15 March 2015; Fort de France, Martinique.

To get from Barbados to Martinique there are basically two ways to go. One is the direct route staying out in the North Atlantic Ocean and making land fall at Fort de France itself or go back the way we came and sail north in the shelter of St. Lucia. Last night we took the straight route as the swell was not that high and the wind although brisk not much of an issue. Had there been storm or large ocean swells it would have been a different story,  but it was regular north Atlantic weather and no issues at all. And thus we arrived at 0700 hrs. at the pilot station and were docked by 8 am.

Fort de France has for some years now a new dock, right in down town where in the old days we used the tender. The older dock is used by cruise ships as well but is located in the cargo port and quite a walk away from downtown. So this new dock is really a great option. We were sticking our nose right into the town itself.  A very quiet down town as it was Sunday and everything was closed. True to French tradition, they might have gone to church but they certainly would have focused on having lunch with the whole family.

That made a lot of guests decide to either stay on board or go on tour. Company organized tours or by themselves. We even have a German tour group on board who had organized a beach party tour by ferry to the other side of the island. Luckily they came back just in time before the ship sailed because the captain is not required to wait for independent or private tours organized outside the company. The captain might wait and he will try to provide the service but there is no obligation and he would not endanger a timely arrival in the next port for it. Luckily that seldom happens.

In the meantime life goes on and thus also the induction of my trainee class. They are going step by step deeper into the”mysteries” of the Holland America’s way of doing things. One of the very important aspects is everything related to fire drill, fire safety and fire prevention. The first step is to observe how it works, next step to get familiar with the equipment and the third step is to start training and gain experience with our systems and routines.

Team 2 of the deck department. They are not looking very happy but then no team is if they are forced to be the standby team. Today was an Engine drill and then Deck is the backup & support group.

So the first step was observing a fire drill. Especially the gathering of the teams, the dressing up and getting ready. Raising a hose against a (simulated) fire will come later. First they have to understand the principles, the pitfalls and the dangers as ships fire fighting can be dangerous if not properly trained and not knowing the protocols. Thus step one is to look and see how the ship’s crew is doing it and then take it from there.

The trainer and team “on location”. (Both Photos courtesy of Security Officer ms Noordam “JP” J.R Prins.)

Fire station inventory will be next to get to know what equipment we have; then dress up drill and finally we will open the fire hoses.

Since St. Maarten we have been island hopping with a different island each day. We will have two more to go before the guests get time to take a breather with a sea day. Tomorrow we are in Antigua and then in St. Thomas.  Antigua is just around the corner and after our departure at 5 pm we will have a slow ride and then arrive early in the morning at St. Johns. Today it was a windy day but for the dock in Fort de France that does not matter as it right on the edge of the open bay. St Johns is inside a bay which only has a small turning basin so we cannot have not too much wind otherwise we cannot swing around safely. Luckily the wind forecast is for lessening winds and so we should be good for tomorrow. For the rest it will all be the same. Warm, sunny and a chance of a shower.