The big question mark with the Amazon is always the current as that is dependent to a great degree on the rain fall. In the past months there has been a real drought in the Amazon basin resulting in very low water levels. Only in the last 14 days the rain in the Andes has really started to come through and currently the river is rising by about 3 inches a day. That will ensure that we will have enough water to make the journey up and down the river. However it does not help with figuring out have much current there might be running while we are on the river. That is something we will only find out when we get there. From the moment we enter the river, she will dictate how our cruise will progress and if we will be able to keep the schedule and call at each port, the way we hope to do. That makes the cruise so fascinating and that is why I call this an expedition instead of a normal cruise.
Our first hurdle, quite literary was the bar at the entrance of the estuary, where the river is near 50 miles wide but still spews large amounts of dense brown water into the North Atlantic. Much of that brown sediment settles in this area and that creates the Barre Norte, or basically a huge sand bank that we have to sail over to get into the river proper. The deepest part of the bank is about 8 meters under water at low tide and that gives us 70 centimeters under the keel even at low low water. That is not that much and also such shallow draft really slows us down. First of all we have to reduce speed for the squat and secondly, with so little clearance under the keel, the water has hardly any space to flow away and that increases the resistance that the ship has to overcome. So ideally we like to go up river with the flood tide, which gives a bit of extra speed and during half tide we have a bit more water under the keel. However as our cruise is planned two years in advance you cannot always guarantee the ideal arrival time
With our schedule coming from Devil’s Island and the strong Atlantic current against us, I knew I was not going to make the half tide. We arrived in the end just after high tide, with the ebb setting in but still with 3 meters of extra water over the bar. To achieve that, I had kept up the speed of the Prinsendam which also helped the Chief Engineer with making water. By the time that we entered the brown water of the Amazon all our water tanks were full. With brown water we cannot really make water onboard as the sand will go into the evaporators, so full tanks will help us to make it to Manaus. Hopefully we can top up in Macapa and Santarem but that is never certain.
Thus we went over the Bar at 13.10 and I slowed down to about 12 knots to avoid the shaking caused by the squat. Also the ship did not want to go any faster anyway as there was not enough flow under the keel for the water to be pushed away in a normal way. Crossing the bar took just over 3 hours and the least water measured under the keel was just over 6 feet. Not bad at all. In 2007, when I did the same with the Veendam we had a period that we barely made 2 feet.
The remainder of the day we sailed in the direction of the real beginning of the river, there were we will be able to see both shores at the same time. We are scheduled to be at the Macapa pilot station at 04:30 tomorrow morning. Then the plan is to dock just before sunrise.
We had indeed a warm day, with afternoon temperatures in the high 80’s and as soon as we were over the bar, the rains clouds disappeared. I had expected otherwise. The weather chart is still indicating a lot of rain inland, so we will get a few showers while going up river. Also the guests have been warned to keep all (balcony and other) doors closed to help keeping the cold AC air in and also to keep the creepy crawlies out, that during the night hours are attracted by the lights of the ship. The big challenge here is the crickets. We always get some onboard and they are still there months later. If you get one in the cabin, then you are in for it, as it is nearly impossible to find them. They only need a small crack or crevice to hide in and sometimes we have to take a cabin completely apart to find the noise maker. …………..Even then we have to be lucky to find the invader.
December 8, 2010 at 2:52 am
We hope you have a better arrival welcome than last time you/we came to Manaus , this past Spring ! (:>) !
December 8, 2010 at 3:01 am
Good day, Captain. I am fascinated by the information about crossing the bar, and I recall your description of last year as well. As an experienced Sunday Sailor myself (who never gets in the way of ocean-going vessels), I am aware that ongoing sedimentation, hydrographic surveys, tidal predictions and the discharge level of a river can conspire together to introduce some significant uncertainty as to the depth of water in tricky places like the Amazon bar. It would be interesting to hear how often the area is surveyed and/or dredged, and how you can be confident that the depth is sufficient when you are expecting to have less than a fathom under the keel. I think we both like to sleep at night, and although I expect you rely heavily on the pilot’s local knowledge, I wonder how you gain the confidence you need to transit the bar with such a small clearance. Thank you.
Neil
December 9, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Good morning,
This is a very good question. We rely on the charts being uptodate and any changes to come through from the local hydrographic offices. Normally they forward their information to the British Admirality hydrographic office who then updates the charts that we use. No update, then we have to assume that nothing has changed and that is what we rely on. So with all the charts updated we approach the bar, calculate the predicted water heigth and then hope for the best. Thusfar that has always worked and normaly the tidal predictions are correct. There is no pilotage at the bar, we pick the pilot up 170 mile up river at Macapa, so all the ships do this bar-thing themselves. We rely purely on the charts for this area and it has never let us down.
Up river it is a different story, where the banks are changing location so fast that we have to rely on the pilots knowledge, as the charts are obsolete the moment they have been printed.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
December 8, 2010 at 4:58 am
Neil, I was wondering that same thing !! Great question, I hope he answers you.. Would Love to hear his reply…
December 8, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Shouldn’t it be on the mind of all of Captain Albert’s readers ?? This takes stainless steel nerves backed up by accurate knowledge, 30 years of experience and a healthy dose of self-confidence (anything I’ve forgotten?)
December 10, 2010 at 10:27 pm
If I may, Captain – – – – – Neil, the Captain’s blog of 17 October 2008 gives you some more interesting details and reminders perhaps even useful to an experienced Sunday sailor like you.