Sometimes in life you come across things that do not make sense at all but that you just have to accept. Normally the biggest ship gets the best dock in a port, which makes sense as you accommodate the most people in the best way. But not so in Montego Bay. While approaching the port we saw the Discovery (old Island Princess) happily docked at the passenger terminal. A terminal which can handle a ship double her length. She only carried 600 passengers or so, while the Veendam with 1200 on board was relegated to the cargo terminal, where the ship barely fits. So a small ship at a big dock and a big ship at a smaller dock. Plus the fact that all our 1200 guests now had to be shuttled through the cargo terminal to the passenger terminal. There were plenty of buses available for the purpose but it was all extra work. But “it had been scheduled that way by the authorities” and that was it. It did not really affect the guests that much, it just did not make sense.

So I parked the ship alongside the cargo dock with the nose into the port. Normally we swing on arrival for a quick sailing out but the technical department had to repair a cracked window and might needed scaffolding from the dock side in case the repairs were more complicated then expected. Also it was time to exercise the starboard lifeboats again and thus we went portside alongside and nose in.

The weather remained nice until just after lunch time when the first squalls started to come over. It culminated in a big downpour around 1600 hrs. Of course that was the moment that the afternoon tours were coming back, so a few of our guests got really soaked between the terminal and the ships gangway even while the distance was only 200 yards or so. This rain shower just stopped before sailing time and that gave me the needed visibility to sail out again. With the disappearance of the rain also the wind died down and that made it possible to back out of the port, the same way as we had come in.

You can swing in the harbor of Montego Bay but it has only been dredged to 10 meters and with the draft of the Veendam plus the squat generated by the maneuvering, we have not much more then 4 to 5 feet left under the keel. That means that ship only turns very slowly as all the water under the keel has to be pushed away through this 5 feet gap between sandy bottom and ships hull. By the time that the ship has turned around 360o the whole harbor is one muddy basin. The turning ships propellers and the flow caused by the thrusters bring all the sand to the surface. So I backed the ship out through the fairway and into the open sea. As soon as you are away from the first entrance buoy, the water depth drops from this 10 meters to over 150 meters and that makes swinging the ship around much easier.

There was a tanker at anchor just outside the port limits waiting for the Veendam to clear the cargo berth. We could see all their officers standing on the tanker bridge having a look at the antics of that cruise ship. With all the maneuvering power that the Veendam has, I can do things that a cargo captain with just one propeller at his disposal can only dream about. So he would never have backed all the way out, as he can only steer with his single rudder while I have two rudders and can do it with the stern thruster as well. We were out of the port by 17.15 hrs, heading for Grand Cayman while all around us, more rain came down on the shores of Montego Bay. The wind is with us, so I am wondering how much of that rain will make it also to Grand Cayman. We will find out tomorrow