With all engines fired up we raced for San Juan pilot station, put him on board, made a sharp turn to starboard and sailed into the port. San Juan is one of those ports that are interesting to sail into, as the old town is right on top of the harbor entrance and then the ship curves around that area as the cruise piers are right behind it. That then gives the advantage that one can walk straight off the ship into the old town and do so just by crossing the street. We were on pier 3 today which is about as close as a cruise passenger can get. There is also a pier 1 that is sometimes used for cruise ships (on a busy) day but that pier was today occupied by a private yacht The Eclipse (and if I have my records correct, that yacht is owned by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame and is arguably the biggest yacht in the world) Opposite was the USCG cutter Bear which is too large to dock at the USCG station at the corner of the port. Then came pier 3, with the Sirena of Oceana Cruises on the West side, us on the East side, and at pier 4 west we had the Star Breeze from Windstar Cruises. This ship used to be one of the smaller Seabourn ships and was sold off to Windstar when Seabourn started a new build program. The funny thing is, that Windstar was once a subsidiary of Holland America and Seabourn still is. So it remains a sort of in the family happening with the way the tonnage is moved around. At a new terminal to the East were the Vision of the Seas and the Celebrity Summit. Those docks are far, far away from downtown and are normally used for change over days. Continue reading
Category: ms Veendam (page 3 of 3)
If there is a sustained wind, then eventually the waves will pick up, and during the night we felt the occasional bump in the road. But as the Captain had kept up the speed during the day when the seas were still smooth, by the time the “potholes” in the sea started to arrive, the Veendam had slowed enough to still provide a gentle ride. Although the weather forecast had promised a windy day, it was a lot windier than forecast. The sort of winds that gives captains grey hair, or as in my case, make them go bald. Continue reading
Today we are having a relaxing sea day while the ms Veendam sails towards Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To get there, there is only one way to go and that is directly, north of the Grand Bahama Bank and then to follow its edge all the way down. That is the straight and the direct route. There is a plan B (A good sailor always has a plan B, even if it means not sailing at all) and that is going around the Bahama Bank on its south side, north of Cuba. That is a much more sheltered route but a much longer route as well. Now we are scheduled to arrive at 08.00 tomorrow morning, if going the other way we would be lucky to make it by lunch time. Still if needed, we would do so. As we do not want a ship full of sea-sick guests. Continue reading
Captain Albert Schoonderbeek
Roatan is an island off the Honduran coast and Honduras is neighboring Guatemala, so the trip from Santo Tomas to Roatan was a short one. By 06.30 am I was laying off the pilot station with the ship, only to be advised by the ships agents that there was still unrest on the island. Yesterday there had been protest gatherings and road blocks been setup on the island by the local population. There was an argument between them and a utility company over the fees. Meetings had been taken place during the day and evening and we had high hopes that come the morning, all would have been resolved.
This was not the case. I discussed the issue with the agent and decided to wait until 0800, to see if we could get a better picture of what was going on, on the island. By 8 am. the agent advised that the police were clearing the road blocks but that there were still many unhappy protesters around and that there would be the chance of new protests. The authorities strongly recommended that the Veendam would not call at Roatan today, as they could not guarantee the safety and security of our guests. That left me no other option than to cancel the call. I know that I would have 1200+ unhappy guests on board but it is beyond the question to let guests go ashore and then to find them embroiled in a local dispute. It is not my job to provide CNN headline news with fresh material. It is my duty as a captain to ensure the safety and security of my guests at all times, whether on the ship or ashore, as long as the latter is within my capabilities.
Thus I spun the ship away from the pilot boarding area, where we had been floating for the past 1.5 hours and went on our way. As I now had a lot of time on my hands, I decided to go sightseeing. Making a bad thing less bad; which cruise guest will ever get the chance to do a circumnavigation of Roatan Island, unless they have their own private yacht? A bit of a unique experience. Later in the day it transpired that the local utility company had been privatized and had raised the prices 3 to 4 times and that got the Roatanians up in arms.
Roatan is a long and fairly narrow island. It is the top of a under water mountain range and the shore rises steeply out of deep water. One mile from the coast it is over 1500 feet deep, half a mile from the coast and the ship can run aground. Thus the Veendam leisurely sailed around the island until 14.30 in the afternoon at an average distance of about 1.5 miles; giving the guests a good look at the various little fishing villages, secluded villa’s and resorts.
Then we continued at a slow speed heading to the North West to Costa Maya, where I will arrive at the scheduled time of 8 am tomorrow. Due to the fact that Roatan is located fairly off the beaten track, there is no other port that I could have quickly sailed to, to give the guests an alternative to enjoy, provided there would have been a berth. With cruising so popular, the docks in the various ports have to be booked months, sometimes years in advance and that makes deviating not an easy solution.
In the mean time I was keeping a close eye on our Tropical depression number 17, which in the course of the night got upgraded to Tropical storm Paloma. It is expected that the system will intensify even more and might reach hurricane status. However the estimated track is still veering away from where we want to go, so things are looking good.
As mentioned in yesterday’s blog we docked early in Koper for the medical disembark. It was once again a beautiful day and that meant that this whole cruise has had nice weather everyday. Most of our guests were on tour and as Slovenia is a country that has a lot to offer so there was a great variation of tours available. The tour operators are still developing more tours as they get more experience with the American taste. Hemingway spent time in Slovenia during the Second World War and two of his books are about his experiences in the area. So a Hemingway tour is planned for the future.
For Holland America the two Koper stops were a trial and a success, as they were well received by our guests. Hopefully the ships will return here in the future. For the local pilots the arrival of a big cruise ship was still a learning experience. In Koper they normally only get slow cumbersome cargo ships. Now a very powerful cruise ship is coming in and that is something to get used to. So the pilot on arrival stood there watching in amazement the way the Veendam raced into port, swung around on a dime and then moved sideways to the dock as if it was a speedboat. It turned out that the Veendam’s bow thrusters were stronger than each of the tugboats available in port.
Koper is a short stop and by 2 pm. we were on the way for an early evening arrival at Venice. When we left we had the Bora blowing, that is a local mountain wind. It can reach speeds of up to 40 knots but is much localized. So while it was very windy at Koper roads, the moment we were 10 miles away from the port the wind fell away and the seas were flat calm again. It being a Friday meant that there we not that many sailing boats around and that saved us from dodging them all the way to Venice.
On arrival Venice we had this time a special treat as we had a lecturer on board who had visited Venice many times (she claims up to 500) and had therefore intimate knowledge of the port. During our sail into port she gave a narration from the bridge pointing out the special features and buildings of Venice and not only what they were but also why they were there. Venice still has visible traces of history reaching back to before the first millennium and it is a great thing if somebody can point these conspicuous points out while the ship is slowly sailing by.
We docked at our regular berth and this is one of the things that still amazes my colleagues working on the cargo ships. Cruise ships park on the inch. They have to, otherwise the shore side gangway does not fit into the ships side break door. If you look at the dimensions of a cruise ship, it is indeed surprising. The Veendam is 720 feet long, that is 8640 inches and that whole length has to be parked within a margin of 1.5 inch. Some ports, such as Fort Lauderdale have movable gangways in the same way as at airports. Other ports such as Vancouver and here in Venice, they are set in location before the ship arrives and the ship has to be lined up accordingly. When docking the ship I find it a sport to try to stop the ships momentum at the exact moment the security officer advises that his gangway is lined up. If I undershoot or overshoot the chief officer has to start juggling with the mooring ropes to move the ship in position. Most of the time the exercise is done in close coordination. I put the breaks on timely and the chief officer tightens up the spring lines (those are the ropes leading aft from bow and forward from stern) and the ship can not move anymore even if it wanted to.
Our voyage started as a real long voyage starts. Departure delayed due the large amount of stores and supplies that we had to take with us. Thus our departure time was delayed from 1700 hrs. to 1900 hrs. However it had the advantage that some lost luggage from guests could still make it to the ship.
Tomorrow the crew will be very busy with relocating all those supplies to their respective lockers and store rooms and to make the ship “shipshape” again below decks. The moment the last pallet (with paintings for the art auctioneer) was loaded onboard, the ms Veendam left the dock for our trans Atlantic voyage to Venice in Italy.
The departure/ undocking maneuver is always done by the captain. While the pilot is the man who knows “the land” in this case Tampa Bay, it is the captain who knows best how his ship handles. After the ship was swung around in the turning basin of Ybor harbor, I handed over the “conn” to the pilot and we sailed at various speeds through Tampa Bay. Handing over the “conn” means that the pilot is then having the conduct of the safe navigation of the ship. The ultimate responsibility of anything that might happen always remains with the Master.
Tampa Bay pilots use a numbering system to indicate their seniority in the pilot system. Thus Unit One, is the most senior pilot and if he retires, Unit Two becomes Unit One, etc. etc. There are 23 pilots in Tampa Bay and our pilot was Captain. McDonald who is Unit Three, so one of the most senior pilots in the bay. He got us safely to the pilot station by 22.30 after which the Veendam left the approach channel and set sail for the Dry Tortugas, which are the most Western part of the Florida Keys.
The weather for the first few days looks very good. Only a low swell is expected when we leave the shelter of the Bahamian islands later in the night. The North Atlantic weather can be very un-reliable during this time of the year when it is the period of change from regular winter storms to nice summer weather, thus it is difficult to predict more than three days in advance. But the first three days look good.
To be continued.
Captain Albert
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