So we departed Tilbury at the civilized time of 8 am in the morning. As we were docked with the nose up the river we had to swing around off the berth before going down the river. With a wind force four blowing from the West and the current coming from the same direction (ebbing), I had a tugboat hooked up to the stern to act as a pivoting point while we swung around on the current. That maneuver is a bit eerie to see because while we are making the swing we are also set bodily down the river by the current. By the time we were finished and lined up, we were also about a mile downstream from the dock. From there onwards the ebb current pushed us towards open waters, four hours down the river. We passed the familiar sights, the construction of the new container terminal, Southend on Sea and finally the wide estuary of the Thames. Here we had to slow down to reduce the ships squat because we were going through the Princess channel which is very shallow, especially during ebb tide. We knew that we would have enough water under the keel, as the shallowest patch of sea bottom was exactly 7 meters under water and that is a measurement at chart datum. This is normally the lowest of the low waters and 7 meters is our draft so we only needed a little bit more to stay afloat. So I watched the echo sounder to see what the score would be this time and the meter stopped at 1.6 meters under the keel, just over 5 feet. Nothing to worry about as long as we sailed over it with a speed of no more than 10 knots. Continue reading

We are still on the multiple day stays here in Tilbury, courtesy of the fact that the original schedule was for Greenwich. As so far up the Thames the draft of the ship becomes a problem so the arrival and departure has to be done on high water and the change over day in between. For reasons extensively explained in the blogs of last year, the ship moved to Tilbury, but is still on the same schedule. That will change next year. We will still go to Tilbury but it will only be for a one day call for disembarkation and embarkation. Understandable as a revamped schedule will make it possible to either visit a port further away or stay longer somewhere. For the crew it is a pity as an overnight always gives some more time to go ashore. Still we are there for the guests and if we can optimize a cruise then we will do it. Continue reading

It was very breezy when we arrived at the North East Spit pilot station just north of Ramsgate in Kent. This is where the pilot boat is docked and where the pilots board the boat for a15 minute journey to get to the Pilotage area. This morning they had a very bumpy ride as the wind was from the North East and it pushed the waves straight into the Thames estuary. Visibility was not that great due to overcoming showers but our radars are good and the fairway is laid out with big buoys that reflect nicely on the screens. Yesterday I wrote about the guard ships around the oil platforms; these are not the only guard vessels out there. At the moment they are laying a telephone/data (fiber optic) cable between England and the Netherlands and that is quite a process. First there is a ship that plows a trench for the cable, then the cable is laid and lastly there is a ship that fills up that trench again. The cable goes about 30 feet under the sand, so it is quite a trench that it is being made. Eventually the track of this cable will be marked on the charts as a no anchor area but until that time the cable has to be protected. For this purpose there are guard ships slowly steaming up and down the track of the cable. The funny thing of it all is that the guard ships are chartered fishing boats and the biggest challenge they are guarding against are other fishing boats. Continue reading

Late last night when we disembarked the pilot and sailed out of Oslofjorden we had our first surprise, being that the weather was not as bad as expected. It was only forecast to get better, today, during the day. In the morning the wind was indeed as forecast with a Northerly wind force 5. At the same time gale force winds up to Beaufort 9 were forecast for the Dover area. So I thought, this is going to be interesting. Then to our utter amazement, the wind died down completely and the sun came out. Some remnants of the swell remained but it was eerie, so nice it was during our last afternoon at sea. I could not believe it as it went against all the weather patterns on the forecasting charts. The low and high pressure area’s around England just collapsed, filled in, petered out and disappeared. That meant that a high pressure system near Iceland could take over and in the evening it started to blow again but from the North and that meant the wind in the back and no more worries. Tomorrow it will be windy on arrival, at least at the pilot station but Tilbury is nice and sheltered compared to the coastal towns of Dover and Harwich. Still the weather is very unsettled and thus I have ordered a tugboat for docking. Continue reading

It was quite nasty outside while we made our transit through the Skagerak. Luckily the swell was nearly on the stern. Same for the wind, wind force 9 was whistling over the water but it did not do the ship any harm. Instead it pushed it forward even a bit faster. Tonight will be a different story when we have to go against it. For the time being things were with us and the seas only made the ship move a bit, when we were fully in the open between 2 and 5 am. As soon as we came under the lee of the Norwegian coast everything was quiet again. By 7 am we had the pilot onboard and were on our merry way to Oslo. Due to the distance between Copenhagen and Oslo we cannot get there much earlier and thus we have a –scenic cruising- arrival in the morning at 11 am and a departure at 8 pm when it is getting dark already. The first 30 miles or so are in wide open waters and we race full speed through it. Then by 0930 we had to slow down as we went through the narrow part and needed to avoid wake damage to the little boats moored along the shore lines. Continue reading

By 5 am we were approaching the South entrance of Drogden channel on the East side of Copenhagen. This is the shortcut between the Sound or “Sund” to the North and the Baltic Sea to the South. Ships with a draft of less then 8 meters can transit this dredged channel; all other ships will have to make a 200 mile detour via the Great Belt to the West. The Prinsendam with its draft of 7.3 meters maximum has no problems of course and thus we take the short route. The wind had indeed picked up during the night as was predicted and we had about 35 to 40 knots blowing from the South West. As there was no open water available for the wind to build up high waves, the guests did not notice it too much apart from the fact that “it was windy”. Again we had an eager pilot, coming out early, but this time I think it was more because for small boats the water was rather rough with a 1 meter swell. With him onboard the question of the day was: can we get into Copenhagen with this wind? So the pilot got out his phone and called a control station somewhere that had access to a wind meter on top of one of the Windmills located in front of Copenhagen harbour entrance. That gave 15 to 20 knots from a direction of 220o and that meant we were in business. The windmill is about 100 meters high or so and is catching more wind than the lower Prinsendam. Also a direction of 220o meant that the wind was only 10o off the general direction of the narrow harbour entrance and thus the ship would not drift very much. Continue reading

By 3.30 am. we were heading for the pilot station of Warnemunde. The pilot was in an eager mood and instead of being there at 0400 as scheduled; he came racing out and was onboard 20 minutes early. We managed to get the Boatmen on standby, just in time. These are the sailors who open the shell doors and rig the pilot ladder. Once the pilot was onboard he came running to the bridge and started giving orders straight away. I do not like that at all, as I prefer the pilots first to get their night vision, give them a proper explanation of the ships characteristics, show them the radar and other instruments and then hand the con over formally. However in ports, where the majority of ships coming in are cargo ships, this is quite often normal pilot behavior but in cruise ship heavy ports the pilots are normally accustomed to these hand over procedures. However this pilot was in a hurry and I had to feed him the information that I deemed necessary for him to know in small bites, between him talking to the pilot boat, port control, the linesmen and another unknown entity on the other side of his mobile phone. Continue reading

As forecast last night it was indeed not such good weather today. With a wind force 7 blowing from the south West, there were white caps everywhere and with the Prinsendam going against it with the speed of a wind force three, it was very breezy on the bow. Still in the Baltic it is only the wind that is a real issue. As land is never far way, the wind cannot build up a long running ocean swell and thus what you see is only choppy seas. That means that the ship does not move at all and the guests can enjoy a peaceful day onboard. A day that is much needed after having done Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm all in a row. Intensive ports for sightseeing and thus a restful day at sea to recharge the batteries for three more ports is a good thing. Another positive thing is that we can combine this sea day with the fact that today is a Sunday. We cannot always schedule the cruises in such a way that we can spend Sundays at sea, but if we can do it, it is better. On Sunday’s most shops are closed and a lot of other local services are not available and it is the ship that get the complaints. Thus a day at sea makes everybody happy. Continue reading

My normal pilot time here is 0400 hrs as that brings me to the dock just before 0800 our official arrival time. However the entrance that we use to gain access to the Stockholm Archipelago is a day light restricted one, at least for the Prinsendam. This is the South entrance which is called Sandhamn after a little town nearby. The problem here is a narrow entrance, followed by a 90 degree turn and ending with a narrow thoroughfare again. So very large cruise ships such as our Eurodam are not allowed at all and have to take the North entrance. Smaller ships as the Prinsendam with a length of up to 200 meters are only allowed during daylight hours and only small ships are allowed through at anytime. Taking the North entrance, means making a lot more miles to get there, as it is a fair distance above the south entrance. I have only used that entrance once, when we came from Vaasa in Finland last year. Our normal routine when coming from Helsinki is to use the south entrance. Continue reading

The day started the right way with me not having to get up as early as during previous calls. When it is high summer we normally have the Lapland tour by airplane and that means that I have to be docked by 06.00 for a timely tour departure. Today there was no tour, and I could arrive at the civilized time of “somewhere before 8 am” as 08.00 hours was our docking time. So instead of getting out of bed at 3 am for a 0400 pilot, I could get out of bed at 5 am for a 06.00 pilot. What a luxury. It takes about an hour to get into the port but I try to go in a little bit earlier, as traffic can delay the transit and then suddenly you are too late instead of being on time. Plus the regular speed from St. Petersburg is such that I can continue on the same speed setting all the way into the port and thus save more money on fuel by docking early. The dock fees are per call and not per hour and thus makes no difference. Although the days are getting shorter it was daylight by the time we approached the pilot station. Normally I do not mind day or night for going in or out of port but Helsinki is different. Continue reading