sail on windstar
When Wind Star, the first ship of Windstar's fleet launched in 1986, she sailed into San Francisco Bay on a press junket to take advantage of waterfront crowds and media attention during the Chronicle Fourth of July Waterfront Festival before heading for her home port in Tahiti. At the time, I was working at The San Francisco Chronicle managing the Waterfront Festival and was invited to cruise on Wind Star . . . actually I was invited to use Wind Star for a private party if I could convince Chronicle executives to sail on the ship on the Fourth. While the newspaper did not go along with it, several of us were invited for a lunch while sailing in the Bay on this elegant ship.
To this day, sailing on Wind Star remains one of the highlights of my cruising history, which includes:
- Bay sailing on several private boats;
- Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge aboard the Kaiwo Maru (Japan's exquisite four-masted barkentine used as a Naval training ship);
- Sailing from San Francisco to San Diego aboard the Argentinean training ship Guayas;
- Two weeks cruising the Mediterranean aboard Princess Cruises
Windstar ships combine the advantages of a limited passenger capacity (best service, low density accommodation) with the elegance and service of a big conventional cruise ship. They feature an extensive range of outdoor sporting activities. Schedules are on sailing into unusual cruise ports, with some calls at anchor in private beaches . . . which is possible because of the shallow draft of these vessels. The ships are basically large elegant sailing yachts, with sumptuous food and luxurious accommodations.
When launched, the line was a novelty in the cruise industry, focusing on increasingly affluent, younger, professional sector who were less inclined to take a conventional cruise, and the well travelled cruisers looking for a different experience as well.
Sailing on one of these ships again is high on my wish list.
Reading departure signs in some big airport