09 December 2008, At Sea.

There was a strong wind blowing all day long and pushing full on the portside of the ship while we sailed through the Yucatan channel. So we had to pump a lot of ballast water from port to starboard to keep the ship upright. In the end the wind reached a top force of about 8ft. and to get the ship completely right up again, we even had to adjust our water consumption. Not in reduction but by using water from starboard tanks and adding the fresh water that we make all day to portside tanks. It is also a form of ballasting but then with fresh potable water. It was only towards the evening that the wind abated from about 35 to 20 knots. That strength will remain the same for tomorrow as the cold front will lie over the east coast of Mexico and thus also over Belize.

It was a usual day at sea for a 7 day cruise with little news and or oddities to report, thus here a few answers to questions posed in recent comments.

1. Who will be the new captain on the Veendam when I leave?
It will be Captain Peter van Maurik. He is currently on the Ryndam and will transfer to the Veendam. His place will be taken by Mark Rowden who is a long time chief officer with the company and currently as an extra onboard the Veendam to be trained up by me. By the time he leaves the ship he will know where Tampa is located and where I put the brakes on; as the Ryndam will take over the Tampa run next winter.

2. What sort of flags do we fly?
Flying flags is nowadays merely a tradition although it is still compulsory in many ports but also there is some left from old legislation. Every ship over 300 tons has AIS nowadays (Automated Identification System) and every port authority with an AIS receiver can see what sort of ship they are dealing with. Thus for communicating it is not necessary anymore. However we still fly flags.
a. On the bow, or on the jack stay, we (Holland America) fly a little Dutch flag. Some other company’s such as Cunard fly a small house flag, all depending on the traditions of the company or the home country.
b. On the forward (radar) mast we fly the flag of the country that we visit on the starboard side.
c. On the forward (radar) mast we fly the flag of the company flag on the port side.
d. When approaching port, we fly the national flag of the flag state in the centre behind the mast. When we are docked that flag is taken down and transferred to the flag pole at the stern. When at anchor, it stays where it is.
e. Most country’s still require a Yellow flag to be flown, indicating that the ship seeks “free Practique” e.g. clearance on arrival that all onboard are healthy. This flag comes down when the ship has been cleared by the authorities. Grand Cayman still charges $ 500 as a fine, if you do not comply.
f. Other flags flown: Vertical White/Red halved. I have a pilot onboard. Blue and yellow: I require a pilot. Occasionally we still fly signal flags, in cases such as going through the Panama Canal, when we fly the convoy number.
g. The red flag that is hanging down from the bow to the water line is compulsory in certain country’s to indicate that there is a bulb below water. It prevents little boats that take the corner too tight from running onto it.
h. Royal Netherlands Navy Reserve Flags. If you have spent a certain amount of time in the Dutch Royal Navy (have commanded a navy vessel etc. what ever the size) you can obtain permission to fly your own flag. It consists out of a big anchor with a crown on it in the middle of a regular Dutch flag. You do not see it very often anymore, as merchant navy officers nowadays hardly have the chance to do a full stint in the RDN to qualify. We are in such short supply in the real world that a complete Royal Navy career on the side is very difficult to achieve.
i. Dressing flags. Those are the flags that run from the bow of the ship to the stern. These are hoisted on special days such as High days and Holidays of the home nation and countries that we visit. We normally also hoist them on embarkation day to welcome the guest onboard and for the rest on occasions that the captain deems suitable, such as his birthday. There is no significance in the sequence of the flags and the pattern is stipulated by Dutch rules to ensure that there is NO meaning in the sequence.

More tomorrow.

We will arrive at our regular time in Belize of 0700 hrs. at the anchorage and we will have the company of the Norwegian Pearl again. It is supposed to remain breezy but that should blow the rain clouds away that are pushed over Belize by this cold front. This evening I will make a final presentation to our storekeeper Sutrisno who will retire next Sunday after 33 years with the company.