Visitors and residents of St. Croix experienced a rare treat this season -- sailing aboard the National Historic Landmark Schooner "The Roseway".

We first saw The Roseway moored majestically in Christiansted Harbor this past December - 137 foot over-all length, two tall wooden masts, with all the rigging - looking like she'd sailed right out of the Caribbean's past. My wife, Terry, vowed she had to sail on that ship.

To our delight, they were booking educational day-cruises. There was a daily noon sail, and a sunset sail on weekends. During the the week, she takes school kids out in the afternoon, teaching them about sailing, tall ships, and maritime history.

Our first opportunity to sail was the afternoon of the Cruzan Christmas Carnival Parade out in Frederiksted. The Roseway made the sail west in the morning. We took the sunset sail from the Frederiksted pier. After a brief introduction, all able-bodied passengers were conscripted to help hoist the sails. The Roseway has over 5500 sq. ft. of heavy canvas sails and wooden booms as big as utility poles. All this is hauled up the 100+ foot mast by hand. We were lined up in two teams, either side of the mast. On our leaders signal we hauled the line hand over hand as fast as we could and watched the massive maroon main sail rise and unfurl. As it neared the top of the mast , we slowed and started pulling on cadence to make those last few feet, "Heave, Ho". We helped with the two largest sails, then left the rest to the crew, "Whew!"

Once the sails are up, the bar is open! Before you board, you have the option to purchase drink/snack tickets for $10, good toward any combination of 5 drinks or snacks. They have a limited selection of adult beverages, sodas and signature "Roseway" bottled water (I was a little wary of where that might come from, so I stuck with the rum punch), as well as chips, Cheeto's, etc.

The rest of our two hour voyage we enjoyed the wind in our hair, the sights of Frederiksted waterfront, the thrill of sailing an historic wooden sailing schooner, and speaking to the crew. They were very knowledgeable about the vessel and its history and openly shared with us their experiences on "The Roseway". We enjoyed it enough to go out again for Terry's birthday in February.

The Roseway is owned and operated by the World Ocean School, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities to youths and adults in the areas of maritime and natural history, sailing, team building, and ethical decision-making. The day-sail tours help to finance their educational programs.

As far as I know, they'll be heading north soon for the summer season, but are trying to make St. Croix their permanent winter home. For more information about "The Roseway" and the World Ocean School, see [--]