29 March 2013; San Diego, USA.

All the weather predictions bore out and we arrived with beautiful weather at the San Diego pilot station for a 05.00 pickup. The bay was totally devoid from any moving object except for a big auto boat behind us, the Rigel leader, which was bringing much needed pickup trucks to California. They sailed out at the same time as we did and they were scheduled to arrive at Yokohama, Japan, on the same day that we are completing our next cruise April 12 in Fort Lauderdale. So 14 days to cover a distance of 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. If they are going the Great Circle route, which brings them further North then they might be in for some very bad weather. The area under the Aleutians is still producing a new storm every three days and its wave patterns are rolling quite far south. The Great Circle route is shorter as it is a real straight line on the earth’s curvature, while a straight line on our flat chart (called a Rhumb Line) is in real life longer as it has to be projected onto the curved earth’s surface. Thus I expect that the captain of that Car-Carrrier would spend a considerable amount of time deciding between the various options.

The only curve I had to deal with was the route into San Diego Bay, which basically consists of a long and slow course change going from 352o(entering the leading lights at Punta Loma) to 090o lining up for the dock. That takes about an hour to do and thus we docked the ship at 06.00. An early arrival and all done to create as much time to clear the ship and to ensure that none of the guests and disembarking crew would miss their flights due to the clearance procedures.

And then we had a stroke of luck. CBP assigned two extra officers to the ship and that meant that guests and crew clearance could take place at the same time. That saved at least 90 minutes and made it possible that disembarkation started around 08.30 with the guests off  before 10 am and shortly after followed by the crew going home. So we now had managed to stick to the normal schedule and that also meant that embarkation could proceed in normal way, with all cabins ready on time and no delays for anybody.

That brought my thoughts directly to departure and to get out on time. For that we basically rely on the airport, with the flights arriving and on the traffic for those driving. This time there were no flight delays at San Diego, only a few guests affected with planes that did not go at all. They will be joining in Puerto Vallarta. Luckily they booked their flights via Holland America and thus they will be looked after. If you do your own thing, then you have to find your own way to catch up with the ship. Over the Easter Holidays that might not be so easy.

We pulled out on time, after having done the compulsory before departure boat drill. Also that is going better. I have less and less guests who have to be “urged” to attend and that makes every bodies life easier, safer and also the time standing at the drill shorter. Thus we followed the Rigel Leader out and she took care of most of the Sunday sailors in the Bay. We had two to contend with who considered it the wisest thing in the world by starting to cross our bow while we were only a few 100 feet away. Luckily both saw the light after being descended upon by the Harbour Police, with flashing light, sirens and loud hailers. That is why the guys in the police and other security boats really enjoy escorting the cruise ships around the weekend.  Racing around, being important and useful and telling a lot of people on the water a few home truths.

Tomorrow we are at sea, racing down the coast of California. The gentle breeze that was against us on the way up will now be with us, but is supposed to increase tomorrow morning. That will give us a gentle push in the back.

Tonight have an hour forward to get in synch with Puerto Vallarta although we have another sea day tomorrow. We might as well do it tonight then the guests might stay up a little bit longer during the first formal night.