With the day dawning we approached West Bay our anchorage area for Half Moon Cay. It was nearly wind still and the sky nearly cloudless, so we knew that it was going to be a very good day. And good weather you need here. Although it is a wonderful destination for the guests we are totally reliant on the weather. The island is low and offers no shelter whatsoever; so with a strong wind from the East you blow from your anchorage. If there is too much wind from the West, you get blown onto the beach. Squalls, with wind gusts are frequent and thus you have to be very much aware of the situation of the day. Most of us captains are very ambivalent towards the area, torn between our enthusiasm for a great destination and the apprehension about the unpredictable weather that can happen here. Still today my worries were more positive. I dropped the hook just before 7 am and by keeping one engine slightly astern all day to counter act the insetting current, the ship stayed nicely in position. At 07.30 the Zuiderdam was at anchor and all was well in the world.
Normally the company schedules the calls at HMC for one ship only, although the facilities are large enough to handle multiple Vista Class ships. However with the repositioning cruises at the end of the Alaska and Europe season that does not always work out. Such is now the case with us. Due to the day that Alaska ended and the day that the regular Trans Canal season started we are one day adrift from our normal schedule and thus a call at Half Moon Cay had been added to the cruise and as a result the Zuiderdam was not alone today.
When two ships are in, the work is also shared by the two ships. The island provides the facilities but not the food and the drink as it is too complicated to have that transported from the main land. That is provided by the ships. In this case all is done by the Zuiderdam as they are staying the longest. They leave later from Half Moon Cay, as with their greater speed they can afford to do so and still arrive in Fort Lauderdale on time. The food & drink bill is then later settled between the two ships pro rata. The Statendam does of course provide their share of the labor to serve the guests on the island. The food & drink supplies are collected by a special tender which is stationed on the island. The boat is called the Half Moon Clipper and used to be in use as ferry up north. It has a crane on the back and uses that to lift the pre-prepared cradles from the ship onto its deck. An operation that takes about 45 minutes to accomplish and starts as soon as a ships arrives.
Since a few years we also have three shore tenders in operation to ferry the guests ashore. In the beginning it was all done by the ships tenders but the problem was and is that all guests wanted to go ashore at the same time and come back at the same time. To alleviate the long queues that were forming, the company had two tenders built, the Henry Hudson and the Anne Bonny which have a much larger capacity than the ships tenders and thus can take the pressure off during rush hour. They run in conjunction with the ships tenders to provide a smooth shuttle service. There is a 3rd tender the “Rookie” which is used when a 2nd ship is in port such as us today. Then there is a whole gaggle of glass bottom boats, parachute boats, fishing boats, etc. etc. to keep the guests occupied. For all these boats the company has dug a harbor in the rocks at the South Eastern point of the West Bay. To make sure that all these boats do not collide when going in and out of the harbor we have traffic control officers posted. Most of the time it is a job handled by the cadets; it gives them the chance to take responsibility for something and to show some leadership and planning.
On a perfect day like today, the ship could stay until late in the evening but we have to be on time in Fort Lauderdale so by 13.30 all guests were requested to be back on board again. By tomorrow 07.00 we will be docked in Fort Lauderdale. Luckily the weather will be the same as today, so a perfect ending to what has been a very smooth cruise.
Zuiderdam and Statendam at anchor today in HMC. Our Hotelmanager
went with the parasail to catch the two ships during a perfect HMC day.
October 16, 2011 at 9:01 am
Actually, in the three times I have been to Half Moon Cay, there have always been two HAL ships there, so having only one ship at anchor at a time seems to be the anomaly. Granted, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are the days most likely to have two ships at Half Moon Key. In mid-week, it might be more common to have only one Dam ship.
The least crowded day I have had at Half Moon Cay was when the Maasdam and Prinsendam were there together.
October 16, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Well quite unusual. I checked the schedule for the coming three months of the new year and there is one double call in each month excapt in jan. when there are two double calls due to the fact that the christmas/new years cruises are of different lenght then the normal cruise cycles of each ship. That leaves ofcourse the option open that ships can deviate if the weather is inclement somewhere else. But the company tries to avoid double calls where ever possible.
Thank you forr eading my blog.
Best regards
Capt. Albert