As was expected we had to pay for the nice weather. Halifax played hard to find again by hiding behind a thick white curtain. Even when we approached the dock visibility was not that great. It took this morning until quarter past eleven before we could see the whole harbor again.  Then for the remainder of the day it remained sunny and that brings a foreboding for more “White curtain” weather tonight.  The weather forecast for Bar Harbor claims good visibility; at least all day in the port so hopefully the weather gurus have it right. There is a cold front coming over and it is not always easy to estimate the speed with which it moves.  We are at anchor tomorrow and reduced visibility does not make a tender service impossible, but it certainly severely hampers it. We need officers on all the tenders and it reduces the pace of the operation as we cannot rely on “seeing” what the intentions are of everybody going in and out the harbor. Quite often the traffic involves people whose nautical knowledge is somewhat limited.  But at least there is no forecast of rain.

Another part of my (it seems ever expanding) scope of work is monitoring new deck officers. I hold as many school classes with new joining officers as possible but I still cannot catch them all. So I try to find them while going around the fleet on my normal visiting cycle. On the bridge everybody is under close scrutiny of the Captain and staff Captain but they cannot see and monitor what happens on the Foc’sle and the stern.  When they are brand new to the job, they can luckily rely on the skills of the Bo ‘sun and the Asst. Bo ‘sun but there is a thin but important border line between using their experience and routine and to let them dictate what is happening.

It is not easy if you start out as a new officer and you come across a Bo ‘sun who has been around since the Titanic and has seen it all and done it all. Still he knows that you are in charge but he also knows that you do not have any experience yet. Thus he is willing to help and teach but he expects respect in return. Not all officers come from a background where respect for “the elders” has been ingrained in the “growing up experience” and then things can become strained. Here I can help as it only takes a few tricks and a bit of good attitude to get the job done in a safe, efficient and pleasant way.

Everything starts with a good briefing. Who does what, where do the ropes go and especially……………when.

Thus I observe, give little hints and sometimes raise my eye brows to let the sailors laugh when the “newness” of the officer shines out of every pore in his /her body. Standing at Stations, that is supervising the mooring ropes fore and aft, or the anchor procedure can be described in one sentence: being extremely busy by doing nothing. At least nothing physical. With that I mean you supervise and if you have briefed the team well then the only thing you have to do is to monitor the sequence that you have set in motion with your briefing and for the rest relay the orders and words of wisdom that come from the bridge.  One challenge is that everybody tends to keep an eye on the ropes and where they are going ashore and how they are going ashore. Important otherwise the ship does not get tied up; but as important is what happens behind you on deck. So you have to learn to use the eyes in the front of your head and to be able to shift them to the back of your head to see it all.

Everything has its critical moments. One of them is the moment when the ropes get their final adjustment on the mooring drums and capstans. Go slow, one rope at the time and one person should always watch.

With experience comes the prediction of what should happen during each sequence on deck and then you start to look for anomalies in that sequence. It can be small things: why is the guy not wearing a helmet, why is he standing there at this moment and is he not somewhere else where it makes more sense. Why is he fussing around with a rope as that rope has never been used before during this evolution. Lesson 1, is everything starts with a good briefing. Today that was even more important as giving a mooring line ashore before 08.00 costs several thousands of dollars in linesmen overtime. Thus the Officer has to be eagle eyed to make sure that none of the sailors gets impatient and cannot wait for a few minutes.

Today the officer forward solved the issue in a very simple way. Only one sailor was assigned to throw the first line ashore and he was to stay in permanent eye contact with the officer himself. Worked very well and the linesmen did not get any extra money today.

Tomorrow we are in Bar Harbor 60oF / 15.5 oC. partly cloudy skies. Good weather for visiting Bar Harbor. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can see the place on arrival.

For a navigator Sydney is one of the more interesting ports as it offers various number of items that can makes us excited. Thus when the captain assigns one of the navigation officers to do the docking then it gives him or her, from approach to dock, a large number of various challenges to deal with. Quite often the pilot happily helps out by stepping aside and acts as a mentor and advisor instead bringing the ship in himself or herself. When the weather is nice, then Sydney is a good practice port, as it is not too simple but there is also sufficient room – read time – for the Master to carry out corrective action before a real critical situation develops.

So how does this go?

Normally the officer is already conning, which means he/she is monitoring the route of the vessel and checks if it is staying on the agreed course. The Assistant of the Watch is calling the pilot to confirm the arrival time and prepares the ship for arrival.  About 15 minutes before the pilot station the Bridge goes to RED manning. This means all the people involved are there (Captain, Staff Captain, Officer of the Watch, Assistant Officer of the Watch, Administrator and two quartermasters.) The Captain advises how he wants things to be done, although everything was already discussed the day before during the Bridge Resource Management Meeting, but things change.  Also on all the computers in the ship a red screen appears, indicating: DO NOT CALL THE BRIDGE ANYMORE. (Unless there is a fire of course)

The Officer keeps conning and the Captain takes on a supervisory role unless he assigns that to the Staff Captain so he can help the Officer with the docking. First step is now to slow down for the pilot boat and to make a lee so the pilot can safely step on board. This means adjusting the controls of the propellers to the speed needed and still keep an eye on the traffic around the ship. (This morning the local ferry came at the same time and that can create a distraction if one is not careful)

A: The pilot Station. B: Sailing in on the Leading Lights. C: Turning Area. D: Passing the corner and going sideways to the dock.

Once the pilot is on board and there is agreement that the Officer can continue, he/she has to bring the ship into the Leading Lights of the Sydney Harbor Entrance and make the ship stay on it. The speed goes up again to an average that is acceptable to the Captain and the Pilot. And then all happily sail into the Fjord. Which has a bend in it about halfway in?  Now the tricky part starts. Slowing down; as at the end of the Fjord the ship has to stop, swing around and go astern to the berth.   Now the Officer can show his skills and ships knowledge in understanding of how long it takes for the ship to come to a standstill as a balance has to be found between not going too slow (and  getting there with not much delay) and not going too fast and overshooting (and then having to back up again)

C: The turning Basin, as you can see the ship while going sternways had to sail under an angle around point D.  Once at D, the stern can be brought to the dock and the bow can come in once clear of the finger pier.  (Note the blue shed has since been demolished)

Once at the location for swinging around, the Officer has to make a decision. First swing around and then move to the Bridge wing for the astern maneuver or go to the bridge wing first and make the turn from there. This involves transferring the controls from the center of the bridge (the conning station) to Starboard or Portside wing (the docking station). Once the ship goes astern you have to be on the wing of the side the ship will dock on, to retain situational awareness and to judge the safe distances to the buoys and the rocks. The Maasdam has to make an 180o turn here before going astern. Pushing the bow and stern thruster is something everybody can do; the challenge is to swing with a fair rate of turn but to stop that swing right on the course needed for going sternways to the dock. And that is not easy, as there is always a little bit of wind and a little bit of current.

Once the ship has been lined up, astern power can be applied, and the ship goes towards the berth. Now the Officer steers with the Stern Thruster and uses the Bow Thruster to adjust the angle towards the dock. Final step is then to stop on time and go sideways until the ship is square against the dock. If all goes well, the whole evolution from pilot to dock can be done in an hour. Normally we schedule 1.5 hrs. from pilot station to the dock so we have extra time on our hands in case something happens. And as we are messing around with boats……….. and the Maasdam is a big boat and there is always something that happens. May it be sailing boats, a wind gust, a ferry going in or out, or the agent who wants the gangway in a slightly different location.

We had a chilly but sunny day in Sydney where the temperatures managed to get to 16oC / 61oF, but there was a cold wind blowing from the South East. Tomorrow we are in Halifax and there we are supposed to have rain in the early more and an overcast day for the rest.

It turned out to be a very nice day, not to say a gorgeous day. While approaching the port, the visibility suddenly reduced but as it was close to the port, it did not last for a long time. The land warms up quicker than the sea and thus flog and haze burns off quite fast. And that meant that the guests would have a great day in Charlottetown. It might also mean that the captain is paying the price for it tonight because warmer air will this evening start to cool down over colder water and that creates condensation and vapor clouds.

Today my school class of sailors started practical tender driving lessons. For all seven of them it was the first time they touched the controls of a Tender. Thus far they had only been helpers during tender service but now they could have a go at it themselves. It is not much different from your first driving lesson, except there are two gas pedals as a tender has two engines.  I prefer to start them fresh, from zero so to say, because then I can teach them the basics without them having taken on bad routines from the more experienced Tender Drivers.  Such as using more power than needed.

Before you are allowed to become a Tender Driver, Holland America sets quite a high standard to start with. First of all only Sailors AB or higher can be a tender driver. (Higher ranks are Storekeeper, Quartermaster or Bo’sun). The lower rank of Sailor OS (Ordinary Sailor) cannot follow the course as we consider that a rank to have insufficient experience. Before you can make Sailor AB (Able Bodied Sailor) you have to have proficiency in lifeboat handling and operating. This is a certificate which can only be obtained during a seven day training course on the shore side and is also required for all (Hotel) Officers and Crew who might be selected as Lifeboat Commander.  When you are an established AB, then the company can apply for a C.O.C with the Flag state. In this case the Dutch Government as we fly the Dutch Flag.  If an AB has a C.O.C (Certificate of Competence) then he (we do not have female sailors yet) is also allowed to be helmsman and look-out on the bridge. Once all that is complied with we start considering a Sailor AB for Tender Operator.

As usual they start out with being a Tender helper so they get the feeling for the routine operation of a ships tender service. When the Bo ‘sun has formed a positive opinion about the sailor’s capability, then he goes on the list as a potential Tender Operator.  The tender operator course which Holland America has developed has to be & is approved by the Flag State again to ensure that what is taught is of a high enough standard so it will ensure the safety of the Tender and the Guests on board. This training course can be given on board by a Senior Officer with sufficient experience.  That is not always easy to comply with as some senior officers never come across a situation where the Tender Driver Course is needed to be given.  Or if there is one, then he/she might not be able to make time available to run a course as the deck officers are already standing 8 hour watches and there is only 10 hours in a day.  If the need is high, then I am normally approached, when I come for a visit. And I do not mind doing it as there is nothing nicer than messing around with Boats.

The harbor Hyppo is to the right. It is what the military call a “Duck”. In the background either the Maasdam or the Veendam.

So today, we sailed around the port of Charlotte town to get the first feeling of how to maneuver a tender. First steps are power and rudder control and to learn to use both in absolute minimum setting. The better control you have and the more time you have to make up your mind, the less chance of bumping into anything. And if you do bump into something, the tender –fender will prevent damage if you do not go too fast. Not much happens in Charlottetown in general, so what was afloat today came out to see us. USCG, Sport fishers and the local sightseeing Harbour tour: the Harbour Hyppo. This is an amphibious vehicle which does part city tour and part harbor tour. So today they had some extra excitement to add to their tour as we were all over the place and each time in their way. Or maybe they were in our way as the driver/skipper came close to include us in the tour.

And the Duck in the water. As this photo is dated, I know it is the ms Veendam with yours truly at the helm in 2007. (photo courtesy  Hippo tours in Charlotte town)

Tomorrow we are in Sydney and then it is the turn for the dining room stewards who are studying for the Lifeboat handler course, so we will lower a lifeboat which only has one engine.

Weather for tomorrow very nice (at least for the guests), 16oC / 61oF, partly cloudy and very little wind. I would not be amazed if the captain had to show off his whistle – button – pushing – skills again due to extreme low hanging clouds.

Today we are sailing in the estuary / open sea area between where the St. Lawrence really begins and where you have the real open ocean. On departure yesterday it was blowing up to 45 knots and it did not change much during the night and morning. This morning I still observed a wind force 7 to 8 blowing out there. But as we are still in the estuary area, there is not much swell buildup and the ship is riding the waves in a nice and quiet way. Today is our only Sea day and thus it is a good thing that the ship is nice and quiet without any movements as otherwise it would upset all the regular proceedings including the Mariner Party, Mariner Medal presentation and Mariner luncheon. Not to mention happy hour later this afternoon.  Another good thing is that we do not have to call today at Gaspe or at Sept. Isle which are two ports and we have them sometimes on the cruise schedule as well.

We cannot sail up and down the river anymore as we could in the good old days. Then we just gave the pilot an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) made sure the agent had a berth reserved for us and there we went. I already mentioned the Vessel Traffic Reporting on the river which is an Aid to Navigation as it helps to keep the ships apart. (There is also a similar system for when we sail under the Confederation Bridge to ensure we do not get any problems with ships blocking each other’s passage in the route to and under the bridge)

The Route from Quebec to Charlottetown and the part we sailed today. If we can not go under the Bridge then we have to sail past the island on the northside and then double back. (Courtesy: Canadian Fisheries)

But nowadays we also have a compulsory reporting system otherwise we are not even allowed to enter Canada, let alone sail up and down the river. Similar to USA regulations we have to provide 96 hours in advance a complete manifest of everybody on board and send it to the dedicated Canadian Customs Office. If we cannot do that because we have only a night or so between ports then the report has to be send the moment we leave.  When we then cross the border and there is Canadian Coast Guard coverage, they check if indeed we have forwarded the manifest, before we are giving permission to enter coastal waters. For the Alaska cruises, sailing from Vancouver to Ketchikan and back this is standard practice. There is a Canadian Coastguard Station in Prince Rupert and we call them as soon as we cross the border. Canada has an enormous border and thus it cannot be expected that every inch of the country is monitored by the Authorities. If there is no direct Coast guard control possible then the port agent is the contact point and if we do not submit on time, then he/she is advised (sometimes friendly, sometimes not so friendly) that we have to get our act together. The ships are quite good in complying it is sometimes the internet that lets us down. I do not know how effective it is to check a ships manifest 96 hours in advance but I have heard about Customs and Immigration waiting at the gangway to arrest people with outstanding warrants, outstanding fines or having another question mark behind their name.

The ms Maasdam sailing under the Conferation Bridge. (Courtesy www.confederationbridge.com)

Around 4 am. tomorrow morning we will pass again under the Confederation Bridge, unless it is too windy, so that is something the Captain will continue to monitor today. That decision has nothing to do with the bridge but with the narrow fairway that you sail through to get under it. The pilot likes to sail under it with a sedate speed and if the wind is then on the beam, you get a lot of drift and for drifting the channel is too small.  If this would occur, then we have to sail around Prince Edward Island and that costs extra time. We can then still arrive on time but the decision has to be made timely. I am not expecting that to happen as the wind is supposed to die down to about 10 knots, with even less in the port, but the weather does not always follow the weather forecast.

I am hoping for calm weather as tomorrow my lifeboat and tender driver students are starting the practical part of their training. And although they must be fully proficient in boat handling in bad weather as well, I need to start them off in nice weather as otherwise they will be too nervous.

So if the weather gurus are right, it will be: Partly cloudy skies and 16o C / 61 oF. with 6 knots of wind. That I can live with.

We have a little bit of a troublesome situation with the weather here on the river. I already mentioned during the Quebec call two days ago that the water was extremely high. Due to a lot of rain water coming down and a lot of sea water going up. This has only intensified itself and last night the Canadian Authorities announced a Surge – Warning for the coast and up the river. Basically all the way down the St. Lawrence River from the moment the tidal movement had any influence on the water height of the river. Regular flood warnings have been in force for the last week or so, all the way up Montreal and even beyond.

It was a very close call at the Ferry dock, and it was not even high water. Some streets behind did overflow.

A storm surge can occur if certain elements in nature enhance each other and most of the time the end result gives reason for concern. A heavy storm during Spring tide can increase a water level so much that the levees and dykes over flow. At the moment we have large amounts of rain water coming down the river, and we have high sea tides and at the same time we have a strong on-shore wind pushing that high water tide even higher while it goes inland and up the river. Quebec has had a lot of rainwater in the last week or so and even called the army in to help out in the worst areas.
Not much you can do when the river goes higher as far as the ships are concerned. We float and will not get wetter than normal and we just have to hope the water will not go so high that we cannot see the docks and the bollards anymore. Today we did not have that as an issue with that but the captain brought the arrival for Quebec one hour forward just to ensure that we still fitted under the Quebec Bridge in case the water would rise more than expected.

The regular docks are a little bit higher but normally we have much more dock level clearance than this.

As said we did not have an issue, there was still about 2 feet of Quay height were we could dock against. It made the Staff Captain very happy as it made it much easier to do maintenance on the ship’s hull near the water line. Shore side they did have problems, the road near the ferry dock was flooded again and also the lower level of the parking garage had more than a foot of water in it. I did not see any cars on the higher levels and thus I assume that the entrance must have been on the street level. I hope the water was not affecting the electronics; otherwise the garage might be closed for a while, unless they go for free parking while barriers and ticket machines are being repaired.
Today I got a lot of exercise as I was in my inspection mode again. I went in the Engine Room for a walkabout. A ships engine room is an enclosed space or better said a number of enclosed spaces, separated by water tight doors which are closed while the ship is sailing. When there is an emergency is can be difficult to get out. Remember that nearly all the engineers on the Titanic perished as they were stuck somewhere down there.

Since that time, more focus has been given to improving the escape options from those enclosed spaces. It is now since a long time compulsory that each engine room space has at least two exits. A normal one and one which leads directly to a deck about the Bulkhead deck. The bulkhead deck is deck under where the watertight doors divide the ship in sections and enclose the most vulnerable area of the ship in relation to sinking. In most sections of the engine room they are vertical pipes called Emergency Escapes with a door at the lowest deck – entry level and a door above the bulkhead deck – exit level.  Auditors such as Lloyds and Coastguard can always get very excited about them and it is a standard part of their inspection to look inside. I normally go one better, I climb them all. All 9 of them, 3 to 4 decks up and all with vertical steel bulkhead ladders. Good exercise as long as you are not claustrophobic or suffer from vertigo.

This evening we sailed just before 17.00 hrs. and used two tugboats to do so. We had almost 30 knots of wind full on the beam and a strong ebb current running…………. And that current could have pushed us along the dock and then press us again at an outcrop further down. If that would happen the wind on the beam would then help the current to keep us there. That is something we do not like of course and thus we employ tugboats as 30 knots of beam wind is too much for the ships thrusters to create a swift lift off and deal with the current at the same time. Once off the berth we continued our descend towards the sea. Thus tomorrow we will in open waters heading for Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. Early tomorrow morning we will disembark the pilots again at Escomins and then enter the St. Lawrence Estuary. Weather should be nice with partly sunny skies but with chilly temperatures.

I normally do not post funny pictures for that there is Face book. But I am a fan of public transport and it looks like this gentleman as a LOT of faith in his local Bus service. (Photo courtesy CTV Montreal)

Our temporary home for the day. Berth 34 in Montreal.

Thus today we docked at what turned out to be a temporary cruise terminal. The new terminal, better said: the refurbished old one, where we always used to dock was not ready yet it turned out. Due to strikes and other complications work had been delayed past the start of the season. So we were diverted to a cargo terminal with a Marque on it. The Veendam is now scheduled to in-augurate the opening of the new terminal.

The good thing was we did not have to go into “the hole” and sail past the outflow of the St. Lawrence where it turns into the port of Montreal. The bad thing was the ship now docked on the river, fully in the current. Most of the berths at Montreal are on the river and in the current so it is normal here but with so much current, you need tugboats and that is what we always try to prevent. First: because we normally have enough power to do it ourselves. Second:  the conversations between the tugboat skippers and the pilots are normally in the local lingo and today it was no different. Most of us speak a certain amount of French but not Quebecois.  And that makes is very hard for the captain to keep oversight of what is going on and if the tugboats are doing exactly what the captain wants and what the pilot is relaying.

The dock width coming out was about half the width of the ms Maadam.

The docks along the river are designed in a peculiar way. They are trellised. The idea is when the ship is alongside then the wall sticking out will keep most of the river flow away from the ship. That might have worked in the days when the docks were built and the ships were much smaller and had less width, but now we are sticking out by almost half. We saw that happening when we docked. The ship came in and then bounced out again as the current still managed to flow in between. One good thing is that the flow or current is constant. Only the river level dictates the water height and even if it rains a lot it normally only changes gradually. We are now so far up river that there is no influence from the ebbing and flooding anymore. With just current things are easily manageble but if the wind had been blowing over the very flat area, then this would have been a nasty place for a cruise ship.

For those with a bit of a nautical eye will see that this is current. Over five knots, it even caused a white wake while racing past the buoy.

And so carefully and slowly with two tugboats in attendance we came alongside while the river raged by with at least 5 knots of current. We were docked by 7 am. and then dis-embarkation started. Canadian Customs has an easier system of clearing the ship than the USA and that made everything go quite fast.  The ship then went to the turnover stage so embarkation could start again at 11.30. We are expecting a full house and if everybody can find Montreal on time we will have all cabins full. We sailed again at 16.00 hrs. to ensure we will make it to Quebec on time. This time the river will help us with a lot of “push” in the back and going down the river we can reduce our engine speed. Still we need about 10 to 12 knots on the engines to really to control the movement and the direction of the ship; otherwise we really would be surfing, and not necessarily in the right direction.

This is the Radar screen with the ships heading (long white line) and the drift /set by the current the small arrow. At times the drift sideways was over 25 degrees while approaching the dock. The two little triangles are the AIS identifications of the two tugboats.

The sunny day here today had one negative effect; the ship was surrounded by what one person called mosquitoes, another called moths and other called midgets (very big ones). Once we swung the ship around and sailed down river, passing green pastures on both sides of the ship, the ship was inundated with them. This must be an early summer thing, as I do not remember it to happen during the Fall cruises from the past in September and October.

I spend most of the day outside for a ship inspection, taking advantage of the nice weather but the –whatever they were – did not bite me, so I wonder if they were mosquitoes or more moths type.

Thus tonight we will sail the same way down the river as we came up and then tomorrow morning we will dock again in Quebec. The weather for tomorrow is good , with partly cloudy skies and temperatures of 17oC or 63 o F.  There is a storm surge warning in effect which might push the water levels even higher than the already are, but there is no indication that this will also affect our berth.

As planned the ms Maasdam sailed around the corner and approached the port of Quebec just after 06.00 hrs. and by 07.00 hrs. we were happily docked. Although Quebec is far inland it is still under the influence of the Ocean Tide. One of the reasons that the river has such strong currents. At the moment the water level is extremely high due to extensive rains falls in the whole area through which the ST. Lawrence flows. If the river would just flow downstream it would probably not be much of a problem, but with the flood coming in, the downhill freshwater gets stopped by the uphill salt water and today the river banks almost overflowed. One section of the road just outside the cruise terminal was flooded and traffic had to be diverted. If I was a car driver here, I would for once be very happy with a diversion as driving through salt water is not good for your car.

The ms Ryndam sailing past Chateau Frontinac on the way to to Montreal.

Holland America has been coming here for a long long time. Especially just after the 2^nd world war we had two ships, the Ryndam and the Maasdam who had a regular liner service here in the summer months. On occasion also our pure emigrant ship the Groote Beer would show up. Not all Emigrants going to Canada would leave the ship in Halifax, although this was most usual, but some stayed on until Quebec and Montreal and took the train from there to their final destination.  Because this area is sort of French, quite a few of those emigrants were not Dutch but French and they embarked in Le Havre.

And now we do the same route in the form of a cruise. I bumped into a couple a few days ago, who had emigrated this way and were now retracing their previous route. Visiting Pier 21 in Halifax was a highlight for them as it had all the emigration records and a very nice display about emigrants entered Canada.

The only major hurdle to get to Montreal is the bridge height just upriver pass Quebec. The Maasdam / S Class fit under it, the Vista and Signature Class do not. Thus those ships do two overnights in Quebec with a turnover in between before sailing down river again. Guess which option the crew prefers…………

Captain Bas van Dreumel addressing the newly married couple.

We had something quite unusual going on today. Our first officer was getting married on board. Wouter Koolhaas married his beloved Eline in the Crows nest of the ship.  For that purpose we had a government representative come on board as on Dutch ships Captains are not allowed to marry anybody. We can almost do anything else but the Dutch Law, logical as it is, sees no reason or argument to allow marriage. Marrying is not an emergency according to the Law and thus it should be planned properly at a shore side venue. But getting a shore side licensed civil servant or a member of the clergy on board that is allowed. Marriage then takes place under special license and that license can then be converted to a normal approved contract.

The happy couple surrounded by the officers of the ms Maasdam.

This did of course not stop the Captain to do his little bit of supporting the marriage. We all do if we get the chance. If you go back in the archives of this blog and look at March 2010 when the Prinsendam was in the Falklands I did something similar by getting the Deputy Governor on board to do the official part. Thus the Crows nest was reserved for the happy occasion with the official vows, followed by the Master with a 2^nd dedication, followed by toasts, best man speech and cake.  Those officers who could get away from work were there. I could only manage after the first half hour as I was sitting in a lifeboat with my school class. Hence no picture of the Official, officiating, but I caught the 2^nd part.

This evening we will sail up river, change pilots at Trios Rivieres, about half way up and then dock in Montreal tomorrow morning around 06.00 so the luggage unloading can start on time. Due to the dock configuration that is always quite a happening. We are supposed to dock at a different location than normal so it will be interesting to see where we are going. Of great interest to me as I am only used to docking at the Cruise terminal.

It is supposed to be a nice day; 22 oC / 71 oF, no wind and partly cloudy skies. A great day for a change over.

Today is the only sea day of this 7 day cruise and that makes the hotel department very busy. All standard HAL activities have to be crammed into this one day. Mariners presentation, luncheon, speaker on board lecture, Park West Auctions, Bridge lessons etc. etc. it all happens this day. On other days there might be a few things going on but with the majority of the guests going ashore, being ashore, or coming back from shore it is hard to find an audience. Thus everything has to happen today. Tomorrow we are in Quebec and the next day we are in Montreal and that is for most guests the end of the cruise.

The weather is sunny but very chilly with a balming 9 degrees or just touching 50oF. There is hardly any wind but the Maasdam plows along with 16 knots and that already causes a 4 wind chill factor on the outside decks. Luckily the cold temperature also ensures we have good visibility as the outside air is as crisp as the sea water.

The whole St/ Lawrence River. We are too large for the locks which lead to the Great Lakes and thus our Journey has to stop in Montreal

The St Laurence is a very wide river and in the beginning you do not really have the idea that you are on a river. The opposite shore lines are miles away from each other. So far that the Canadian Government has not seen any reason that we should have a pilot while we are still in –almost- open waters. Only tonight at 21.00 hrs. we will embark the pilot at a location where the river slowly starts to get smaller. The pilot station is called Les Escomins and from there it is 265 miles to Montreal. These pilots stay with us until about 05.30 tomorrow morning and then just before turning into the harbor area of Quebec, where the river makes a 90o turn, the docking pilot comes on board.

From Quebec to Montreal we will have two different pilot groups. One group from Quebec to Trois Rivieres and from Trios Rivieres to Montreal. Apart from the docking pilot in Quebec, the other pilots come in a team of two, so they can relieve each other and remain fresh while conning. With the strong current one has to be very alert as the ship might easily be pushed away from the middle of the river and into the river banks. Plus there is a fair chance of large numbers of Sunday Sailors around who do not always understand that a big ship cannot move around a small sailing boat, especially not on a river and certainly not with all the current.

Part 1 of the River. The is the part we can sail without a pilot by staying in the purple tracks. At the lower left is Escomins pilot station. And this section is monitored by Traffic Control on Ch, 14 and later Ch. 08.

Although we are allowed to sail more than 150 miles up the St. Lawrence estuary and river and as it is so wide, The Canadian Government has ensured that all those free wheeling ships will behave themselves by introducing Vessel Traffic Separation schemes. As everywhere else in the world they ensure that ships that go in opposite directions keep apart. At the same time there is a reporting requirement for all the ships. Everybody has to call in at certain points and then give their expected ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) to the next calling in point.  If needed that information is then relayed by the reporting system to other ships in the area. When the pilot(s) gets on board this just continues as the system is covering the whole river.  To avoid too much irrelevant information to be broadcast the river has been divided into 5 sections which each have its own VHF channel and when you sail into a new sector or zone, Traffic Control hands you over to the next monitoring team.

This is part two of the river. From Escomins pilot station to Montreal. The black spades are the calling in points. (Both diagrams courtesy of the Canadian Coastguard)

The weather for Quebec is going to be a bit uncertain but definitely chilly. 14o C / 57oF with a gentle to moderate breeze. And a 50% chance of “une peu de Pluie”.  Still it will not keep the guests from going ashore and enjoy themselves. Quebec is the highest rated city on all our Comment on Board forms. Regardless of Rain or Sunshine.