28 Feb. 2019. Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

We had a nice and sunny day today but a windy day. There was a lot of wind pushing its way north from the south in the aftermath of the rain (frontal system) band crossing over Florida Straits just when we were leaving yesterday. Luckily we were the only ship in and thus we had the shore tenders available. If we had had to use our own tenders it would have been a real challenge to have the guests step on the tenders safely. The shore tenders are a lot bigger, take close to 300 people, and lay steadier alongside the ship. Still the captain had to use a lot of thruster power to provide a good lee for the tenders to come alongside. But it was safe and it worked. The voyage from the ship to the shore and back was a little bit rocky and that’s what the guests have to pay for when going to a Fancy Fair, they now got it for free. But it was safe as long as everybody followed the orders of the crew on board the Zuiderdam and from the crew on board the tenders.  And the beach was as wonderful as always.

We had a small bit of excitement as well. Today we were the first ship that had our new supply tender alongside, the new Half Moon Clipper. It was her first day of operations after having come down from her builder in the United States.

The new Half Moon Clipper starting her life today at Half Moon Cay.

Our first Half Moon Clipper was a former ferry from the Newfoundland region. Very strongly built and the only thing available when Holland America founded Half Moon Cay in 1996. But she was getting a little bit small for the amount of food, drink and other supplies that have to go ashore for when the bigger ships are in. We did not have the bigger ships in 1997 as the Vista Class only showed up in 2002 with the ms Zuiderdam as last one. I detailed in my blog from last cruise about about all that has to go ashore and come back.

Loading the Half Moon Clipper with supplies for the Island. Cruise ships are sometimes used for the strangest things.

Now we have a new Half Moon Cay Clipper which has a lot more deck space for stores. And she was put right through her paces today as we had a lot of extra supplies for the island and even with the good lee of the ship it was still a wobbly affair while loading all the pallets.

A crystal clear blue sea, a cruise ship floating on the edge of shallow and deep water; and as Holland America has a zero -overboard policy the waters remain as pristine as they are.

Half Moon Cay also has it’s windless days and I am publishing today a number of photos that would make the Public Relations department jealous. They were taken by our First Engineer Kyle Pritchard as he had brought his drone ashore. Half Moon Cay is much bigger than the area Holland America uses and that is something you cannot see when ashore as the shrubbery is about 2.50 meters high in places and thus you have to walk all the wide sandy paths that are there and follow all the signs. I tried that once in the past and made it to the lagoon but when I walked back to take the next path to the horses, the mast of Captain Morgan’s bar arose invitingly above the shrubs and the urge for a cool drink was much more urgent  than my original urge to see the horses.

The Half Moon Lagoon to the South East about 10 minutes walk inland. The whole area is open to guests as long as they respect the area as a nature reserve.

Holland America has an indefinite lease on the island for 13000 acres. Of that it is allowed to use/develop 6000. As far as I know we have about 2000 sort of in use with most of it being the strip of land along the crescent curved beach.  13000 -6000 = 7000 and those acres are an assigned nature park for which Holland America is the custodian and looks after. That includes the inland lake or lagoon. It is a lake but it has a direct connection with the sea and thus it is salt.

The other or North Side of the Island. The brown area to the right is the place where the horses have their paddocks.

Still as you can see from the photos it is a wonderful location to spend the day and I have no problems understanding when magazines such as Porthole and Conde Nast Travel, vote the island the best year after year.  It is not just a day tripper resort, it a destination in itself of which is there is no copy of it around anywhere else.

After the last guests had made it back to the ship, we set sail for Aruba. Tomorrow will be a full day at sea, passing the east point of Cuba in the early morning and then start to cross the Caribbean. Weather should be partly cloudy with very little wind while between Cuba and Hispaniola. Then we come under the influence of the Trade Winds but even here the wind velocity looks decent. Down towards to Aruba there is still more wind, but the predictor indicates that it should get less there as well.

Our predicted weather for tomorrow. Should be a very good day.