06 March 2010; Fortaleza, Brazil.

The pilot had been ordered for 0600 in the morning and we had to confirm our ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) two hours before; so great was the surprise of the Officer of the dog shift to be called 4 hours before that time by the pilot of Fortaleza himself. We have never had such eager pilot station before on a cruise and certainly not in South America. However that is better than the other way around so the OOW happily confirmed our arrival time. We were there at 6 am. and so was the pilot. Then it was slow going as the entrance to the port is really shallow and with only 6 feet under the keel we crept into port. Going slow to avoid the squat and as a result the ship touching bottom. There we had a little surprise. I had expected the wind to be full on the beam while docking but the assigned space was between two ships and I was supposed to dock about 10 meters away from the ship behind me. Secondly there was a gap between two warehouses on the dock where the stern was going to be and that gap acted as a funnel and increased wind force 4 to about wind force 8. That would make it difficult for any ship to come in especially as with the little amount of water under the keel, the propellers would have a hard time pushing the water to where I wanted it to go. For that reason the port has a tug on standby in the port at all times and so I used it as I had to pay for it anyway. It nicely pushed the stern in against this funnel wind coming from between the warehouses.

Ahead of us was docked a small Dutch tanker which was leaving and so we could go more forward and have at least 120 feet between the Prinsendam and the ship behind us. Normally docking close together is not a big deal but today we had a bit of a swell running in the port and if you then break a stern spring, the ship soon moves a few meters. Hence having some extra distance between the two sterns was not a bad idea. So we happily docked accordingly and for the whole day, the Prinsendam slowly moved up and down on the swell. It was a sunny day and it was a very warm day. Even the locals, used to warm weather, considered it a very warm day. The expected showers had come over early in the morning and thus it remained sunny all day.

Cooking up a storm……..Sate, shrimp, steak etc etc. One of our chefs in full swing.

All photo’s courtesy of our Human Resources Manager Andrea Consentino

On a regular basis the ships management tries to do something extra for the crew and as we knew that most of the guests would be ashore for the day, certainly for the morning, the Hotel department organized a barbeque lunch on the outside deck for all crew, instead of the regular food in the mess rooms. For the location I had decided on the bow of the ship; around the crew swimming pool and between 11.00 and 13.00 hours most of the crew enjoyed a nice outdoor experience………. Happy to announce: there were no leftovers.

Another thing that we organized and what we held a few days ago, was a luncheon in the dining room for all the crew, who were for the first time sailing for Holland America. Since Christmas 2009, we had accumulated about 50 of them and as in Recife the guest dining room was closed for the day luncheon was served there as if everybody was a guest. The ships staff also joined in with the lunch and it does a lot to make everybody feel very welcome on board. Those who attended received a phone card to call home. For us it is a small thing to do but it is very much appreciated by all
onboard.

Everybody listening to a speech by the captain with the dining room staff in attendance.

Hotel manager Francois hosting one of the tables.

We sailed at 5 pm. from Fortaleza and again it was a slow affair. I could only move the Prinsendam very slowly due to the lack of under keel clearance, which made it difficult for the propellers to push the water away. Then we had to move slowly over the banks to deep water and only then about 2.5 hours after departure could let the ship go to full sea speed.

Tomorrow we are at sea again and I aiming for the Belem pilot for 3 am in the morning on Monday. From there it is another 5 to 6 hours up the river to the Belem anchorage as we cannot go full speed again due to the shallow water.