Today is the last sea day of our cruise and it was a glorious day with sunshine galore and just a gentle breeze blowing over the deck. We covered today the distance between Cozumel and Key West. With a nice push in the back from the Gulf Stream we sailed north from the island of Cozumel and then this morning we passed the west point of Cuba and then followed the Gulf Stream towards Key West.  For our whole route we can stay in the Gulf Stream and that gives us a free bonus of distance of 1 to 2 sometimes 3 miles every hour.  Between pilot and pilot we have 30 hrs. of travel and if we gain on average 2 miles an hour then we save 60 hours and that is 3 hrs. sailing at full speed. That is a lot in our business and we get it all for free.

The Gulf Stream as tracked by NOAA. It even flows into the Gulf of Mexico and then returns into the Gulf Stream. (Courtesy NOAA)

Thus the navigation team is totally focused and committed to trying to catch as much of the Gulf Stream as possible.  And here lies the problem as the axis of the Gulf Stream, there where most of the current flow is, moves from one side of the Straits of Florida to the other side and although there are enough theories that abound about the why,  there is still no watertight explanation about why it does so. NOAA is actively studying the Gulf Stream and produces daily charts which are getting more and more accurate but surprises remain. Hence we on board try to substantiate our educated guesses by moving the ship away from the intended cruise course and see what happens. A bit to the north or a bit to the south. And the focus is on trying to find more current but also if we have some current to at least not lose it.  Better one Bird in the hand than 10 in the air as a Dutch saying goes.

A modern bronze sculpture (weight 130 kg) in Lido. Made by the Dutch Artist Eppe de Haan.

Apart from my work on board, my job as Fleet Support Master or Travelling Master has the great advantage that I rotate over the fleet and sail on all the ships. When you are as a regular captain assigned to a ship you tend to stay at least for a few years on that one ship and then you might move. Maybe on own request, maybe because there is a musical chair happening going on and several positions are affected like dominoes in a row. We had that recently when one of the Seabourn Captains passed away while on board and to fill the gap several captains were affected including one promotion, earlier than expected.  But I see all the ships and that is a nice plus for my HAL hobby and so I am busy with documenting all the HAL ships by photographing all the decks and especially all the art work. Until the arrival of the Koningsdam, where most of the art work is modern and music related, all the Holland America ships had a lot of antique art on board. Either related to our history, including the colonies in the East or West Indies, or just beautiful antiques and art just to look at.

An old carving of the Sea God Poseidon. Except it is not old, but certainly traditional,  and is a copy of the original which was standing on board the Noordam III and that was an old carving.

But also here there is a pattern. Where the N-ships and the S Class were completely full of only old stuff, by the time the Eurodam came into being it had become a sort of a mix where old and new were on display in perfect harmony. In one corner an antique in another corner something new. Or something that hinged between both worlds. For this blog, I have selected three photos which show exactly that. The fact that the guests do enjoy what we display on board is visible by the cooperation Holland America Line has arranged with the Dutch Rijksmuseum and what has resulted in the lower Atrium of the Westerdam now being a learning center for the art in the real Rijksmuseum. Although I am not an art expert, I can only discern between what I like: nice, and what I do not like: not nice but I find it fascinating what we have in different art variations all over the fleet.

And this is something totally different, the Dutch artist Rodolfo Sanz was asked to create something that related to the cooking classes in the Queens Lounge next door. For which we  have a complete kitchen on the stage.  So he put an apple on a dining table that you can eat without cooking. (Maybe in case the cooking class failed ???)

We were supposed to be docked by 08.00 hrs. tomorrow morning in Key West but for operational reasons we will now arrive at 08.30 and to make it up for the guests we will also stay half hour longer. Reason for this is there are two ships coming in (us and the Disney Magic) who both need to go through a full CPB inspection as they are both coming from foreign ports, and with a finite number of CBP officers available, we have to share. Thus with staggering it a little bit, the CBP can clear both ships in the most economical way possible. We are scheduled to dock at Pier B, which is in downtown, only one block away from Mallory Square. For the weather it is going to be a very warm day again. 27 oC / 80oF with light winds.

The distance from Grand Cayman to Cozumel is too long to make it for a 08.00 arrival but if you can still give the guests a full day in port by staying later than it does not matter that much if you arrive late morning. And that is what our schedule called for; docking by 11 am. and sailing by 11 pm. Tomorrow is a day at sea and that gives us enough time to make it to Key West our last port of call. Everybody talks about Cozumel and that is the name of the island. We are really calling at the port of San Miguel as that is where the cruise ship berths are located. It is also the main hot spot of the island.

The one strange thing with Cozumel is, at least when coming from the East from Grand Cayman, that you are already almost there and then you still have two hours to go. Courtesy of the fact that Cozumel town is located on the west side of the island and we were approaching from the East side. Because the island is almost flat, the authorities in downtown can see the ships coming from a long distance away and start calling as soon as the sun is above the horizon. Also in our case, shortly after 07.00 hrs. shortly after sunrise, Cozumel port control came on the VHF asking for our best ETA to the pilot station and we were still 3.5. hrs. away. Not as the crow flies but including sailing around Punta Molas, the north point of Cozumel Island.

Air photo Cozumel. I googled this one from the internet, and courtesy and apologies to those who created it as I could not trace the owner.

Thus we also got confirmation that the original schedule, as published on the Cozumel website was not what the authorities had in mind. The downtown Lagosta Pier was taken up by the two RCI ships and Carnival and Holland America were on the twin piers of Puerta Maya further south. My logic is that they put the two ships which brought in the most guests together, and they were given the benefit of having the shortest distance to town. And thus we docked at the outer dock of the twin Puerta Maya Pier, which is next door to the TMM or International Pier which was the first pier constructed in Cozumel. It was originally a cargo pier with a Ro Ro ramp for ships owned or operated by the Mexican Company T.M.M (Transport Maritime Mexico) There is another ferry pier, very close to the Lagosta Pier in downtown but that is mainly in use by ferries sailing to Playa del Carmen on the main land. Very much in use as people can take a tour to the Ruins at Tulum by going across to the main land and even onwards to Chichen Itza but apart from the ferry that tour includes sitting in the bus for more than an hour from Playa del Carmen.

The beginning of the Gulf Stream. Once the current starts to pass the island, it follows the coast line. But how it does that varies from day to day, depending on the amount of water that is being pushed through and the wind at the time.

The challenge with docking at any of the piers in Cozumel is the current. The beginning of the Gulf Stream comes charging through the opening between the island and the main land with a velocity of up to four knots. The axis of the current can be in the middle, or a bit to the west or a bit to the east all depending on how it bends around the islands coast line. And only when the ship is in line with the pier, the current is not an influence anymore. Thus the pilot boat keeps an eye all day on where the current is and how much velocity it has and then the pilot can advise the Captain about the best approach.

This is the track line of the ship during the final approach. You can see that at the last moment it went a bit to the port, to compensate for the push back of the current while slowly drifting towards the dock. There is no room to overshoot so it has to work out just right.

If the current is very close to the dock it can be an eerie experience as you are set very fast towards the island, sometimes the current runs faster than your own approach speed and the moment you really start to get nervous about becoming a hotel on Cozumel beach, the current suddenly falls away. For this reason the ships are normally docked nose in so you can steer against the current. Ships do also dock nose out but mostly when the current is weak or a bit away from the docking area and the ship can be kept easily under control while swinging. The current curved a bit today so the ships at the Lagosta Pier could dock nose out and those at the International Pier and the Puerta Maya pier docked nose in.

If you can dock nose out, that is always an advantage, because whatever happens to wind and current during the day, the escape plan is simple: full ahead and get out of there.

We will be getting “out of there” sometime after 22.30 hrs. tonight, as soon as all our guests are back. We have quite a lively bunch on board this cruise so we might have to wait for some stragglers. But the authorities are used to that and they have quite a good system going of getting everybody back on time, and what is more, to the right ship.

For the next 24 hrs. we will sail through the Yucatan Channel, located between the Mexican/Yucatan Peninsula and the West point of Cuba and then into the Straits of Florida heading for Key West. We will have the Gulf Stream all the way with us, giving us a nice push in the back. That saves fuel and thus we will have a happy Chief Engineer.

To continue where I left off yesterday, the good ship Eurodam sailed south through the Windward Passage in the early morning hours. Then we made a sharp turn to starboard and sailed around the South East point of Cuba heading into the Caribbean. As you can see from the Radar/Electronic chart image we stay as close as possible to the coast to find the most optimum – shortest – course & distance legally possible. When you do not call at a country then you should stay at least 3 Nautical Miles off  the coast when safely feasible. (In areas such as Dover strait and Singapore Strait that does not work of course)

Sailing around the East Point of Cuba. As it was clear weather due to the cold front, Cuba could be seen very well.

For that reason the Vessel Traffic Separation Scheme (VTSS) off Cabo Maisi stays four miles off shore. We always try to do the same 3 miles + 1 to have room to change course to have no confusion. The 4 mile boundary is the green line on the screen. The arrow down on the top right hand side indicates the direction of sailing in the VTSS and right at the arrow is the echo of another ship which is doing what we just have finished doing, staying nicely on the ships highway.  It is not compulsory to use a VTSS, you can sail around it if you want, but if you are in it, then you have to abide by the rules which govern these VTSS’s. Our ship is on the picture still in the process of going around the corner and will end up on the Red dotted line again, as soon as the turn has been completed. In a turn it is nearly impossible to stay exactly on it, because the moment you change course the wind starts blowing under another angle and it will push you a little but off the planned route. On the bottom of the screen you can see a ship going the other way and that ship will follow the blue arrow UP, to sail north through the Windward Passage.

For most of the day, yesterday, we could see the coast of Cuba on our starboard side as we only slowly angled away from it. Slowly as Grand Cayman is not that far to the south of Cuba. The course led the ship to the S.E corner of Grand Cayman and then this morning we sailed south of the island to make our approach to the anchorage. Yesterday we were a bit concerned about the strong winds forecasted to be blowing, courtesy of yet another frontal system, and yes it did blow considerably yesterday and this morning. But when we arrived, the Norwegian Epic and the Carnival Paradise were already in position, so we knew we could make the call. As those two ships use shore tenders, they went to a pier to the west of downtown and our guests had the downtown pier to themselves.

Anchorage nbr 4. Laying with the bow behind the anchor on the reef and the stern in deep water. The yellow strip near the top is the Carnival Paradise which is at anchorage nbr 3. The little yellow blobs between the ship and the shore on the white heading line are the ships tenders.

There are four anchorages south of the port and today there were three in use, 2,3 and 4 while nbr. 1 furthest to the west remained empty. There is talk about building a cruise ship pier with two berths, but it has been in the political planning stage for about 15 years. There are different factions on the island who all have their own views and as these factions seem to be of the same size not much is happening. The area is quite limited where a dock could be built and thus everything has it pro’s and con’s and there is not much more space for more than two berths as otherwise the coral reef gets damaged. And if you put two berths in, then there will still be 3 or 4 ships that will have to anchor or float and those guests would be complaining…………. So maybe this political status quo is not such a bad thing.

We sail from here to Cozumel, where we will arrive tomorrow morning around 11 am. As we have 2 other ships in port tomorrow the total count will be six ships which mean that all the docks will be full. Carnival with the Glory, Miracle and the Paradise, RCI with the Brilliance and the Freedom and Holland America with the Eurodam. Long time ago, when I was a very junior officer on the Nieuw Amsterdam (III) our crew was asked to help open the new location of Carlos & Charlies in Cozumel. According to the captain at the time, we also closed C&C that night or better said early in the morning. We had an overnight stay as we had some sort of Tax Incentive Charter with Doctors.  The first part I remember, the 2^nd part, closing the pub, I don’t, so it cannot be true. But with six big ships in port, I am not going ashore to see if C&C is still there.

If I am not mistaken the Lagosta pier is the downtown one and if we get that one, then that would be nice for the guests. Short walk and no doubt in the late afternoon we will be able to hear C&C’s.  It is also going to be a very warm day, 29oC / 84oF, with a gentle to moderate breeze from the South East. ………… and if so then that will make docking a lot easier.

Today the good ship Eurodam is sailing around the Eastern point of Cuba and heading from there on a South Easterly course into the Caribbean Sea, on it’s way to Grand Cayman.  There we should be in position by 08.00 hrs. tomorrow morning.  More about that tomorrow.

But for today’s blog I am doing something different as tomorrow Captain Peter Bos of the ms Noordam is retiring after 37 years with Holland America and 44 years at sea.  I had already posted his bio in the history section of this blog some time ago, but I  am bringing it forward again as it not everyday that a captain retires with so many years of dedication to the company. I know Peter very well, we started to together on the ss Statendam in 1981 and then a sailed together for many years as with him being 4 years longer at sea than I, he was always one rank ahead of me. We sailed out together the Grand Dame of the Seas the ss Rotterdam in 1997 which was for both of us a high light in our career. Then I got promoted to captain as well and our ways split. Luckily with my current function of Fleet Support Master I met him again while he was contemplating his retirement. One day, when the mists of time allow, I will  post a few anecdotes.  He is with his ship sailing in Australian waters and the last cruise was not an easy one as the Weather Gods gave him a very stormy farewell.  Now it is Time To Say Good Bye and wish him a happy retirement and many more years of sailing, golfing and travelling.

Captain Peter Bos was born as Pieter Willem Fernand Bos on 22 March 1954 in Lagos Nigeria. His father was an agent for Holland West Africa Line, a Dutch cargo shipping line, but they also lived in Luanda, Accra and Douala and in 1959 the whole family (now with 2 boys and a girl) returned to the Netherlands as the local political situation in Africa became a little bit too unstable. The family settled down in the town of Baarn located just SE of Amsterdam.

Here he went to school and also fell in love with golf. Having one of the oldest and best known golf courses in the Netherlands on your door step made it easy to become a golf fanatic and to play 2 or 3 rounds a day when on leave and stay out of the way of the weekend warriors.

His mother being one of the first flight attendants for KLM and his sister doing the same later made him get the travel bug listening to their stories and his first move was a glider camp in summer in preparation for flight school. However due to the Ist energy crisis in 1974 the hopes of becoming an airline pilot were crushed and instead he joined the Maritime Academy in Amsterdam (Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart, until its closure the oldest one in the world).

He then tried the Dutch Royal Air force Academy for a year but decided upon a life at sea and became a cadet with Dutch Shell tankers in 1974. SS Katelysia was his first ship an old product tanker. The ship was built in 1954 as part of a series to replace lost war time tonnage. He returned to Shell after obtaining his 3^rd mate’s license and sailed on ever bigger tankers.

The ss Katelysia. One of a series of K Tankers which Royal Dutch Shell transferred from British to Dutch Flag.

In 1980 Shell started downsizing and Holland America once in a while borrowed officers from Shell tankers and Captain Bos applied after listening to a glowing report from an engineer who had sailed a contract with HAL. He joined the ss Statendam in October 1981 as a 3^rd officer. After that there was the old ss Volendam and Veendam and the old  ms Noordam new build in the St Nazaire yard and then the ss Rotterdam from 1986 thru 1997. He obtained his Master’s license in 1991.

The ss Rotterdam V seen here at anchor in Sitka in 1986.

From then on he rotated over all the DAM ships except the old ms Westerdam and stuck mostly to the smaller ships. He was appointed to his first command in 1996 and served on the Noordam and Statendam that year.

The early years of command.

He was privileged to sail the Grand Old Lady, the ss Rotterdam, out of Holland America service in 1997.As with many Holland America Line officers, this was also for him his favorite ship of all times. The ship is now a successful Hotel in the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

In 1990 he met his wife Kathy during a cruise and they settled in the United States moving several times, from Ft. Lauderdale to Minnesota and then back to Florida to Mount Dora, mainly due to his or her disagreements with the local weather.

When he settled down in the States, he realized a boyhood dream, coming from a country where cars had to be small as the roads were not wide. (plus the gas prices did not help either) So he bought himself a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Perfect for touring with, visiting family and friends or his wife and the dogs; if there were no visitors for a change.

King of the Road. The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible.

Since 2006 he lives in Bethlehem/Taylorsville near Hickory, North Carolina. There is a lake behind his house for water sports and golf courses nearby so ample opportunity to enjoy his various hobbies.

Over the last 15 years he has been dividing his sailing periods between Alaska and Down Under which are both his favorite sailing areas but he looks back at 2012/2013 on board the Veendam with trips to Antarctica and the Voyage of the Vikings as the nicest cruises he has ever done, better than World cruises. Coming this year April 2018 he will have been at sea for 44 years and has decided to call it quits. On 28 March 2018 he will run the  telegraph of his ship to – STOP for the last time and will say farewell to the cruise ships, Holland America, the sea and many friends among guests and crew/colleagues.

First on the Honey DO list is applying for his US Citizenship and then start traveling the USA.

In December 2017 they visited the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon and next on the list are the 4 famous South Utah national parks, Mt Rushmore and Niagara falls in the winter.

0Sunset in Bethlehem. If you retire to a scene like this, then it can not be so bad. 

Our cruise is different to last week. Holland America often does so, giving guests (Collector Voyager Guests or CVG’s) the option to do a back to back cruise. We are now making a circumnavigation cruise around Cuba, by calling at Half Moon Cay, Georgetown Grand Cayman, Cozumel Mexico and Key West Florida. If Half Moon Cay was located directly opposite Cuba, then we could have issued everybody with an official Circumnavigation Certificate.

Our Seven Day Cruise around Cuba, calling at Half Moon Cay, Georgetown, Cozumel and Key West.

The weather was glorious today, with just a gentle breeze blowing over the island and the sun shining all day. On top of that we were the only ship and thus our guests had all the facilities to themselves and 2000 guests ashore does not really make much of an impact on it all. The beach is more than large enough to handle triple the number but less, the better for the guests and certainly for the children. I saw today one shore tender coming back with several occupants showing signs of too much sun and not enough sun block and this is only the first port. They were accompanied by a large group of children whose immediate focus when stepping on board was the ice cream parlor, leaving mummy and daddy standing in the entrance with all the towels and all the various beach implements needed to  make it a successful day.  They made a lot of noise so it must have been a successful day.

From the 2000 guests on board about 1700 went ashore, the rest remained on board. Preferring shade or the tranquility of the pools. With all those ashore, the ship was very quiet and the first main event in the afternoon was “High Tea” on the ms Eurodam served in the Ocean Bar. I am still confused about what it is. Depending on some deep inspiration by the program makers, I have now been exposed to English-High Tea, Dutch High Tea, Afternoon Tea and just Tea. There is a distinct difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea.  High Tea was an English invention to bridge the gap between Lunch and Supper (which was often served as late as 8 pm.) The word High was related to the fact that one sat on a higher chair as the food served was often more a meal than snacks and sandwiches.  Some of the The English (I do not know about the Scotts and the Welsh) mainly with children still call dinner Tea time. That confuses me as being Dutch, I relate Tea to a cup of tea with a cookie or a chocolate which I would get when coming from school at 16.00 hrs. It still does not make sense to me that the British can have Tea / dinner at 5 to 6pm but more and more now the English have dinner especially if a little later.

Afternoon tea was more for the posh people who had servants and kitchen staff who could prepare a range of nibbles and snacks to go with the tea. . Thus what we serve on board is Afternoon Tea as it comes with nibbles and (being a Dutch ship) also with cookies. I once opened a can of worms by raising the subject among hotel staff if it was a different “Tea” if you got those 3 story serving dishes with all the nibbles or if you had just waiters who were rotating by each time with an assortment of nibbles on a silver tray. As this group of Hotel staff came from different nationalities, quite a heated argument ensued which made me understand that it is not easy to have “TEA”.   Thus I stick with green tea, totally improperly made by means of a tea bag which I dip up and down in a mug of hot water.

The Sb side of the Crowsnest on board the Zaandam, when original. It varies considerably to the other two thirds of the room.

A little bit of Tea Trivia, when the S and R class was designed, the port side crow nest was configured for afternoon Tea by giving the place a little bit of a Colonial or Tropical feeling. It was never used as such because it was way too small for the number of guests who wanted to participate in Tea Time. Hence it is most of the time done in the Dining room or the Ocean Bar.

The ship sailed at 16.00 hrs. which is an hour later than when we go the other way, towards Fort Lauderdale. We have a bit more room in the schedule when going to our next port Grand Cayman and thus we can stay an hour longer. Our route calls for sailing down between the islands of the Bahama Bank, then crossing the Old Bahama Channel to sail into the Windward Passage and then sail southwest wards towards Grand Cayman.  The weather: not so great, there is a lot of wind coming in the next 24 hrs. but luckily it will be a following wind and that will make it not as uncomfortable on deck as it could have been. At least we were very lucky today.

After the passing of the Frontal System yesterday afternoon, the wind slowly but steadily turned to the North East and by this morning it had created a perfect weather situation for Half Moon Cay. North Easterly Winds from 3 to a (small) 4 and sunny skies. The Eurodam dropped anchor and 2 hrs. later, the ship was nearly empty, apart from a few repeat guests who said that they had already seen everything (and bought the T shirt) and were staying on board.

Children and ship wrecks always go well together. Playing Captain Hook and getting soaking wet will lay the foundation of future Holland America Cruise adults.

Normally that might be correct but the company keeps tinkering with the facilities at Half Moon Cay, although tinkering is maybe the wrong word where it concerns improvement and expansion. And we have just opened a new Half Moon Lagoon as recently as this week. It is basically a kiddies place where un-expected water jets spout up out of the wooden deck. 3900 sq. feet and 266 water nozzles to get all the kids squeaking and screaming.  For the children; but what I remember from my youth when we went on the yearly school outing and to a Fun park where they had one as well, then it was always full of adults. Often under the excuse of looking after little Johnny, they would be jumping all over the place. So I would not be surprised if this new attraction (which replaces an older and much smaller one) is going to be as popular with the adults as it will be with the children. The water is sea water and is freshly pumped on continuous rotation from the bay and will be the same as swimming in the sea itself.

The (sea) water is this time not only coming from the deck but also from lantern tops.

We were the only ship today and that makes the officers and sailors very happy as we do not have to use our own tenders then. Nothing wrong with those but it takes a lot of time and hard work and the capacity is only 90 per boat while the large shore tenders take up to 300 and are much easier to walk onto and off again. When we are with two ships, there is the pecking order that the largest ship gets the largest shore tenders and the smaller ship the smaller shore tenders and then has to run some of its own tenders to provide a continuous and adequate service. We have a lot of discussions going on, if more shore tenders would be feasible, but they would also need space to dock in the Marina and with the tours going on during the day (Glass Bottom, para sailing, etc.) the place is quite full. We always manage very well but a Holland America Line crew member does care about his/her guests, so we are always looking at a routine to see where we can be better.

We sailed at 15.00 hrs. and this always looks like a too early a time but we have to make Fort Lauderdale on schedule so the guests can disembark on time and make their flights. Also staying not much longer might have saved some guests from really getting sunburned as the gentle breeze today caused a very treacherous situation as it did not feel as warm as it really was.

We have to be on time for another reason as it will be rush hour with a traffic jam tomorrow. All the docks are full except 23 and 24 as they are still under construction. The harbor master has assigned a pecking order to make sure we all fit in and the parade will be led by the Carnival Conquest, followed by the Freedom of the Seas, followed by the Island Princess, followed by the Allure of the Seas, followed by the Eurodam and finally the Celebrity Silhouette. Especially the I.P has to get in first as she goes to 19, and the moment she is docked she will be blocked in by the Allure at the stern and the Eurodam at her bow.

The weather tomorrow is regulated by yet another cold front but this time it works in our favor as we will be in port the moment it goes from one dominant wind direction to another and as a result we will not have any wind at all. It will call for a cool day by Florida standards with the temperatures not climbing above the 73oF / 23oC. Perfect travel weather to come and go and that might make a very busy Ft. Lauderdale airport a bit more bearable hopefully.

Today we were back in Philipsburg on St.Maarten, which is located on the Southside of the island. The island is split in half. The northern side that belongs to France, is called St.Maarten and the main town there is Marigot.

The map of St. Maarten. If it had been a cartographer or a Civil Servant then it both have been a straight line.

The story goes when it was decided between the two nations to split the island that a Dutch man (fortified by Dutch Genever) and a French man (fortified by French wine) set off from opposite sides of the island with the order to meet in the middle. If this is true, I doubt very much, but if you look at the way they border line moves off the island, then they were both drunk if it did happen. The Dutch got the South with the nice harbor and the French got the North with the better scenery. People say you go south for shopping and north for food and that is also in line with the ingrained outlook on life of the two countries. There was never a real border and now of course it does not matter at all as both countries are part of the European Union and there are no borders.  I think somewhere, somehow, some civil servants are very happy that the other half of the inland did not belong to the British (they live next door on Tortola) otherwise everybody would now be busy building borders & gates due to the Brexit decision.

The Dutch main town is called Philipsburg and dates back to 1763 when John Philips a Scottish captain in the Dutch Merchant Navy (The Dutch had very few real navy ships, they preferred heavily armed merchant ships that could pay their own way) took control of the island and decided to name it after himself. Those were the days, you could name a whole town after yourself and nobody blinked an eye. Now you run into problems if you even try to name a sidewalk after yourself. I once tried to have a rock named after myself in Alaska. Just with the request to rename it from Api rock (In Redwood Bay) to Appi rock (my nickname from long time ago) I almost succeeded but then somebody had a bright moment and Regulators and Chart Surveyors where less than impressed.

The two mega cruise piers. The one on the right where we docked this time, can handle four large cruise ships, the one on the left two.We docked next to the Regal Princess, as far inside as possible.  This photo was taken on arrival from the aft mooring deck where I was observing the safe work routines of the Officer in charge and his sailors.

But the good ship Eurodam arrived on time at the pilot station and found that both the Regal Princess (already docked) and the Eurodam were going to the East dock instead of the West dock. The considerable swell was curving around the eastern shore line under an angle just a bit more to the south and that meant that the east dock had less swell than the west dock. As the Regal was already in position, we have even less swell than otherwise would have been the case, and that free gift was most appreciated. We will come in 2^nd, anytime if needed here.

St.Maarten has been restored for a greater part since hurricane Irma with most shops open again. There is still a lot of repair work going on with the airport having a new constructed lounge in use until the main building has been repaired. Approx. 1200 of the 4000 hotel beds are back in use and the estimate is to have 2000 beds back in use by 2020. (As per local government figures). So they still have a long way to go but both the French and the Dutch Government have made relief funds available but it just takes time to get supplies to the islands.

Making an entry. The team leader is using an thermal imaging camera (cost $ 10,000) to try to find out where the fire is inside, before the team goes in with the hose. Behind the wooden panel door is another steel door closing off a large area where Housekeeping stores their equipment.

My day was spent with creating mayhem on board by means of fire and boat drills. This time I had the inspiration to simulate a burn down of the center section of deck 2 public room areas and see how the crew would react if they have to search and protect a large area of the ship instead of a small space or locker. Port days such as today are ideal to do this as 90% of the guests are off the ship and will not be inconvenienced when we close Fire screen doors and run fire hoses all over the place. As expected all went very well and we now have a very proud Housekeeping Lady walking around as she reported “the fire” and because of her call the fire alarm went off and suddenly 80 fire fighters and support teams showed up.

Tomorrow we will have a sea day and then we will be in Half Moon Cay. Our route back will be across the North Atlantic as there is no other option in this case. There are cold fronts playing around near Cuba but it looks like that we will just have a window of lesser wind (so lesser waves) tomorrow and during Half Moon Cay day.

At 09.00 hrs. entry into a port such as San Juan is not a bad thing. Everybody is up and about and can see the scenery while having breakfast or coffee or while being out on the open decks. We are sailing quite close by Morro Castle which dominates the entrance on the East or portside of the ship and then while turning towards the dock, the whole old town opens up in front of you. As we had perfect arrival weather, sunshine with a breeze to keep things cool, it was nice to be out there.  We were in port today with one other cruise ship, the Carnival Glory, which was sitting at berth 4 east while we were given berth 3 west. Then there is Pier 1 so in total 6 docks available for cruise ships. Pier 2 is the ferry pier which has a shuttle service across the bay that makes up the big port of San Juan.  When there are more ships in all the berths are filled up but with two ships, it makes sense to give each other a complete own pier as it keeps the crowds down a little bit.

San Juan old port. To the far left Morro Castle; in the middle the USCG Station, to the right Pier 1 with a big USCG cutter alongside.

All three Cruise piers are right across from the old town so it does not matter that much at which berth you are. If it is a very busy day, then cargo docks, further to the East are also pressed in service and then it becomes a long walk to the old town and the Castle. It makes the Taxi drivers happy I suppose but not the guests and the crew. Adding more berths to the West is not possible as the corner of the downtown port is taking up by the USCG station and they are not going anywhere. I wouldn’t either if you can walk straight off the boat into the pub across the street. Often USCG stations are a bit more remotely located but this one has a Class A+ location.

I have blogged about this before in the past but San Juan has the peculiar approach that you charge into the port, then go full into the brakes, the put the rudder full over and stop shortly after. All to do with the fact that the port is so close to the sea, it is just separated by a strip of land on which the Castle and the old town stands.

We sail into the harbor entrance with quite a bit of speed to prevent the ship from drifting. The Easterly (90o) Trade winds are fully perpendicular on the entrance course (181o) and the more you slow down, the more effect they have on the ship, especially on a ship with a lot of balconies. Wind likes balconies as it gives a good grip while a smooth steel surface can deflect quite a bit of wind. So we enter the harbor entrance with about 12 knots and as soon as we are behind Morro Castle and in the lee of the town, we take speed back quite quickly. Also quite quickly a turn to the South East (132o) comes up and by that time we want to be down to about six knots. The there is a course change to 090o and then, especially for Pier 1 and Pier 3 you have to make a quick 90o turn to a northerly heading. All captains like to be down to thruster speed by that time (3 knots or so) so they can control the bow in case it falls off, as now the ship comes under the influence of the Trade Wind again which blows freely through the port. Nicely helped by the City airport which is located in the middle of the port and which makes the surrounding area even flatter than it already is.

San Juan as on the Electronic chart. you can see the track of the ship while coming into the port. The area further to the right is part of the cargo port but is used for cruise ships as well during congested days. The airport is located where the two little lighthouses are in the lower right hand part of the screen shot.

The trick with docking here is, is to stay as close to the pier as possible so the ropes can be given ashore. While that is going on, there might be moments of reduced maneuverability as the ropes are near the propellers and if you start out close then you can allow for some drift when the wind gets hold of the ship.

We were docked by 10 am., our official arrival time and we had the gangways out even before that time as we do not need all the ropes ashore to be safely alongside. A number of ropes go out as insurance in case the wind suddenly increases. So while the guests were already streaming into town, we were still adding ropes to the bollards for the “in case off” situation.

Tomorrow we are in Philipsburg, St.Maarten and we will be there with one other ship, the Regal Princess. Philipsburg has two cruise docks and as there seems to be some swell running, both ships are at the West dock which is the one furthest away from the corner. The captain is also going to dock nose out so that the –sharp- bow will ride the swell, instead of the –blunt- stern and that should help a lot.

Weather for tomorrow: More of the same. Sunny, warm and breezy.

Note: For those of you who are interested, I have uploaded the Biography of Captain Eric Barhorst under  the section Current Captains.