Due to the tidal situation our departure was set for 11.am. So by 10 am we started with the opposite procedure as on our arrival; taking way the bunker barge, letting go the lines from the buoys, hooking up the tugboats and then moving away from the Greenwich pier area. It was a sunny day so perfect weather for scenic cruising down the river. As we left by 11 am. The sun was already sufficiently to the South so that it did not shine in to our eyes while going Eastwards down the river and thus it was very nice to see London from the decks or from the private balcony’s. A lot of guests stayed put on their balconies while London and it suburbs moved by.
The pilot had brought two tugboats as we had to swing around because we had been in Greenwich with the nose up river. At the berth the river is too small, so we had to back up for a mile and a half until we came just off the Millennium Dome where the bend of the river was wide enough to swing. The Prinsendam is the biggest ship going on the buoys and the pilots are thus not used to swing a 204 meter ship in a basin of 250 meters. Hence the two tugboats. If we make more calls, then they will probably get more comfortable with the fact that cruise ship captains are doing this sort of stuff every day and we will use less tugs. Owning an apartment on the river is extremely expensive in London but at least the people got value for money this time as it is not every day that they see a cruise ship swinging around in their front garden and blocking the whole river at the same time.
What was not visible on the way up, as it was dark then, was the fact that outside the Thames Barrier the landscape quickly changes from suburban housing to the industries that support a city the size of London. As a lot of traffic still goes over the river (no traffic jams) it is all located on the waters edge. So we had a good view of London Hill, the local garbage dump. It will not grow any higher anymore as on the opposite side of the river a big incineration plant is under construction. After that we had a good view of the London sewage works and as the wind was blowing over the cleaning plant towards us we could ascertain that indeed it was sewage.
One of a series of ships, here old photo showing her in her russian cruising days.
Half way down the river is the London International Cruise Terminal which is my back up plan in case Greenwich is not possible due to fog, to low a tide or the barrier being closed. Today this Terminal was in use by the Marco Polo, which sails in charter for a German company called TransOzean. Normally I ignore details about other non-HAL cruise ships but in this case I want to make an exception as this ship is a left over from the Trans Atlantic days. It was built in 1964 as the Alexsandr Pushkin for the Baltic Steamship Company for Trans Atlantic Liner service from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) via the Baltic ports all the way to Montreal. Later she sailed in the Far East and ended up in 1992 in ownership of the Orient Line as the Marco Polo. This company became later part of NCL which ended the existence of Orient Lines in 2008. The ship was then bought by Greek Interest who have since chartered her out to a German Operator. It is only a small ship of 20,000 tons but is built in the more old fashioned way with a sheer and traditional lay out. A beautiful left over from another era. Further down the river we passed the container and tanker terminals until finally we ended up on the open sea again.
This cruise I have another rule to comply with and that is the UK gambling rule, which stipulates that no gambling is allowed within the 12 mile zone off the coast. This means that on a few stretches on this around Britain cruise we have to keep the Casino closed as I can physically not sail outside the 12 mile zone. By the time it was 16.30 and the pilot left, we got an eager Casino manager on the phone, asking “Are we there yet, Are we there yet…………….” We were there by 17.15 hrs. and the casino doors could open.
Tomorrow we are at sea,and as Newcastle is not that far away, we will be going slow speed all day. The schedule calls for a day at sea and arriving in the middle of the night does not make much sense. Thus I am planning to do a bit of sightseeing. We are going to have a look at the oil platforms. Maybe not exciting but who ever sees a North Sea oil platform nearby ???
July 7, 2009 at 5:41 am
Dear Captain Albert:
I have read with great interest your detailing of your departure from Greenwich as I will be sailing from Greenwich on the Prisendam on August 23 of this year. Actually we leave at 4 am on the 24th and this brings me to my question. Are we leaving at 4 am when it is still quite dark in late August because the tide will be going out to sea at that time? And just how long, when the tide is flowing downstream, does it take to get from Greenwich to the open sea? Will we see any of the Thames in pre-dawn light? I know sunrise on the 24th is at exactly 6 am GMT. I suppose that means skies would be begin to brighten at about 5:15 am assuming a clear day, a bit later if the weather is dull.