03 October 2012; Puerto Chiapas, Mexico.

There was more wind than predicted and it came earlier as well. It being earlier is in principle a good thing, as it means that by the time the guests go to bed, it is quiet again and while they are at dinner or in the show, they do not notice it either. More wind than predicted can be an issue if you take the weather forecast as gospel. I don’t, I have my own weather forecast system for Tehantepec, which worked out again well. It started to blow around 18.30 and we passed the axis at 21.30 when we observed a top velocity of 58.3 knots. Just a little bit more than I thought it would be. But we were well prepared and the navigators on duty were able to keep up with the ballasting of the ship and the Statendam stayed nicely straight up. By 11 pm. it was all over and I could still catch 6 hours sleep before we had our next challenge, Puerto Chiapas.

The two lines in the port entrance are indicating the leading lights that you can steer on when going in. When the lights ashore are in line, you are in the middle of the channel.

I normally arrive here at 07.00 hrs. for a 08.00 docking but today we were with the Norwegian Jewel. She being the bigger ship was assigned to the cruise terminal. So if I would let her go first, then I would have to go past her, going stern way and then dock behind her at the cargo terminal. I had never docked before at the cargo terminal and thus did not know how much water there would be to play with once I got there. So I opted to go in first, which meant getting out of bed an hour earlier. We were at the pilot station at 06.15 and boarded the pilot who happily declared we had perfect conditions for the day.

He was in so far right; that the swell was not running into the fairway, a reason why once last season I cancelled the call, but now the swell was running on a 90o along the entrance and that meant that the ship would roll while going in. So I had to keep up the speed, to make the stabilizers more effective and reduce the time of rolling to the minimum, whether I liked it or not. Sailing in with a higher speed into a small port is about the same as if you drive into your garage with 40 miles an hour and then apply the handbrake to stop just before you hit the back wall. It is possible but you have to do everything at the exact right moment. We had planned for this accordingly. I did the conning, the staff captain monitored the helmsman, the officer of the watch ran the bridge, and the officers forward and aft providing distances. The pilot drank his early money coffee and dispensed local wisdom.

We rolled at little while going in, which was less of a problem for the guests than for me in keeping the ship on course. If the swell catches under the stern, the whole ship starts to surge and then you have to be quick with counter rudder. As soon as we were inside we put the brakes on and continued to reduce speed fast while nearing the turning basin. A quick spin around and by 07.00 we were happily docked at the cargo terminal. This was quite a surprise. The local authorities had spent the last winter doing the dock up, so two cruise ships can be docked, by extending the pier and putting in nice large bollards. In a way it was better dock for us than the cruise pier as the walking distance from the gangway to the terminal building was shorter from this side, than from the other side.

The forecast was also off with the rain prediction; we had cloudless skies and the hot Mexican sun burning on us all day. So much for the “torrential showers on occasion”. Local tourism is really trying to make a good impression for the port of Chiapas and each ship had a Marimba band with dancers on departure.

The Jewel left at 16.40 and we followed at 17.00 hrs with the pilot having to split himself by being on two vessels at the same time. That did not work of course, so he solved the problem by leaving the Jewel early and boarding the Statendam late.

Tomorrow we are in Puerto Quetzal with a pilot boarding time of 04.00 and being docked at 05.00 so that the flight tour to Tikal can leave on time. As we are with the Norwegian Jewel again, we have been bumped from the cruise terminal to the cargo dock on the other side of the port. Sometimes it is an advantage to be a small ship, sometimes it is not. But they will be running a shuttle service for those who want to go to the cruise terminal for some shopping. Weather forecast, for tomorrow another hot and sunny day.