Our final westbound transcanal cruise for this year.
By midnight we had left the Florida Strait and sailed into the Old Bahama Channel. Because the strong, cold front wind was pushing the Gulf Stream towards the coast of Florida, it squeezed the width of the Gulf Stream a bit as well. That caused a sort of build up against the Cuba coast and as the water has to go somewhere; it flowed quite strongly into Old Bahama Channel. That gave us at times about 2 knots of current with us and that helped gain me back some of the time lost yesterday, waiting for the C.Eclipse to sail. The average speed to make to Aruba was 17.9 knots and we topped the 20 knots on occasion and that helped balance the books a little bit.
In the lower middle of the Florida Strait, is a bank and with strong NE winds, the water gets pushed around it and that gives us a nice push in the back going SE.
Late afternoon we lost the protection of the Bahamian banks and then the ride of the ship became a bit more bouncy. Now the wind was blowing over open waters and had the chance to whip up the waves. They reached the ship under an angle, and occasionally when the ship’s bow just dipped at the wrong moment, one of these waves crashed into the side. Too low to be seen, or to cause foam to fly, but strong enough to create a loud bang. Reminding everybody of the fact that we were indeed at sea.
In the late afternoon, we came close enough to Cuba to start seeing the land, and by 17.00 we passed Punta Lucretia where we are only 5 miles from shore and 2 miles from the start of Cuban territory. From there we followed the coast line, so all evening the guests could see the lights on the shore side twinkling in the distance. Courtesy of the Cold weather front wind, the sky was crystal clear with no tropical haziness was present.
Cabo Maisi by day light. In all my years of sailing I have never seen the lighthouse during daytime. For some reason the cruise schedule always makes me pass through Windward at ngiht time.
By midnight we had turned into the Windward Passage and all ships movement moved ceased as we were leaving the North Atlantic waves behind. On our starboard side we could see the strong beam of the lighthouse of Cabo Maisi flashing its warning over the water and then it was a straight southerly course to get to the Caribbean Sea. We should be out of The Windward Passage by 3 am. Through the Jamaican channel by 06.00 and then at 07.00 on our port side we will have Cape Tiburon. That is more or less the most south westerly point of Cuba. With the cold air, we should be able to see the mountain ranges of Haiti quite clearly, even while we have to stay 12 miles away due to the reefs.
Tomorrow we will spend the whole day crossing that Caribbean Sea. According to the weather forecast, we should have regular Caribbean weather with a normal Trade wind blowing and no rain to speak off. I hope it will be so, as today I had to keep the doors to the outside decks closed, as a wind force 7 on the portside was not pleasant to stand in.
Also we will be busy tomorrow morning as it will be the 11th of the 11th. so the ships complement of the Statendam will join in, in remembering “those who were left behind”. We will have our regular ceremony and before it all starts, I will have to teach the cadet how to ring the Bell in a good and respectful way. Luckily he is ex Royal Navy Reserve (Netherlands) and so a bit used to pomp and circumstance.
November 11, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Geachte kapitein Albert,
Blij verrast te ontdekken dat u op dit moment weer op de Statendam vaart. We hebben u vorig jaar eind okt./half nov.’11 meegemaakt toen u de Statendam weer oppikte, wij menen in Punte Arenas Costa Rica op de Panama-cruise Ft. Laud – San Diego en weer terug.
We hebben deze week onze boeking “rond” gekregen op uw 28-daagse vervolgreis 23-11 tot 21-12 Circle Hawaii, etc. en waren verheugd te constateren dat u wederom onze kapitein bent. Fantastische herinnering hebben wij aan u na uw bevlogen en met enorm enthousiasme gebrachte lezing over de geschiedenis van de Holland America Line, waarbij tijd geen rol speelde, want een ieder “hing aan uw lippen”. Dit toont uw grote betrokkenheid bij de maatschappij! Helaas voor ons stapt u er de 21ste weer af, maar wij denken dat u dan heerlijk thuis Kerst en Nieuwjaar gaat vieren, en juist voor een zeeman is dat van harte gegund, waar thuis de feestdagen meemaken immers schaarse momenten zijn. Wij trekken dan nog even door, wederom naar Fort Lauderdale om juist eens te ervaren hoe Kerst en Nieuwjaar aan boord gevierd worden. Daarnaast vinden we de Statendam een heerlijk schip (inmiddels de 3e trip hierop) en niet in het minst om ook lekker te genieten op het seeview-pooldek. Wij prefereren dit dek in hoge mate boven het dit voorjaar beleefde “retreat-dek” op de Rotterdam. Jammer dat de maatschappij dat pooldek heeft opgeofferd aan realisatie van meer cabins, maar voor de echte buitenbeleving van zon, zee en zwemmen richten wij ons nu toch zeker liever op de schepen met een seeview-pool.
Hoe dubbel kan 11 Nov. zijn, u schreef in uw dagverslag over de herinneringsceremonie voor “hen die waren achtergelaten”, wat hier overigens in Nederland ook op het 8-uur journaal werd vermeld in een reportage-stukje met Queen Elizabeth. Maar tegelijkertijd hebben we op die dag hier het kinderfeest “Sint Maarten” met zingende kinderen langs de deuren om (héél veel) snoep, etc. op te halen, en daarnaast op dezelfde dag ook al weer de keuze van Prins Carnaval.
Nou ja, that’s life, maar op dit moment crisis of niet, straks eerst toch maar even lekker genieten bij u aan boord op de Statendam.
Met vriendelijke groet en snel tot ziens,
Jan & Wietske van der Schinkel
November 12, 2012 at 6:15 pm
Welkom aan boord
Captain Albert
November 12, 2012 at 6:06 pm
It is always surprising that even after countless sailings over what is often almost the same route, a new experience, new view can be had . Like Cabo Maisi’s lighthouse : meeting an old acquaintance for the first time. Nice !!