Tall Ship Vela about to set sail!

Island Windjammer's newest "island girl," the tall ship Vela is about to sail with her first IWJ passengers. Whoohoo! She's the former Toule Mour that began sailing the islands as a med ship, then sailed out of Long Beach for many years as a training ship for young folks. IWJ got her a year ago and has spent the year refurbishing her, building passenger cabins, refurbing galley and public areas as well as major maintenance, and we're gonna be on board later this month! Her first public sailings begin Dec. 27. She's homeported in St. Lucia but will sail the BVI a part of the summer...30 passengers, 12 crew and oh yeah, all those gorgeous sails. We so love the tall ships and expect she'll become a favorite, along with IWJ's Diamant and Manhattan Yacht Club's Arabella.

Vela is sailing now....we were on her shakedown cruise over Christmas. She moves through the water amazingly fast! She is still being fine-tuned after her 14-month changeover from a sailing training ship to a passenger cruise ship, so a number of little things were being fine-tuned while we sailed (such as getting the mirrors up in the bathrooms, etc). Like the other 2 of Island Windjammer's ships, this is casual/laidback cruising, but with a professional crew, very good and bountiful food and great ports. Her cabins are typical windjammer cozy with a variety of sizes. Most were not yet fitted with stowage, so those coming on board in these first few months really do need to heed the universal tip for packing for sailing cruises: pack light! Since you don't need more than shorts, tops, swimwear and sandals, it should be easy to do that, but I'm still learning!