21 October 2007, Tampa.

A few words about this “float my boat” contest of yesterday. This is a cruise staff happening and normally I am not involved. I simply do not have the time for it. But as we had two sea days between Charleston and Tampa, I had some leeway in the schedule. If you can spread paperwork and walk-abouts over two days, then the days are not so packed that I can not do the Cruise director a favor.

The numbers of contestants vary. The longer the cruise, the more there are. Also I suspect that certain people, who travel together, plan for this event already when at home. Some have props with them to spruce their model up etc. etc. This time we had four contestants. Three had spend quite some time working on their model and the fourth had spend considerable time in the bar, emptying beer cans and had those cobbled together in 20 minutes to make something that floated. I really admired the dedication of the last one. Reall focus on the job at hand. The models are judged on creativity, good looks, does it float and does it carry cargo and audience appreciation. The floating is tested by lowering the model into the Jacuzzi and the cargo consists out of 12 full beer cans that are placed on top of the model. In the end the Dam-Dam model won. It looked like a hal ship, it floated, it took the 12 beer cans and the funnel was made of a beer bottle that was brought from home. Somewhere in the town of Paradise is a brewery called Olland, they brew Schooner beer. If you pronounce my name with an American tongue twist, SchoonderBeek sounds just like SchoonerBeer, so most appropriate. Needless to say that they won. The beer bottle (empty) is now sitting on the bridge in the lap of our mascot in the window.

By 0015. I was on the bridge with the ship approaching the Tampa sea buoy. Each ship calls in the time of passing this buoy and arrangements for receiving the ship are set up with this time as a benchmark. On board we know that if we are at the sea buoy at 01.00 hrs, then we are normally docked by 5 am. We plan accordingly. The pilot boards around 01.30 about 6 miles up the fairway and then we go as fast as we can towards the dock. We pass the sunshine skyway bridge 1.5 hours after the sea buoy, so at 2.30 am. Normally that is quite spectacular, but currently they are painting the bridge and as a result all the lights are switched off. Lights that normally shine on the pillars and the cables that hold the bridge itself.

We sail through Tampa bay with various speeds, depending on traffic and on the turns that we have to make. The dredged channels in Tampa bay are not in a straight line but follow some old river bed. This time there was no traffic and we could keep up full the maneuvering speed of 15 knots. Full speed apart from two 90o turns, which we do with 0 knots. This gives the pilot more time for these big turns and it prevents Hotel Veendam from listing too much. The last stretch is through Sparkman channel into Ybor channel. That part we do with a speed of around four knots to avoid wake damage to passing ships. Also sometimes there are tankers docked alongside the channel, who do not keep their lines tight enough. If you then pass by with too much wake, the tanker starts surging along the dock and if a hose happens to be connected to the dock, it might break with the chance of an oil spill. So slowly, slowy is the word.

By 5 am, we were docked at our new cruise terminal just behind the American Victory, the old 2nd world war cargo ship that is docked there as a museum ship. Coming in after us was the Carnival Legend, who docked and hour later. We barely had the gangway out or the USCG marched on board. 14 of them, for an inspection. We have these boarding on a regular basis; it is part of the Homeland security program, but never 14 and never at 6 am. in the morning. All was in good order of course and by 7 am. they left again. Finally giving me the chance to go to bed for a few hours. For the Hotel and Engine dept. the day was just starting.