(click any picture to get enlargement)
Ship
History:
Built in 1938, ARGUS
was one of the last of the great Portuguese Grand Banks fleet. This legendary
248-foot schooner was acquired by Windjammer in 1975 and christened Polynesia.
Polynesia was featured in the May, 1952 National Geographic and in the late maritime writer, Allen Villers’ book, “The Quest for the Schooner Argus.”
Berths: 112
Crew: 45
Length: 248 Ft
Beam: 36 Ft
Draft: 18 Ft
The S.V. Polynesia ...
...is based in St. George's.
What flag is this ???
We will now begin a tour of the
ship.
We will start at the mid-deck, where the bar and restaurant are.
Then we will move to top deck, where we spent most of our time.
After that we will go below deck to view the living quarters.
The gangway ... all aboard!
The daily story board...
... and the bar/social area.
Our Bartender ... I'd like that job!
A crew member is setting up the 'mess hall' for another meal.
The 'Captain's Table' made for choice seating & views.
The booths were comfortable and allowed people to mix.
There are a few launches and a lot of canisters with inflatable
life rafts... enough for 100 passengers & 40 crew.
The rigging is complex... whew!
The front is the most romantic.
We now go 'below-deck' to find two levels of 'economy' rooms. The more
expensive rooms were on the mid-deck.
Our room was located on the 3rd floor (one under mid-deck), which meant we got less exercise walking to the room to refill our drinks than the people below us... yeah!
The halls were rather spacious and had a book-share library.
Is this the room? Nope, this is star-gazing on top deck.
Our room had bunk beds,
an open closet area,
and a private bathroom!
We are now done with the tour of the ship... but we must now do some
introductions!
So, who takes care of the rooms, maintenance of the ship, cooks the food, and attends to the needs of all the passengers?
This a picture of the hard-working crew
(all were English speaking).
What is everyone looking at?
Could it be Spiderman?
Nope, it's one of the crew members fixing a lamp that had broken. Changing a light bulb on a ship is not an easy task!
Now let's cover the daily
routines:
Each day started with Bloody Mary's and sticky
buns (pastries) at 6:30am on top deck.
At 7:30 the crew was nice
enough to walk through the halls ringing the breakfast bell ...
... which made your
head hurt more than last night's rum.
Breakfast was served from 7:30 until 9:00.
At 9:00 the Captain would hold 'Story-time' and tell passengers wild stories that he made up the night before. He then explained today's location and itinerary.
He would then let the Activity-Mate and Dive-Mate explain what excursions were being offered that day.
After breakfast, if there weren't any scheduled activities, people would don their swim suits and hit the top deck .... for games....
... socializing...
... or discussing world politics, the value of the dollar, and whether the U.S. will decide to take over Venezuela (huh?).
After lunch there were usually excursions to
go on...
... or time for more socializing...
... or time to sleep off the 'rum swizzle' hangover.
About every other day we began to sail in the mid-afternoon... heading to another destination on the itinerary.
When we were safely away from shore, the crew would begin the 'sail-raising' process....
The co-captain explains the procedure to the passengers.
Passengers need to help?
Well, only if they want to!
Some passengers think they know more than the
crew!
As 'Amazing Grace' was played, the sails were raised.
Owww..
I think I broke a fingernail!
OK, that one is almost up... but there are a bunch more to go.
The crew opens up more sail bundles and unfurls them.
It is a bit messy looking,
but they were very careful.
After enough sails were up, it was time to sit back and relax... and to let your imagination drift back hundreds of years ago...
... or you could just take a nap.
We picked a secluded part of top deck and set
up a 'mat camp'.
Nicole enjoyed the fresh feeling of being out on the open sea.
Why so many smiles? ...
... aha, it must be Happy Hour.
For happy hour, the crew set up tables with
plenty of hors d'oeurves, which were fantastic!
We didn't want to eat too much, though, or you wouldn't be hungry for dinner, nor would you
...
... have room for ... the highlight of happy hour.... the plentiful 'rum
swizzles' !!!
Some people relaxed ...
...and others embellished stories!
We spent most of this time watching the
sights, reading, catching up with old friends, making new friends, ...
... watching the fish jump, searching for dolphins,
walking the ship,
taking pictures ...
... and gazing to the horizon.
On most evenings, the crew organized an activity for us after happy hour.
Numbered hermit crabs?
It turned out that the crew had gathered up a bunch of hermit crabs and painted numbers on the backs of them... for a crab race!
The plan is to dump them in the middle of the circle and to see which one would run out of the circle first. The passengers were introduced to each crab, and then allowed to bet on their favorite.
I don't really know which one won... but it wasn't my bet!
On another night the Activity Director called
everyone together... for a game night.
The passengers split into teams, which
had to gather as many points as possible... through a scavenger hunt and skits.
Nicole & Bill tried to leave... and got snagged as the judges... ha!
Some skits were sexy...
<=== some were steamy ...
... and some were strange! ==>
Again, this time I really don't know who won... as I was too busy laughing, giving 'bribes',or taking pictures to note.
Roman Cheesecakes!
Someone had to be the life
of the parties!
Some people go to Venezuela looking 'normal'...
... and come back 'enhanced' ... but not usually guys!
These sunset shots conclude the page
dedicated
to describing what life on the Polynesia was like.
To go on to the Curacao page, click here.
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