Chile is the longest and narrowest country in the world and that “longest” part we are now noticing ourselves. For the last 24 hours we have been sailing down the coast on an almost direct southerly course just outside the 12 mile zone so we can keep the casino open. Even if we did not have a casino, this would be the average distance as well, as occasionally the Chilean coast has a cape or peninsula jutting out of the coast surrounded by reefs and pinnacle rocks, so it makes sense to keep a good distance. The weather took a turn for the worse this morning by completely clouding over which dropped the average temperatures considerably. The frontal system lying over Robinson Crusoe Island is pushing these clouds further up North. Also the swells are more pronounced than yesterday and the ship has been pitching gently all day long. Continue reading

The lay out of the dock of the port of Iquique was almost identical to that of our last port Arica. Again an L shaped breakwater with a smaller pier inside but just a little bit bigger. The bad news was that there was a fishmeal processing plant on the pier where we docked. The good news was it was not in operation as they were carrying out maintenance. So although there was a distinctive smell hanging over the port it was not unbearable. Yesterday on arrival we had Sea Lions honking (that might be the wrong expression for a sea lion call but that is what it sounded like) at us on arrival and this morning we had seals frolicking around the ship when we came in. We had them again on departure and then they found the cooling water exhaust of the main engines. The out flowing water must have been enjoyable as they kept playing in it. I am all for wild life around the ship but it did make the maneuvers more difficult as you do not want to get one of these graceful animals caught in the bow thrusters. So we floated in and out of the port a little slower then I am normally used to. Continue reading

Today we were in Arica Chile. Well just inside Chile, barely inside Chile as a matter of fact, as the Peruvian border is only 11 miles to the North. That meant we still sailed along the Peruvian coast for the whole of the night until we passed the border about an hour before we picked up the Arica pilot. The port of Arica is basically nothing more than an L shaped breakwater sticking out into the sea and where the ships dock at the inside of that breakwater. Recently they have added another pier to it on the inside but only for small drafted vessels. Thus we docked at the inside of the breakwater and once again we were lucky with the weather and the swell. It was a gorgeous sunny day with temperatures in the mid seventies and with a very long ocean swell that was running under such an angle that there was no swell in the port at all. The little town of Arica is located just outside the gate and thus for those who were not going on tour there was something to do as well. Continue reading

Today we were following the coast of Peru on a South Easterly course. The continent is starting to taper off now and will eventually end at the point of Cape Horn. With going more to the East you get the time changes. We gave one hour forward last night and there will be one more the coming night. That will bring the ships time to GMT – 3 hrs. or onto local Chilean time. GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time and on that standard time the nautical world is based. In Greenwich is also the Zero meridian which divides West from East and from there we count minus hours to the West and plus hours to the East. The zero meridian was an artificial decision to sort out the world’s times issues. They could as well have chosen Amsterdam or Stockholm and for awhile the French had their own Zero meridian which of course ran over Paris. However the nautical world has settled on Greenwich and the shipping fraternity works with GMT. Continue reading

Today we were visiting one of the most peculiar ports of our cruise. Our official call was for the Pisco area to give our guests the option to visit the Nazca lines. However neither Pisco nor its little neighboring town Paracas has a harbour and thus we docked at General San Martin or Puerto San Martin at the other side of Paracas bay. Due to long ocean swells rolling in, it is not possible to tender either into Pisco or Paracas. San Martin is the only option as it offers some shelter against this swell. We were calling on a good day. The expected wind did not come through but still the ship surged against the dock; occasionally sending a shudder through the ship when the ships rubbing stroke bumped into the dock. In dry – dock we had given the hull a new blue coating but at the end of the day nothing was left and the bare steel on the rubbing stroke fully exposed. And this was a good day…………….. Continue reading

During the past night and this morning all our embarking guests made it safely to the ship then still having the chance to go ashore during this 2nd day in Callao. The weather remained the same as yesterday and that made more or less perfect sightseeing weather. The chemical tanker in front of us departed during the night and was replaced in the morning by two Chinese fishermen, who started discharging their catch. These are not small boats but floating fish processing plants with up to a 100 crew and the catch that was being off loaded was already chopped up in parts and deep frozen in the holds. While alongside the deep frozen catch was loaded into freezer containers and transported inland. I do not know where it was sent to but there are large processing plants in the Callao area so the fish might have been taken there. Continue reading

Callao is the port for Lima, Peru. The capital of Peru is just up the road but the fisherman’s place that Callao once was kept its name when the whole area rose to prominence and Callao and Lima got linked up together. As explained yesterday the whole port is under reconstruction now containerization has also taken over South America as the preferred mode of transport. The cargo sheds (Bodega’s in the Spanish language) from the old general cargo days are disappearing to be replaced by flat concrete surfaces for container stacking. As a result the old passenger dock, pier 5, is now not in use as such any more and the Prinsendam will dock at 11, which is a general cargo and bulk dock but which is made passenger friendly by adding some souvenir shops and a taxi parking. Part of it has not been completed in the area where were docking; the pillars of an old breakwater have not been removed yet and that means that I did not have the whole basin to play with. Continue reading

The weather did not change very much and it was a really pleasant day at sea. Partly cloudy but with temperatures in the mid 70’s so perfect cruising weather. The only thing was a slight increase in the movement of the vessel, mainly the pitching. Although the weather charts do not indicate that much of a wave field, I think this swell is coming through all the way from the Southern point of South America, where the weather is truly atrocious at the moment. However it looks that it will slowly get better and thus we could be lucky by the time we leave Valparaiso. Continue reading

The mileage to make between Manta and Callao is one of those distances that do not work in 24 hour sailing periods. It is too long to do it in one proper 24 hour section and too short to race full speed and arrive at a decent time. Hence we have two leisurely days at sea while we follow the coast of Peru on the way down to Lima. With a Grand Voyage cruise it is not only about visiting ports but also about the life on board with its parties, good food and entertainment. The latter is not always about just sitting back and watching somebody sing or dance or joke but also about learning something about where the ship is, about were we are going and about things of general interest pertaining to the area. Continue reading

Approaching Manta was an interesting affair, as we could not see the port at all. Looking towards the horizon we saw a brilliantly lit up sky line full of yellow city lights interspersed with the clear white deck lights of the Tuna fishers at anchor. As the port only consists of a few very low piers, the radars did not reflect a very clear picture making it hard to pin point the harbour entrance. Thus we relied on the GPS for our initial approach and when coming closer tried to recognize the lighthouses on the coast to take bearings and to find the exact spot of the harbour entrance. The light house on the corner of the port was supposed to be visible from a distance of 6 miles but it was not until we were less than four miles away that the red light came through and we could steer for the breakwater. Suddenly the pilot called; and this was a new one for me in South America, that he wanted to come onboard earlier than was arranged. Well no objections there, so I kept the speed up. However then he could not keep his own time schedule and by the time he stepped onboard; I was already turning the Prinsendam into the harbor. Continue reading