12 June 2010; Skagen, Denmark….nearly.

With high hopes in my heart and a strong belief in the weather forecast I approached Skagen early in the morning. The ship was already moving around a little bit, while still in the shelter of the Kattegat, so I knew it was going to be a breezy day. However it was much breezier than forecasted. There was a sever gale blowing with storm force gusts. The sun was shining so the weather forecast was at least partly right. The problem was that the wind was not from the North West but from the South South West and that meant that swells could build up and they did. They were freely running along the breakwater and over the anchorage. This was going to be an issue. Skagen port control called and said that things did not look good and when I brought the ship closer, I saw the swells breaking on the breakwater. This was not going to work.

So, goodbye Skagen. While turning the ship the wind gusted up to 55 knots and that alone was reason enough to get out of there as fast as possible. Cancelling a port is not difficult for a captain. If you do not like the situation, you simply say NO and that is it. What is complicated is the decision making process of what to do next. Sometimes the only option is to stay at sea. However when sailing in Europe there are normally so many ports in the vicinity that it is worth while to see if you can offer the guests an alternative. In this case there were three ports in the area which could be considered without jeopardizing the cruise schedule. Kristiansand to the West; Oslo to the North and Gothenburg to the East. As the strong winds were blowing straight across the Kattegat to the East where Gothenburg is located, it meant that that port was not really an option as it is not a good idea to enter a port with 50 knots of winds in the back. Kristiansand to the West had the problem that I would have to sail full speed against the wind and the waves to make a half day call possible. Not good for the ship and even less good for the stomachs of our guests.

The latter, fast sailing, was going to be an issue anyway as things were getting quite wild in the Skagerrak, the body of water between Denmark and the South point of Norway. It was not going to be a good idea to spend the night there while waiting for the scheduled arrival for Oslo tomorrow. Thus the idea came up for an early arrival and overnight stay in Oslo. We could travel at slow speed across the Skagerrak, keeping the ships motion to the minimum, sail during the afternoon through the beautiful Oslofjord and then dock. That would give the guests a quiet and good night sleep, without being tossed around in open sea.

Accordingly the announcement was made. The guests had a bit of wobbly morning at sea, even while going at slow speed; but by noon time we came into the lee of the land and things were quiet again. The ships agent had advised that my assigned dock (for the regular Oslo call of tomorrow) was available after 1900 hrs. and thus we had a slow run up the fjord while having a good look at the various sights. Frank Buckingham, our travel guru, explained everything about anything and every chair on board near a window was occupied. Few people dared to go outside as it was still very windy and the rain had returned as well in intermittent showers. Still the fjord looked better than with sunlight as there was no glare and the greenery on the sides of the fjord did indeed look green.

The Kristina Regina, who had occupied the dock during the day, left at 18.30 and at exactly 1900 hrs. the Prinsendam was docked for a quiet night in Oslo. Those who wanted to go ashore could do so and the rest could admire the Oslo sky line from the ship. The weather forecast for tomorrow predicts sunshine later on in the day and very little wind but I will believe it when I see it.

The crew was happy as well about an early arrival but I am not expecting many to go ashore. The drinks are too expensive and also soccer mania has erupted onboard. Tonight is the England – USA game and we can see all the games as the company has taken out a contract for the fleet.