USA California has a long coastal line and so has Mexico California; and since 2 pm. yesterday we are sailing along it and can see it continuously on our starboard side. Some of it is fairly flat but in some areas the mountain ranges almost reach the water line and then we see high sand dunes which are really rocks covered with sand. We will continue to follow the coast until we reach San Diego, which is about ten nautical miles north of the Mexican Border. From San Diego it would at least be another day of sailing along the coast to get to the northern boundary, there where California meets Oregon. The Veendam will not do this as San Diego is the turnaround port and from there she goes back to Florida.
The Yorktown Clipper a number of years ago. I did not have my camera with me, so I could not take open sea shot this morning.
This is really the start of the winter season and thus I was not so amazed to see a little blue hulled cruise ship sailing by which looked like the Spirit of Yorktown. But I was amazed to see that it was her. The latest news I had read about her was that she had been seized by a bank due to some monetary issues but obviously she is back in business. She is one of those little ships who sail in Alaska in the summer and then sail the Gulf of Cortez area in the winter. Specializing in wildlife explorations. (The Gulf of Cortez is the sea area between the Mexican Coast and the Californian Peninsula)
We had a very nice sunset last night and that brings me back to the need to complete my blog of a few days ago about sunrises, sunsets and twilights. For people ashore the twilight zone is the moment between light and dark, the time of sunrise and sunset. For us at sea things are a little bit more complicated as that time of the day is an excellent moment to take celestial fixes to determine the ships position. We now mostly look at the GPS but the old skills are still important as you never know if some politician might switch the system off. (USA, Russia and the EU all have an independent system developed just because of that reason)
It has nothing to do with fishing but everything with finding out where you are. (Courtesy In-Fisherman)
Twilight is the time of dusk or dawn, when we go from full night to full day or vice versa. The sun is below the horizon but it is not completely dark yet. For the explanation we will use sunset. There are three phases in this period, Civil, Nautical and Astronomical twilight.
Civil Twilight is the period which ends when we humans think: now the sun is really gone. We cannot see terrestrial objects very clear anymore. We can see planets but stars are not very clear. Then comes Nautical Twilight. Now the stars are clearly visible and the horizon is as well. By using a sextant (which measures the angle between a heavenly body and the horizon) we can find our position by obtaining “a fix” of several objects at the same time. 3 observations are enough, 5 or 6 are better. Once the horizon is no longer visible we enter the period of Astronomical Twilight. This is a period when astronomical observations can be made; I am not too familiar with this but as far as I know astronomers need sometimes this period as they cannot do certain observations if it is really night.
Scientists have of course figured about exactly between which angles of the sun, which twilight exists. We at sea do not really care much about those angles. We need the time. We calculate when we can expect nautical twilight and we are already in position with our sextant well before that time so we have the longest period possible to catch those stars and planets which will give us the best fix. So once we can see the horizon or until we lose the horizon we “shoot the stars”. Which is nowadays not so easy anymore as we have closed bridge wings; and thus we have to go to the deck above the bridge and then come down again. Because Navigators are not allowed to leave the bridge, you need other officers to come up and make the observations.
One from the old days. Officers shooting the noon time sun on board the HAL cargo ship ss Arkeldyk in 1950. The officer with the 3 stripes is the later captain H.L. Van Deventer. (Courtesy R. van Devener , son)
Not a bad idea anyway, because by taking multiple sightings, you can improve your final calculation considerably by middling the results and discarding an observation if one is a bit too far out. That was why in the old days all the deck officers would come to the bridge for the”noon time fix”. This is a way to exactly measure your latitude by taking an observation of the sun when it is at its highest point. As the sun is only there for a few seconds, all officers would take a reading and then decide on the correct one. (Most of the time, the one of the most senior officer involved) But that is another story.
Tomorrow we are in San Diego and I will leave the ms Veendam behind, my work being done here. I was Captain on her from 2004 to 2008 and it was good to see her back. From San Diego I will fly via New York and Amsterdam to Malaga and there join the Oosterdam for her Trans-Atlantic crossing and then for cruises from Tampa.
So tomorrow there will be no blog as I will be travelling. Even if I was not, then there would still be no blog as tomorrow I will be 35 years with Holland America Line, so I would have raised a glass to myself in the best Bar on the ship. Now I will find one in an airport .Cheers.
November 4, 2016 at 8:15 pm
Congratulations on 35 years!
November 4, 2016 at 9:18 pm
Congratulations, and I will raise a glass tomorrow in your honor.
Helen
November 5, 2016 at 2:38 am
Congratulations on your 35 years with Holland America. They, and Us are so fortunate to have you aboard. Safe travels,
Susan 7 Bennett Gottlieb
November 5, 2016 at 6:38 am
Congratulations on your years of service to HAL and those of us who enjoy sailing with her.
Safe trip to Europe….and thank you again for your fascinating and educational blog.
November 5, 2016 at 3:31 pm
Cheers !!! Congratulations , Safe travels and thank you for this wonderful blog
November 5, 2016 at 4:41 pm
Congratulations on completing 35 years. It just confirms what a good company HAL must be to work for that so many employees have long periods of service.
November 5, 2016 at 6:04 pm
35 years…!!! Well done, Sir.
Congratulations on a splendid career. Glad it is not over. When it is, HAL will part with a top class human asset. Hopefully many years down the road of the future. Meanwhile, by all means, raise a glass to your self, high,….you deserve it.
November 5, 2016 at 7:13 pm
So will you be on the Oosterdam at the end of the month? That would be really neat, because we met on the Oosterdam in San Diego many years ago, when we were embarking on a cruise to … either West Coast of Mexico or Panama Canal. I think it was Panama Canal. We all met up to sign the banner as was traditional back then. You were still working as a member of the LA. police force.
November 6, 2016 at 5:38 am
Thanks Captain for your excellent and very informative blogs. Always a pleasure reading them. Congratulations on your 35 years with HAL. Regards Elbert L.J.
November 6, 2016 at 10:15 am
Congratulations on your 35 years with Holland America.
November 6, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Congratulations Capt Albert on your 35 year Anniversary with HAL. I have in the past, and always will enjoy your very insightful blogs.
My question now is: Are current new navigators still taught sextant skills, or is this now a lost art with all the other abundant position information available ??
Thanx.. Your faithful reader…………..Ruud
November 7, 2016 at 7:11 am
Thank you for still reading my blog.
Yes, it is being taught…………….. again. They stopped for awhile,nearly everywhere, but everybody started to realize that the electric systems are vunerable to political and defense considerations Thus the european maritime academy’s and also the USA navy are now adding celestial navigation to their ciriculums again.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
November 6, 2016 at 6:49 pm
Well Captain, that is longer than I ever lasted working full-time. After 31 years “I couldn’t hack it anymore” …
My heartfelt congratulations. It does make a difference if you have a job you really love and live it. My many thanks as well for the above blog entry; I will have to regurgitate the info tomorrow. Must investigate the San Diego airport in the near future 🙂
November 6, 2016 at 7:32 pm
Congratulations to you on your 35 years of service with HAL Wishing you many more years in which to share your knowledge and expertise with so many of HAL’s employees. Safe travels over the next few days. I look forward to reading your blog posts from your new assignment.
November 6, 2016 at 8:00 pm
So glad you will be onboard Oosterdam as it makes it first ever, and first ever for a Vista class, trip into Tampa ! With your many years experience of sailing in and out of Tampa, you will be an asset to the Oosterdam. I am looking forward to being aboard her Nov 25 for the 14 day run to the Southern Caribbean.
November 6, 2016 at 11:44 pm
My apologies for my previous comment. I was wrong about who I thought I was commenting to, obviously. I’m sure you know the other -known Dutch HAL employee I was thinking of!
I always enjoy reading your blog posts, thank you for keeping up the good work!
November 7, 2016 at 5:36 pm
I read this entry too late to raise a glass on the 5th in congratulations so will have to raise two today to make up for being tardy. I was directed to your blog by a ferryboat aficionado friend of mine and I have very much enjoyed “cruising” with you through your blog.
Before I retired, I was a professor of operations management at Boston College and one of my areas of interest was service management. I have suggested your blog to my colleagues as an example of how Holland America is leveraging the position you have with the company as “Master Safety Officer” through your blog to show how HAL uses best of class management to improve their operations. I congratulate you and your company for making this happen and sharing it with us through your engaging blog.
Thank you and may you have many more years of success.