10 April 2013; At Sea.

For the whole day we had very windy weather coming from the North East to East. A sort of enhanced Trade wind but then blowing with a velocity of 35 knots and some times more. With it came the waves and swell but luckily the combined height did not go over the 14 feet (that is when the ship really starts to pitch) and while the ship was moving a bit, it was not an uncomfortable ride. Most guests always think that the use of stabilizers will solve any movement issue of the ship. Unfortunately that is not the case. Although stabilizers are the greatest gift to passengers at sea since the concept of deep sailing was invented, they only work to a certain extent. First of all you need speed as stabilizers need flow to operate and secondly the system can only reduce about 90% of the rolling motion of the ship. Stabilizers are controlled by a gyroscope which senses the movement of the ship and as it is always a reaction to the movement it can never achieve a 100% output. Then there is the bow movement, what we call pitching. Thus far nothing has been invented to control that movement. Which means we just have to live with it. And that was what the ship did, a bit of both. 

Another of our unsung heroes on board is the ships linen keeper. With several towel changes each day for passenger and crew cabins alike, and  a bed linen change at least every three days, it means that there is a large rotation of linen. On top of that are all the bathrobes, of which we carry three full sets. One set in use in the cabins, one set being washed and one set on standby for the next cruise. Apart from being washed it all has to be stored and properly counted in and out. For that purpose there is one man specially appointed: the ships linen keeper.

Mr. Sandy Diklirah has one of the largest store rooms on board under his control from where all linen is issued. He is part of the Housekeeping department and reports via the Laundry Manager to the Exe. Housekeeper. There is a turnover on linen, due to the frequent washing, regular wear and tear and with occasional guests, and crew alike, carrying out tests on the “tear apart factor” of the sheets and towels. Roughly $ 40,000 a year is needed for replacement and upkeep of the standard stock of a 1200 bed ship. Linen and towels that are beyond regular use are being cut up in handy sizes and given to the Engine Room where they are used for cleaning purposes.

It saves a considerable amount of money by recycling the materials in this way. The used linen is then incinerated on board, where by the oil drenched cloths help with achieving full combustion inside the incinerating chamber and that saves oil again. All in all a nice cycle that works out for everybody. These guys in the laundry really have my respect. In the tropics it is very very warm down there and up in Alaska they do not see very much as they work inside the ship without daylight. Still they are always cheerful and happy. Maybe it is the peaceful occupation of folding thousands of towels every day that gives you a real benign outlook on life. On some ships they have a real Chinese laundry but on Holland America all the laundry people come from Indonesia.

I expect the winds to start to die down early this evening when we come under the coast of Haiti. Then it should be nearly wind still while we sail through the Windward Passage and then tomorrow when we are above Cuba we will have wind and current in the back. That will create nearly wind still conditions on the decks and will provide a very nice and last day for all on board.