We were indeed alone and it turned out to be a very beautiful day. There was a small frontal system looming north of the Yucatan but it only made it down to Costa Maya by 15.30. Then it caused a bit of rain but as the ship sailed at 1600 hrs. it only caught those who came back to the ship at the last minute. I am already keeping my eye on Tampa, where another cold front is approaching and at the moment it looks like it that it is going to hit us right when we are at the pilot station. Continue reading

Well, we did not have fog on arrival but there was a haze hanging over the rain forest that borders the terminal. For Santo Tomas standards it was a chilly day, with noon temperatures about 10oF lower than what is normal for the time of the year. Most guests were quite happy with it as with no wind in the port it would have been a very warm day had it been a normal day. It seems that for the time being it won’t be normal at all here in the West Carib. as the next cold front is already forming in Prairie land and will start to come down the Gulf of Mexico by tomorrow evening. If I am lucky it will just have passed Tampa by Sunday but we will see. Continue reading

With the Cold front slowly dissipating behind us we arrived at our regular time at the pilot station of Belize. By 5 am. the pilot was onboard and we started the two hour long journey winding our way through the reefs towards the anchorage. One hour behind us was the Norwegian Pearl and by the time that she approached the anchorage, the Veendam was at her normal position. By being the first ship I can pick the closest anchorage in a direct line to the port without having to anchor in too shallow an area. Continue reading

We sailed with following winds and seas from Key West, crossing the Straits of Florida on a South Westerly course. The almost constant North Westerly wind from the past days had its effect on the Gulf Stream, which was located much more to the south than in the previous weeks. Thus while sailing above Cuba we lost almost 2 knots of speed, until we started to hug the Cuban coast where we picked up some counter current. Hugging the coast is a bit too much to say; we stayed about 12 miles away from the coastline. Continue reading

It is always a very tight run to Key West and I need a Northerly wind and a bit of Gulf Stream to get there before another cruise ship comes in. This time we were all by ourselves and that meant I could arrive at the pilot station with an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) that suited me. After a quiet night, the wind had started to pick up again and by the time we arrived at the pilot station it was blowing near gale force. Courtesy of the next cold front coming down. However the wind was blowing over the island and thus sufficient shelter for a safe docking. The weather was nice again but on the chilly side with this wind coming from the North North East. Continue reading

For once we were the lucky ones and the wind was getting less and less while we approached the Tampa sea buoy and compared to the 50 knots of last Sunday, the 25 knots that we now had at the pilot station was a piece of cake. By the time that we docked the wind was almost gone and it turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was hardly any wind. It was just a little bit chilly for Tampa standards but what can you expect with four cold fronts coming over in one week. Continue reading

With a near gale force wind on the bow we pushed towards Tampa. Luckily wind and waves were from the same direction and so the ship did not roll but only slightly pitched in combination with an occasional shudder when the bow hit a wave on a strange angle. Thus we had still a good and sunny day, compared with what it could have been. Although for some guests the little movement of the ship was still a bit too much. However had these winds and waves been coming at us from another angle, the ship would have been much livelier. Continue reading

It was another windy day. The cold fronts from the North are not letting up at all. At the moment the next one is forming in the Gulf of Mexico and will pass over us while we are approaching Tampa. Similar to last Sunday. The result is a continuous pattern of strong winds over the North West and Middle Caribbean. However as the wind also pushed the clouds away, it was a nice and sunny day. We arrived on the minute at the pilot station and after picking up the pilot proceeded to the dock. As I was first I had the option to pick my dock but with the North Easterly wind and swell, only docks 1 and 2 could be used. (See Costa Maya blog of last week) Thus I went for dock 2, as I was the smaller ship, leaving the easier approach to dock 1 for the Westerdam, which is quite a bit longer than the Veendam. Continue reading

The weather front was creating quite some swell in the West Caribbean but as we sailed close to the coast we did not notice it very much. Wind needs a free surface on the water to whip up the waves and when you stay close to land that free surface is not there. Thus we had the wind but very little of the associated swell and that made for a nice ride to Santo Tomas. It was a bright and early arrival as well as I had to be docked by 05.30 to get the 06.00 tour on the way. The weather front did cool things down and noon temperature was at least 10oF less than normal. Also it drizzled in the morning and in the afternoon the sun had a very hard time to peak through the clouds. Still most guests were happy with the cooler temperatures. Continue reading

It turned to be a very choppy and a mostly overcast day. The temperature did not go down to what the locals had predicted but still for Belize standards it was on the cool side. For some onboard that was just pleasant for others not really what they had hoped for. It is amazing to see how far the weather influence from the North Gulf can reach into the Caribbean. The second cold front came over Belize during the day; in the mid afternoon and thus the weather of the morning persisted throughout the rest of the day. Continue reading