29 October 2008, Grand Turk Island (Almost)

Things did not turn out the way we had hoped for. When I was called by the bridge at 6 am., I was advised that the wind had been increasing during the night and that the rim of the frontal system was approaching. Thus it would be questionable if we could dock at Grand Turk Island. But as the pier is located in the lee of the island with a North Easterly wind there was always hope that a docking would be possible. The frontal system had been moving faster than the initial weather forecasts were indicating and also the wind was much stronger than forecasted.

Thus the Veendam approached the pier from the South West and we observed winds of around 25 to 30 knots; that is gale force. Normally when we come into the lee of an island, the wind velocity drops by 10 knots and if it is an island with a mountain range, then it is a lot more. I was hoping for that 10 knot drop in wind speed as with the wind coming full on the beam while docking, I needed that reduction. However while we approached the dock the wind only became stronger and stronger and when I was as close as 4 ship lengths off the dock, the aenemo meter indicated 32 knots of true winds. That is a good of enough reason to turn around quickly and get to safer, open waters. At the same time the ever increasing winds whipped up the waves and a swell started to run along the dock. That meant, that even if we had been able to dock, the Veendam would have been bouncing along the pier all day. That would not have been safe either.

So I spun the ship around and headed back to deeper water. By the time we had returned to our old course line, running parallel past the island the wind was blowing 35 to 38 knots. Over the flat island we saw the weather front approaching with a curtain of rain coming with it and a sea of only white caps and foam. Thus very little chance of the wind abating in the course of the morning. Therefore I could only make one decision; cancel the call and spend the day at sea. Thus we set course for Half Moon Cay with an arrival time of 8 am. tomorrow morning. Our scheduled arrival time is 9 am. but as I now have time on my hands I might as well arrive earlier so the guests can go ashore as soon as they have finished breakfast, instead of having to wait for the ship to arrive.

Grand Turk Cruise terminal on a nice day. Photo shows the maiden arrival of the Noordam when it inaugurated the new pier. Photo: courtesy by HAL.
Cancelling a call, is a decision that takes only 30 seconds to make. You take all your observations into account and you say: yes or no. Such a decision is made solely by the Master. You might listen to the input of your Chief Officer and the navigators present but the decision is made by only one person. Where the safety of the ship is concerned the decisions are not based on consensus, although it is pleasant if all agree. The aftermath of such a decision takes much longer than 30 seconds. Announcements have to be made, the engine and hotel department have to be informed and the office has to be called, followed by a written-email-report so that all parties in the head office are aware of what is going on. All together that took up most of my morning.

The one good thing is now that with a slower speed, the Veendam is moving less than it would otherwise be. The moment we cleared the top of the island we became exposed to the North Atlantic swell, being whipped up by these high winds the ship started to move about a bit. Luckily the wind became quite quickly a following wind when we changed course to the North West, thus we do not have to battle the wind towards our next destination.

Today the frontal system is also laying over Half Moon Cay and I hope that is moves South West quickly enough that it will not affect our call tomorrow. If the wind stays from the North East, I have high hopes as the island will block the ocean swell, so the tender service is not affected. If the winds are not too strong, I can keep the nose into the wind and stay in position with the engines, if needed. Keeping my fingers crossed.