16 August, 2009, Vaasa, Finland.

It was raining, blowing, drizzling etc, sometimes in separate occurrences, sometimes all at the same time when we arrived at the pilot station. The weather looked like late autumn not August mid summer. According to the pilot it was not so bad, and if you look at it in reference to mid winter circumstances or autumn gales, he was probably right. However it was only August and I was not happy at all. So I was fully prepared to swing the ship around and to go back to open sea if I did not like what the weather was like inside near the dock. However Vaasa is quite a bit inside, it takes 3 hours by ship, at 12 knots speed to get there and in the harbour is was fairly quiet with only 10 knots of wind. More was expected later in the day, but the wind direction would be all day long in line with the dock and that meant that I would also be able to leave later. The 3 hrs. sailing in meant that we had the pilot ordered for 04.00 in the morning.

Half way in was another “abort point” area where I could stop and turn around if needed or if I would start to feel un-comfortable. We were in luck however and the wind did indeed remain around 10 -12 knots and that did work for swinging around in the harbour and docking nose out. Vaasa harbour is not that big and the Prinsendam had just enough room to swing around. The approach to the dock is a long and winding route, zig zagging between small islands and around rocks. Everything very well marked with poles, pillions and buoys as explained yesterday. The last 5 miles or so is a straight channel that has a width of 300 feet and is quite shallow. It ends directly in the harbour and the harbour is more or less in line with this channel that comes to a dead end at the end of it. The approach maneuver is basically swinging out of the channel into a small basin and then backing up through the channel again towards the dock.

The port is mainly used for import and export of bulk commodities, grain, coal, wood but also technical exports such as engines. There is a large Wartsila factory nearby which uses this port for exporting its machinery. The engines of the Prinsendam are from the Wartsila brand. As a cruise port, it is not so well known, although cruise ships that pride themselves to sail on un-usual routes do call here. “The World” the floating apartment building had been here not so long ago. Thus it made sense in a way for the Prinsendam to show up here as well.

Well we showed and docked in the middle of the streaming rain. I was very happy with the dock itself, big strong bollards and plenty of dock space for buses. Those guests who were not on tour did indeed brave the weather to see the town. As expected they found out that it is not a large and cosmopolitan town and that it did not have a vibrant day and night life. But not many people can say that they have been to Vaasa with a cruise ship. Looking at photos, it looked like a beautiful area but the rain spoilt it all.

By 10 am, the wind picked up and with it came rain. We had an early departure from Vaasa as we had to make Stockholm on time, so we left at 2 pm. By that time it was blowing 35 knots full on the stern and the rain was lashing the dock and the ship. Full on the stern was good as it meant that the ship did not drift when I brought it off the dock. With a channel of only 300 feet wide, there is not much room for drifting. No drift, thus could I line her up for the middle of the channel and give full ahead. The only thing the pilot had to do was to keep her in the middle of the channel and by the time the first turn came we had sufficient speed to make drifting less of an issue. It took us 3 hours to get in, we were out in 2. Some of it courtesy of the following wind. As wind on the stern gives extra speed, with the stern acting as a big sail, it does not cause extra squat so you do go faster but without a deeper draft.

As soon as we were outside, the rain started to disappear. We had reached the end of the frontal system. The skies cleared but the wind remained. There is a gale warning in effect for the Stockholm area. So severe that the south Entrance to the Archipelago has been closed by the port authorities. Alls ships have to use the North entrance. For me it makes no difference, as we were going to use that one anyway as Vaasa is located to the North of Stockholm. It is going to be a parade though. Eight cruise ships are expected and they are all coming in between 0300 and 0800.

For most of the captains it will be a very early morning as it is a four to five hour ride to the docks in down town. I am nbr. 3 on the list with a pilot time of 03.30