aboard the Legacy

     I was on board the Legacy a few weeks after her inaugural cruise. The
Windjammer cruises are very casual, dinners are family style, and there is
absolutely no need for anything dressy, not even shoes. Passengers make their
own entertainment except for one night when a local band came on board. Thanks
Trinny for the dances.

        For those who are curious, the name ‘windjammer’ was originally meant as an
insult. Critics of the then new sailing ships said the ships would be too
clumsy to sail neatly into the wind and would have to be ‘jammed’ into it. But
the size, power and ruggedness of the ships proved critics wrong, and
windjammers became the king of cargo ships. Soon thousands of windjammers
carried goods across the seas to and from ports all over the world.     As steam-
driven ships came on line, the windjammers soon were replaced for hauling
cargo, and  started being used as personal yachts for the rich and famous
tycoon families after World War I. These are the ones that have found by
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises and restored for their fleet for passengers to be
able to sail on today.

     For those who savor local rums and the lore that goes with it, you might
be interested in the following. The popular drink in the Virgin Islands -- one
of the places the Legacy cruises -- is Pusser's Painkiller. "Pusser" was the
British sailor's way of pronouncing "purser", the man who dispensed such
essentials as pay and rum. Today's Pusser's Rum is the same formula that was
standard issue aboard British Navy ships, a mix of five rums blended and
bottled on the island of Tortola. The recipe for Painkiller: without ice,
blend, shake or stir one ounce of cream of coconut, one ounce of orange juice,
four ounces of pineaple juice and two ounces of Pusser's Rum. Pour over ice
and grate fresh nutmeg on top.
          -- Shirley Linde