19 November 2012; At Sea.

After so much wind before, today came as a sort of anti climax. For most of the day we observed wind force 1. As a result the whole area was hazy from sunrise until sunset. We were sailing 12 miles from the shore, but we could not see anything. On a clear day, you can see from this distance the apartment buildings in Acapulco and Zihuatenego with the naked eye, but not today. This was nicely compensated by the fact that we now could see things in and on the water. What can normally be obscured by the rolling waves of the white crests and foam on the top of the waves, now had no place to hide. It made it possible that every guest who was willing to lean over the railing for half hour able to see turtles. Nice big (approx. 21.5 to 2 feet across) sea turtles. Happily paddling along with not a care in the world. The ship is no danger to them, as they float by and are pushed off by the pressure around the hull. We were sailing with about 18 knots of speed and thus anything that even came in the direction of the ship was bounced off by the water that was being displaced by the hull, courtesy of the bow pushing the sea apart. 

For those on board there was enough to do as well. The guests had the chance to see & hear my lecture about Holland America History but also the crew had something to enjoy. We are gearing up for the long voyage and at the same time I have the routine to hold a “State of the Business” for all crew. Communication is one of the biggest challenges on board a ship, as the trickledown effect does not always work. Hot topics, such as cancelling a port, or wages not arriving, go around the ship like wild fire, but other items can sometimes get stuck in the in box of a supervisor. Thus twice a year I call the troops together in two sessions to let them know the latest news and important items that are the focus of the moment. Giving this speech is something that I do with great pleasure in general but even more so here on the Statendam because the ship is doing so well. It is not often that a captain can read out 2 full power points slides of achievements in a year’s time. From being the HESS ship of the fleet, to passing audits with the lowest numbers of remarks, to managing to get $27,000 in recycling money. Things to celebrate, to be proud about, and to enjoy. On top of it are great motivational items to build on for the future.

The future will have a lot of challenges, preparing for dry dock, preparing for the Christmas cruise, and for the very near future, getting focused on the coming 28 day cruise. We have not done a long cruise for a while and a 30 day cruise is not the same as two 14 day cruises glued together. Thus I took the time to give everybody an overview of the fun (overnights in three ports) and the challenges of many tender ports and not always in flat calm water. Our first challenge will be our changeover day in San Diego. Apart from a large crew change, there will be the 90 day full crew inspection by the CBP, heavy loading of supplies for 28 days and the regular – controlled- mayhem that normally comes with a changeover day. That is still a few days away, but it gives time for everybody to focus on what is coming. I did the first meeting yesterday afternoon and the next one will be tomorrow morning in Puerto Vallarta. PEV is our next port of call and we are scheduled to arrive there at 07.00 at the pilot station.

We will be in port with the Sapphire Princess who is arriving at 09.00 she is much bigger than we are and thus she goes alongside the cruise terminal pier. We will be at berth 2, which we call the Wall-Mart dock. In the beginning I always was disappointed to be docking there, as it is further away from the flea market. However since I was in Wall-mart, I have changed my mind as I saw more guests in Wall-mart than in the flea market during our last call. A matter of priorities I suppose and I am all for it to help out.

We are expecting no wind tomorrow, so it will be a warm day with temperatures touching the 90 oF.