13 Aug. 2016, Norwegian Sea / North Sea.

After departing last night we sailed through the 4^th. longest fjord in the world and the 2^nd longest one in Norway. Eidfjord and connected Hardangerfjord are considered to be one fjord. I do not know how they measure a fjord exactly, I suppose it has to have an end somewhere but the statistics said so: 4^th. largest, and it will stay that way until somebody digs a longer one. We sailed under the Harfangerfjord Bridge which is the longest in Norway but it was not that spectacular as it should have been as the fjord was very misty.

I have never seen it so busy with guests in the Lido at 6 pm. A ll skipping the dining room experience, just to see the sights.

While I was having dinner in the Lido, I had to think about the Hobbits travelling through the Misty Mountains. It had that sort of atmosphere. About two hours out we stopped at a waterfall and the Captain gave the Koningsdam a complete spin to give everybody everywhere a good look at it. There is less room on the bow of this ship than on some other ships even with it being two levels, as the designers had allocated this as a crew deck with a guest viewing option. Still it would never be able to take all the guests, so a 360o spin works much better.

The Furebergfossen waterfall. The picture is slightly bluish due to the green reflection of the scenery and the falling evening, as it was almost 9 pm when we were there. Note the Road/bridge at the water level.

There are several nice water falls which come cascading down the mountains in the Hardanger fjord but according to experts this is one of the most spectacular ones. It is called The Furebergfossen Waterfall and Furebergfossen means something as Tree on the Mountain. Looking at the waterfall there were a lot more trees around but maybe there was once one very big one. They built a road in front of the fall which to a certain extent spoils the view from the sea but on the other hand gives a very good idea of the size of this waterfall, a size which otherwise would have been very hard to judge.

Map courtesy www. GraphicsMaps.com

By 1 am in the morning we had said goodbye to our Norwegian Fjorden pilot and turned the ship south towards the end of our cruise, back to Amsterdam. The weather remained hazy and gloomy until late morning when it cleared up a bit but it remained overcast.

It is almost a straight North to South run and the same route as we came up the coast 7 days ago. Today we did not see all the Oil Rigs as the visibility was not that great, but most guests had seen them on the way up, as the heavy storm did ensure very clear skies.

My day was taken up with the teaching sailors. Apart from being involved with mooring lines, docking procedures and ships maintenance, they also run the tenders when we are in a tender port. Before they are allowed to do that they have to be qualified and that qualification is a mixture of theory and practice. They have to have a full Lifeboat commander certificate, which is a week’s training at a shore side facility; a facility recognized by the company and by the Flag state. Then they have to a have a Certificate of Competence as a bridge look out so they are qualified to be involved in navigation and then they need to do computer training courses to gain detailed knowledge in tender operations and some of the equipment. When that is all done, there is the Tender Operator Course which is given on board by a senior officer. I shouldered the task this time as the Koningsdam deck officers are going through relief cycle and it is never good when a new officer has to take over from one who left.

The ship produces little charts for every tender port, it shows which route to follow and where not to go. The ship in the lower right was not there as the anchorage buoys had been damaged but those buoys are a recognition point during tender navigation.

The whole course includes a week of theoretical training and knowledge refreshers and then a number of practical sessions. Theory is mainly knowing the WHY behind everything. They all know their buoys, the why is, why is that buoy there. When the tender is in operation the driver has a tender chart in his cockpit for reference. He needs the knowledge to be able to properly read that chart = the WHY behind giving him the chart. Then there are the Rules of the Road and especially what to do, if the other boat is not following those rules (Six pack navigators!!) Then there is practical training, with not just sailing the tender, but how to sail, if you only have one engine or if suddenly the visibility goes down to zero.

Apart from other work, that will keep me gainfully occupied for the next ten days.  And it keeps the sailors occupied for the next 10 days as well; including some the evenings as the company’s computer courses are not simple.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to be at the Ijmuiden pilot station at 02.45 in the morning and then sail through the North Sea Canal to the dock. That will take a few hours as we are not allowed to go faster than 7 kilometers an hour at some places to avoid suction and swell damage.  The weather is supposed to be a lot better than today with partly sunny skies and noon temperatures of 70oF or 21oC and with hardly any wind in the mornings and a gentle breeze in the afternoon.