Just in.
Rumour has it that the crew of the Clipper are paid up to date.
Rumour has it that an agent was dispatched to the MY with cash to pay up crew. Apparently it was not enough, WJ are trying to get more money to the ship today, if they do the ship will sail next week. If not, the strike will continue. Apparently there is no Booze or fuel on board.
Poly was arrested last night by unpaid hoteliers. WJ is sending an agent to settle the matter. Status about Poly sailing next week is unknown.
I am not stirring the pot just passing on what I know. Oh and keeping the pressure on, take care of my shipmates and be upfront with the pax and I will gladly disappear.
Capt Neil

Thank you for the update Neil. I'm editing your subject to include the date as a convenience for others.

And we don't want you to disappear.

I too spoke with some of the crew last night, on the Mandalay. WJ Home Office did send a respresentative down to meet with the guys. They have been paid some, but not in full. If they are not paid in full by tonight, the crew has agreed not to sail again for next week. Turns out they have another pay day just around the corner and Windjammer will be behind in pay for them another month, if not brought current. Cross your fingers that home office will come through for these boys. They are anxiously awaiting payment so they can go back to jammin' the seas they love.
shellbelle

Hello.
Fuel truck is on the dock with the MY. WJ rep on his way with more cash.
Booze is in the supermarket....looking good.
Poly is still under arrest, lawyers are trying to work something out.
Legacy-don't know.
YC- In Trinidad, all Ok so far.
Possibly a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!, I hope so.
Brave crew and constant whining seems to be working.
Capt Neil.

Yeah!!! BVI'S in April is looking better and better.Keeping my positive thoughts going..Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.........

Good Afternoon Capt. Sir!!!

It looks like the cash may be starting to rain in.


for keeping on top of things.

At last, things seem to be taking shape.

Those at CI returned from their day out and about to find a sign on the hotel desk stating we will have yet another meeting at 8pm.

THE GREAT NEWS is that this time the meeting is not to update us on the status of the cruise but to check us in for boarding.

Rusty is not here. Instead we have Phil. He did relate the money situation to only a few of the pax and not to me ... My bells are out and ready to be rung and I cannot believe they would check me in and not let me on that ship.

I or JackIron will update you later tonight.

The last of the pax from last week just departed for home. We would have been a great crew and have vowed to keep in touch.

Hi Capt. Neil and all you devoted Jammers,

Thanks Neil so much for the updates and your heartfelt concern for the crew, it is important and means a lot and my only fear is that maybe your ties with WJ will have been so stressed after all this that I will not have the pleasure of your presence on a cruise in future... assuming you want to be back there. Time will tell I guess?
I have been obsessively following all this recent news for the past week or so when I casually checked in to see how things were going in WJ land, dreaming of a less busy time in the winter when it would be really good to get away from Nova Scotia and dive into the bathtub waters of the Grenadines.
As an 8-week Jammer totally enamoured of the experience it has been really disheartening to read all this news though I too hope very much there is light at the end of the tunnel. My last trip on the YC last February was the first with my new partner whom I could not wait to introduce to the Windjammer experience and who states categorically it was the best vacation of his life. We can't wait to go back.
But the draw that keeps me wanting now to return to the same itinerary in the Grenadines, as much as I'd love to see other areas, is the crew, which leads me back in a long-winded way to why I am replying to Capt Neil.
While there are many elements that make WJ special, going to different islands each day, sailing, and the intimacy of a small group of passengers, it is ultimately the friendship and devotion of the crew that keep me going back and I think from what I have often read on this board, holds the hearts of so many devotees. They work like buggers (can you say that on a posting?), and always have a smile, a story or a joke to tell, they keep you safe, remember your name and seem genuinely glad to see you return.
When you consider that they go round and round and round the same itinerary every friggin week (at least in the case of the Clipper), and even the pax know all the places and know in advance what a sea hunt is or a ppp nite or that there will be a crab race or Turbo's banana flambee and Caesar salad routine, they still do it, make it fun and make you feel like you are the most special passenger they have ever met.
So, making my long story longer, THANK YOU NEIL for being an advocate for the crew as they ARE Windjammer as far as I am concerned, and if they are not protected and appreciated and compensated properly then there is no point for me to pay attention to Windjammer. They are what has made it special. I do care about the old girls, the ships, too, unique and beautiful and I hope they can survive the new regs and whatever with a major cash infusion. I did notice in Feb the YC was looking tired too but we still had a blast.
Hope to see you Capt Neil on a future sailing if that's at all possible, you are my fav capitano, and I hope too to meet some of you wonderful devotees from the Flotilla as I can see how much you all care about this unique experience and the crew too. Thanks for the ramble,

Mary

Well said Mary. I think your words have captured many of our own feelings!

I still haven't sailed the Clipper and am looking forward to it.

I've been following the goings-on with a mixture of sadness for the crew (who work so hard and have always been exceptional about sharing their home with us and treating us like friends) and trepidation over our upcoming (and paid for) sail over New Year's on the Mandy. I'm so grateful for this forum, and for those who write in to share updates and to quash rumors, and just to have had the privilege of being a part of the WJ community for the past five years. It's been breaking my heart to think it might all be coming to an end.

So I am SO GLAD first to read that the crew has been paid! and then to learn that the rumored buyers might be more than a rumor. There is something so unique about a Windjammer sail that I can't believe anything else like it exists. The husband and I have taken all 3 of our adult children (and their SO's) on the Poly, and they all fell in love with the experience. Here's hoping that we get to introduce our (now 8 1/2 month-old) granddaughter to her first Windjammer sail too.

Here we go.
YC - jumped the gun a bit, maybe wishful thinking...crew not paid in full.
MY - Cash has landed, fuel on board, Pax to join as scheduled.
PY - No Change.
LY - me no know.
Neil.

All these ups and downs are killing me!! Capt Neil Sir.....THANK YOU so much for keeping us in the know. I just want you to know how appreciative I am for the updates. Sorry to hear that the YC crew might not have received their full dues. I'm hoping for the best.

Guess I'll still be relying on Plan B for now.

Again....a BIG thank you!!!

This is definite.

The money man arrived last night on a late flight. Per Phil, who came in last night to register us for boarding, we are out of here today............

I am only sad that all the folks that were here last weekend did not get this news last week. We are to board in Colon, not Porto Bello, which is very different. I am also disappointed that I have missed the first half of my B2B. But, I do have my bell and it will be ringing.

There is a great new batch of shipmates and we have all decided to have fun so, while all is not well that ends well, I see a very bright horizon for the ships.

Hey Cap!
There's a difference between "whining" and "bitching"! Bitching sometimes works!

why does a physical person have to actually show up with cash?? Can't the funds be actually wired to the final destination or would that take too long to actually clear??

Neil, thank you for the on the spot up to the moment news. Very much appreciated. Now we just have to hope that the MY will be actually sailing after two weeks in dry dock on October 14

now crawling back to the after doing her banking duties

Capt. Neil,

Thanks for keeping us up to date with the goings on down island. We've remained cautiously optimistic through out this ordeal, hoping that the hard working crews receive what they are owed and the ships that we love will resume sailing.

I don't always agree with your opinions that you so eloquently express but I have to respect your commitment to the crews and your passion of your resolve. We've had the pleasure of sailing with you during PW1 of 2004. I hope we will meet and share a drink again somewhere under sail.

Please keep the fire burning and our fingers are crossed that better times are ahead.

Thank you again.

Ron & Gail

quote:

"Brave crew and constant whining seems to be working.
Capt Neil."


Whining (and maybe 'bitching' as per Tuck) might have helped, but the rantings from some who post on the Flotilla telling folks "don't send any more of your money to WBC/Miami" has resulted in massive cancellations of individual/couple cruises and group charters and is counterproductive, resulting in REDUCED revenue that will never make it to the crew.


Keep the faith.

Dellie

Well said Mary, and hey we're still enjoying your Yankee Clipper art!!!

Say hi to Edward!

Er, I think you misplace the blame.

WJ did this to themselves.

Not Capt. Neil bitching, not posters ranting, not the Wall Street Journal or Miami Herald articles, but WJ and WJ alone.

They should have never let it come to this.

Sending in my $300 maintenance fee in a couple of weeks here and hoping I'm still going somewhere. Yes, I'm keeping the faith.

At the risk of being accused of ranting myself, I would point out that to actually blame the folks that expressed that view for the cancellations is a massive presumption and bad science.

The co-existence of two conditions does not imply causality. There are a million reasons someone might have decided to cancel a WJ trip last week based just on the facts (or lack of them) as they were, ignoring any voicings of opinion one way or the other. I am sceptical that posts encouraging folks to hang on to their cash had any more effect than those urging folks to keep the faith. The main driver was the situation itself and that's where I believe the blame lies (and where I would hope we could leave it). I would guess that how people reacted was based on their personal situation and risk-tolerance.

For now I continue to keep the faith (in my own way) - and my cash. Another week or two of sailing ships and paid crew and I might even go nuts and book my Christmas/NYE trip. I hope so.

As one of those "ranting about not sending more money to WJ" AND who cancelled a trip that was to board ~50 pax...I can tell you you - my rantings are not from the perspective of wishing WJ to fail !!! In spite of what I think about the deplorable ethics of the previous mgmt.- I too HAVE hoped and prayed WJ would pull through this and sincerely hope under new leadership they rise to the top form I have experienced on my one and only sail. My ranting have been a simple issue of economics. Sorry- I don't have the extra cash to support a company that cannot fulfill it's customer obligations- NOR am I going to ask my friends to take that risk. I will gladly book a WJ again- my first was the best vacation ever as many have mentioned---however I only get so much vacation time per year---and only have so much $$$ to spend!! I have to use my time and money smartly.

Sorry ima ranter----

sorry fast typing and not using spell check...
I meant deplorable ethics...

I've been writing a deployment strategy for a client all day---and have deployment on the brain

i need a break---I too HAVE hoped and prayed WJ would pull through !!!!

please don't crucify me for that typo

flgator1 - you can edit your post using the edit button, found next to the quote button, at the right side of your screen when viewing a thread.

For clarification: I agree that WBC has gotten itself into the current financial situation.

My reference to canceled cruises equals (=) monies not going to the crew members was directed at those who were specifically concerned ABOUT the crew members, yet would not have enough faith in the future of the company to give them SOME cash on hand with which to send down island to the crew.

And yes, I understand that cruises are canceled for many reasons, all year round, every year.

Dellie

still keeping the faith[/i]