03 May 2012; Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica.

It was a glorious wind still day while we sailed under the coast of Costa Rica and then into Golfo Dulce. Wind still and clear skies. It was so wind still that even the wavelets that normally show with windforce 0 or wind force 1 had a hard time forming. Without wind, there is less turbulence above the rain forest and that means that the hot and damp air that is rising from the rain forest does not mix very much with cooler air and that reduces the chances of rain. Cooler air is not cold air, it is just cooler in comparison. The difference might only be 2 or 3o but that is still sufficient for rain clouds to form as the water turns from vapor into rain drops. When entering Golfo Dulce we saw some rain clouds hanging far inland over the mountains but they stayed where they were and we had a dry day. Golfo Dulce is part of Costa Rica and that means that we had to get cleared when coming in. 

The advantage is that we will also get cleared for Puerto Caldera and that makes things easy for arrival tomorrow. A little boat comes out of Golfito with the agent on board, the local customs agent and his all family. He clears the ship and the family eats ice cream. In the mean time we make the scenic cruise and 2.5 hours later we are back at Golfito and the whole family disembarks again. This time to the disappointment of the security team there was only one beautiful lady to help up and down the pilot ladder, but life can never be perfect. Golfo Dulce is very sheltered and we go through there on a slow speed, staying about half a mile from the shore where the jungle meets the sea. Far enough to be safe; close enough to see things. Things that are pointed out by a narration done by our Travel guide.

For us the chance to do a bit of training. We have two lady cadets on board and as they are on their first contract, they have to learn to steer the ship. Perfect day for it. Thus training to steer a straight line (which is not as easy as it sounds, as you have to anticipate the natural movement of the ship) and making perfect turns by keeping a constant Rate of Turn. We have a read out for that, which shows how fast a ship is “going around the corner”

A perfect turn with 10 knots and a Rate of turn of 15 degrees per minute.

Another topic of interest is the appearance of female crew in the Kitchen. This was an all-male area in the past mainly because being a cook is physically a very hard job. Flipping pan cakes might not seem to be that hard but if you have to do it on moving ship with a high output in a short time it becomes hard. Also the pans can be heavy, the supplies to be carried etc. etc. Physically, being a cook is one of the hardest jobs on board. Thus it was always a male dominated domain. Still with all the technical gadgets out there it is getting easier and at the same time we were looking for an improvement in Lido Line Service. Hence the appearance of the Lady Cooks. They do the a-la-minute cooking behind the service line in the Lido, help with serving the guests and providing service with a smile. The Ladies come from Indonesia and this month one of them made Employee of the Month. Which is not easy to do with 500 competitors on board. Her name is Ni Wayan Eka Superwati and her bio is too good to miss, so here it is:

Lido Services Kitchen Assistant, 27 years old, is the Statendam’s employee of the month. Born and raised in Indonesia, she lives with her husband and 6 year old daughter in the city of Jianyar in Bali. Eka has been married for 7 years. She met her husband at a Hindi charity event to raise money for funding a temple. After 4 years of dating they decided to get married. Her husband works as a Team leader at a Petrol Station. As Eka is an only child and she has 3 parents to take care of as well as her own family at home, it was a family decision that she should be the one that continues her education. One thing that her parents have encouraged her to do. She graduated Cum Laude in Food & Beverage Service and also was the best in Skill Class in the Training Centre in Ms Nieuw Jakarta. She did her internship as a waitress at a Grand Hyatt hotel and got offered a job there but then she had already accepted to work for Holland America Line. Eka joined HAL in 2010, this is her second contract; first on the Nieuw Amsterdam and now currently on the Statendam. She mentions that as she grew up she was inspired to work for HAL through her aunt. Her aunt was the first woman in her village that went working out at sea and used to show her pictures of all the places that she went to while working for Carnival. It is Eka’s desire to one day work as a Tamarind Steward because of the elegancy and fine dining atmosphere, or to work as a Pinnacle Grill steward. She hopes to get promoted soon to Assistant Steward Lido and is overjoyed at the fact that she has been chosen as the employee of the month, as this is the perfect birthday present. Eka likes meeting new people and finds it very exciting to work and travel at the same time. She loves reading Harry Potter and also ‘The Secret’, about the laws of attraction. Many times this has worked for her. She would like to thank everyone for voting for her and tells “Everything good will come in the right time”.

Tomorrow we will be at Puerto Caldera and although the weather is good, I am not too happy as we have to anchor. The agent advises that the dock is occupied by cargo ships.