13 April 2013; First Day at Sea.

It was a hard push against the Gulf Stream. The benefit we had yesterday morning, now worked against us and it was not before midnight that we were maintaining our regular schedule. We sailed the ship as close to the Bahama Banks as possible (staying about 4 miles off, to stay out of territorial waters) and as far away as possible from the axis of the gulf stream but still it was hard going. There was a whole fleet of ships around us, all suffering from the same problem, all pushing and pushing against 4 knots of current. We were overtaken by just one ship, a container vessel, which was doing 21 knots and that meant it must have been running its engine full out at 25 knots of top speed. Container ships are still the ships which “are in a hurry” as they often sail on very tight schedules. Arriving too late and the slot at the container terminal might be gone and then the ship might have to wait a day. That is not cheap. Although also in the container industry, the fuel prices are hitting hard and many a container company is now opting for going slower by putting more ships on the same route, so that the calling frequency remains the same. It is called “slow steaming” in the container jargon. We were not exactly slow steaming but the adverse current made it look like that.

In my series of “Un-sung heroes” today we visit the Tailor shop. Since we stopped having a fixed home port (Rotterdam until 1971) the Holland America Line ships have carried Tailors on board its ships. They all come from the Philippines and each ship carries 3 or 4 on board. Their function is various. A. they maintain and mend all the uniforms in use; B. they make new uniforms for those who are boarding the ship; C. they man the tailor store for handing out uniforms (those homemade and those bought in bulk from outside such as safety shoes, coveralls and khaki uniforms) and D. they work on projects for the future or for other ships.

From left to right: Mr. Marciano Bacani, Mr. Ambrocio Payawal and Mr. Rodrigo Saladino.

The last item might need some clarification. Our company changes its uniform design on a regular basis. Not so much with the officers but with the crew. Since I joined the company we have had at least four changes in the uniform design for the Diningroom and the Cabin staff. That means that when such a plan is on the drawing board, then the tailors already start working on the project far in advance. It takes awhile to have 200 uniforms ready for the stateroom attendants and the diningroom staff.

The uniforms are produced in three standard sizes. That works in general fairly well as the Indonesian crewmembers are in general all slim and from a regular height. If a person, bulges a bit here or there, (an issue the tailors have to deal with more and more as there is an influx of ladies into the ranks) than the standard size is adapted where needed.
It is more complicated with the Philipino’s as there tends to be a larger variation in heights and body shape. Most of those work in the Bar, Lounge and Deck as waiters and waitresses and they also need more sorts of uniforms as there is a difference between, day-deck, day-lounge , regular evening and formal night uniform.
Most of the Officers uniforms are made to measure as with so many different nationalities now sailing on the ships, there really is no possibility to mass produce them in standard sizes. Thus the tailor store is a very busy area and gets a lot of visitors.

Most crew like to look smart and those who don’t will eventually come across a member of the ships staff who will ensure that they do. Most crew puts on weight when they are on board and thus a steady stream of those needing “adjustments” flows to and from the tailor shop area which is located deep in the bowels of the ship. Having tailors on board is for the company the only option to keep the uniform issue under control, as the ships sail worldwide and sending clothing out all the time would be cost prohibitive. Plus it would be running after the facts all the time, due to the ever changing numbers of crew on board.

Today we sailed above Cuba and by midnight we will enter the Windward passage. There I will get a good shot of current with us and then hopefully it will be reasonable weather in the Caribbean. Although the weather chart keeps indicating much more wind than is normal for the time of the year.