By 8 am. we were docked at the Navy Pier, this is the most southern pier of the 3 piers in Key West. On the B pier we had the Norwegian Sky and there was nobody at Mallory Pier, which must have pleased the visitors as they like an open view from Mallory Square. It would have been possible to dock the Veendam at Mallory but it would have been very tight as the Norwegian Sky is quite a long ship. Thus the bow of the Veendam would almost have been inside the hotel on the corner to make it possible. Hence the better solution is to be at the Navy Pier where there is plenty of room. The negative part is that the Navy Pier is a long way away from down town, and you are not allowed to walk on the pier as it is still a working Navy/USCG pier. Continue reading
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Today it was a Holland America day here with only us and the Koningsdam in port. She docked at Pier 26 which is the Holland America Terminal and which is considerably larger then terminal 19 or 20. It would even be a tight fit for the Koningsdam to be alongside pier 19. But the handy size of the Veendam fits nearly everywhere and thus we went back to terminal 19 where we were last cruise as well. Easy for the guests who only sailed with us for one week, as most of them had parked in the garage just across the road. So none of the confusion we sometimes have when due to the planning of the harbormaster and the congestion of the port a ship ends up at a completely differrent place. That does not happen that often on 7 day cruises, but it does happen on 9, 10, 11 and 12 day cruises were every so often you hit the weekend cycle of the other ships and they then go to their regular berth. I have had it in the past that one week, we were at berth 19 and 11 days later we were at berth 4, which is at the other side of the Harbor basin. A logistical headache for the shore team was the result. Of course it always works out, but if one can avoid it……………… Continue reading
We lost our cork screw motion during the night, courtesy of the swell changing to a direction a bit more onto the beam and thus the stabilizers could do their job. To the relief of some of our guests, but the swimmers did enjoy the slow rolling of the pool when swimming. When the pool water gets too wild we close the pools but when it is only a gentle roll it is quite pleasant to be lifted up by the water and to be lowered again. Not for nothing are wave pools ashore very popular, there they have to be constructed with complicated equipment, here on the ships we get them free of charge whenever Mother Nature feels like it. Continue reading
We have two sea days to get back to Fort Lauderdale and today is the first one. We are sailing with the wind and the sea and thus it is perfect weather on deck. Although one guest was complaining that it was now too warm because the breeze was gone. I tried to explain the concept of following wind but that was too nautical a topic to really understand. So I tried to explain it by using a cabriolet car as an example because then you have the same effect on land. But the comment was “Don’t like open top cars”. So I did not get very far. But most guests enjoyed the fact that they were not blown all over the place, when stepping out of the shelter of the superstructure, as happens when going the other way. Continue reading
And thus we sailed out of San Juan, north and east of Puerto Rico and then south again between the east point of Puerto Rico and the west point of St. Thomas. This is called the Anagada Passage and is one of the entrances to the Caribbean Sea from the North Atlantic. Other well-known ones are the Windward Passage (Cuba / Haiti), Mona Passage (Dominican Rep / Puerto Rico) and the Sombrero Passage (Virgin Islands / St. Maarten) Tomorrow evening we will use this passage again to sail out in the North Atlantic Ocean and then head back in the direction of Florida.
Before I continue I have to correct a blog entry. I mentioned the Yacht Eclipse yesterday as being owned by the late Paul Allen of Microsoft Fame. A good reader of this blog sent me a comment (thank you) advising that the owner of the Eclipse is the Russian Oligarch Abrahamovich. This is of course correct and I should have remembered that as the Eclipse was the yacht that pinched my anchorage at St. Barts on Boxing Day when I came there with the Prinsendam in the grey mists of time. The full story is somewhere in annals of this blog either 26 December 2010 or 26 December 2011. As a result we had to deviate to Antigua. So my apologies for the confusion caused. Continue reading
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
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
And thus after 2 months of leave I joined the ms Veendam in Fort Lauderdale. The night before I stayed in the Hilton Marina which has the advantage that when you wake up in the morning you can see all the ships in the port. And that has the advantage that you can see if your ship is in, and if not you can have a lay in; in the hope that she will show up later in the morning. But she was there, together with the Eurodam, the Oosterdam and a Princess ship so today the whole port was occupied by ships of the “HAL Group” (which is a sub group of the Carnival Corporation and consists out of Holland America, Princess and Seabourn). Continue reading
Final day of the cruise. Sailing with glorious Caribbean weather towards Ft/ Lauderdale. The nice thing about it is, that it is warm but not hot. Thus the guests have a hard time deciding what to do. Sit and absorb the last sun rays before they return to snow and ice, or run around the ship and try to catch all that is going on. I got caught in the jewelry raffle this morning while doing a shop inspection and free lottery tickets had to be returned before being eligible for a prize. Somewhere the idea had come up with some guests that the tickets had to be returned as early as possible and hence a large line of Ladies were already waiting at the Promo Shop. As I am in a guest cabin I receive those free raffle tickets as well and I am always tempted to put them in, just to see what will happen. I am on the crew list as I work for the company but I am also a passenger/guest because the CBP says so as I have a visa. I am crew for training but I am a guest for my lifeboat station. So every time I see these tickets coming by, I always wonder, how would the Shop Manager treat me if I would pop up to claim my prize.
The Gulf Stream
As mentioned yesterday the Gulf Stream is rushing past Cozumel and when the ship leaves the dock it gets at once caught in the current of up to 4 knots. That current does not remain 4 knots all the time. As soon as the ship clears Cozumel Island it goes down to about 1.5 to 2 knots as the water has room to spread. Still most water stays in the axis, or center of the flow, and that is where we try to have the ship sail. Then closer to Cuba, the Captain has to make the decision to stay in the axis and catch as much current as possible or cut the corner and follow the Cuban coast near the West Point of Cabo San Antonio. Whatever he thinks that will gain the most as by Cuba there is a bit of current that helps as well. Although not as much as on the Mexican side.
That is a bit of a gamble as some of the Gulf Stream current is branching off here into the Gulf of Mexico. How much is hard to assess and thus you do not know if you get extra current (because the available water space is getting smaller again) or that you even loose some more as more water flows into the Gulf. Thus most ships including the Nieuw Statendam, sail by the Cuban Coast and then once clear try to get back into the axis of the Gulf Stream. And there it then tries to stay all the way to Fort Lauderdale. If the navigators are on the ball (and a bit lucky as the Axis cannot be predicted for a 100%) then sailing with the Axis can save a considerable amount of fuel, courtesy of the free mileage given to the ship by the Gulf Stream push. If I have make a rough calculation off the top of my head: we have received at least 48 miles of free speed and that translates in saving 15 tons and that translates in roughly 6,000 dollars. Now you will also understand why captains like a loop around Cuba, going westwards as you have, for the majority of the time, wind and current with you.
The Gulf Stream in Temperature infra red view. As you can see some of the current goes into the Gulf of Mexico, but we never know how much and we also never know how much will come back.
GULF STREAM HAZARDS
The approximate location of the west wall of the Gulf Stream as of
Dec 14, 2019 at 1200 UTC…
7 nautical miles east northeast of Fowey Rocks.
16 nautical miles east northeast of Port Everglades.
12 nautical miles east southeast of Lake Worth.
16 nautical miles east southeast of Jupiter Inlet.
This data courtesy of the Naval Oceanographic Office.
This is the forecast of NOAA for the Gulf stream and it looks as if the Gulf Stream is a bit to the East at the moment and thus the ship will have to leave the Gulf Stream near Miami and aim for the Pt. Everglades Sea buoy. The ship will do that under an angle as going 90 degrees will only cost more fuel as the current will keep pushing to the North and then you have to buck against it to remain in line with the pilot station.
This will be my last blog for a while. Tomorrow I will be flying home from Miami, as KLM now has a direct flight going from there, with an early Monday morning connection from Amsterdam to England.
I hope that you have enjoyed my daily musings for the last 10 weeks and might have even found it educational at times. (However who can beat Wikipedia?????)
Famous last words………. if nothing changes………: I will be back on the blog on February 01, when I will visit A Seabourn ship, followed by 2 HAL ships.
(See my schedule on the blog)
‘I have a few Captain’s biographies in the pipe line, including one who got torpedoed in 1941, and they should appear in the history section after the Holidays. First I have to get home as I have already been told off by my wife that I forgot to get the box with Christmas Crackers out of the loft.
Wishing everybody a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Healthy New Year.
This is the Christmas tree on the bridge. A problem for the navigators is that they cannot switch it on at night as it would affect their night vision.
Captain Albert
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