ESTHER RANTZEN cruises the Caribbean on a clipper from the era of magnificent tall ships

MY LATE husband Desmond Wilcox was a magical teller of tales. One of his most extraordinary stories was of his childhood spent at sea when he was an apprentice on the four-masted sailing ship Pamir.

Pamir was lost at sea in a hurricane in 1957, while Desmond's sailing career was cut short by gangrene, but he often talked about the beautiful tall ship which inspired his love for the sea and we dreamed of sailing the seas together.
I was thrilled to discover that Star Clippers, a fleet of tall ships, offers cruises.

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The largest of these wonderful, fully crewed vessels is a gorgeous five-master, the Royal Clipper.

The 400ft, 227-passenger ship is the largest of her kind in the world. She was built by Swedish entrepreneur and classic boat connoisseur Mikael Krafft to recreate the glamorous days when these magnificent "greyhounds of the sea" literally clipped the waves as they plied their cargoes across the world's oceans.

Today they cruise the Mediterranean, Central America and the Caribbean, where I signed up for a tour of the Grenadine Islands.

After the heat and bustle of Bridgetown, Barbados, where my seven-night adventure began, it was a treat to be heading out to sea, the huge sails slowly unravelling high over my head (the hard work done by hydraulics instead of press-ganged mariners or rebellious runaway boys).

Royal Clipper has 96 wood-lined, brass-adorned cabins, 14 balcony suites and two luxurious owner's suites.
My superior ocean-view stateroom was surprisingly spacious, decked out in traditional polished dark woods with marine prints on the walls.

There's no need for sequins or black tie on board; dress is simple sailing gear, easily stowed in the cabin wardrobe.
The rest of the ship boasts 20,000 sq ft of immaculately scrubbed, sun-warmed open teak deck and three swimming pools. The social focus is the indoor-outdoor Tropical Bar.

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It's the place to meet or make friends over a drink or two and where guests can lose a few Caribbean dollars on live crab racing, lose their credibility in the music quiz or lose their dignity at the weekly talent show; a taste of the low-key but fun evening entertainment.

Meals in the sumptuous brass-port-holed restaurant are consistently delicious thanks to Devon, the brilliant Jamaican chef who achieves miracles in a tiny galley. He, his kitchen staff and a fleet of red-attired waiters conjure up magnificent and diverse breakfast buffets and lunches, including a memorable Asian buffet lunch and silver-service dinners.

There's also a weekly deck-top buffet and most sailings include beach barbecues.

The captain was Estonian and the marine biologist was an exuberant Italian who did remarkable impressions of dolphins sleeping with half their brain awake at a time. An impressive number of guests woke in time to join him for dawn whale-and dolphin-watching and to hear him speak passionately about the research projects he is undertaking.

The Grenadines are like emeralds and I explored them with delight. I went whale watching off St Vincent and, reaching Grenada, I sipped sundowners in a tree house at the Petit Bacaye Hotel with its five-acre shore-front setting.

You can pay extra for excursions ranging from zip-wiring through a rainforest to visiting historic sugar plantations. I explored the many ports of call independently, inhaling the heady scents of local food markets and finding pristine white beaches, while others opted to swim, water-ski or kayak in deliciously warm water from the beaches or the ship's marina platform, a drop-down water-sports deck.

En route back to Barbados, I sought out the lush gardens and delicate English teas of the exclusive Cobblers Cove Hotel.

I'd heard about the Englishness of this refined country house establishment. Sitting on the hotel's gorgeous palm-lined terrace, savouring the delicious tea, there was nothing English about its setting, blended amid lush tropical beauty and sparkling turquoise waters. Bliss.

As we left St Lucia the captain gave us a final treat.

He allowed us to take the tenders out and circle the ship so that we could take one last look at the magnificent sight that Desmond would have relished, of the Royal Clipper under full sail, white canvas billowing in the light of the setting Caribbean sun.

GETTING THERE:
Star Clippers (0845 200 6145/ www.starclippers.co.uk) offers a seven-night Caribbean sailing on board Royal Clipper from £1,225pp (two sharing), full board, excluding flights.

British Airways (0844 493 0787/ www.ba.com) offers return flights from Heathrow to Barbados from £571.