After a very speedy departure we spent the night sailing through the Yucatan channel, heading for the Gulf of Mexico. The strong wind suddenly fell away during the night as the cold front decided to tip even deeper into the Caribbean and we entered the rainy sector. During the day the wind shifted and rose to a strong Breeze from the north east. Weather we kept all the way to Tampa.

A few blogs ago I wrote about recognizing crewmembers who do something out of the ordinary. Well we have another program that give crew the chance to stand out. It is called the HESS program. Health, Environmental, Safety and Sanitation program. We have several interdepartmental committees on board who deal with issues pertaining to the above. As the rules are constantly changing it is a lot of work to keep the crew up-to-date and the ship in compliance. The company instigated the HESS award recently to encourage crewmembers to come forward with idea’s to improve operating practices on board, and if found useful, to implement them fleet wide. There is a monthly prize of a $ 100 to win and it does not have to be a “big idea” but it has to be useful. We get about 10 to 15 idea’s each month. All the ideas are voted upon and the best one selected for the prize of the month. The other idea’s do not fall by the wayside but get a chance to win the next month. All idea’s that pass scrutiny are forwarded to the Head office and evaluated there for implementation fleet wide.

This month the Foreman engine department was the winner. He was concerned about people smoking above or near the oil fuel barge when the ship was taking on fuel in the home port. He suggested roping off the open deck (lower promenade deck) that runs above and along the hull where the barge is positioned and to put temporary signs on the balcony’s overlooking the barge during the time of the fuel transfer. This would indeed be a good thing to do. We have not had any problems yet, or ever before, but there is always the first time. The idea was forwarded to the office and if approved will be fleet wide implemented with company designed signs and standard procedures. The person with the idea then also has the chance to win a bigger prize of $ 1000,–.

Mr. Achmand Royyan Foreman engine receiving his HESS award.
During our gathering of the Mariners Society we had a more unusual recipient of an award. Namely a Chef de Partie (section chief in the kitchen) who had sailed 30 years with Holland America. He had started out in 1977 on the previous Veendam and now celebrated this milestone with the company on board the current Veendam. It is difficult to think of something to properly recognize such a longtime dedication to the company, so I like to hand out the company ring (30 year milestone) during the Mariners party. It always gives a bit more cachet to the ceremony. Our cook got a standing ovation from the 600 Mariners present and of course later had to be congratulated by everybody passing through the Lido line for lunch.

Tomorrow is Tampa and the end of the first Caribbean cruise of the season. The weather was not really “Caribbean like” but no doubt it will improve.

Things worked out quite well in the end. The wind and adverse current pushed us behind schedule during the night but in the morning the current turned around and started to flow with us. By the time we passed the South point of Cozumel Island we were flying with nearly five knots of current with us. The only explanation I have for such a strong current is that the NW wind must have increased the down current on the East side of the island and that flow must have curved right back into Cozumel channel. Cozumel channel is the body of water between the island and the Mexican Mainland.

Docking in Cozumel is always an interesting affair. The piers are located quite close to the shallows and are at the same time at the edge of the Northerly current. Currently there are two piers operational. The Lagosta pier in down town and the International pier a few miles to the south. The Maya pier, that is the most southerly one, is still under repair and the completion date is set for sometime next year summer. After that the authorities are planning to build two more piers, for a total of 5 extra docking spaces. They have already extended the International pier to accommodate the Freedom class ships of RCI. We docked today inside the International pier with the Mariner of the Seas already docked on the outside.

With 15 to 20 knots of wind from the North West and more than four miles of current coming from the south, the trick is to find the balance between the two and then slowly inch the ship backwards into the basin of the dock. Backing up, or going astern, in nautical terms is here the best option as at all times you keep the nose in the wind. At the same time the Mariner of the Seas was acting as a wind catcher, so I could get the aft ship with our big funnel out of the wind very quickly. Sometimes it is handy to be a “small” ship, our bridge does not reach any higher than deck 9 of the Mariner. The sun shone all day, so also the sun worshippers had a good day, while those who do not like the heat could still be happy as the NW breeze kept things relatively cool.

Today was a late evening stay with the departure time set for 2100 hrs. This would give everybody the chance to sample some of the Cozumel night life. I did not get any reports but with the mega liners departing at 6 pm., things can not have been that rowdy in the town. Most of our guests are not known for dancing in the streets or on the table, although exceptions have occured and I have them seen coming back in a wheelbarrow………………. One of the reasons that we stay past 6 pm. is the return of the tours from the May ruins on the Mainland near Tulum. Our guests return by ferry boat across Cozumel channel and are normally back on board around 9 pm. In the past we used to stop first at Playa del Carmen with the ship to disembark the tour and then proceed to Cozumel but we found out that that sometimes we could get the tour off, but it was too rough for the ferry to come back. So you might as well go directly to Cozumel and use the ferry twice. It either can go, or it can’t.

I do like departures after dark, somehow with the shore side all lit up, is looks more festive or cruise like. Although Cozumel departure is not much of a happening, it is mainly: let go lines and full ahead. The Pilot goes off as soon as the ship is past the pier and then it is warp speed to Tampa for an early arrival. Especially later in the season when the foggy season starts, it is important to be as early as possible. Rule of thumb has it, that if you manage to get under the sunshine skyway bridge by 02.30 in the morning then you make it to the dock before the fog comes down. We will know by the end of the season if it worked for this season.

This was a very early arrival. We run a full day tour from Santo Tomas by airplane to Copan and Tikal for the Mayan ruins. The local airport has no runway lights and that means that the plane has to take off directly at sunrise so that the full length tour can be done and the plane can be back on the ground in Santo Tomas before sunset. That meant for me a 3 am wake up call for a 4 am. pilot boarding. Taking into account the sailing in time, the docking time and the time needed for the clearing of the ship, I had to be early. Santo Tomas is reached through a 6 mile long and very narrow channel. It is also very shallow and that means that you can not go any faster than about 10 knots. The water can simply not flow away any faster under the hull and more power on the propellers does not gain a significant increase in speed. What was unusual today was that it was very windy on arrival. Nearly 20 knots blowing along the dock. Wind is always the biggest enemy of a cruise ship captain and the only way to deal with it is to turn it into your friend and use it to your advantage. Thus I lined the ship up with the dock while still in the middle of the harbour and with the wind a little bit on the sb bow giving us a gentle push toward the dock, we came slowly alongside. I had to go slowly as I had only 30 feet clearance to a docked ship behind me and about 50 feet clearance to the mud flats ahead of me. However we were docked timely and the tours made it on time to the airplane(s).

I had something else to organize that morning, a donation of 150 matrasses to an orphanage. We have on board a mattress exchange program for the crew whereby on a cycle of two to three years all the matrasses in the cabins get renewed. Instead of trashing them in Tampa, we found out last year that we could donate them to an orphanage in Santo Tomas. The local navy takes care of the transport and we make a few people happy. My presence is not really needed for the off loading but I found out last year that it helps. The navy ratings are very much impressed by all the gold on display so they do not dally around but get the off loading done quickly and efficiently. The faster the better, as the Housekeeping crew has to do it in between cleaning the guest cabins so the least time lost the better it is for all. Three weeks from now we have a second donation of another 100 and that will complete this year’s exchange program.

What is also very nice here is the send off that the ship receives from the taxi drivers and the tour operators. The moment we pull the gangway, they all line up with their cars in front of the ship and start a claxon concert. I always answer extensively with the ships whistle and they always try, by combined effort, to be louder than the Veendam. Today we had also two children’s groups dancing for us, one with traditional dancing and the other group giving a samba display. For the guests it was a nice sail-away after a nice port day. The weather remained over cast with a little breeze and that meant that it was not that hot in the port. Normally the sun shines and there is not any wind at all in the whole port area. Temperatures can easily reach 95 to a 100oF with a very high humidity.

I tried to get out of port as quickly as possible as it is a very tight run to Cozumel. The schedule for this cruise is based on a Costa Maya call. However thanks to Hurricane Dean the piers at Costa Maya have been destroyed and now we have to go to Cozumel which is 90 miles more to the North. Thus I have to absorb 90 miles in my sailing schedule and that is without taking into account the wind and current that will be against me as we still have this North Westerly wind blowing since Belize. Costa Maya is supposed to be back in operation by the end of 2008. Let’s hope so.

And then the Weather changed. Predictions until late last night were given a light SE breeze with a chance of showers. On arrival at the pilot station it was blowing 35 knots from the North West. During the night a cold front has come down from the Gulf of Campeche, that is in the South West corner of the Gulf of Mexico. Normally these cold fronts move North East across the Gulf but occasionally a system just changes direction and comes SE over the Yucatan Peninsula. The weather forecasters have not figured out a way yet to predict this phenomena. This NW wind can create havoc for the ships going to Cozumel as it makes docking there rather difficult. If the wind is more to the North then to the North West it is oke but if it is more to the West then to the North West it all starts to depend on the amount of thruster power that a ship has.

For Belize it is not a problem; it just means that the tender ride is going to be a bit rough as the wind whips up the water over the shallows and that causes a short and bumpy swell. For the ship it just means that it lists a bit more when we go around the corners. To get to the Belize City Anchorage we have to go through a winding channel and that means that the wind is first on the sb side, then on the port side and then on the starboard side again. Because the course changes follow each other very quickly, there is not enough time to use our ballast pumps to correct the heel. Thus we list one way and then the other way until we make our final approach to the anchorage and can then we can find a balance against the wind and come upright again.

Belize is a unicum as here we use shore side tenders. Due to the shallowness of the bay, the distance to the port is considerable and if we would use our own tenders, then it would mean tender rides of 30 to 40 minutes. This would make it impossible to maintain a regular tender service without having to wait too long as the ship only has four tenders and you need about 10 to cover such a distance effectively. The moment the ship comes at anchor a whole armada of fast boats approach the ship of all sorts and sizes. Bigger boats for the tours, smaller boats for the independents. There is never a wait or a delay and it all goes very quickly. The boats cover the distance to the shore in less then 10 minutes and it is a very efficient operation.

Currently two cruise ship docks are being constructed in Belize. First there was only one, instigated with help of the big cruise company’s but now another contractor has started as well. The boat operators expect that when both docks become operational, the fast boats will not be needed that often anymore, so they already start to sell them and some are moving over to shuttle buses. We will have to see if it works out in the right sequence. The docks are supposed to be ready by 2009 and hopefully until that time there will still be enough boat here to cater for the days when there are multiple ships at the anchorage. We were the only ship today with more than enough boats to choice from.

On the anchorage it was very breezy, with wind gusts up to 30 knots, making it necessary to maintain a good lee side for the boats when they moor alongside the platform. Most of our guests are not boat people so they need a steady boat to safely transfer. They way we do that is by keeping the stern thruster going. We use the anchor that will keep the bow into the wind and with North Westerly wind in Belize that is the port anchor. During windy conditions the ship yawns behind the anchor. Yawning means swinging to port and starboard, to and from. The ship will move one way until the anchor chain comes taut and is then pulled back the other way. Especially with the wind blowing on the funnel, pushing against the funnel, first on one side and then on the other side, makes the ship move considerably. To stop this movement from occurring we use the stern thruster. We choose a heading about 15 degrees off the wind, set it on the computer push the button, and the stern thruster is automatically guided by the computer to keep the ship on that heading. As the bow is almost in the wind, only a little bit of power is needed to maintain a steady ship but the computer makes minor adjustments all day long. A thruster on in operation means an extra engine has to be in service to provide the power and that is not good for the daily fuel consumption. Nothing I can do about that very much as the comfort of the guests comes first.

Today was a peaceful day at sea. The Veendam is moving along with a sedate speed of 15 knots for a scheduled arrival tomorrow morning at Belize pilot station of 5 am. If we would go full out then we would be there around midnight. However there is not much too see in Belize around midnight, hence we arrive at the more decent time of 7 am at the anchorage. We have quite a few familiar faces on board this cruise, guests who could not wait for the Veendam to return to Tampa and who hopped straight back on board. Including a lady, whom we all call Mama Lou, and who has accumulated close to 3000 days sailing with us. That is not the company top scorer but 3000 days is still a very good amount.

Today I want to write a little bit about what guests seldom notice and that is all the training that goes on behind the scenes. Yes you hear the fire alarm and you see the lifeboats going down when you take a cruise but there is a lot more happening besides that. Each Holland America Line ship has a training room and we have an internet based system where the crew can do computer courses. These courses provide basic knowledge for each crewmember so that he/she can much quicker assimilate into shipboard life or into a new function. Apart from that there are more formal classes that are given by the shipboard officers and/or outside trainers. The Culinary Operations Manager gives Health and Sanitation Classes, the cellar master wine classes and even I get going and do Leadership in Action classes. These are 10 hour management trainings for two and one stripe officers on board. The company developed a course plan and book for this and some of the fleets senior officers volunteered to give these classes. They idea is that while leading the class you also pass on some wisdom that you accumulated during the years of sailing. (What sort of wisdom remains debatable ofcourse……………..)

However we also get on a regular basis outside trainers on board. Last cruise we had a fire fighter from Seattle who came on board to conduct CPR classes which included Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation training, the use of the Automated External Defibrillator and the Heimlich maneuver. During the cruise several classes were given and about 60 to 80 officers and petty officers attended. The reason that I telling about this, is, that one of our officers brought what he had learned into practice the very next day. This was our Asst. Dining room Manager who had just learned how to do the Heimlich maneuver. During the very next dinner sitting one of our guests got some food stuck in the air pipe and started to choke. By taking quick action and using the Heimlich maneuver, the foreign object got dislodged and the guest was saved from a potentially very dangerous situation.

The company strongly believes that such actions should be acknowledged and we have several ways of doing that. There is the captain’s letter of commendation, there is a certificate of appreciation from the President and there are the selection of the Employee of the Month (per ship) and the company employee of the quarter and employee of the year. I like to hand out these commendation letters as they are real morale boosters. Nothing gets an employee more going than when appreciated by his superiors and when standing out among his peers.

I am still learning how to fully utilize all the options of a web log and I just found another button on the Edit web log page that makes it possible to upload photos into the daily blog page. So here we go, the first photo that goes into my daily blog is of one of the outstanding crewmembers of the Veendam, Mr. Florin Dragomir, Asst Dining room Manager. Surrounded by the CPR trainer, our Lead Nurse, the Hotelmanager and the Diningroom manager.

We sailed timely from Tampa following the Carnival Legend back to open waters. The stretch between Tampa and Key West is very tight to make on time, so every minute counted and I kept the Veendam going as fast as the pilot was letting me. By 20.30 we were outside, heading on a southerly course towards the Dry Tortugas. The current that helped to make good speed towards Tampa last cruise, was now hindering us and as a result we arrived 30 minutes behind schedule at the Key West pilot station. Not a big problem, as I just moved departure time up 30 minutes as well, so the total time in port remained the same.

We docked today at the Navy pier. Key West used to have a big Navy presence with it’s own harbor for docking ships. The outer dock is now used mainly for cruise ships although navy ships still comes in for bunkering, repairs and R&R. There are two other docks, one opposite Mallory square and pier B opposite the hotel. These two piers were occupied by Carnival ships. The Carnival Celebration and the Carnival Legend. The latter one is one of those mega carriers and barely fits alongside. It was a dry and very warm day and most of the guests were back early on the ship and were not taking advantage of the extra time in port. Next cruise we are the only ship in port and then we dock at Mallory square which is downtown. For the Navy dock we use little trains to bring the guests to the gate as it is a long long walk otherwise.

Some of you have been asking questions in response to my daily blog, so let me answer a few.

1. Why does Holland America not have Webcams. The answer is I do not know. We have a camera on the bridge, so guests can enjoy the same view from their cabin as I have on the bridge. However the company never made the decision to hook that signal up to the internet.
2. The mascot on the bridge. This is a bit of an un-official tradition with HAL which is now slowly fading as there are no bridge tours anymore. In the past when we had bridge tours at sea and the ship was new, there would always be a nautical inclined guest who would notice the lack of a mascot. One would then duly be delivered. On the Veendam we have a moose on our bridge, which was given to the ship during the first Alaska season. It sits in a rocking chair in the bridge window with a Captains hat on. Later another guest decided that the moose should not be alone so a little otter was added which sits in the lap of the moose. Now last week I added the Schooner Beer bottle in case he would get thirsty.
3. Do I see the guest comment forms at the end of the cruise? Yes I do, I get the ratings and the individual comments are scanned into the ships network where everybody can read them. And we do, all of us. I look for patterns, comparing cruise with cruise. Details about a shower drain or salt in the soup are for the heads of department, but if week after week a specific item does not score the company standard or the trend dips, then I look into it.
We have an issue with the COB’s and that is that they are very much geared to the North American voting system. If an American thinks something is good, he/she will vote a 9. A European or an Asian will vote an 8. A German or an Japanese,will vote a One due to their countries different rating system. With Holland America getting more and more non North American guests, the COB’s (Comment on Board forms) do not exactly reflect the true impression of the cruise anymore. So currently we are in a transition mode. We are going from the current marking system of 0 – 9, to a description marking of Excellent, Good, Not Satisfactory, in several steps.

The Rating Totals go every week to the office plus a summary of the remarks. Individual praises or complaints are shared with the person him/herself, if mentioned, or with the direct supervisor. We take the COB’s very seriously and where we can, we act upon items at once.

Tomorrow we are at sea, sailing west of Cuba into the Caribbean.

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.

This was our second day at sea and we continued sailing around Florida. What wouldn’t life be easy if we had a canal straight through Florida. Then you could do Tampa – Charleston in one night. No doubt there would be a bee line of cruise ships going in an out. New Orleans to Nassau in 36 hours; the cruise business would boom even more, just on that. At midnight we passed Miami and from there we followed the curve of the Florida Keys at a distance of about 10 to 12 miles. In principle it helps to get as close as possible to the Keys to avoid any remnant of the opposing Gulf Stream current. You might even get a counter current that helps you go faster.

However the Florida Keys are a marine sanctuary that extends up to 7 miles off the coast. This area should be avoided when possible. By staying 10 miles away, you always have three miles up the sleeve to make a course change to starboard in case of opposing traffic, fishermen or Sunday Sailors. Therefore I laid my courses that far out and just hoped that the Gulf Stream ran much further to the south. Yesterday morning the Gulf Stream was not following the predictions, this time it did. The ship even caught half a mile of counter current for awhile and that improved the speed. We were now starting to run ahead of schedule a little bit and that meant I could drop that engine that I had hoped not to use at all between Charleston and Tampa.

The marine sanctuary ends at the Dry Tortugas which are the final group of islands that form part of the Florida Keys. In the old days, before the sanctuary was established, you could cut through the Dry Tortugas and that would save you about 30 minutes. Now we go around taking the longer route. From the Dry Tortugas it was one straight course to the Tampa sea buoy where I wanted to be at 1 am. in the morning. It is a long way from the sea buoy to the dock in Tampa, so you want to be early. The pilot boards normally half way up the first channel about 10 miles to the East of the Sea buoy. Sometimes earlier if there is traffic, sometimes later, if it is bad weather and they need more of a lee. I have been coming to Tampa since 1983, so I do not mind wherever they board, the further in the better it is, as the sea is much calmer inside then outside on a windy day.

The Gulf Stream is partly fed by water coming out of the Gulf of Mexico but some of this water stays to the North of the Dry Tortugas and circulates back North towards the shore of Mississippi. It is not much but if you have had a few days of SE winds, then this current can reach a velocity of .5 to .75 of a mile and on 10 hours sailing can give another 15 minutes of travel time for free. This time it was doing exactly that and it all helped with the fuel consumption. Unfortunately you can not plan a cruise schedule on this as Mother Nature is not that predictable.

Now what does a captain do on a quiet sea day? He does paperwork, inspection rounds, he judges the “whatever floats my boat” contest and goes to bed at 7 pm. Inspections are not much liked by the crew as they mean more work but are of course necessary. As explained in an earlier blog, we have the standard rounds but there are also the Captains walk-abouts who are not pre-announced and have no pattern or focused plan. I just walk around and try to measure everything against the standards set by the company. Most of the time I come across small things that tend to fall by the way side, mainly because they are in that grey area of not directly being assigned to a specific department. Hotel thinks that it is Deck, Engine thinks it is not theirs, Deck thinks it is Hotel, etc. etc.. And yes quite often the issues that I pick up on involves more then one department and fall under nobodies direct and main responsibility. I notice these and then just assign them to one department to get it done.

Tomorrow more about the “float my boat contest” and why have to be in Tampa so early. Tonight I will be up at midnight when we start sailing into Tampa bay.

Today I had my ‘battle” with the Gulf Stream. Before Charleston I had been downloading charts from the NOAA for the location of the main current of the Gulf Stream. This is called the Axis. Sometimes this location is given or sometimes the East or the West “wall” of the current. The knowledge of the location of the Gulf Stream is of acute interest to ships Captains as it helps with the speed.

If a ship is northbound through the Straits of Florida you will try to find the location of the maximum current as it can give you up to four knots of free speed. When you are southbound you try to find the edge of the current so that you have the least current against you. The Gulf Stream normally runs with a velocity of four knots at the maximum near the Miami area but it can be more during full spring tides and it can be more when the wind is blowing with the current. In the same way it can be less during neap tides and less when the wind is against the current.

This time it was not good for us. The wind had blowing from the SE to SW for awhile thus strengthening the Gulf Stream. Based on the Gulf Stream observations from the NOAA, I had brought my courses as close to the East coast of Florida as possible but for most of the day we had 2 to 3 knots against us, sometimes four. Thus while making 19 knots on the engines; the ships actual progress (that is called the speed over the ground) was more like 14 or 15 knots. Four knots were caused by the Gulf Stream running against us and another knot of speed reduction was caused by the wind which was blowing with a velocity of 25 knots against us as well. It was not until passing Ft. Lauderdale that the axis of the Gulf Stream was in synch with the observations of the day before and the ship started to get out of the current.

I was on the bridge for most of the evening, while we passed Ft Lauderdale and Miami. When sailing close to the coast to avoid the current there is not much room to avoid other ships by changing course alone so you might have to slow down. Ships coming in from starboard have the right of way and with the ports of Cape Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami on the starboard side, there is a fair chance that there will be a ship coming out of the port and that ship has the right of way. Slowing down if needed, we do of course, but it costs time and speed and thus I like to be there to support the navigator in his decision. However all was quiet, the cruise ships has long since departed, the Sunday sailors were at home having their cocktails and most small craft stayed in because of the rain.

There were numerous thunder storms in the area and the rain clouds had been hanging over the Miami area all day. You never know with thunderstorms whether they come with a lot of wind, with a little bit, or with none. We can see the rain on the radar but not the wind. Also if there is wind inside the rain cloud, it is hard to predict from which direction it will come from. This time we had one coming over with a lot of wind but for a very short period. Within 30 seconds, the wind strength rose from ten knots to 60 knots and the wind direction suddenly changed from SE to West and caught us full on the beam. This makes a cruise ship lists considerably. But there is a plan and a remedy for this. You can either steer into the wind, if the wind direction is close to the ships heading or you can steer away from it. Plus you make an announcement (sorry for the people who were watching the show) for the guests to be careful for the short period that the ship lists.

If you turn the ship into the wind, the listing stops as the wind then hits the bridge superstructure face on. If the wind is full on the beam it takes too long to turn into the wind and then the trick is to go the other way.

When a cruise ship changes course it lists over because of the turning momentum. Thus we always turn nice and slow or if a fast turn has to be made, we slow down first, as less speed means less momentum and thus less list. You can use this ship’s natural list to counteract the list caused by the wind and that is what we did. By making a fairly quick turn, the ship listed into the wind, the wind blew against it, they counteracted each other and the Veendam was back straight up again within no time. Within 10 minutes the rain storm has passed and we slowly returned to course all the time nicely straight up.

By midnight we were passed Miami and by sailing no more than 10 miles out of the coast we were out of the Gulf Stream influence and back up to our 19 knots of speed

The last time I had been in Charleston was in 2001 when I was captain of the Nieuw Amsterdam laid up at the shipyard of Detyens. The NA had been sold the year before to United States Lines with the idea to bring a more modern cruise ship under USA flag on the routes operated previously by American Hawaii. For several reasons this all went wrong and the ship was returned to Holland America. I had sailed her out and therefore it was logical that I would bring her back as well. Being captain of a ship in lay-up is in sofar unusual that you basically have nothing to do. The ship needs somebody in command but with no navigation, no guests and only normal maintenance going on, the operational activities of a captain are very limited. Now I hate it not having anything to do, so I appointed myself to being the bus driver of the little 8 seater van that we had. Everyday I went shopping for the chief engineer and the chief officer getting material for sprucing the ship back up again. A ship which been rather neglected before the company got it back. In the weekends I took groups out of the 180 crew on board shopping. We also had a shuttle bus arranged for this. A shuttle bus that ran more or less regularly. I say more or less, as one bus driver got lost occasionally and when replaced by another, this driver displayed a rather “relaxed attitude” towards time schedules. The 3rd one never showed up and the 4th one crashed the bus into a car outside JC Penny as he was on the phone to his girl friend at the same time. Finally we got one who did a good job but by then the ship was almost handed over to the new operator. In the end the Nieuw Amsterdam was chartered out to Thomson Cruises of England and I was transferred to the Noordam.

So I knew Charleston quite well and also knew that the approach was very simple, with a wide approach channel and I hoped that I could continue to make good time. During the day yesterday, we had more Gulf Stream current against us then predicted, plus adverse winds and that slowed us down to the extend that I expected to be a least 90 minutes late.

However the pilot was a bit early, I could run any speed in the channel that I wanted to and we were docked at 08.45 with the gangway out and the ship cleared. Only 45 minutes late. I had already promised the guests that we would stay an hour longer to make sure that the in port time would remain the same and now I could make that promise come true. Instead of staying from 8 to 6 we now stayed from 9 to 7. Everybody happy.

Today we had to bunker fuel oil, 1000 tons of it, which will last us almost three weeks, depending on how fast we have to sail during the coming cruises. As the price for a ton of heavy fuel oil just tipped the $ 400,– on the spot market, we were loading in about five hours over $ 400.000 worth of oil. Not too long ago the price hovered around the $ 175, — and that was during the time that the current cruises were announced with their prices. Now the fuel price has more than doubled and that of course affects the company’s profit. However Holland America has decided not to pass the higher fuel prices on, by means of a fuel surcharge on the ticket price and thus we have to absorb it somehow in our running costs. That means that the chief engineer and I are now forever looking at ways to save a bit here and save a bit there. Without it affecting the guests Cruise experience of course.

One of the ways that I can gain quite a bit is by pulling off the dock as soon as the last guest is back on board. The all on board time is always set 30 minutes before the actual sailing time and in the past we would then wait to the exact departure time before letting go the last lime. Now I am already singling up by letting go the extra lines before the all on board time. As soon as the Security officer advises that everybody is indeed on board; off we go. This works most of the time and that half an hour can sometimes save me running one extra engine. The only time it does not work, is when the tours are coming back late and then it costs extra money because I have to go faster to make up the lost time but also because I have everybody and the engines on standby earlier.

Here in Charleston we did the same thing. All on board was 19.00 hrs. and by 18.55 the ship was off the dock. We are now going to have two days at sea, bucking the Gulf Stream all the way to the Florida Keys and as we have again the wind against us, I am not expecting to make good speed and that is not good for the fuel consumption.