23 Nov. 2016; Costa Maya, Mexico.

Costa Maya is an artificial place, a resort created out of nothing.  They basically picked a spot where they could build a T pier into deep water and then attached a resort to it. The T pier can take three big ships and the resort can handle the amount of about 7000 to 8000 guests as well. However two ships give everybody a little bit more space and that worked out today.  In port with us was the Norwegian Jade which has about 2400 guests in lower berth capacity but a lot of quad cabins and is thus a real family ship. So I guess we had around 4500 guests hopping or lazing around in the port.

The Norwegian Jade at the side pier with the inner berth empty. A long walk for the guests.

For the captains it is a nice day if it has nice weather. The dock is fully exposed to the elements and tends to catch the full brunt of hurricanes which are coming up to the Yucatan coast or the winter depressions coming down the Yucatan coast. It is not fully winter yet so we are in between and we can get a bit of both. Otto is still churning away in the south and if he is not going ashore in Nicaragua there is a fair chance he will have a look at Costa Maya. Mayhem from the north we had today already. Coming down from the Gulf of Mexico was a frontal system with rain and strong winds. I had sort of calculated that it would reach Costa Maya just around sailing time but by noon time the wind was already building up and rain showers were gathering. The Captain had to put the bow thrusters and one of the pods on to release the strain on the mooring ropes. By the 14.30 we were up to wind force 7 and more power had to be put on line. Nothing dangerous for the ship, just unpleasant.

The one danger which is always present here is the swell. This morning it was nice and quiet but with the arrival of the tail of a frontal system laying over the Gulf, the wind started to whip up the waves. Then we have a problem with the dock as it is not a solid dock but built on pillars. Thus the waves can sweep freely under it, hit the ship (which will then go up and down) roll passed the ship, hit the shore and come back. The ship moves on the waves and pulls at the ropes. Too much pull and the ropes break. At the same time the wind is pushing the ship off the dock as well and that makes the ropes go –ping- even faster. Hence the decision of the Captain to put the machinery on to reduce the strain on the ropes.

If the pier walk is too long then you can catch a ride on this contraption. It is called the “all on board” road train and it runs continiously up and down the main pier.

We had all hoped for a speedy departure but then we heard that the tours were running late. Murphy has been very quiet lately but today he was back in play again. On the day you want to leave before time to have a good head start for Tampa, there are delays on the road and you have to wait for delayed coaches.  Thus it was past 3 pm. before all were back on board. I was on the forward mooring deck, teaching a new 3^rd officer “ the ropes” and he had a good start as singling up (releasing lines) with ropes under strain can be very dangerous if not done calmly and in good coordination. So Murphy was my friend here as it was a good situation for working on the need of having eyes in the back of your head. You need to keep an eye on the linesmen ashore, you need keep an eye on the ropes on board, you need to keep an eye on the sailors handling the ropes and you need to keep an eye on the winch operators. That is eyes for outboard and eyes for inboard so at least looking in 4 different directions at the same time. Most people do not have four eyes and certainly not in the back of their head so it is a skill that you have to develop.

This was the last port of call on this seven day cruise. Tomorrow we have a sea day and then we are back in Tampa. Out next cruise is a 14 day one, going clockwise around the Caribbean. That will take us away from the area where Otto is going to play, and by the time we get to that area in about 10 days, he should have moved on or petered out.

Otto now almost looks like a hurricane from above but where we are going it looks fairly clear apart from the frontal system (those white bands) moving west.

Depending on how fast our current weather system moves to the West, we could either have a windy and rainy day tomorrow or a quiet day with just grey weather and very little wind. Hard to predict as the ship goes one way with a steady speed of 18 knots and the system goes the other way with  a lot less of a steady speed.

In the meantime Otto is making the weather guru’s life not easy as it keeps changing its mind.

Otto to bring life threatening flash flooding to parts of Central America

11/23/2016 6:32:43 PM

Otto weakened to a tropical storm early Wednesday morning and has shown no intensification to this point with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. Despite this slight weakening, Otto will remain over an area of warm waters and in an environment of low wind shear. This could allow Otto to regain minimal hurricane strength again before landfall. Otto will drift to the west toward Nicaragua and Costa Rica into Thursday.

Whether Otto is a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane will make little difference in the overall impacts. Otto will bring heavy rainfall over parts of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama during the next couple days. There is the potential for flash flooding and mudslides, especially in the higher terrain of these Central America countries. Some of the heavier rainfall will impact parts of southern Honduras. The orientation of the mountainous terrain and the orientation of the winds around Otto will limit the amount of rainfall over El Salvador.