So we had our weather forecast for a sunny day. We started off overcast with a little sprinkle but indeed later on the sun came through and we had a very beautiful sail away. The whole weather on the coast here is very changeable due to the fact that it comes across from the North Atlantic Ocean and then moves over Norway by going into the Fjords. With the result that a weather front gets split up and one fjord might be bathing in sunshine, while the other might have rain. Just a slight wind change and that weather pattern might move over a mountain ridge between two fjords and the whole situation changes again. On top of that, when coming inland, the ice caps have a great influence on the weather was well. The total result is that is best to look at the weather forecast at least twice a day, to see if there are any changes and normally there are. While I am writing this blog I am downloading the weather forecast for Kristiansand for tomorrow and it is already different than this morning and it is not an improvement.
I spent the morning making my inspection rounds which is a legal requirement under the Dutch Law, where it states that regular inspections shall be carried out inside the ship, the kitchen, provision rooms and potable water supplies. This is still all from the old sailing days when water could go stale and become undrinkable. Most of the Dutch shipping laws date from 1886 and in those days the sea was not that greatly regulated as it is nowadays. All what I do now, is still based under this ancient law and other international treaty’s but the only thing that has really changed are the details of the compliance regulations. We now have company orders and check lists that basically stipulate what to look at, and what to compare it with. That also means that it has become impossible for a captain to do it all with a 100% coverage. Therefore a number of tasks are and have to be delegated to the heads of departments and their supervisors. The idea is that the captain then keeps an eye on those inspections by walking around, doing spot checks and verifying what is being inspected and observes if it also gets fixed. In three months we have to visit all the areas in the whole ship and I normally manage that except tank inspections and guests cabins. The latter I can only do in change over ports, when the cabins are empty and with the long cruises of the Prinsendam I cannot get to them all. When I sailed with the Veendam on the 7 day “bus run” from Tampa, I normally managed to do about 50% with 25 cabins each Tampa day.
However the passenger cabins are taken care of by Housekeeping. Apart from the Chief Housekeeper, there are two assistant housekeepers. One for the Front of the House and one for the Back of the house (crew cabins and operational area’s) The Front of the House keeper has an assistant called the Cabin Inspector and his full day job is to check cabins and to supervise the quality of the service provided by the cabin stewards. These operate in a two man team a senior and a junior. Apart from the younger one learning from the older one, it also reduces the heavy workload, as two guys can now lift a mattress together to change the sheet instead of one steward struggling. Most of our Indonesian Cabin stewards are not that tall or muscular so the “heavenly bed – mattresses” that we use can be a challenge.
We left on time with beautiful weather, so I gave the Chief Officer the opportunity to play with the ship, under the watchful eye of his whole family, who are onboard this cruise, standing two decks up above the bridge. From then on the spotlight was on our Travel guru Frank for his scenic Bergen narration, while we sailed south through the fjord towards Marsteiner pilot station, where we disembarked the pilot 1.5 hours later.
Tonight we will sail down the coast again to arrive tomorrow morning at 0700 at Kristiansand, which is located in the South point of Norway. It is supposed to be raining all day, so I am hoping for a bit of “Changeable weather during the night”.
Photo from off the internet showing the Prinsendam sailing away from Bergen last year. My compliments to the person who took it.
August 13, 2010 at 1:20 am
The above information on inspection details, including those pertaining to the Housekeeping department, sure interested me, Captain. It makes easier understanding when written in a “level 5” English !
Ever since you started writing in 2007 you have taught me so much, especially against the observations I make in the local harbour. It’s real fun to talk to yourself and say, “Captain Schoonderbeek wrote about this!” Your colleagues must be scratching their heads and must wonder what “on earth” (on shore) I’m doing at the dock ☺ I sure see differences in how Captains handle their ships as well, such as turning the ship ‘this-away’ or ‘that-away’, although I don’t understand the why’s yet.
As a “wannabee” I very much appreciate your free instructions spruced up with your sense of humour (intended or not so intended) . . .