Bridgetown, Barbados

Day 63, 9 March

This began as a fine day with sunny sky, light sea and recognizable heat. No bugs. We tied up to the pier at 0715, port side to the island which gave us a great view of.......warehouses and containers. An additional treat for the view is of the top of the stadium and several oil tanks.

Our plans for a day of sailing on a catamaran were changed as the side trip was cancelled. We didn't really care for the other offerings, having done a few of them before, including touring the island by car, so that left the option of walking downtown. About 9am we jumped ship and walked down the pier to the cruise terminal. That was interrupted by the arrival at the pier of the 5 masted square rigged ship Royal Clipper, which required my attention for her docking in front of us. In addition, another ship is in port, the 4 masted stays'l rigged Windspirit. Both ships are smaller than the Prinsendam. Our Captain Roberts was once Master of the Windspirit and during the day he went back aboard her for a visit.

That interruption having been dealt with we proceeded into the fine cruise terminal which is lined with gift shops, duty-free liquor stores and duty free jewelery stores. Typical of the islands we are cruising into, as I wrote yesterday. Not a Bajun chicken sandwich or rum punch to be found, though. Our crew and many passengers were excited to find free wi-fi in the terminal, the crew, especially, because they can contact their families with Skype and texting and video transfers. We poked around as the temperature rose then went back to the ship. I suppose we could have tracked down that chicken sandwich but the thought of traipsing several blocks down town or taking a cab somewhere on the island didn't rate high on the list of desirables for the day. As it turned out, many others did the same as we had and just made a leisurely day of it.

Windspirit

Position at noon: 13° 06.13'N and 059° 37.12'W at the pier. Distance this voyage 16,473 nm. Days run 300 nm. Sunrise 0609, sunset 0608. Water temp 28C 82F. Air temp 25C, 77F. Humidity 75%. It felt much hotter than that and must have been in the 80's.

Royal Clipper

At 1725 we backed out of the basin, turned and headed to sea, still in the Atlantic. A beautiful evening with very gentle motion and bright stars (not the medical alert). The Indonesian crew gave us a crew show at 2300 featuring song, music and dance from their homeland. They were very proud and had a fun time doing the performance. It is as much a spirit lifting experience for them as it was for us.