11 May 2012; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

With a happy smile on my face I sailed into Cabo San Lucas Bay because finally we could anchor on anchorage nbr 1., out of the swell and in the lee of the mountains.  First time in the season that we could do so and also first time in the season that we really did not need it as it was wind still for most of the day. Still it protected us from the low swell that was running around the Cape itself; whipped up by a lot of wind outside. Again wind that was not exactly in the forecast. And after departure we had that wind for about 6 hours full on the nose before the weather outside finally got into synch with the forecast. For the day we were happily tucked away in the best spot, nicely away from everything.  I dropped the hook at 06:00 hrs and that gave ample time to set up the tender service and to get everything going. Normally we have about 750 of our of 1200 guests going ashore as most have been there and some of them do not like the long tender ride. Today they saw that I had parked the ship almost in the Marina and we reached the top score of 1078 out of 1220 going ashore.  I had announced that our Amsterdam would be coming in around 09:00 and maybe some guests took that to heart and went ashore early.

The only challenge with anchorage nbr 1 is that it is much deeper water than at anchorage 2 and 3. There you can drop the hook with about 22 meters under the keel and with 5 lengths of chain out you are sitting pretty.  The plateau is quite wide and you can easily swing around in a circle. With anchorage nbr 1. the average depth is about 60 meters, which means more length of chain has to go out.  So you try to find the shallowest spot, while keeping a fair distance from the shore. The moment you pass the 60 meter contour line, the seafloor rises sharply towards the beach and gets very shallow quickly and that makes it a bit of a puzzle to find the happy medium between the best depth and a safe swinging circle for the ship. More chain out results in a stronger grip on the ocean floor and better holding power but when the chain gets stretched (when the wind pushes the ship away) then your swinging circle also becomes larger and you come closer to the shallows.

It means you have to find a happy medium.  By slowly moving the ship a little bit past the standard anchor location, I found a spot of 47 meters, while still retaining a swinging circle of 2 cables to the shallows. Perfect for this day. With no wind in the bay, the ship was laying on the current and with the flood current running into the bay for most of our call, the stern indeed swung towards the beach.  The six lengths of chain did the job perfectly and we hardly moved at all, except on the changing of the tide when the current pushed the ship around. It made it easy for departure as the bow was already pointing out of the bay because of it.

The ms Amsterdam at anchorage nbr 2. laying behind her anchor due to the incoming current.

This was our final Trans Canal call of the season. By 14:00 hrs we raised the anchor and at first slowly drifted past the Amsterdam on anchorage nbr2.  I did not want to sail by at a higher speed as that would expose their gangway to the bow wave of the Statendam. Thus while they were stowing away the tenders and pulling in the tender platforms I let the ship drift past the Amsterdam with about .5 of a knot. It gave the guests the chance to have a good look at one of the R-class ships as well. 

Tomorrow is the last day of the cruise for a number of our guests who are leaving in San Diego. A number (mainly Canadians) are staying on so I can drive them home.  Then we have those who leave replaced by those who are coming for the coastal to enjoy few days of Holland America hospitality.

The wind died down in the evening and tomorrow we should have between 10 and 20 knots on the bow with a low NW swell. Then later on that swell is supposed to turn to the SW and get higher but as we are running full speed, we will be surfing on it and it should not bother us.  

Alasks here we come. The temperature today was 41 oF in juneau and raining. So one more good look at Los Arcos in Cabo San Lucas and enjoying the last moments of tropical temperatures.  (Photo courtesy Hotelmanager Bert van Mackelenbergh.)