THE EPITAPH
In 1959 She began her unnecessarily short life of only 52 years as the "FRANCE II"
This was probably the last time The Legacy, Polynesia and Mandalay were together.
Most of these are not my photos, but this first one was taken a week before I boarded for the
Last Great Windjammer Adventure.
Click for a deckplan
Here we are tied up at Golfitos a few days prior to disembarking in Costa Rica. She was later moved to Caldera and subsequently abandoned by the Burke family back at Windjammer's Miami office. Just before they disappeared with all the money.
The worst part was the dirty bastards didn't even have the common decency to tell their LOYAL crews that they were being marooned without their last 4 months pay in a foriegn country thousands of miles from their homes. When our loose knit group of pirates on "The Flotilla" discovered the plight of these friends who had been so good to us while on the ships, we collected nearly $30,000 to provide airfare to at least get them back to their repective countrys.
In a mere 4 years she had been reduced to THIS
She was unceremoniously dragged ashore,
stripped of all hardware
then her once proud hull was cut up for scrap metal.
A sad end indeed for a ship that just 5 years before, the operators of the Panama Canal had cleared the locks so the crowds could cheer and take photos.
This poignant picture shows the figurehead of Owner Mike Burke
lying in repose on the scrapheap of what was once the flagship of his fleet.
A true pirate who unfortunately bred poorly and let the greed of his heirs destroy not just his dream but the dreams of thousands of loyal Jammers like me.
One of my most cherished possessions is this copy of The Barefoot Pirate (#383/1000) that I won on the Polynesia in a raffle. This was on a typical Ralph adventure which included a visit to Virgin Gorda.
Not to see "The Baths" of course, but to go to the medical clinic for anti-biotics.
Although I did not get Captain Fernando to sign, it has been autographed By Captain Neil, Captain Julian, Captain Matt, Captain Stuart, Captain Sylvester and the finest person I ever met, Captain Cornelius Plantefaber who will always be just "Skip" to me......
5/13/2007 "LAST GREAT WINDJAMMER"
11/07/2007 "NO SAIL SALE"
Windjammer page
