05 March 2010; Sailing North to Fortaleza, Brazil.

By 10 am we had changed course to the northwest and thus came an end to our mainly northerly courses (when in open waters) that we had been steering since we left Antarctica. We made this course change about 30 miles off the coast, as I had decided to stay away from the shallows, so we would not get entangled in fishing fleets and their nets. The sailing directions and notes in charts are warning about huge concentrations of fishing boats and they do not give that warning for nothing. All the information accumulated in the nautical sailing directions come from the seafarers themselves and thus a lot of them must have gotten themselves into a muddle with fishing boats while sailing close to the coast. So the Prinsendam remained in open waters and made a nice wide turn around the indicated areas. The chief engineer wanted a bit of steady and medium speed anyway as he had to make water because the loading capacity tomorrow in Fortaleza will be very meager. Thus a longer route worked well for him. The potable water pipe lines at the dock are at the end of the city’s pipe line system and the pressure is not very high as a result of it. If we are going to get 10 tons an hour it will be great. In other ports 50 tons an hour is normal)

When we made the turn to the Northwest, we really started to note the influence of the Brazil current, mostly called the Equatorial current here which gave a nice push in the back in the right direction. It had been against us for days now but with the turn it became a following current. That current, in various strengths, will remain with us all the way to Fort Lauderdale. Eventually it will be called the Gulf stream when it moves through the Straits of Florida on its way north and then to Europe. Same should go for the winds. From tomorrow morning on, we will have stronger winds from the south East, as we are slowly coming into the area where the trade winds blow. A good reason to arrive at the Fortaleza pilot station at sunrise before the local wind increases in strength. Increasing strength caused by the thermal effect of the burning sun. The dock direction is perpendicular onto the wind direction and thus the ship will get the wind full on the beam.

Although a lot of people might not have heard about Fortaleza but it is a very big city. Lots of sky scrapers and sprawling suburban areas. We will see the line of buildings at sunrise when we arrive. New York could be envious. The port is not so big, as it is mainly used to supply the city with whatever is needed in gas, fuel and raw products. However it has reasonable rules and regulations for carrying out maintenance so the chief officer can finally get his program of outside maintenance going. We have been severely hampered with what we could do since we left Ft. Lauderdale. First in Chili (no outside work) then Antarctica (nothing at all under the Antarctic treaty) and then in Buenos Aires and Rio it was very difficult to obtain the necessary permissions. In the coming ports it will be easier as the local harbour master assesses the permissions requested and if he agrees with the way we work, then we will get all the approvals needed upon arrival.

For the Prinsendam maintenance is a challenge anyway as we do not do the same port twice. So we always have to prepare for all eventualities without knowing the latest local developments and then hope on arrival that we have all bases covered. It results sometimes in understandable; complaints from our guests about the ships outside appearance. The problem for us is that we cannot do anything about it as our hands (or better said our paint brushes) are very often tied by local rules and regulations.

Thus the chief officer will be a happy camper tomorrow as the sailors can work everywhere on the open decks without the fear of running into a fine for something or the other.

The glorious weather is set to continue for tomorrow and although I expect a nice breeze to blow all day in the port, it should be a warm and sunny day with temperatures reaching the 90’s.