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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Will Windjammer Barefoot Cruises Sail Again?

It's been no secret that Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, one of the last family-owned cruise lines in America, has been struggling mightily to survive. The company has been arrears with vendors, port facilities and even its own crew are owed back wages; ship maintenance has deteriorated to such a serious degree that its own captains reportedly won't sail their vessels.

And yet, even since August, when the situation was so bad that in order to free up ships for sail representatives from Windjammer's Miami office flew down to places like Panama and Costa Rica with fists of cash to pay off venders for foodstuffs and other supplies -- just so the week's cruise could depart -- the company seemed to be hanging on. Rumors flew -- all unsubstantiated as Windjammer's officials did not respond to calls for clarification, with a minor exception -- that there was a deep pocketed buyer in sight.

And yet, the end appears to be near. The fleet's four ships are all stranded, at least for now; Yankee Clipper is in Trinidad, Manadaly is in Panama, Polynesia is in Aruba and Legacy, its flagship, is in Costa Rica. The company has unofficially made clear that cruises are canceled for the next week and possibly beyond.

The Windjammer Web site no longer seems to exist. The company has famously not been communicating with passengers booked on near term voyages and certainly hasn’t started to become more forthcoming this past week -- and naturally, speculation of the direst form ensues.

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