Early this morning at 01.50 we crossed the equator and we are now back in the Northern Hemisphere.  The area we are travelling is called the Doldrums, an old sailing term indicating that for most of the time it is a wind still area and sailing ships could drift becalmed here for weeks. “Most of the time” as it is not the case for us. Since we left Nuku Hiva we have had North Easterly winds between wind force four and six and with it, 8 to 10 feet of seas.  That gives the ship a comfortable ride, but not the very smooth ride one might expect from this area, if one had to believe the old sailing ship lore. Things are positively nasty up and around Hawaii, with strong winds and high seas, but at this moment the weather forecast does not indicate that it will come this far south. We will sail under the edges of the cloud system that goes with it, but the weather guru’s are not foreseeing anything worse for this area at the moment. Continue reading

The weather remained unchanged and was in synch with the weather forecast for a change. Wind from the north East and that made it a bit breezy on the outside decks as the ship was going against it with about the same speed as the wind velocity. The seas were normal for this area with a combined wave and swell height of 12 feet, which made the ship dip up & down a little bit but no pitching or slamming and thus it was hardly noticed. We are under the influence of the South Equatorial current which moves from the Westside of south America to the East side of Asia with a velocity of 0.5 to 1.5 knots and that is holding us back. Today we had the full brunt of 1.5 knots to enjoy and thus the ships engines had to run full out to deal with it.  Tomorrow we will slowly come under the influence of the Equatorial Counter Current which runs to the East and in between the North and South Equatorial current.  I hope that this counter current will be as strong as the South Equatorial current so that mother nature will pay back a bit of the fuel bill that I am currently running up. Continue reading

The weather remained the same and thus I could say when I arrived on the bridge at 04.15, we are going to make this call. As I had promised the guests I did arrive bright and early and by 06.00 we had the tender service in full swing. Unfortunately not too many guests decided to go ashore bright and early, which was a pity as the earlier you go, the cooler it is. Of course it is not a metropolis or a beehive of activity so the main reason to go here, is “to have been there” and to admire the scenery and the local way of living.  As a result the facilities for cruise ships are not that the best in the world. It is not as if you are driving into the parking lot of Wal-Mart. One old pier with one little step was made available to us and so going ashore and coming back took some time. Continue reading

Today we had our official day at sea as the distance between Rangiroa and Nuku Hiva is too long to cover in one night. 570 miles is a 24 hrs run plus some and thus a day at sea in between ports. Now with the extra hours due to not staying at Rangiroa we could go slower and in a way that worked out very well. There was a moderate to high North Easterly swell running and if we had sailed against that with the original scheduled speed it would have been a bumpy affair. At times the waves were more than 14 feet and that is the moment when the ship starts to pitch with the occasional slamming. Now with the slower average speed the ship could just ride it nicely and the ride was very comfortable. We had the occasional shower and the wind returned to what is normal for this area; about 15 knots.  The weather chart is not showing any changes for the coming two days and that means that we will have a safe call at Nuku Hiva tomorrow. Continue reading

Today we were supposed to be in Rangiroa, a flat Atoll north of the main island chain of the Society Islands. So after a windy day in Moorea we set sail for this Rangiroa. The Weather forecast had given us a little bit of hope with indicating that the Northerly wind would veer to the East and drop to 10 knots, and the subsequent seas would diminish to a meter.  The seas would not be a problem, as the anchorage for Rangiroa is inside the reef and thus the swell would be stopped by the reef. The wind was going to be the challenge. Anything over 15 knots would be an issue, as the ship towering high above the reef (only having a max. height 15 feet), would catch all the wind. Thus we hoped that the weather forecast was going to be right. Continue reading

As I knew it was going to be a bouncy day in the bay, I wanted to be there as early as possible. So we aimed for 06.15 at the entrance of the bay, just an hour after sunrise when it was certain that the whole bay was going to be clearly visible in the daylight.

The top bay is Capt. Cooks Bay, the one below Opunoha Bay. (Courtesy from Internet)

Our initial schedule called to anchor in Captain Cook’s bay, but we were informed that the tender dock and the road leading towards it were under re-construction.  So the best option was to go next door to Opunoha Bay.  Both bays are identical anyway so it does not make any difference. However the pilot advised that with the current wind, still from the wrong direction, Opunoha Bay was a better choice. So off we went, sailed out of Papeete and with a wide turn North/West and then South, lining up for the entrance in the reef. By 06.45 we were at anchor and then the invasion of Moorea could start.

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We all had a quiet night without being bounced around, while outside the wind was raging. During the night we had several heavy rain showers that came over with the wind. The officer of the watch could see the wind coming in, as it increased the swell surging over the reef that marks the boundary of the port. The French call these wind gusts: Rafales. I am following the local weather forecast in French at the moment as it gives a better view of what happens around the island than the deep sea forecasts we normally work with. It does not necessary make the weather better, but it gives more up-to-date detail. So today most of the morning was taken up with scrutinizing these weather forecasts as tomorrow it will all depend on the wind angle on how much shelter we will have in the bay. Continue reading

As you can see from the title, things did not go as planned. I arrived on the bridge at 05.45 and came face to face with a very unhappy Officer of the Watch. The wind had not shifted to the North West. It was still North East and blowing 25 to 30 knots, while we were 4 miles from the entrance through the reef. Shortly after the pilot arrived on the bridge and he was not very happy either. This was not going to work. Uturoa is located on the East of the mountain that makes up most of Raiatea. To get to there you have to enter a small gap in the reef of about 300 feet wide (the Statendam is 105 feet wide) then a sharp turn to starboard and then sail through a narrow passage towards the dock. Here there is a turning basin of about a 1000 feet where you swing around to dock starboard side alongside.  If that does not work you can let yourself blow against the dock with a portside docking and if that is too dangerous you can sail on and leave Raiatea through a passage at the North West side of the island. But to do this all, you either need wind from the North West so you are sheltered by the large mountain, or you need very lights winds, if from other directions.  30 knots is not light winds. Continue reading

It remained windy during the night and also during this second day in Bora Bora. I was happy that I was in the wider anchorage and not had selected to anchor in what is normally considered the cruise ship anchorage right off the tender port.  More room to swing on the wind. During the night we had hardly anybody going ashore or coming back but we had a skeleton service running just for the case of.  By 07.00 the ship started to wake up and we started our clockwork tender service again, with a tender departing about every 10 minutes.  That is about as frequent as you can operate a service as 10 minutes is about the time needed for embarking and disembarking a full tender. Continue reading

I was not a happy camper when the bridge called me in the early morning. During the night it had been raining heavily in the distance, with a few good showers coming over the ship as well; and at sunrise it blew hard. Well over 30 knots with long ocean rollers coming in from the south. That was not what the weather forecast had been predicting.  The weather charts were however quite good in showing what was currently going on. A large storm system moving from West to East along the edge of Antarctica had been intensifying and had pushed the counter flow of air, between the screaming fifties area as they call it  and the normally less windy Bora Bora area higher up. So far up that this flow lay fully over the islands itself with 25 knots of winds, gusting to 30 and lots of rain coming with it.  Luckily the anchorage area inside is fairly sheltered so I was not too worried about getting in, but it was not going to be a”silent south sea” day for the guests, let alone a sunny one. Continue reading