Today we could all take a deep breath and relax. Time to sit down and count the number of pyramids the number of ruins photographed, and also have the time to update the dairies of where one has been and what one has seen.   Sailing on the Prinsendam is one of the best ways to see the world but it is hard work as we call at port after port and spend extended periods in those ports. So today was a relaxing day at sea; at least there was the option to do so. Still the daily program was packed with things to participate in and that means that you can still run around from early morning to late in the evening. And do not forget the bingo of course.  The Prinsendam was on a straight North westerly course from Haifa sailing towards the Greek islands. That sounds a bit strange as our next port of call is in Turkey but the Greek islands are dotted in a nice curve around most of the South West and Western part of the Turkish coast.  We will be sailing under Rhodes, change course to the North by keeping the island of Kos on the portside and then head for the sea of Marmaris. The port of Bodrum is not located exactly inside this sea but on the eastern rim, hidden in a deep sheltered bay.  Thus, until we reach that area we will be surrounded by Greece in the form of smaller and larger morsels of it in the form of large islands (Nissos) and smaller ones (Nisida). Continue reading

It is only a short hop from Ashdod to Haifa but it is stretched a bit as we have to first sail away from the coast until we come to the recommended track that leads along the coast. Then when approaching Haifa you have to angle back the same way towards the entrance of the port. Still the distance can be covered in a few hours and thus we sailed from Ashdod at 23.00 hrs by 04.30 we were approaching the port entrance of Haifa as we had been requested to be there at 05.30 because of port congestion. Due to some amazing coincidence of scheduling all ships going in and out had decided to do that during the window of 05.00 to 06.00 that did not work of course and gave the pilots a nice headache. The first cruise ship scheduled the Arion (built in 1965 for Yugoslavia and now sailing for Classical cruises) made it in as scheduled at 05.00 The plan was then to get two container ships out in the next 30 minutes. This was to be followed with us sailing in at 05.30 and after us at 06.00 would be the Golden Irish (ex Cunard Princess). To make it a real cruise port; docked already for an overnight were the Thomson Celebration (ex Noordam III of HAL built in 1984) and the Royal Iris (ex Eagle of Southern Ferries built in 1971).

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We just made it on time to the pilot station by running full out all night. The whole route from Port Said is through recommended tracks that regulate the flow of ships in this corner of the Med. This time it is not as much the safe navigation that has resulted in these routes but the security concerns of the countries of Egypt and Israel. By having all the ships following recommended sailing tracks they are much easier to follow by radar than when they are all over the place.  The tracks for approaching Israeli ports are perpendicular to the coast and that makes it very easy for the Israeli navy to track you when coming in. There are various calling in points and they do answer with alacrity when called, so they are really on the ball. Thus we sped full speed through this recommended approach lane towards the port of Ashdod which is one of the major Industrial ports of Israel. Ahead of us was a container ship which was at the pilot station earlier than us, but he had to wait for the Prinsendam to go in first. In this case I was very happy that I was given preference because for once we needed it. Continue reading

The challenge with Port Said is, is that there are two traffic streams going in and out.  One for going into the port itself;  and one for going through the canal. As the voyage through the canal is made in convoy they block any arrival and departures for the port during that period. That puts me in the awkward situation that if we leave late from the previous port; that we might arrive late here and if we then miss the arrival slot, then we have to wait about 4 hours.  That plays havoc with the tours of course, while at the same time it is are the previous tours that created the delay.  However this morning, we were nicely on time and also the pilot came out at correct the time and at the position agreed. Behind us the convoy was already assembling and the first ship of the convoy was told to be lined at 05.00.By this time it was expected that the Prinsendam was at her berth and out of the fairway. That berth is on the cabal bank.  In the old days the passenger ships would dock here on the mooring buoys and then the passengers would be shuttled ashore by local boats.  Not too long ago they put in three T piers with some dolphins so that the visitors can walk ashore directly.  The mooring buoys are still there for head and stern lines if needed. They are optimum for a ship of about 150 meters for the perfect setup of the mooring ropes, but for the Prinsendam it works as well. Continue reading

Shortly before 04.00 we put the brakes on and moved with a slow speed towards the pilot station.  The situation in front of the entrance channel to the port can be quite hectic; you approach the port by sailing through ships at anchor and you also meet various ships coming out of the port. The latter are hardly visible as the skyline of Alexandria is lit up like a Christmas tree by the numerous oil and gas refineries in the port area.  The port is stretched along the coast from SW to NE and protected by a long breakwater. The entrance is on the SW side directly in line with those refineries so it is very difficult to see any ship movement against the lit up sky line.  Finding the entrance itself is not so difficult, last autumn a container ship had a black out during a North Westerly gale and was blown onto the banks just to the west of the fairway. Thus as soon as you get the echo of that wreck on the radar you also know where the entrance is.  Once you have the ship lined up for the fairway to the entrance, called the Great Pass, then there is a very nice set of leading lights to guide you in. Continue reading

 There has been no change in our plans and we are still on the way to Egypt. Thus this morning at 06.00 we changed course under the South West point of Crete and are now heading on a straight course towards the Sea buoy of Alexandria. I am aiming for a pilot time at 04.30 and if the pilot is on time, then it will mean that we will be docked by about 06.15 hrs. Our tours are leaving at 0700 hrs. and I want to make sure that they will not be delayed due to clearance procedures. Most of them are full day tours and I need them back on board on time as otherwise it might endanger the arrival time in Port Said, where we also have full day tours. The localized windy weather is causing strange currents around Crete and last night we had for awhile 2.5 knots going with us. Then during the day that diminished but we were then propelled forward by a following wind as the wind shifted to the North West. When this wind died away in the late afternoon, we suddenly got the current against us, losing about 2 knots in the hour. That lasted for about three hours and then all was normal again. No wind and no current. Continue reading

Well the wind did dissipate but not for long.  By the time we were heading into the Ionian Sea a fresh wind started to blow from the South East and with a free surface area to play with, it was even capable of whipping up some waves. The weather cooking pot in this area had come up with a new idea. Now a whole string of little intense wind areas were forming. One in the mid Adriatic, one in the Ionian Sea, one to the East of Crete and one near Rhodes.  Intense winds, but in a very limited area, thus we had strong winds in the afternoon and evening. By early tomorrow morning it will be gone and the moment we clear the SW side of Crete we will meet the next one. That one should be with us until late afternoon and then during the night should die away leaving just a gentle breeze behind for Alexandria. We will have these winds on the side of the ship and tomorrow in the back, so even if the winds are strong it will not affect the ship too much. It is just going to be very windy. This is the first sea day of two as it is 1,173 miles from Ravenna to Alexandria. Today we spent all our time leaving the Adriatic and then sailing along the coast of the Peloponnesus towards Crete. Tomorrow we will spend crossing the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea between Crete and the Libyan/ Egyptian coast. Continue reading

Ravenna is just around the corner from Venice and to ensure that we were not drifting for a few hours, we made a nice slow turn in the Adriatic. Our Venice pilot was off the ship just after midnight and the Ravenna pilot was scheduled for 06.00 In between we plodded along with a sedate speed of 10 knots to get there.  While it takes about 90 minutes to sail into Venice, the sail into Ravenna is only a short hop.  The port itself is quite large but most of it is only suitable for small ships. The downtown berth has draft restrictions of 5.35 meters and is for ships larger than 150 meters a challenge.  To alleviate that problem it was decided by the wise men of the port authority to build a dedicated cruise terminal at the entrance of the port, just to the right of the breakwater entrance.  That meant that from the pilot station it was only 2 miles to the dock. In our case it was just a mile by the time the pilot came onboard. This new port is still under construction and that meant that our only documentation was a photo of the general lay-out, a copy of the sounding chart and the local knowledge of the pilot.  Between the chart having been made and the photo taken, work had progressed and as a result the situation was different when we approached.  Luckily the change was in our favor. More dredging had been carried out and the average depth was now 10 meters, while we had expected no more than 8 or 9. I do not need that much water with the Prinsendam but the more there is, the easier the flow of water under the keel and the quicker the ship will maneuver. Continue reading

The nice thing of an overnight stay is for a captain is that for once you do not have to get up that early. Most days start either at 4 am or 5 am. and on the Prinsendam that is nearly every day except when on the crossings.  Thus the day started for me at 0700 this morning and Venice looked exactly the same as   I left it last night when going to bed.  The other nice thing is that the crew has a better chance of going ashore. The Heads of departments normally tinker a bit with the scheduling so crew who normally have a hard time getting ashore under the regular 9 to 6 port schedules, now have the chance as well.  I am really try to encourage that as much as possible and when we come to Egypt and the Holy land we will even be running special crew tours for the ships ratings. Normally crew tours are monopolized by the concessions and the entertainment department as they are free in the ports. Except ofcourse when there are drills and some skeleton duties to perform. For cabin and dining room stewards , deck and engine personnel it is much more difficult as they work shift hours that continue around the clock, regardless of whether it is a port or a sea day.  So two days in port is a welcome interlude in those busy routines. Continue reading

After leaving the bad weather behind, the Adriatic Sea slowly returned to a flat surface and by late evening we slid with slow speed through a mirror like sea again. Near Venice all traffic heading that way, from the West side of the Adriatic and the Eastside of the Adriatic, end up there in a sort of round-a-bout. Venice has two port entrances, the one that leads into Venice itself with the option to continue on to Marghera and a 2nd entrance to the south for tankers and cargo ships to go to the Marghera area as well and the town of Mestre just to the west of Venice. As a result it can be quite hectic there, Italian hectic. However this time it was quiet and our approach was only marred by the presence of fishing boats. As is an established fact worldwide, the fish likes to sit where the deep sea traffic goes and as a result the fishermen sit on top of them. Still, when we came closer they all had the good grace to move out of our way. I remember vaguely that the Italian Coastguard had a go at them a few years ago when some of them complained of being run over by merchant navy ships. Since then things have improved considerably. They were simply told to stay or move out of the Traffic Lanes when there was big ship traffic and not to come complaining to the coastguard about hairy situations that they created by themselves. Whatever was discussed, it seems to work. It is a lot less problematic now then 10 years ago. Continue reading