02 October 2012; Hualtalco de Santa Cruz, Mexico.

With the Norwegian Jewel leading the way, we approached Huatalco. With only one pilot in residence, I had adjusted my speed to arrive 45 minutes behind them and then we only had to wait a few minutes until the Jewel was putting its lines ashore and he could come over to us. By going nose in, I saved 20 minutes so we still had the gangway out by 08.00 and all was well in the world. The approach was an interesting happening as the current was all over the place. The ship was set to starboard, then to port, and when we drifted past the pier to our stop location, I had to keep the stern thruster going to keep the stern from being pushed away. Amazing that two tropical storms can make such a difference to the pattern of the current. The Jewel left at 1600 hrs. and I made sure that I was on the bridge watching how she would set when going astern. Luckily by that time the current had greatly diminished and the Jewel and later us, could just come astern and stay in the middle of the entrance without much problem. It remained mainly overcast today which kept the temperatures down while at the same time it was still a nice tropical day for sightseeing without any rain to bother about.

My thoughts were going to the evening as we had to cross the Golfo de Tehantepec again with a depression rapidly building up in the Caribbean Sea. There is a gap in the mountain range that divides Mexico here and when there is a strong weather system forming in the SW Caribbean Sea, it creates a funnel wind that comes through that gap and blows into the Pacific Ocean; where the Gulfo de Tehantepec is located. We call that a “Tehantepeccer”. Weather forecasts are somehow always off with the prediction of the wind and thus I devised a long time ago my own methods.

It is very simple, you take the predicted winds of Salina Cruz (that is the port directly in line with the gap in the mountains) and add 25 knots to it. The predictions for tonight in Salina Cruz are 25 to 30 knots, which means that I will have to prepare for 50 to 55 knots maximum winds. Wind is not dangerous for a large cruise ship, as long as it is in open sea and can drift without limitation. Swell is what can cause damage and make life on board unpleasant. For the wind, which will eventually be full on the beam, we can prepare by having all the portside tanks ready for ballasting and also emptying out as many of the starboard tanks as possible. We can ballast against about 52 knots of wind full on the beam, so I do not expect that I will have to change course to reduce the listing of the ship by bringing the nose more into the wind. Then if you deviate from course it adds mileage to the route and that I can hardly afford as I have to be early in Puerto Chiapas. We are scheduled to be ahead of the Norwegian Jewel as we will dock at the cargo dock. (In principle not a bad thing as it is a shorter walk to the cruise terminal than from the passenger dock)

For a night like this the whole ship prepares for bad weather, although there will not be much swell, but if the ship lists, things can slide. The Staff Captain sends out the bad weather checklists, and the stability officer goes in conference with the Engine Room to figure out the best emptying and filling sequence of the tanks. My job is to make a convincing announcement that it will be very windy and so we close all the doors to the outside decks, but without the guests being alarmed and starting to think the last night of their lives is upon them. Plus making sure that they do not go outside, out of curiosity. (There is always one……..). 50 knots of wind is enough to lift you off the deck. Add the ships speed of 18 knots to that and you have hurricane force winds on your hands.

We left nicely on time, sailing for Puerto Chiapas tomorrow. It should be overcast as well and according to the pilot the Mexican weather forcasts call for heavy showers. So we will see how good the forecasters are this time. Both with the wind and the rain predictions.