18 November 2008, At Sea.

The one good thing about Cold fronts from the North West is, is that they produce following winds when you are southbound and that makes for a pleasant situation on deck. With the ship traveling at 18 knots and the wind blowing at 25 knots, the relative wind of 7 knots created a gentle breeze on the ship. As long as that wind has changed directions by the time we leave Costa Maya, I am happy with it. Going back to Tampa bucking against 25 knots, can create an uncomfortable ride as the sustained wind creates quite a bit of swell. But that is still three days away.

For the rest it remains to be seen how these weather fronts are going to behave. At the moment they are calling for windy weather in Belize and bringing cold air over the region. But if all three will merge eventually is not yet clear. I have included one of the weather maps that I pull off the internet everyday, courtesy of the NOAA. This map clearly shows where front one and two are located. It also gives the wave areas and just East of Guatemala there is a wave field of 10 feet. 10 feet of waves makes the ship move. With following wind, it creates a sort of a corkscrew motion, a combination of rolling and pitching and that can be quite uncomfortable. Even with the stabelizers going the ship will still move a little bit or take the occasional lurch as the wind wave pattern is not regular.

The winds are now supposed to abate and that means that the coming 24 hours the waves should die down a bit as well and thus the ships movement will get more comfortable. For those of you not completely familiar with weather charts, the little arrows indicate the wind speeds and the direction the wind is blowing from. One stick on the arrow denotes 10 knots, so three sticks denote 30 knots of wind speed which is about 34 land miles an hour. This particular chart is produced about 24 hours before the actual date and thus it gives a good indication of what can be expected the next day. That does not mean that it is necessarily right (see 16 November Tampa blog) but in general is gives a good indication.

weather-chart1

As this was the first sea day of the cruise, it meant that this evening we had the Captains Welcome on board champagne toast. Apart from introducing the ships staff and plugging the show, I have started to use the occasion for recognizing crewmembers whose dedication to the company has reached a certain milestone. Now Holland America has been sailing for over 30 years with Asian crewmembers and more and more of them are reaching the threshold when they have spent many years with the company. Last cruise I had the purser with 30 years and this cruise the security officer with 20 years. With the years spent, they receive a service award pin or other gift.

The company has a recognition system and that works as follows:
3 year: Topaz
5 year: Ruby
10 year: sapphire
15 years: Peridot
20 years: 5 point Diamond
25 years: 10 point diamond
30 years: Gold signet ring with company logo
35 years: Mantelpiece clock with inscription
40 years: Watch with company logo (very high quality watch)

Officially there is nothing for over 40 years, as very few get that far, but we had in the past office people who worked for over 50 years for the company. Currently our Senior Master Captain J.J. “Jack” van Coevorden has clocked up over 45 years with the company. For 20 years and over, I invite the person to come on the stage. For 30 years and over, we also throw a party with the crew, or whatever they prefer. Most crew are very proud of their achievement and wear these pins on their evening uniform.

Tomorrow we are in Belize and the agent has forwarded a local forecast indicating a breezy and chilly day.