13 December 2008, At Sea.

It was indeed wobbly and it remained so for the whole day. However as the cold front had moved so rapidly into the Caribbean, the winds which had been whipping up the waves; were abating slowly but steadily. Although we had a strong breeze blowing for most of the day, it was less than the day before and thus the wave heights dropped below 10 feet. That meant that the Veendam was riding the waves quite nicely, sometimes going up and down a little bit more than usual, but mostly with a steady motion. That steady motion did not cost us any speed and so we could make the schedule for Tampa quite nicely. Speed we only loose when heavy pitching occurs and the bow is completely lifted out of the water and then slams back onto the waves. For the guests it gives quite a spectacular view as the bow causes sea spray to fly all over the ship but it makes for an uncomfortable motion and it slows the ship down. Two items that I like to avoid.

We have now been experiencing cold front after cold front for a few weeks and it has had an influence on the Gulf Stream. Most of these Cold weather front winds have been NW and NNE and they have somehow pushed the Gulf Stream all the way over to the Yucatan side. This does not help when I hope for some extra (free) speed to get to Tampa when it is such wobbly weather. Going South to Belize, it will be nice, as the current above Cuba will be with me and after passing Cuba it will not against me. Normally the Gulf Stream is more in the middle of the Yucatan channel and then you also get a bit of a push when going North wards to Tampa. This time the Veendam had to do it all by itself. Bad day for my fuel saving activities.

Courtesy: From Navy Weather website.
The Carnival Legend who is coming from Cozumel and is thus steering a course more from the West might fare better here, as it might just catch the eastern edge of the Gulf Stream and get a bit of a push before it reaches the Straits of Florida, where the gulf Stream veers off to the East. We will see how close we will end up together when we get to the sea buoy tonight. For once Tampa weather looks pleasant for arrival, with little wind in down town. As I explained before wind in Tampa Bay is always an issue as we have to go with such slow speed through Sparkman channel passing docked tankers. Although the pilots are reporting a down turn in the number of ships calling at Tampa, it does not seem to relate to the tanker business. All the regulars are still coming in as per schedule.

The Tampa pilots, or better said their association, is paid per ships movement and thus less ships mean less money. Thus they are not very happy campers at the moment. If they want to keep the same wages then they have to increase the pilot fees. They can not do that by themselves, there is a pilot board that oversees their activities and ultimately the decision lies with the Governor to approve any changes. How that works in times of an economic down turn, I do not know, but it can not be that easy to get a raise when the rest of the industry is having a hard time. The three cruise ships a week (Carnival Legend, Veendam and Grandeur of the Seas) will at least help to provide some steady income. I do not foresee that even with an economic down turn, as we have at the moment, that the ships would leave Tampa as the catchments area is too large. Another great benefit of Tampa is the proximity of its airport in relation to the port. It takes only 20 minutes to get guests from the airport to the ship and on Sunday (provided there is no ball game) it can be done in less than 10 minutes. One cab driver proved that recently; although the people coming out of the cab looked a little white around the nose.

Tomorrow we will be in Tampa, with temperatures higher than predicted and little wind upon arrival. I am going to enjoy that arrival.