16 - Sunday, July. 30, 1989 — North Shore News

WIND SPIRIT
Enormous sailboat
makes Alaska run

THE ALASKA cruise con-
voy, joined this summer by
the immense ingenue Star
Princess, will have another
striking mewcomer next year
—- the Wind Spirit.

No ordinary cruise ship, the
Wind Spirit is in fact a sailing
vessel complete with four masts
towering 204 ft. above teak decks,
a dimension that rules out passage
under the Lions Gate Bridge,
where clearance is 198 ft. at high
tide.

Wind Spirit will be based in
Prince Rupert for a run of 16
cruises to Juneau. Northbound
cruises will visit Ketchikan, Misty
Fjords national monument,
Wrangell Narrows and Petersburg,:
Tracy Arm, Sitka, Skagway and
Juneau. Southbound cruises will
have the same itineracy in reverse.

The vessel is one of three vessels
operated by Windstar Sail Cruises,
a subsidiary of Seattle-based
Holland America Line-Westours.
Both companies were bought in
January by Carnival Cruise Lines
of Miami, and Windstar’s head
office has just been moved to Seat-
tle.

As Jean-Claude Potier, presi-
dent of Windstar, said in announc-
ing the program: ‘‘The concept cf
sail cruising in Alaska offers an
entirely new kind of vacation ex-
perience — a combination of both
luxury and nature never before ex-
perienced in the beautiful waters of
B.C. and Alaska.”

Wind Spirit is certainly !ux-
urious. The interior has the feel of
a private yacht, with rich panelling
and furnishings. The 74 cabins are
large, beds can be made up as twin
or queen, there is TV, VCR and
the best bathrooms afloat.

Passengers can dine when they
want, the food is a cut above regu-
lar cruise rations, and waiters do
not sing Happy Birthday three
times a night nor parade with Bak-
ed Alaska as a finale. In fact, it’s a
very elegant scene, but not at all
stuffy.

Last summer I cruised the
Mediterranean cruise on Wind
Spirit, and at several Italian ports
teamed up with a New York
hotelier for purchases of excellent,
and inexpensive, wines. Back on
board the waiters were happy to
open them at our table without any
suggestion of corkage. Try that on
the QEII.

Dress on board is casual, which
is perfect for Alaska. But so is the
vessel, whose teak decks and sail-
ing rig wiil commune with the rug-
ged scenery of fjords, and par-
ticularly Wrangell and Tracy Arm,
two highlights not accessible to
larger ships (draught is just 14 ft).

Wind Spirit has been clocked at
12 knots in a Caribbean trade, but
it's tikely that in Alaska waters she

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can visit the bridge at any time and
watch the captain set the sails by
computer. This clever gadget con-
stantly shifts ballast so the vessel
never heels rnore than six degrees,
maintaining a perfect equilibrium
for your martini in the aft salon.

Another good idea is Wind
Spirit’s stern swim grid, a platform
for sailing, sailboarding, water-
skiing and swimming. The vessel’s
Zodiac-type boats will be ideal for
shore excursions.

Just a pity we won’t see her in
Vancouver, but, anyone for Prince

travel Rupert?
t jl nk .

oo, Gulf Islands Cruises has launch-
David Wishart

ed a summer cruise program to
Victoria via the Gulf Islands using
the motor vessel Laurier II.

The 120-ft. vessel departs Van-
couver Monday, Wednesday and
will run mainly on her diesel-elec- Friday, with Tuesday, Thursday

tric motors. See Guif
As in a private yacht, passengers Page 17

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