Today we are sailing along the South East part of Yemen and tomorrow we are turning into the Gulf of Aden and from there into the Red Sea. Bab El Mandab should be visible tomorrow afternoon if we continue with this speed. So hopefully we will be able to see the rock formation but it will depend on the traffic which all has to converge there due to the narrowness of the fairway. More about that tomorrow. We are still quite a ways from land and thus there is not very much to see except that the wind picked up during the night and we now have white caps with a wind force 4 (up to 16 knots) sometimes breezing up to 6 (20+ knots). It is a following wind so it does not matter for the ship as the ship is traveling with the same speed as the velocity of the wind and thus it is nearly wind still on deck. The wind is from the North East and has been blowing over warm areas and thus it is a warm wind, making it nice and toasty outside. Continue reading
Category: Shipboard Info (page 12 of 13)
We are now on our way to Al Aqabah which is a five day sea voyage up the Gulf of Aden and then into the Red Sea. Eventually I hope to report if the Red Sea is indeed red or if there is something different going on (Or was going on, when they came up with the name). But that will take a while as of lunch time today it was still 500 miles to the Bab El Mandab rock formation which forms the official entrance to the Red Sea coming from the south. We are sailing at a considerable distance away from the shore line, to stay in international waters but also to stay away from fishing boats and other mayhem which tends to congregate on the edge of the deep water to shallow water. That is where the fish tends to come to the surface and might swim straight into the nets. Continue reading
Well, the weather system moved towards us quite rapidly and created a bumpy ride during the night. It also brought enough wind on the starboard side of the ship (As with Trade winds strong or weak it all comes from the East and we are going north) that he captain gave the orders to close off the outside decks on the starboard side. The reason that we are doing this is not so much that guests cannot walk or stand against the wind but because of the angles of the wind. You have to push hard to get the wooden doors to the open decks open against the wind. Not all guests are good at that. But then you have to step through and that is when a lot of guests run into problems. While stepping through the door normally moves a little bit and then it gets the full blow of the wind with a varying angle. And that full blow is then of a different force (due to the angle of the door) than when you started pushing the door open. Guests often do not realize that and with a bit of bad luck the door slams shut again. With or without a part of a guest in between……………………. Continue reading
When I was on the Zuiderdam I blogged about the ships movement when going from Aruba to Cartagena and from Cartagena to Panama. The strong Trade Wind pushing in the back and the subsequent waves & swell caused a corkscrew motion of the ship. All with the stabilizers doing their best but limited in their success. On this run we are going the other way. So we do not have following seas which catch the square stern and lift it up; now the sea movement hits the pointy bow and lifts it up. The result in a similar movement but at the same time different. Continue reading
It is about 500 miles from Punta Arenas to the Panama Canal and that is too much to do during one night. So we have a relaxing day at sea with nice weather and a little bit of following wind which blows along the ship towards the bow. It gives the positive effect (at least for the Bo ‘sun) that the birds cannot land on the forward light mast as the flow is wrong. They keep trying it but time and time again they have to abort as they cannot take in their wings while landing. If they do that, then the lift they normally still have, when going against the wind, is gone at once as it does not push against the feathers but just glances over it and under it. For the bridge team it brings a bit of diversion as the acrobatics are sometimes quite comical. What does amaze us all is that the birds do not seem to remember what happened to them 30 seconds ago. They take off after an aborted landing, swerve out to open sea, and about 30 seconds there comes the new attempt. Which is then aborted again as the wind had not changed. And so it went on and on all day. Continue reading
Puerta Chiapas can be a problematic port due to the swell that can run straight into the entrance. A swell from the West, North West or South West can cause such a surge in the entrance that a ship cannot safely enter. The swell rolls in and bounces back from the Eastern Sea wall and then sometimes bounces back from the Western sea wall as well. The fact that the entrance is barely 35 to 40 feet deep exacerbates the problem even more as the swell energy cannot be absorbed by deeper levels of water. If the swell is high and a ship would go in, it would be exposed to a rolling motion as if you are being rocked in a cradle on steroids. Continue reading
The wind fell away during the night and then the seas quickly abated and thus today we had a normal sea day. That made for a busy day in the shops as quite a few of our guests had to catch up on souvenirs and logo wear for at home. In the Canal the shops had a stand on the Lido deck with Panama Canal logo wear and trinkets and some of it was also on display in the shops today. Looking at the activity today, ……………..it was good to have a backup day………………….. The 900 people of the Canal tour had to catch up sometime.
I am currently involved in a whole series of refresher courses for the crew. They get training and refresher courses from their Team Leaders but a new face (or in my case a very old face) in front of the group helps to re-focus. Plus if there is anything going on that the crew is worried about, or finds that it needs attention then I normally get to hear about it during these trainings as they all know that I have direct lines going everywhere. The Zuiderdam is a happy crew, and so is the crew on the other HAL ships. And the company works hard to keep it like that. Plus the door of the Captain and the ships staff is always open. But ships crews are sailors. And sailors gossip, moan and groan and complain. And moan and groan they do. And they like to moan and groan to me, as I stand with one foot in the ship and with one foot in corporate. Continue reading
We had good hope that the swell would have started to die down but it was in vain as the wind decided to breeze up. We are already on the windiest side of the Caribbean Sea as the wind has miles and miles of sea to increase strength, but then with a frontal system in the area, it can breeze up even more. And it sure did. By mid-morning we had a force 6 to 7 blowing (A seven is near gale force) and that whipped up the sea and the seas whipped up the ship and thus the ships movement continued. It is not just regular rolling (the stabilizers are dealing with that) and not regular pitching as the waves are not directly on the bow or stern but this is a jerky movement. Ship is still and then it goes for a jolt. It does a light pitch (a sort of small up and down) and then another jolt. It does not really make you sea-sick, although the ship was quiet today, but it makes you sort of tired after a few hours. The constant focus of keeping yourself upright and on a straight path takes its toll. And thus napping was this afternoon a very favorite past time. Continue reading
As described yesterday, we applied the “blow away maneuver” and the wind did not disappoint us. Within no time we were far enough away from the dock to swing around and to head to the North West. Our route in this situation is a bit peculiar as we go from Aruba to the East, to visit Curacao and then from Curacao to the West, passing by Aruba again. It would make more sense to call at Curacao first and then sail to Aruba, as from Aruba we go further west to Panama. It would save about 200 miles in fuel. Or about 70 fuel tons * $ 420 = $ 29,400 which none of us likes to spend. Continue reading
Today we had our first sea day with beautiful weather and it looks like it will remain so. The frontal system of yesterday dissipated and the next one coming will only bring thunderstorms on Monday and we will be in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday. And that should be a warm day as normally between systems the wind dies down. The route we are taking runs roughly along the east coast of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico before we reach Cuba and the Straits of Florida. I use the word roughly as it is not a straight course. Continue reading
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