Fred Wightman

It feels as if I have lost members of my own family: so many crew members and a wonderful ship. It is hard to accept that such a great loss could occur with so little warning and so little evidence of its' happening.

With my wife and friends, I have sailed on 11 cruises, unfortunately none on the Fantome, although we did enjoy parties on theat great ship when ours met her. My only two photographs of the Fantome are attached. One was taken in April 1990 from Bequia as the Fantome and the Amazing Grace passed at sea; it is not good quality, but I think it captures the magnificence of ships at sea. The second was taken later in April 1990 as the Fantome lay at the dock in Grenada... it was taken from Fort George.

I still hold hope that the crew of the Fantome will be found, but I regret that it seems now to be a slim chance. I wish that I could help the search reach a successful conclusion as the lack of knowledge is very difficult to endure. The spirit that is felt whenever a Windjammer sails is very precious... but the price this time has proven to be very high.

Fred Wightman

Picture of "Fantome" and Amazing Grace

Picture of "Fantome" at Anchor in St. George