- Captain Albert's Website and Blog -

Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

Category: Uncategorized (page 3 of 9)

20 July 2018; Stavanger, Norway.

July 20, 2018 / / 2 Comments

Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway and although North Sea oil operation is a little bit in the doldrums at the moment, it is still an important part of the economy. It made Stavanger very rich and created very good living circumstances for the locals. Hence there are sufficient hotels to stay in and the company had no problems finding me a place for two nights. Today real life starts again as the Koningsdam promptly docked at 08.00 in the port at the same spot where the Seabourn Ovation was parked yesterday. But where the Ovation was docked bow in, the Master of the KODM preferred docking Nose out so the ship had its stern toward the end of the port basin. There where all the food stands were yesterday and still are today. I assume that the Festival will last until Sunday evening at least.

The old port of Stavanger. Yesterday my own photo of the Seabourn Ovation, this time a screen shot from the port webcam. In port also two museum ships, left the coastal steamer Roggaland, and to the right a slightly younger version the Sandnes. Both now in use as restaurants and exhibition centres. (Photo courtesy: Lesley Schoonderbeek, who has no hesitation to use Big Brother to try and keep track of me)

The Koningsdam is sailing to Norway for most of the summer and is now ending one of those cruises. Stavanger is the last port of the cruise and on the 22nd of July she will be back in Amsterdam to commence another 7 day cruise.  The ship is now two years old and this time on board I will find out what has changed in those two years, if anything.  What will be of even more interest is her sister, the ms Nieuw Statendam, coming out in December. The company has already said that there will be a number of changes based on the experience with the Koningsdam. Knowing Holland America then those changes, if successful, will also be applied to the Koningsdam. And this process will keep rolling forward when sister nbr 3, (which I call the X-dam for the time being) comes out in 2021.

Captain Werner Timmers in a glamour shot taken during a cruise when Oprah Winfrey sailed to Alaska. (Photo courtesy: Holland America Line)

The Master of the vessel is Captain Werner Timmers, who I already know from when he joined Holland America back in the grey mists of time. He then followed me up the promotion ladder as he joined the company a few years after me. His previous ship was the Eurodam and has now come over after the latest “Musical Chair” operation from Nautical Operations to the Koningsdam. One of the two earlier Koningsdam captains is now in the shipyard for the new build of the Nieuw Statendam and the other one is currently instructor at our simulator in Holland. Sometime in the future he will then rotate back into the fleet.  The alternating captain for the Koningsdam is Captain Noel O’Driscoll, lately from the Veendam, who will take over later in the season.

From Stavanger the Koningsdam will sail straight south to Amsterdam and tomorrow we will spend our day in the North Sea. Sunday morning will see an early arrival at the pilot station as from there it is about four hours to the Cruise Terminal in downtown Amsterdam.

I will be on board until August 05 and the plan for me is this time to focus on drills and provide training when I observe weak spots. And yes we will be messing around again with tenders as the sailors are very eager to get their licenses renewed. One afternoon of Captain Albert is much more pleasing than a repeat 5 day course in Manilla if their license is expired.

Middle and southern Europe is suffering at the moment under a heatwave and that makes the prediction for the weather for the coming days, quite easy, it will be warm and sunny.

28 June 2018; Naples, Italy.

June 28, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It was warm today but it was also a sort of perfect Naples day. Not a cloud in the sky and when the guests walked ashore they could see the sun brightly shining on the City and the Castle which guards the city since about 800 years or so. They are still working on the metro.

If you car is small enough you can always find a space. Even in Italy.

There was a very large hole in front of the Stazione Marittima when I was here in the autumn of 2017 and they have since progressed to making the big hole a bit smaller. And if you make the hole smaller what do you do with the available space: you put cars on it. I think that here in Italy they are all striving together to get the Guinness world record book of how many small cars can you put in one space. Most Italians, who live in the city, buy a small car so they park sideways and have two cars fit in one parking space. While the rest of the world gets 200 cars in a car park of 200 spaces; the minimum for Italy is at least 400 not counting what then still fits in areas with white – no go – stripes. Everyone can park on these stripes, as it seems that the Italian Traffic Code says, that No Go means that your neighbor can not go there, not you.

One of the reasons for the slow progress of the metro is because of the slow digging. With each inch they go deeper into the ground, they find more and more of the past and that has to be excavated and researched first. Not just what is found from the Romans days, (old fortifications and even ship’s cargo) but also from later dates as Naples had quite a turbulent history.

I pulled this one off the internet as it shows the ruins of the days gone past. It is part of the original settlement of Naples and it is the plan to keep this on view once the metro is finished and it will then be surrounded by a park.

My Italian is not that good but I saw not too long ago a headline in the newspaper indicating that the construction of the Metro had gone over budget. I am not amazed. How can you budget without knowing how much you are going to find back from the old days, apart from knowing that it will be plenty? So I expect it will take some time before we can walk off the ship and use the new station.

If I re-collect correctly, this used to be the first class customs hall. As in the good old days a first class suitcase did not mingle with a 3rd class bag.  There were separate handling areas for the classes.

I tried this morning to get into the old part of the Terminal. The Stazione has been refurbished in the last few years and there are now restaurants and shops but certain areas are still original and used for meetings and civic activities. But the old architecture in Mussolini style has not been touched. The rooms were in the old days where the passengers waited in 1st, 2nd and 3rd class waiting rooms or where they went to immigration and customs when arriving. For an historian as me; fascinating to see. But my trying was in vain as all the rooms were booked for the day so I will try next week again.

The way it looked when the terminal was only just built. They want to try to return part of the piazza back to a park as it once was.

The port of Naples has always remained the same. Towards Vesuvius they have added container docks but the passenger terminal and the ferry terminals are still as they were 80 years ago. At the west side are the small ferries going to Capri and the other islands and at the east side the large ferries connecting with Sardinia, Sicilia and Corse. (Plus a lot of other destinations). But the passenger terminal is now the cruise terminal and all cruise ships have to go there. We were by ourselves today but with a bit of organization they manage to get 4 big ones alongside and even more small ones. The port and the city can absorb an infinite number of tourists (going in the city itself or to Capri or to Pompeii) the terminal is another matter. They have made a gallery on each side of the terminal and installed gangways so it is easy to get off the ship. But at each end there is only one Elevator down to ground level. And that elevator does not always works. There (for those in the know) is a personnel elevator around the corner but not really well sign posted. Thus when there are more ships in, the areas around these elevators become a real mobility center with each and every variation of scooter, rollator and wheelchair on display. I have always found it too embarrassing to take a photo but I have seen traffic Jams of irate guests trying to get out or back in the terminal while using an elevator with a mind of its own. And there is very little that can be done about it as the terminal is a listed historical building and they cannot just glue another one onto the outside.

The Oosterdam alongside with the gangway on the catwalk, basking in glorious sunshine. Today the elevators were all working; at least this morning when I was briefly ashore. Note the bronze horses on the top of the roundels. all original from pre WWII. Parking inside here is only for (important) permit holders so there is always space.

Tomorrow we are in Civitavecchia, gateway to Rome. Most of our guests will be leaving us here and the ms Oosterdam will start voyage 656 which will lasts 12 days and will include ports in Greece.

Weather for Civitavecchia: Warm and sunny with 80oF / 27oC and 1% chance of rain.

22 June 2018; Kirkenes, Norway.

June 22, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Maybe some of us have been naughty boys and girls in the recent days as the weather Gods are still not with us. We were all very hopeful while docked in Honningsvag that the weather at the North Cape would be half decent but it was not to be. The moment the ms Prinsendam poked its bow around the corner of the east end of the town area, a dirty grey wall was lying over the water. Due to a remnant of the Gulf Stream reaching all the way up here, the water in the Barentsz Sea can have just a slightly different temperature than the waters more inland. If it is a sunny day than the low hanging clouds that hang around the North Cape burn away and a stiff cold breeze from the Arctic will do the same. Neither was happening today. There was a bit of wind but nothing drastic and a dense cloud formation remained over the North Cape area. So no North Cape to be seen and hence the plan was aborted and we trundled on our next port of call Kirkenes.

You can reach Kirkenes from open water through its own fjord.

Kirkenes is tucked away deep in a fjord which gives it a nice shelter from the raging elements in the winter. The name of the town is derived from a church built here in 1862 and it means Church Headland. Its claim to fame is fishing like most other Norwegian ports but there is also an amount of mining going on which can be seen from the dock.  Although being very small, roughly 2000 inhabitants, there is quite a bit to see and for a tourist as the town was much involved in  2nd world war and was liberated by the Russians.

The Red doors are the local fire station and the church or kirk of Kirkenes can be seen as the brown top towering over the town center at the right hand side.

The border is only just down the road. The town is named after the church but when looking from the ship it looked as if at least the port area was built around the local fire station.  I suppose necessary as this area has dry spells as well but taking the weather of the last days in consideration I think that Mother Nature is much faster in extinguishing fire than the Fire brigade. But as it is in most countries the fire brigade does much more than just messing around with fire; they double up as paramedics, and in areas where there is a lot of water, they are often involved in fishing people and items out of the water. Here in Kirkenes they have an extra duty and that is the one of linesmen.  Yes, they were the gentlemen who tied is up this morning. To my disappointment, no roaring fire engines and flashing lights on the dock, not they came walking as the fire station is across the street.  Sensible I suppose as a regular fire engine is quite heavy on petrol consumption.

This is what I mean with long lines. It kept the bo’sun and his sailors busy all morning, as there is a good tide over here as well, courtesy of the fact that the port is laying deep in a fairly narrow fjord and that pushes up the water coming in.

Tying the ship up today was a rather long winded affair. Not because of the fire brigade, they were professional enough, but because the dock was too small, even for our Elegant Explorer. And that meant long lines to the main land away from the dock. Most docks in the smaller ports of Norway are created to fit the size of the local ferry system called the Hurtigruten. That was the case yesterday as well. The Costa Pacifica next to us was only alongside with 50% of the hull sticking out and the stern lines were all going on buoys, installed especially for that purpose. And it has been the same in all the other smaller ports I have visited in the past, with the exception of Oslo, Bergen, Alesund and Stavanger, which either have a lot of deep sea traffic or are deeply involved with the North Sea oil drilling.

One of the local ferries belonging to the Hurtigruten system. As a lot of people now take the ferry service as a cruise, they start to resemble more and more a cruise ship. But even in the current days of airports everywhere, they still form a life line for the isolated communities.

One of the local ferries came in this morning, the Kong Harald, named after the King of Norway and if you look at the size, you can see it is compact so it fits in all these little ports. The Hurtigruten ferry system runs from Bergen up to Kirkenes and back again and makes daily calls. As they can sail most of the inland fjords, their service is very reliable even during bad winter storms. My lord and Master did two cruises on one of these little cruise/ferries as the newer ones double up as cruise ships to see the Northern Lights. If you ever plan to make a cruise with them, three pieces of advice: 1. Bring your own booze with you, (Prices for a G&T are astronomical) 2. Book a cabin away from the gangway as these ships are on a time schedule as regular ferries and also dock in the middle of the night sometimes just for a few hours. 3. Take lots of warm clothing and more than you think that you will need. (You need to layer yourself as it gets really cold here in the winter)

Tomorrow we are in the port of Hammerfest which seems to be even smaller than Kirkenes. I say seems to be as I have never been there. Weather: Overcast with a fair chance of showers. Temperatures a balmy 08oC or 47oF with a gentle breeze.

 

26 April 2018; Bay of Biscay, Enroute to Brest, Day 2.

April 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Today we had the silence before the storm. We are expecting a lot of wind tomorrow and the captain has decided to go pedal to the metal to Brest and dock as early as possible. If not then there would be a good chance that we would arrive together with the storm and then we would have had to cancel the port call. In agreement with the local authorities the current” read” on the weather is that if we are safely docked before 04.00 hrs. we should be ok. So the ms Rotterdam is aiming for the Brest pilot just after 2 am and to be all fast before 3 am. And then it can blow as much as it wants.

The wind is increasing while the system is slowly moving into the English Channel.

At this moment (1600 hrs. GMT) the depression is slowly approaching and is about 450 miles away from the French coast. The first strong winds are expecting to hit Brest around 04.00 hrs. and then the worst is expected between 10.00 hrs. – 15.00 hrs. with 40 knots wind gusts from the West. After that is should diminish very fast. 40 knots of wind is not a big deal for a ship to be in while at sea or while safely tied up in port but it is too much to have it blowing that hard when you want to dock. Hence our early arrival. And by the time we leave around 17.00 hrs. the wind should be manageable again.  Then we sail to Cherbourg and there we should have a nearly wind free visit. The “silence after the storm”.

Stabilizer diagram. Thank you Wikipedia.

Same as today; the Bay of Biscay is nearly wind free. Just a slight ripple lies over the waves and the under laying swell. The ship is moving a little bit and the stabilizers are getting a very good workout. There is a long rolling swell coming in from the North West. From the part of the North Atlantic Ocean where depression after depression is still moving from Cape Hatteras to Northern Europe.  We have about 3 meters running and it is a long running swell, nearly full on the beam and the stabilizers are not always able to cope with every movement. That has nothing to do with the quality of the stabilizers which we have here on board the Rotterdam but the principles of the system.

Stabilizers are controlled by a gyroscopic system. A gyroscopic (basically a fast turning ball) works on the principle that a fast spinning ball is always trying to settle on a flat horizon. Because of this you can use it to measure the difference between that artificial horizon and the angle that the ship has in relation to it. Once measured you can send a signal to two stabilizers or four, (The Queen Mary 2 has two sets due to the weight of the ship, the ms Rotterdam has one set) and they then counter act the rolling motion.

They create lift in same way an airplane extends its wings for taking off or landing. Apply that lift opposite to the way the ship is rolling and you can reduce the roll. But as the gyroscope has to sense the angle and then send a signal to the stabilizers it is always slightly running behind the facts. Also if there is suddenly an extra high or low wave hitting the ship, it will react to it after it has measured the angle and then let the stabilizers go to work. They are hydraulic and that takes time as well.

The stabilizer of the ms Rotterdam. Seen here in drydock in 2015 before it was painted,

Based on this concept the stabilizers establish a sort of average working mode against the regular movement = rolling of the ship =. Hence it is considered to do good work if the dampens out 90% of the roll caused by the waves. If the ship would roll 5 degrees without, then the movement will be reduced by 90% to about 0.5 degrees. An unexpected higher wave will throw the system off a little bit until that movement is taken into account for the averaging.

The first stabilizers were proposed in the 1930’s but they showed up on the first passengers ships in 1951. The Media and the Parthia of Cunard, passenger – cargo liners were the first to have them installed, more as a test than anything else. But it worked very well. Then it very quickly became a standard feature of all the new ocean liners and cruise ships built.

The ss Media of Cunard Line. A passenger Cargo Combi liner for the intermediate service. (Photo Courtesy: Mrs. Robina Herrington)

I do not think we had a single ill guest on board because of the movement as all the activities going today were choc-a –bloc with people. Even Rummi-Cub was standing room only and that is considered a minor event among all that is going on.

In the meantime the good ship ms Rotterdam is racing through a quiet Bay of Biscay with an average speed of 23 knots. It is doing so on a more or less straight course and the more or less is caused by whales who are getting in the way. Luckily they are not in large groups and thus the navigators can easily dodge them.

Tomorrow we are in Brest and it will be a windy day with quite a bit of rain in the planning as well.

08 April 2018; Tampa, Florida.

April 8, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Captain Bas van Dreumel, Master of the ms Rotterdam (VI)

And here we are on board the ms Rotterdam (VI) of the company docked in Tampa, Florida. The ship is starting a final seven day cruise to Key West, Roatan, Santo Tomas de Castillo, and Costa Maya and back to Tampa. Then she will commence a transatlantic crossing and if we have smooth seas and following winds we should arrive in Rotterdam on the 30th. of April.  I will start today my 127th. cruise from Tampa today and so I can rightfully say about this port, been here, seen it and have bought the T-shirt.  I will be here on board until 30 April for training, reviews, inspections and audit on behalf of the captain and anything else that might be useful for the ship and its operation.

The Master of the vessel is Captain Bas van Dreumel who I last met on the Maasdam last year and who took command of the ms Rotterdam today taking over from Captain Eric van der Wal. Captain van Dreumel is a homegrown captain which means he started his career with the company as a cadet some 20 years ago. His biography can be found on the blog site here under Captains and their current schedules.

The ms Rotterdam (VI)) was the first of the R-class ships and entered service in 1997 shortly after we retired the Rotterdam (V). And as she had the name Rotterdam and was at that time the largest ship in the fleet she automatically became the flagship of the company. Then it became a bit more complicated as Holland America created the Flagship Class with the arrival of the ms Amsterdam (III) in 2000. Now the meaning of Flagship is hardly a statement anymore; as a flagship, is the ship that flies the flag of the Fleet Commodore and Holland America retired that rank in 1968 when the end came of the Trans-Atlantic Era. The Commodore always used to be the most senior captain who sailed on the largest ship in the fleet and brought each new ship into service. Most company’s now, including Holland America, work on a team focus instead of rotation and it is possible that a very senior captain is on one of the smaller ships and a relatively young captain is on one of the very big ones.  Plus we have the situation that some of the most senior captains are now Instructors on the simulator or looking after our schools in the Far East, or like me rotate over the fleet. Times have changed and the fleet changes with it.

A scenic view of the ms Rotterdam at anchor at the island of Gozo, nr Malta during an overnight stay.

But I still like the title Flagship and it has always been a Rotterdam that was the flagship, except between 1938 and 1959 when there was no Rotterdam in the fleet and the commodore sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam. No doubt when in the far future the company decides to retire this Rotterdam (VI) it will not be very long before there will be a new Rotterdam (VII) joining the fleet as we like to keep re-using the traditional names. We are not unique in that as our sister company Princess is doing the same with having now a 2nd Regal Princess in service and some others as well.

Today we had 3 ships in port, belonging to NCL, RCI and HAL. The Norwegian Dawn is having her last departure today and the Rotterdam will do so next Sunday. When happens then is that the Carnival Miracle, which is now a Saturday ship, will move to Sunday departures. With other cruise ships it will be fairly quiet in Tampa during the summer until the winter season starts again in October. For years Holland America was the only company sailing from Tampa (with the little Vera Cruz sailing from Manatee), then came Royal Caribbean with one ship and then Carnival and then NCL showed up. And that will stay the same as the catchment area for locals is growing and growing. My Taxi driver told me this morning that Tampa was the fastest growing city in the USA at the moment and that can only be good for business.

This evening the Rotterdam will sail for 3 hrs. down Tampa Bay and once past the sea buoy go south towards the Straits of Florida. The weather tomorrow for Key West, a warm and sunny day: 83oF or o 28C.

25 March 2018; Port Everglades / Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

March 25, 2018 / / 4 Comments

I do not know what the apartments that are standing on the edge of the Fairway into Port Everglades look like on the inside but in principle it must be wonderful to live there. At least if you are into ship watching and especially if you are into cruise ship watching.

A ships spotters dream ? To live in an apartment situated like this?

The whole world is moving right past your balcony and even on non-cruise ship days there is a lot of tanker and container ship traffic, not forgetting the barges and all the pleasure yachts. So this morning must have been nice as well, as it was even nice to see it from the Eurodam herself who followed the big boys in at the scheduled time. Yes today we are again the smallest cruise ship in the port although we will carry over 2000 guests during the coming cruise. I do not know if the schools are out but we have a lot of children and young adults on board who normally should be somewhere else.

A tanker entering Port Everglades and sailing in on the leading lights. which are standing right between the two piers somewhat inland. So if a tanker docks there, the lights are sometimes obscured.

Sailing into Port Everglades is in principle very simple but can be made complicated by outside influences. On a nice and quiet day like today, it does not take much more than to stay clear of the sea buoy and sail in on the leading lights at a course of 267o.  The leading lights, two vertical lights in line will tell you if you are in the middle of the channel or drifting to one side or the other.  The simplest complication that we have here is that a tanker at its berth can be blocking the leading light. That has happened a few times but until now the leading lights were never heightened. Maybe because it does not happen often enough for the authorities to take action.

The old pilot boat, the USCG boat and the new pilot boat all waiting to stop yachts that do not follow the rules. In the back is just the stern of the Carnival Conquest that can be seen, when she was just coming off the dock.

2nd complication on a nice summers day, are the yachtsmen, skilled and unskilled; the Sunday sailors and the six pack navigators who go in and out of the port with not much knowledge, never realizing that they might be in the way, or not realizing that we cannot always see what is going on. Nor that we can guess what the plans are of each yacht in the vicinity. As the yachtie’s sometimes do not even know themselves what they are doing, how can we know? Also 10 feet clearance in passage is a lot for yacht or motorboat but not much for a large ship and the other side does not often realize that. Luckily we have the pilot boat, the boat of the sheriff’s office, the USCG and the Waterway Police, who try their best to keep the route clear when the cruise ships are sailing in or out. Biggest problem is if we have a small yacht who insists on sailing in in the middle of the channel in the leading light instead of hugging the buoys. We can have deep draft sail boats (drawing at least 40 feet………..) who think they have to be in the middle or otherwise they run aground.

The next complication can be wind and current. Port Everglades harbor only closes during Hurricanes but going in with wind on the side means you have to keep up the speed a bit more otherwise you drift too much. Sometimes we need more speed than we can handle with slowing down in a normal way in the turning basin. Then we put a tugboat (Docking modules they call them here) at the stern to help with putting the brakes on.  Especially the Apartments of the Seas can have problems here, with the number of balconies (wind catchers) and their length, as they do not have very much room to drift.

The Current, apart from the regular ebb or Flood, normally falls away as soon as we are between the breakwaters. The problem is that the location of the Gulf Stream varies from being all the way on the Bahamas side of the Florida Straits, to sitting on top of the Port everglades sea buoy. The latter does not happen very much but it does so once in the 5 or 6 years. It can even surprise the pilots and they zip in and out of the port all day long. Then the ship has to steer a considerable drift angle and once the bow comes between the breakwaters, correct the course very quickly when the influence of the current falls away. Not a pleasant thing to do.

Today we had none of those issues. The Cruise Ship parade sailed in and sailed out on schedule and the authorities in their boats raced around to make it easy for us. Happy Captains.

Tonight we will sail through New Providence Channel, staying south of Freeport in the Bahamas and then in the early morning make a turn to the south and follow the coastline of Eleuthera Island to Half Moon Cay where we should be parked by 08.00 hrs. Weather: the same as the yesterday very nice. That one cold front that was left in the area is rapidly moving away.

23 March 2018; At Sea.

March 23, 2018 / / 4 Comments

Today we are sailing North West towards the Bahamian Islands and late this evening we will enter the islands which are all scattered over the Grand Bahama Bank. Some areas can be sailed through as we will do, some areas are very shallow and some are reefs. Some reefs have developed into larger islands and are inhabited. Half Moon Cay was not until Holland America bought it. Then we built a house on it for the island manager and his family to live in during the cruise season. When the horses arrived, more people were stationed on the island as horses need grooms. Still most of the people who work on the island such as Security, the boat operators and the Shops, come over daily with one of the boats to the island from Eleuthera Island next door.  If I am not mistaken it is about a 45 minute ride or so.

A Frontal Passage. This one is a bit more severe than we had today but it shows the clear  line between two weather areas

The weather followed the weather forecast as least for the morning. We were supposed to have a little frontal passage in the early evening before the wind would shift to the North East, but it came our way by noon time. Because everything around you is wide open and not obstructed by trees or buildings, a lot of guests found it fascinating to see a frontal passage coming over. Unless you live on the prairie, the most you see is the rain cloud but not the whole dark band stretched out from horizon to horizon.

We of course want sunshine as we are on a cruise but for most of the islands, these frontal systems bring the rain they need, until the heavy rains come with the hurricane season. So also a bit of rain on Half Moon Cay today is not such a bad thing. As long as it is dry tomorrow when we were are there. Luckily the weather chart looks good.

Those of you who have made cruises might have heard the alarm sounded during your cruise of three long blasts on the ships whistle.  That is the Man Over Board Alarm, signifying that somebody has fallen overboard. In the old days when only men sailed on the ships and subsequently fell overboard M.O.B was correct but now it should be more a P.O.B, Person over Board, as the ladies are also getting quite good at it. We train this every three months and at an un-expected moment, as that is when a M.O.B also happens. Going overboard when least expected. As I am completely out of the loop on board, I am normally asked to set everything in motion………….. and…………….. I hate to say no.

Taking a selfie can be very dangerous. Annie in the water. With lifejacket otherwise she will sink.

So a few days ago in San Juan at the un-expected time of 11 am in the morning, I carried our dummy (She is called Annie) up the stairs, threw it overboard and then acted as the irate guest (calling 911 on a phone) whose wife had slipped overboard while taking a selfie (= that is a real life scenario) Then we have the protocol that the Front Desk (911) has to answer at once, question the person calling in a certain way and then take action.

The Front desk Attendant throws the buoy over the side of the ship, while her supervisor keeps the MOB insight,

Well they were on deck in 60 seconds, threw a lifebuoy over the side and reported to the bridge that rang the alarm. From that moment onwards we have 10 minutes to launch the M.O.B boat with a fully dressed up crew. Which we accomplished almost on the second and Annie was safely in the boat 3 minutes later and under Doctor’s care another 3 minutes later. When this alarm goes there are about 25 crew directly involved. Captain and Bridge Team, Crowd Control, Medical, Stretcher Team, Boat Lowering Team and the three crew of the Fast Rescue Boat itself.

It is required by law to hold a M.O.B rescue exercise every three months but we do it more often as the Rescue Boat’s water jet engine has to be tested more often and ……….Boys with Toys……… the speed the boat can make also has its attraction.

Annie is brought in the boat by means of  a special cradle.

As it happens on the open decks, we always have an audience and the standard remark is  “why does it take so long”. Well it does not but it feels like it, because so many things happen at the same time but as everybody focuses on Annie in the water, it look like as if nothing happens for a long time. Luckily we have Einstein with his relativity theory to explain this:  If you kiss your lover then 60 seconds feels like a very short time, if you sit with your bottom on a hot stove, then 60 seconds feels like a very long time.

Tomorrow we are in Half Moon Cay and it looks like a very nice day according to the weather forecast. 76oF / 24oC and a gentle North Easterly Breeze.

Our route and the tail of the frontal system that we passed through today. Before the nasty stuff in the USA comes our way, we will be away from Half Moon Cay again. (Photo courtesy www.wsi.com)

19 March 2018; At Sea, on ms Eurodam.

March 19, 2018 / / 3 Comments

And so I made the transition from Veendam to Eurodam. The Eurodam is a Sunday ship and thus I had to spend a night in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale and then return to the port to find the Eurodam and the Koningsdam waiting. (…………….and two Celebrity ships and two Princess ships and the Allure of the Seas = busy day in port)

The route for this cruise. As the weather is so nice, the captain is taking advantage of the shorter route North of the Bahamas, instead of going against the current via the Old Bahama Channel, just north of Cuba.

The ms Eurodam is currently on 7 day cruises and alternating between two different routes. This week we are doing Ft. Lauderdale – Amber Cove – San Juan – Philipsburg – Half Moon Cay – Ft. Lauderdale. Then next cruise we make a grand circle around Cuba, calling at ports North, East, South and West of the Island. It will be interesting to see how San Juan has recovered from the Hurricane devastation of last year as I have not been there since.

The good ship Eurodam is in the capable hands of Captain Eric Barhorst who is one of our newer captains but who has been with Holland America for a long time already. As a matter of fact he has never sailed for another company ever since he was a cadet. In the 90’s Holland America had a period where we had to get captains in from outside as we did not have enough Captain’s licenses among the senior officers. Pilotage in both England and Holland was pulling greatly and any officers with plans to start a family, might not be eager to leave Holland America but were certainly eager to spend more time at home. And thus we had a number of captains and staff captains who came in sideways and as they liked the company, they stayed. Now my generation is slowly leaving the fleet, the next wave is coming up, and now all the senior officers are coming up through the ranks again.

The Eurodam is one of the two ships of the Signature Class, the Nieuw Amsterdam being the other one. They are both an evolution of the Vista Class ships, sharing the same hull but with a slightly different layout and an extra restaurant, the Tamarind, on the top. That novelty was first explored with the Arcadia or the 5th. Vista Class which was handed over to P&O as it was decided that a 4 ship class worked better.  For that ship they had a bit more time to review its layout and when the guests kept asking for more food options (It is amazing that similar company’s get similar requests/demands/complaints) and they put their own specialty restaurant there the Sindhu. P&O is English and they have a very close historical connection with India, hence Indian food. As we have a very close historical connection with Indonesia, Holland America put an Indonesian, Thai, Japanese fusion restaurant there and we call it the Tamarind.

A tamarind Tree. At least that is what the internet says. If it is not, then I lie in ommission as I can barely differentiate between an Oak tree and a Fir tree.

A Tamarind is a tree, of African origin, which is kept as an ornamental tree but its fruits / nuts, can also deliver a brown paste which is used to season Indonesian and Thai cooking. When I grew up in the Netherlands my neighborhood was full of people who had worked in the Dutch East Indies and had left Indonesia when it became independent; the stories were always about gathering in the evening under the Tamarind tree of the village to exchange the latest news. The Tamarind tree is quite dense and provides a good shade.

To get to Amber Cove, we are sailing above the Bahamas Bank today and then this evening we pass the Turks and Caicos Islands and then cross the end of the Old Bahama Channel to arrive at Amber Cove tomorrow morning at 07.00 hrs. at the pilot station. Amber Cove is located on the north side of the Dominican Republic in a sort of sheltered bay. I say sort of as it depends a little bit on the angle of the North Atlantic waves coming in. At the moment, the ocean outside is a smooth as a mirror as there is hardly any wind and that ocean would have been flat if it was not for the ever present swell but even that is low.

Weather Forecast for tomorrow: warm to very warm. 88oF/31oC. The Trade Wind is blowing at its regular strength but there are hills in the way and that will reduce the breeze in the port considerably. A lot of guests were talking about going snorkeling and that might be  a good idea. The temperature of the water is expected to be 25oC or 77oF.

11 March 2018; Gustavia, St. Barthelemy, France.

March 11, 2018 / / 2 Comments

The challenge with French islands in the Caribbean is, that they are often more French than the home country itself. And as a company you cannot do very much about it. We were here today on a Sunday and most shops were closed. If I was a shopkeeper and knew there were 1200 eager shoppers coming ashore, I would be open. But no it is Sunday, so we go for Sunday lunch.  We had scheduled ourselves and had received confirmation that we could send the first tender ashore for the authorities to clear the ship at 07.00 hrs. We think that they suddenly realized that it was a Sunday and the agent advised to tender before 07.45 which is………….. very close to 08.00 hrs. The captain did not accept that, called, and reminded the agent ashore that we had confirmation for 07.00 hrs. Then it “c’est bon” again.

When we came to the anchorage there was a yacht on our preferred spot, luckily it was a small one and that gave us enough space to anchor behind it. But we could have been a lot closer to the port if that space had been empty, saving the guests a bit of a wobbly tender ride. But the anchorage is open to everybody, first come, first served; and thus the yacht had picked the best place sometime before.  It is a free for all to pick your spot, except of course if your name is Abramovich, then you get the best spot. But because we had to stay further out, so the ship could float clear of any danger, it became a long tender ride to the tender dock all the way inside. Because our guests are asking for more variation, the company is forced to mix these sorts of ports into the equation and thus to offer a mixture of new and old, known and unknown. The coming ports we will dock and that should solve all the going ashore issues.

From the Electronic chart. The yacht was in position A, and if she had not been there then we could have moved the anchor so much more forward, that we just would have been in the lee of the rocks (in yellow) and who have missed the swell of the ocean rolling in, what now affected our tender service.

When we go at anchor the main discussion is, apart from where we drop the hook, how much chain will have to go down to anchor safely. Safely means the anchor will not drag and the ship stays nicely in position. A lot of people think that it is the anchor which keeps the ship in place. This is not the case, it is the weight of the anchor chain and the friction it causes with the sea bottom that holds the ship. The ships anchor is only the anchoring point of the chain so it can lie on the bottom of the sea. If we would just use the anchor and no extra chain for weight, we would constantly drift away as the anchor would simply break out of the ground with every movement of the ship.

Normally the rule of thumb is the depth of the water in chain length and then two lengths extra. We speak about anchor lengths of chain. Each length is 15 Fathoms or 27 meters or 90 feet.  So if the water is 10 meters deep, we have to put at least 3 lengths of chain down. Then there is the distance from the sea bottom to the anchor winch which is normally also about a length with the end result of 3 lengths under the water and the 4th. length coming up out of the water to the anchor winch on deck. Now when the wind is blowing, we always add one extra length. If the holding ground is not good, then we add another one. If the holding ground is rock, then the chain will easily move over the rocky sea bottom and has not much grip. In Half Moon Cay (where we are on Friday) we have very dense sand with an enormous grip and there we could probably anchor with just three lengths of chain.

Today we went to six on deck, which meant the 5th length was just under water and in 20 meters of depth we had 4 lengths with the anchor on the sea bottom. 5 lengths would have sufficed here but we had a strong Trade Wind blowing so we added one length of chain for insurance. That meant we had a total weight of 35000 pounds (17000 kg.) of steel lying on the sea bottom to keep us there. I think nobody would be amazed to realize that the ship also stayed there.

We stayed until 15.00 hrs. and then set sail to Castries, St. Lucia where we will arrive at 08.00 hrs. Castries is located in a sheltered bay with two cruise ship docks and a downtown cargo dock where cruise ships also go when the port has a busy day. And it looks like a busy day as we are together with the Aida Diva, the Wind Surf and the Star Breeze.

Weather, mainly overcast 29oC / 85o F and a strong Trade Wind breeze.

In yesterdays blog I mentioned that departing St. Thomas in the evening, gives a very nice view. Here my amateuristic attempt to capture Charlotte Amalie sail-a-way.

09 March 2018; At Sea, Day 2.

March 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It always gives a captain  a wonderful feeling if the weather is following the weather forecast. It makes you look less of a fool than they guests might otherwise think that you might be. Although we do not mind to be wrong if we predict bad weather and the bad weather does not happen but an accurate prediction during the Voice from the Bridge followed by Mother Nature confirming it can make your day. And now we have the weather doing exactly that. We had the wind from the wrong side yesterday but it kept the clouds away and brought a sunny day and the prediction was that the wind would veer to the north and then to the east. This would happen because of a frontal system coming through that was being pushed away by the Trade Winds. Frontal systems bring rain and this morning between 0900 and 1100 hrs. we had thunder and lightning and rain showers and then the wind indeed changed to the east and all was well in the world. By early afternoon we were back to partly sunny or partly cloudy, whatever you make of it. I think it was partly cloudy as there was still more cloud and blue sky but the sun was out again.

Captain Pieter Bant.

I do not really have to worry about the weather, although I do as it comes natural after so many years at sea, as the real worrying should be done by the ship’s captain. And we have a new one. Captain Colm Ryan went on leave in Ft. Lauderdale and his replacement is Captain Pieter Bant.

He is one of our newer captains but I have known him for a very long time. He will remain on the Veendam for a regular contract and then Captain Ryan will return. Captain Bant replaces Captain Noel O’Drisscoll who is transferring to the Koningsdam as he wanted to have a go at all the new gadgets, which the Veendam does not have.

We have a whole musical “captain” chair happening again due to the introduction of the Nieuw Statendam in December, the retirement of Captain Peter Bos and the passing away of a Seabourn Captain, which caused one of our captains to go over and to take his place.

Although we like a steady Trade Wind in this area as it brings predictable and nice weather; the wrong wind yesterday had one advantage, it gave less adverse current and no adverse wind. Normally we have to push against the Antilles current here (A sort of Northerly brother of the Gulf Stream) but this current gets a lot of its momentum from the Trade Winds which help with pushing the surface water to the North West at a faster rate. When the wind stops, then that momentum reduces somewhat and we notice that in the speed the ship makes. No adverse winds and less opposing currents can quickly give 0.5 knot less friction and 0.5 knots in 24 hrs. is 12 miles and that is with our average speed about 50 minutes of free sailing. The Chief Engineer was smiling today as it helps to stay inside the fuel budget.

Sailing through the Virgin Passage about 2 am. in the morning.

This evening we make landfall at Puerto Rico and then tonight we will sail through the Virgin Passage which separates Puerto Rico from the US Virgin Islands. From there we will approach Charlotte Amalie from the West as it is located on the south side of the island in a natural bay. Tomorrow there are only two ships in port and both ships have been assigned to dock at WICO, which is the main pier and the original port of St. Thomas. There is a 2nd cruise berth location in Crown Bay which is used when “downtown” read the WICO pier is full. (West Indian Company) Holland America used to dock there a lot but lately they are sending the very big ones there as it is easier from them to get in and out of.

This was WICO pier in the old days before the cruise ships came and the pier was upgraded step by step. Tomorrow we will see what has changed.

The other ship is the Silver Wind which is much smaller than the Veendam and as the dock can take 3 mega liners, we will have plenty of room to park ourselves somewhere nice. Where ever we park, there will be plenty of shops to choose from as the whole Havensight area is one big shopping Mall. For the guests it might be positive to have only two smaller ships in as there seems to be a correlation between the height of the price and the number of cruise passengers ashore.  I might have a quick look to see if they have re-opened the book shop on the pier as it was closed last year, although book prices do not go up and down with the number of ships coming in.  We will be at the pilot station at 07.00 hrs. and should be docked at Havensight 45 minutes later.

Weather for Tomorrow: Partly Cloudy with a regular Trade Wind Breeze and 27oC / 80oF. It should be a good and normal Caribbean day.

Older posts Newer posts

© 2024 – Captain Albert's Website and Blog –

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑