10 July 2010; Dover Strait and North Atlantic Ocean.

In accordance with the rules of the road we followed the Vessel Traffic Separation scheme. We crossed the North Sea over the English side and picked up the Southbound Traffic lane towards the North Atlantic Ocean. We were going full speed as it is a tight schedule to Lorient in France and that meant that we were overtaking ship after ship. Around 6 am we passed Dover and were hoping for a glimpse of the White Cliffs but it was not to be as at that time a white cloud descended over the Prinsendam and its surrounding area. The good weather was finally catching up with us and producing fog. Luckily it was not that early and thus we did not wake up the guests in the suites too early. Having a suite is the best thing you can have on a ship but you have to take in consideration the fact, that what the captain gets, the suite owner gets as well.
There is more movement as you are higher up and when the captain starts blowing the horn, right above your head, the suite occupant will have to enjoy it as well. I knew it was going to be a nice day again, so it was just a matter of time before the rising sun would be strong enough to burn off the fog and return to good visibility. In the end it took until 11.00hrs and then the world was wide open again.

During the last two cruises, we had calm weather and thus no ships movement at all while doing our travels. Even along the Norwegian coast the ship was very steady. But today we felt the motion of the ocean again. It has been quite nasty in the North Atlantic, South of Iceland, and the swell generated there did reach the British Isles and the French coast. Together with a fresh Breeze, that sustained the momentum, the ship moved about a little bit. Not that much but it was a new sensation after so much time of nothing at all.

However by the early evening when we turned eastwards, sailing under the coast of Brittany, the swell started to travel with us and that made the ship quiet again. Tomorrow we will be Lorient, in South Brittany, France for a half day call. The entry and departure of the ship from the port is dictated by the strong current, generated by the Ebb & Flood. The flow is being pushed through a very narrow passage creating a very strong current, halfway between the time of high and low water. That means that we have to arrive at a certain time and leave at a certain time, otherwise the ship cannot be controlled while in the passage and hence we might end up going aground in the passage. That would upset a lot of people, including myself and thus we do our utmost to prevent that and arrive at the time stipulated by those with the local knowledge. Luckily for our arrival it works out that we can arrive at our scheduled time which coincides with the beginning of the ebb. For departure we will have to leave an hour early, because the prediction of the harbour master is that under the current circumstances, the flood tide will be too strong if departing at the scheduled time of 1400 hrs.

A while ago, a reader asked me if I could post a schedule of the cruise that the Prinsendam was making and I am blogging about, so it was a bit easier to follow and to put the stories in a better context. So I have pulled this chartlet from the HAL website and that should make it easier.