Late evening we left the windy area behind and we had very quiet weather sailing towards Panama. The 140 year ball was a resounding success and with the hour back everybody could still get a goodnights sleep for the Panama transit. We had been ordered to be at the Cristobal breakwater at 0500 to line up in the convoy but somewhere a muddle must have occurred as at 3.30 we were advised to drop back and arrive 30 minutes later. I wished they had done that last night and I could have stayed in bed those 30 minutes longer. So we slowed down and I was going to fear that it was going to be a very long transit as a delay in lining up the convoy normally means that there is a slow boat in the convoy which holds everything back. In accordance with the new ETA I drifted at 05.30 through the breakwaters at Cristobal and then the whole clearance circus started. Boarding Agent, Ships agent, Fumigation officer, Panama Canal Technician, Ships Chandler, Narrator and eventually also the first Pilot. With him on the bridge we could slowly move towards the first locks. The other two pilots joined just before we entered those. Continue reading

It is 677 miles from Aruba to Panama and thus we have a day at sea while we cross the Columbian Basin. This is the bay like indenture, where the narrow strip of land that is Panama connects with South America.  We are sailing on a south westerly course and thus we had the North Easterly wind and current in the back. Still a considerable wind of 27 knots, which gave a relative wind of 10 knots over the deck, as we were going with a speed of 16 to 17 knots.  Thus with the sun shining it was a pleasant day on the ship. Had we been going the other way, it would have been much less pleasant as the 14 feet high waves and strong wind would have been full on the bow with rather nasty results. But we are going the right way and thus all is well on board. And I needed nice weather as today is our birthday. The company exists today for 140 years. So we wanted to pull out all the stops and for that we needed nice weather and a steady ship and both were achieved. Continue reading

The three A,B.C islands are located nicely in a row, although the sequence is B,C,A and today we completed that sequence by visiting A. That is the island of Aruba and located 89 miles away from Curacao. At least the 89 miles is the distance that we use to get there. We normally travel with a large loop, first going south and away from Willemstad and then curve back onto the Westside of Aruba so we end up in the leading lights heading into the Paarden Baai of Oranjestad Aruba. For the navigators it is an interesting night as they have to dodge around 20 to 30 tankers who are all floating south of the islands waiting for their turn at the Refineries on the islands. They all drift on the wind and current and when they have drifted away too far, they all start up their engines and return to there point of departure and then the whole process will start again.  As they are drifting they all ensure that they keep a fair distance from each other as none will drift with the same speed as the other (due varying drafts, and size of superstructure). That makes it quite easy to sail through them but close attention has to be paid as you never know when they will start moving again. Continue reading

Willemstad is a very interesting port from a navigator’s point of view as it is quite a challenge to get in there. The port entrance, St Anna Baai, is perpendicular on wind and current and that means that when you head straight in on the course line, you run aground. Wind and current will push you onto the west side of the channel. As the current is never the same and the winds tend to be gusty it is not one of the easiest ports. Today we had the additional challenge of having to dock about 2000 feet inside the port entrance, just past the floating bridge. That means that as soon as you are out of the current you have to start giving full astern, to slow the ship down otherwise you over shoot. If that happens the only option is to continue by passing under the Koningin Juliana Bridge and swing around in the inner harbor, which is called the Schottegat and then return. As a result you end up docking starboard side alongside. The port prefers s portside alongside, so that on departure you just back out into the Caribbean Sea again. Continue reading

Well the wind kept pounding away and it pushed the current up as well, so for most of the day we had almost 3 knots in combined wind & current force against us and even with running the engines full out, there was no way we could fight against that. So we had a delay in arrival but as we had the whole evening as well in port, our departure was scheduled for 22.30 (all on board), all tours could still take place and everybody had time to go ashore. Bonaire is a very nice island and avery pleasant to go ashore, hence the company has opted to schedule evening stays here. Something that can be done because the next Island Curacao, is only 69 miles away as the crows flies and about 90 miles away for us to sail to. Bonaire even has some hills, clearly visible from our Northerly approach but the problem is those hills are on the North West side and we are docking at the South East side. Continue reading

Upon leaving the shelter of Haiti, we got the full brunt of the Caribbean Sea winds. Normally called the Trade Winds but this went beyond what a trade wind is supposed to be. Wind in the region of 30 knots sometimes peaking at 40 knots, are not Trade Winds, they are gales. For the guests the winds are luckily mostly on the bow and thus I do not have to keep the doors to the outside decks closed. It is a bit breezy outside but the bow and front superstructure of the ship are nicely shielding the winds from reaching the walk-around decks. Thus it did not affect the life on board and that is the most important thing. I am running the engines full out but against so much wind and current, there is a moment you cannot do much more. So we just have to see how much it will affect us.

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It was a hard push against the Gulf Stream. The benefit we had yesterday morning, now worked against us and it was not before midnight that we were maintaining our regular schedule. We sailed the ship as close to the Bahama Banks as possible (staying about 4 miles off, to stay out of territorial waters) and as far away as possible from the axis of the gulf stream but still it was hard going. There was a whole fleet of ships around us, all suffering from the same problem, all pushing and pushing against 4 knots of current. We were overtaken by just one ship, a container vessel, which was doing 21 knots and that meant it must have been running its engine full out at 25 knots of top speed. Container ships are still the ships which “are in a hurry” as they often sail on very tight schedules. Arriving too late and the slot at the container terminal might be gone and then the ship might have to wait a day. That is not cheap. Although also in the container industry, the fuel prices are hitting hard and many a container company is now opting for going slower by putting more ships on the same route, so that the calling frequency remains the same. It is called “slow steaming” in the container jargon. We were not exactly slow steaming but the adverse current made it look like that.

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We came charging down the Straits for Florida with 3 knots of Gulf Stream current in the back and high hopes to make a speedy arrival in Fort Lauderdale, and then found the Maasdam in our way. They are on a 10 day loop cruise to the South East Caribbean and have as a last port of call Half Moon Cay. From there they have a tight schedule to get to Fort Lauderdale so it all depends on how fast they can get the guests back on board. If it is a nice day in HMC then the ship will always leave late as all the guests aim on coming back on the last tender. Although it is not very customer friendly, we as captains, always hope for a rain shower about an hour before departure as it helps with a more regular flow back towards the tender dock. I think the Maasdam also suffered from lack of rain in HMC and thus they were later than scheduled at the pilot station. Then there was some muddle with the pilot scheduling and all in all I did not get in as fast as I had hoped for. Still we made it safely to the dock and docked next to the Maasdam. So indeed we could look at ourselves as the Maasdam is still a virtual carbon copy of the Statendam. We were the two only cruise ships in port and occupied berth 20 and 19.

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Today we spent our 2^nd day at sea and the weather was a lot better. At least it felt that way on board. It was still blowing hard but now wind and swell were running with the ship and as she was doing nearly the same speed so it meant a wind still situation on the decks. With the sun shining as well it made for a pleasant day. In the mean time I was watching the ships speed. Yesterday wind and current held us back and today wind and current should make up for what we lost yesterday. Above Cuba the wind and currents are in general in the North Westerly direction, going with us towards Fort Lauderdale. When coming out of the Old Bahama Channel, we are getting even more current with us, as we get caught by the Gulf Stream. However it is never certain, or easy to predict, how much current there will be. Strong winds give an extra push to the water but it can also result in the Gulf Stream getting stronger and if the axis moves, some of that water might be diverted into Old Bahama Channel and cause a counter current. Continue reading

For the whole day we had very windy weather coming from the North East to East. A sort of enhanced Trade wind but then blowing with a velocity of 35 knots and some times more. With it came the waves and swell but luckily the combined height did not go over the 14 feet (that is when the ship really starts to pitch) and while the ship was moving a bit, it was not an uncomfortable ride. Most guests always think that the use of stabilizers will solve any movement issue of the ship. Unfortunately that is not the case. Although stabilizers are the greatest gift to passengers at sea since the concept of deep sailing was invented, they only work to a certain extent. First of all you need speed as stabilizers need flow to operate and secondly the system can only reduce about 90% of the rolling motion of the ship. Stabilizers are controlled by a gyroscope which senses the movement of the ship and as it is always a reaction to the movement it can never achieve a 100% output. Then there is the bow movement, what we call pitching. Thus far nothing has been invented to control that movement. Which means we just have to live with it. And that was what the ship did, a bit of both. Continue reading