16 August 2010; A windy day in the Baltic.

Today is the sea day needed to get from the Kieler Kanal to Tallinn. The wind that started to be noticeable when we left the last locks, hit us in full force when we exited the Kieler Fjorden (official name of the large bay at which end the port of Kiel is located). As it was an easterly wind it also meant that we were heading straight into it. Wind force 7, occasionally 8 during the might, meant that the relative wind at the bow was hurricane force as we were heading into it with the comparable speed of a wind force 5. Luckily it is difficult for the wind to build up swell as the Baltic is not a real open water. Thus we had a steady ride while going east. The Baltic is more or less made up of 3 parts. The lower Baltic under Sweden, the middle part from Bornholm to Gotland and then the Eastern part that ends at the Gulf of Finland. The later part is the sea area bordered by Finland to the North, Estonia to the South and Russia to the West. Due to this layout, the ship travelled most of the day on a North Easterly heading, working itself up from the Lower Baltic to the upper part, by keeping the island of Bornholm on the starboard side and the island of Gotland on the port side.

In the course of the day the wind died off a little bit but freshened up again in the evening, so I spent some time looking at the various weather sites to see what the wind would be in Tallinn. That port can be a real blow hole and with Easterly wind, its direction is perpendicular onto the dock. That makes it challenging to make a “soft landing”. Three weather websites, and three different wind speeds were advised. This is not that un-usual as it all depends for what exact location the wind forecast is meant. In downtown between the houses there will be less wind than in the open fields outside the city. Looking at the worst forecast, it was going to be challenging to get the ship in without being pushed all over the place due to that big funnel of ours, so I ordered a tugboat.

In the old days there would be a plethora of tugboats on ready standby in each port but with the advent of the bow and stern thruster the availability dwindled and now you have to booked in advance to have one standby on time. That makes it a bit of a gamble, because the wind might die off during the night but better safe than sorry. Also looking at the weather forecast it did not look like that at all. Bumping into the pier to be penny wise and pound foolish is not very high on my list of priorities and a tugboat is cheap insurance in comparison.

In the meantime we sailed happily along in this almost autumn weather. Not an in correct description as the summer is ending fast here, reason for the Prinsendam to be on her last cruise of the season here. Although with the current heat wave in Russia and the accompanying forest fires, you might not think so.

Today is one of only three sea days on this cruise and thus we have our official Welcome onboard party with the Captain’s toast. Although I always try to make the best of this welcome onboard event, I tend find it a bit strange, as the guests have been here already for more than 48 hours and have heard me talking extensively on the PA system while going through the canal. Still it is the company policy and that we comply accordingly.

Tomorrow we are in Tallinn and the weather does not look very good with strong winds forecast and the chance of torrential rains. We are celebrating Indonesian Independence day and I have arranged with the agent that we are allowed to use the dock for the flag raising ceremony and the following games. So I need dry weather. Hopefully,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,