In the early morning we started our approach to Cadiz. This town is located at the mouth of a river, a real estuary, with a wide shallow opening with mud flats/shallow water and then slowly tapering inwards to a regular river. That means that the tides in the port are generally higher than in non-estuary ports as the sea is pushed into the funnel with nowhere to go but up. Luckily it was neap tide for Cadiz, which means that the variation in height of the tides is at its lowest cycle. High tides mean steep gangways, and shifting between the higher entrance doors to the ship and the lower ones and that can be quite inconvenient for our guests. Especially those with wheelchairs or walkers.

The pilot boarded at 05.30 am and from there it was less than 5 miles to the dock. The port of Cadiz is a very large U-shaped basin and we were assigned the best berth in the port, the ferry dock, as the ferry did not call today. Best berth meant docking in the forward corner, so our guests only had to cross the street to get to the town. I always try to dock with the bow out, so there is no delay on departing, and in this case it also meant that the gangway was directly opposite the exit to the town. So we were all docked at 06.50 for an official 07.00 arrival.

This was the first time that the Veendam had called at Cadiz. As a matter of fact the ship has never been back to Europe since it was built in Venice in 1996. So that meant a plaque exchange with the local authorities. This is a sort of tradition, and as a result the staircase walls of a ship will slowly fill up with the various plaques and crests, when ever a ship calls at a new port. Especially ships on world wide routes can amass an extensive collection. This time it was the Secretary of the Mayor, the Chairman of the port and the Chief pilot who came on board for an official welcome and a little chat. Pictures of the event were supposed to be submitted to the local newspaper, so your captain is now “world famous in Cadiz”.

The weather was better then expected, much of the rain was delayed, so we had clear but chilly day. Good for sightseeing and that is of course the main objective of a cruise like this. The rain is going to catch up with us tomorrow, supposedly.

We left at 17.30 as soon as all the guests were on board and sailed the same way out as we came in. The remainder of the evening was spent by transversing the Straits of Gibraltar. The Strait is at its narrowest point about 5 miles wide and all the traffic for the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal has to go through there. Also in this area, has a Vessel Traffic Separation Scheme been established with the ships outbound hugging the Northern, Spanish, side and the inbound ships staying on the African side. There is a reporting requirement to an operations centre in Tariffa on the Spanish side near Gibraltar. this center monitors all the ships going through. They are especially interested in knowing whether ships have dangerous cargo on board, so that in the unlikely case of an emergency, appropriate action can be quickly taken.

New in the Strait is that the narrowest part of the passage has been designated Whale waters from April to August. Through the years an increasing number of whales have seen going in and out of the Med, and an advisory speed in this area has been established. Ships are requested, it is not compulsory yet, to maintain a maximum speed of 13 knots and keep a sharp look out. Well the latter we always do, the speed advisory was new to us, so we slowed down for this particular part of the passage to 13 knots. Most cargo ships and tankers have an average speed of 13 knots and thus do not have to do anything special.

By 23.00 we could see the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance on our port side and we came to more open water again. During the passage I counted approx. 75 ships on the radar that were making speed and another 40 ships at anchor in the Gibraltar area. The port of Gibraltar is an important bunker fuel loading port and also a place where many ships anchor that are waiting for order.