14 October 2011; Fort Lauderdale, USA.

Our run from Half Moon Cay to Ft. Lauderdale takes us north of Nassau and south of Freeport through the North West Providence Channel. There used to be a time, when the only ships that you saw were cruise ships on Saturday and Sunday, coming and going from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Then the development of Freeport started and they now have the (Carnival) shipyard and a large container port and that has increased the traffic enormously. On top of that the oil terminal has gained more prominence in the last decade and that means that this stretch of water can be quite busy. There are always a few containerships and tankers floating around waiting for a berth to become available and because of that there is also regular traffic in and out of the port.  Those drifting ships are normally not a problem for us as such, as they are well lit and stopped in the water. As we know why they are there we can deal with them without any problem.  The only issue is that most of the time they are right in the way. As is understandable, each captain wants to drift as far away from any obstacle possible and that is then of course right in the middle of North West Providence channel. There where our course line runs.

Thus Eastbound we stay closer to the Nassau side (although Nassau is quite a ways down in a sort of navigational cul-de-sac, and when Westbound we favor the Freeport side. On the way to Fort Lauderdale our next hurdle is crossing the Straits of Florida with the Gulf Stream.  Ships coming from the South will normally try to follow the axis of the Gulfstream and thus they are sometimes close to the Bahamas side and sometimes more in the middle.  A few knots of free speed, due to the current in the back, can save time and fuel. Ships coming down from the North are trying to stay out of the Gulf Stream as much as possible as they are going against it and normally they can be found right under the Florida coast. However when the Gulf Stream is all the way to the West, which happens on an occasion then they might be coming down on the Bahamian side of the Straits.

That is the rule of thumb, and normally by the regular shipping  pattern we can figure out where the axis of the Gulfstream is running.  The NOAA has a website that indicates the general area of the Gulfstream but it is not accurate “for the day” as we call it and thus we keep an eye on the traffic.  Normally that works, except there is always THE ONE that does it differently.  And if that ONE ship happens to be the only ship in the vicinity then our whole theory falls apart.  And it is nice to know where the axis is, as it gives you an idea where you will encounter the most drift and where you have to give more speed to the ship to balance things out.   If the Gulfstream is strong it can run up to 5 or 6 knots but normally 4 knots is about the maximum. 

That means for the approach to Fort Lauderdale we have to steer drift courses. The entrance course into the port is 267o but normally we have to steer anywhere between 235o and 245o to make sure that we end up near the sea buoy and not two miles to the north or so. Then there is the additional issue that we have to stay 2 miles clear of that sea buoy until the pilot is on board, so more exposed to the Gulfstream. That all together makes it a nice puzzle for getting to your perfect boarding position for the pilot, complying with the rules and not drifting too far to the North so that the final approach into the entrance channel is not too complicated.  

Thus we did it accordingly this morning and by 06.30 we were happily docked at pier 19. This is our changeover day, although we have some guests who are going with us all the way back to San Diego. There will be provisions, bunkering, luggage, a large crew change and our bi-annual USCG inspection.

Part of that crew change will be me, as it is “that time of the year again”. The office is gathering the troops ashore in two groups for our yearly Senior Management Conference.  This year taking place in Atlanta. All Captains, Hotelmanagers, Chief Engineers, Chief Officers and S.E.H. officers have to attend. That happens in two groups as the ships have to continue to sail of course. I will be attending the first conference, so I will leave the Statendam from 14 to 21 October, returning in Puerto Caldera. Thus my blogging will stop for those days as well. 

So I will be back on the 21^st of October.

Capt. Albert