14 August 2009, Helsinki, Finland.

We saw a full port in Tallinn, a full port in St. Petersburg and now the Helsinki berths were also all occupied. The harbour masters, keen on getting as many ships in as possible, try to park as much ship as they can get per length of quay as possible. Most of the time that means that for a smaller ship as the Prinsendam there is a little corner left in a nice spot in the downtown area. Unfortunately not this time. Therefore we ended up in the West harbour which is about 15 minutes by bus from downtown. For me it is easier to dock here than in down town; the approach is much easier and the docks are newer and better laid out. For the guest the downtown option is better as you can walk to town within 10 minutes. However the agent can only request the best berth. The port decides which customer gets what. Today we did not get the best place for a change.

We could share our sorrows with 3000 other guests as ahead of us docked the Jewel of the Seas which is considered too big to go through “the hole” to reach down town Helsinki. The hole being the very narrow entrance fairway to the downtown port area of Helsinki. (See my Helsinki blog in June for an explanation) She arrived after us, around 9 am.; docked in front of us and departed before us in the late afternoon, as we stayed until 2300 hrs. I had hoped that the nightly breeze would have pushed the rain clouds away but instead it brought some more from the Tallinn area. Tallinn radio announced a gale warning over the VHF but by the time it had made its way across the Baltic to Helsinki there was only rain left to fall. The wind had blown itself out. There is better weather on the way, at least for a short while because the next frontal system from the Atlantic is coming closer but it should be sunny tomorrow. Today it was just gloomy most of the time with the occasional drizzle and rain.

Next to us the Tallinn ferry’s docked; which leave and arrive every few hours. So all day long the multi colored hulls in bright Green, White and Purple passed by. Arriving and leaving on a strict schedule. The pilot told me that Tallinn Ferries advertises on Finnish Television with the slogan that their ferries arrive and leave on time, “whatever the weather”. Always a dangerous statement to make as the weather can occasionally be quite horrible in the Baltic. While the guests were enjoying Helsinki, I was already with the ship in Foynes, Ireland where we are going next cruise. I have never been to that port and it takes about 3 hours to get up river, if going slow. Maybe the pilot will allow a higher speed and then we can get a bit faster to the dock. My interest primarily lay in the fact whether I could swing around upon docking or undocking. It is never pleasant to have to back up down or up a river, especially if there is a strong current running. As it rains a lot in Ireland, there is always current in the rivers. Currents caused by the falling rain water flowing to the sea. But there is a sort of turning basin off the dock that gives me sufficient room to do so, so it will be up to the pilot to advise whether it is better to turn on arrival or on departure. Around arrival and departure it is also slack tide from the ocean tide but that is the calculation on paper. Only on the day we will know what the exact time of slack tide is going to be. That is something for the local pilot to figure out as that is what he gets paid for.

Once a cruise, on a longer cruise, we do a “late departure”, the idea being that it gives a good chance for the hotel manager to do a deck barbeque or to organize another outside happening. With the overcast and chilly weather that was of course not very practical today and so all activities remained indoors. The gloomy weather also made sure that all guests were back early and that gave me the chance to pull out as soon as security reported that all had been accounted for. Tomorrow we are at sea, sailing around the south point of Finland on the way to Vaasa. This is a small town located half way up the Bothnic Gulf. The Bothnic is the body of water located between the East coast of Sweden and the West coast of Finland. It is a new port for the company and thus the ship has never been there and neither have I. It looks pleasant on photos and it has a beautiful cargo dock that is 10 meters longer than the Prinsendam, so we will fit in nicely.

I only know the name Vaasa as a brand name for Swedish knackebrod that is being sold in Dutch supermarkets. Maybe I will discover whether it really comes from there. Tomorrow will be a sunny day and I am hoping that it will hold for the port of Vaasa as well.