We were lucky people during last night and today as the Restricted Visibility did not return. The wind shifted slightly and that was enough to change the temperature balance between water and air. And coming closer and closer to the Norwegian coast also helped with the sea water temperature as the water is not so cold here than when  in the open sea. So reason enough for everybody to be happy. This morning we also passed the Queen Mary II which was on her way to Flam in Norway, where the Koningsdam will call next cruise. Normally the Queen Mary II should pass us as she is capable of a higher speed but we were going at a fast clip while she was leisurely cruising along. Courtesy of a different cruise schedule.

Today I caused considerable stress among the sailors as it was Theoretical Exam day for the aspiring Tender Drivers which I have been helping along in between other things. To become a proficient tender driver with Holland America Line a sailor has to do a considerable amount of work. First he has to be a Sailor AB. (= Able Bodied) which means he (we do not have female sailors yet) has to have enough experience to do all the work on board which the Bo ‘sun assigns. Then he has to follow the class which is given by a senior officer on board or in this case by me because I just happened to be here. That class has 6 or 7 hours of theoretical lessons, covering the construction and inventory of the Tender (as it is a lifeboat) Rules of the Road, Emergencies on board, use of all instruments and a Basic understanding of the engines.

Then there are two courses to follow on our computer system. We call this system HAL- University and it has all the training courses listed which any crew member might need to properly and safely do a job. Those two courses are Tender Driving where with animations several scenarios are played out and questions need to be answered and a special course about the Release Gear of the lifeboat.

The magic handle to release a lifeboat and tender

Everybody who has been in a tender to go ashore will have seen close to the driver’s position a long handle in orange, red or yellow. When this handle is pushed down, it releases the fall wires in which the lifeboat/tender hangs when it is out of the water.

Schematic of how it works. The water pushes the plunger up and that releases the safety catch on the handle. (Diagram courtesy of Rock Lok who supplies the system)

This releasing is only possible if the boat is in the water. In the bottom of the boat is a small hole which lets water into a compartment in which rests a plunger. When the boat is in the water, the sea water comes in, pushes up the plunger and this releases a safety catch. With the catch gone it is possible to pull the handle and this opens the hooks to let those fall wires slip away. The principle is very simple but you have to understand the logic behind it and for that we have a special course.The whole evolution of safely getting away from a sinking ship depends on using this handle properly, so it is a very critical part of the lifeboat/tender.

Then there are a number of practical lessons. We exercise the regular maneuvering with the tender for docking and undocking, running on one engine, using wind and current to your advantage and emergency steering when the regular steering wheel does not work anymore.  Once that is all completed the Theoretical Exam is held. In 25 questions everything is covered —— well at the least the most pertinent points———— and 80% has to be scored to pass. Often the answers are not the issue for the sailor; they normally know their stuff very well. What spooks them the most is reading the questions properly as their English is often quite basic. Good enough to work safely, not always good enough to understand the Queen’s English. Today the stumbling block was the word choking. Which requires the answer: I will use the Heimlich maneuver. They all knew what to do but the word puzzled them. But all 10 passed without difficulty.

We arrived nicely on schedule in Aalesund and docked at the Cruise terminal. We are the only ship to enjoy the town today. It is a bit gloomy but it is dry. T

At 20.00 hrs. we will sail for Bergen where we should be docked by 08.00 hrs. Seeing the same overcast weather.

Once we were clear of the coast and the sun disappeared for the night, a white blanket descended over the Norwegian Sea. Thus the Navigators went to Reduced Visibility Navigation (Which means a senior officer is added to the team and if that is not the captain, then he remains nearby on short notice) and started sounding the whistle every two minutes. That is what the law requires and thus that is what we do, even if the guests with balconies right under the whistle are not very happy about it.  Unfortunately when you select a cruise which involves Greenland or Iceland or the North West side of Norway (including Spitzbergen) then there is a fair chance of losing all visibility around you. It is either that or bad weather.  

What happens in the sky. Borderline between water vapor and no water vapor.

Why are all those white clouds coming here and insist in coming all the down to the water line and why are they not staying up high in the sky and bother airplanes and not us?  Our fog is similar to clouds high up. Clouds are made up from condensed water droplets which are the result of the air being cooled to the point (what we call the dew point) where it cannot longer hold all of the water vapor it contains. Clouds form when rising air cools from expansion.  Secondary factors such as pressure and turbulence cause the shape of the clouds.

That is what we had today. Although the difference between warm and cold was not that great.

In our case we are dealing with clouds which form above the water. And also that has to do with temperature differences causing air to cool.  But because the water temperature is not always constant and the air temperature over it neither, it is not easy to predict when fog will exactly happen and when not.  In our case today, it is caused by a gentle easterly breeze. Not much but just enough. It brings warmer air towards this region where the water is colder. The Gulf Stream splits in two halves under Iceland, one arm doubles back to go west under the Icelandic coast and one arm continues over the North Atlantic towards Europe. That 2^nd arm is causing the problem. Here the warmer water has warmed up the air, the sun has been helping a little bit as well and then a gently Easterly Breeze carries it towards the Norwegian Sea.

As soon as it meets colder seawater the air cools down, cannot contain all the water vapor anymore and starts to condense.  The temperature difference does not need to be much; a few degrees difference is enough. If the temperature difference is only a few degrees then a strong breeze can upset the balance and fog will not happen.  Hence there is seldom dense fog here if there is a good storm blowing.

The port of Tampa is notorious for reduced visibility in the winter. And when you cannot see, the port closes down. (Courtesy ABC Action news)

If there is fog, then the sun can help. It is by no means certain that the sun “will burn the fog away” but if the temperature range is close enough, it will. That is what we saw in Isafjordur. Thick fog but no wind to start with and then when the sun started to warm up the land and the sea surface the warmer air caused a different dew point, the water droplets evaporated again and visibility was restored.

Today there is not much wind and the sun has to warm up a large area of water, which is much slower to warm up than bare rock, and thus visibility is struggling. It took today nearly to 1 pm. before visibility became more than three miles. The magic number was we are allowed to stop blowing the whistle.  We are not expecting much wind to happen in the next 12 hours and thus the “low cloud” situation could return in the evening. Unless of course we come to a warmer patch of water which will affect the air cooling down. This makes it also very difficult to exactly predict when fog will happen.

So we will continue our voyage towards Norway. At noon time we were 170 miles north of the Faroer Islands and about half way.  By mid-morning tomorrow we will approach the pilot station of Aalesund and dock about an hour later. If the water temperature remains the same then I expect that the weather situation will remain the same and the whistle will continue to blow every 2 minutes, until we come close to Aalesund.

Akueyri is just a hop and a skip away from our last port of call and thus our schedule called for an early arrival. We had to be docked before 7 am so the invasion of the town could commence on time.

Thank you Google Maps.

Akueyri is located fairly deep in a fjord and thus it takes a while to sail into it. The cruise terminal is located at the south side of the town and then the fjord ends in a sort of big and deep pond where ships can safely anchor as well. The fjord itself continues with what I would call a river coming from the inland but you cannot sail on it. Even if you wanted to try, you could not, as the locals have built a bridge over it to get around the fjord /bay.

The town and area is very well liked by Icelanders and many have a 2nd home here. If you pretend to be somebody in Reykjavik then you have to prove that by having a 2nd home in Akueyri somewhere on the mountain slopes.

All the white dots are not farms but 2nd homes, for summer and christmas.

According to one of the linesmen (those are the gentlemen who pull the mooring lines ashore) I talked to today it does not work the other way around. If you are an Akueyrian and you would you have a 2^nd house in Reykjavik it would not make you more important locally. People would just say, what is he/she wasting his/her money on.

For the weather there are three plans. If too much wind at Plan A, we shift to Plan B and docked nose or stern into the wind and if that does not work we go to Plan C; anchor.

The only challenge this port has for cruise ship sailors is, that the wind is often blowing through the fjord in an almost North / South direction. The cruise ship dock is in an East /West direction and docking with a northerly wind means fighting against it to come along side. From the south it helps you with docking but then you have to hope that you can get off the dock again on departure. Today the weather was fully in synch with our cruise schedule. On arrival the wind pushed us to the dock. At mid morning and early afternoon it was sunny and wind still and by 3 pm the wind had turned to the North and pushed us off the dock again. How lucky can we be?

The Koningsdam bridge view, high above the town. Many guests walked the streets and even climbed all the stairs to the church.

Having nice weather is always a bitter sweet experience for a captain if you depart early. Today the sun shone and the temperatures were very pleasant and thus a lot of guests came back at the very last moment.  They then still have to be processed by security and that takes time and thus we could not completely adhere to our 15.00 hrs. departure time. So sometimes we pray if the schedule is tight, can we please have a short shower about an hour before departure? It really helps with getting everybody back on board in time. But once we could go, we could employ the blow-away maneuver which always makes life easier.

Akuyeri was blessed today with two cruise ships. In the late morning a little one came in called the Ocean Majesty. 16000 tons and a maximum of 700 guests. I think this year she sails charters for a German company. I know her well, in the past my wife worked on it as a tour escort and I tagged along twice to see ports where even the Prinsendam could not get into. It is in the blogs somewhere in summer of 2009 when I broke the golden rule of only blogging about HAL and blogged the Greenland cruise this little ship made. It was then chartered by an English company and the whole cruise on 3 star level was a real happening. Basically the way we used the sail in the 70’s and 80’s. Not too many rules and regulations and slight touch of dis-organization thrown in, to keep everybody sharp. It is nice to see that she is still going strong.

Now we start crossing the Norwegian Sea on our way to Aalesund in Norway. The weather looks very good with hardly any wind. So hopefully that will not result in a lack of visibility. Iceland is two hours behind the continent and thus we have to go two hours forward to get into tune with Norwegian Life. The first one will be tonight.

It was a very small world this morning when we arrived. The good thing was, it was nice weather, the bad thing was, we could not see it.

This what we should have seen on arrival.  The dock is in the foreground and we tendered to where the red tower is located. The ships anchorage is to the right just off the photo. (Courtesy, somebody who donated to Wikipedia)

And thus the deck department of the Koningsdam went to battle stations. We have qualified tender drivers on our tenders who are trained and before they receive a certificate of competency have to do a practical and theoretical exam. However when we cannot see anything then the company requires Officers on the tenders who have full nautical licenses. I was this morning on deck early to see if my students…. Tender operators in training……. were doing what they had been told; everything according to the rules and regulations.  Which includes safe working practices; executed in the correct sequence and it all with good communication.  In a few days’ time they will have their exam and I do not like anyone of them to fail. So we train from early morning to the end of the working day on the job, if we get the chance.

That is as far as visibility went. The pilot boat at 15 meters away and it was worse on the anchorage.

The Koningsdam has six tenders and we were expecting that the guests would be very eager to go ashore as soon as the ship was cleared by the authorities. Thus the staff captain decided to put six tenders into operation at once. And then I was drafted in to help so one of the regular navigators could have a bit more rest before starting.  We did not get visibility until 11.30 and thus I had the chance to play around with a tender for most of the morning. Always fun to do……………… boys with toys……… you know what it is. It also made it possible to continue training 2 of the sailors, who were on the tender and who had to report in after each run and explain what I exactly did with the engines and the rudder for docking and undocking. Thinking about your maneuver is the first step to safely executing it. The guests who used tender 20 had the experience of having the most expensive tender driver of Holland America Line taking them to the shore and back.

The Koningsdam mooring deck with the starboard anchor winch, note the clean deck.

We have to anchor in Isafjordur as the dock is too short for the Koningsdam and we cannot overhang here as there is no deep water beyond the end of the dock. I asked the Harbour Master if there were plans for an extension and he said they were talking about it already for three years. I suppose Icelandic winter months are long and thus they take their time and are not in a hurry, but it would help their business. There are companies with large ships who will not anchor and thus simply will not call at a port without a dock.  Extend the dock by 50 meters and you get thousands of more eager shoppers to come in.

This is what we finally saw after 11.30 in the morning.

The fjord where we anchored is nice and sheltered from easterly and westerly winds. That was also the reason why it took so long for the visibility to return. First the sun had to peak over the mountain tops and then it had to warm up the land and the air to get the water saturation out of the air. But for safe anchoring it was a great day today. No wind at all. If there is a strong (and very cold) northerly wind blowing or a Northwesterly then it blows straight in and then it is sometimes impossible to be here. Today it was good and we anchored in about 30 meters of water and put about 150 meters of chain behind the anchor.

The anchor chain coming in. Each length of 15 fathoms is marked by white chain with a red stripe so we can count them more easily when coming out of the water.

A lot of people think that it is the anchor which is holding the ship in position. That is not the case. The anchor is just the hook which sits at the end of the chain. The chain lays over the sea bottom and its weight and friction with the sea bottom provides the force to keep the ship where it is. The anchor is only a tool to stop the anchor chain from slipping. The holding ground in Isafjordur is very good. Extremely heavy mud which really sucks the chain in. Thus on the departure we had quite a job in getting the chain up and eventually the anchor. Heaving slowly on the winch, not just to get the chain up, but also to give the sailors time to clean the anchor before it went into the chain locker under the winch. It created a very nice muddy mess on the deck and the Bo ‘sun was not a happy camper.

Using the fire hoses to get the mud off the chain made a nice mess on the deck.

Tomorrow we are in Akuyeri and here we dock. They have three docks and one is officially assigned as the Cruise ship dock but we can use any of the three if needed as long as there are no fishing boats in the way. We will have basically the same weather as today; 18oC / 64oF and sunny skies so we might have to find the dock without seeing very much if it goes the same way as today.

Well, it was not an exciting day today as far as the weather is concerned. You always think about Iceland as covered in snow and with a cold wind blowing or dry with erupting volcanos in the distance. However they also have drizzle here. Lots of it. It took the local weather station all day to get rid of it and it all fell on the Koningsdam. Only just before departure the sun peaked through, as if to see if we were still there.

Calling everybody to attention for the commencement of the 71st. Indonesian Independence Ceremony.

That drizzle was not appreciated by me as I was having the sailors play with the tenders again today but it was even less appreciated by our Indonesian Community who were celebrating Indonesian Independence day. The day is officially the 17^th. of August but that was tender day in Edinburgh and during such a day nobody has time. This year it was the 71^st celebration since independence was declared in 1945 and over 71 years a few days later do not make much of an impact. There is always a ceremony and this took place this time on the Sports Deck………. In the drizzle. There is a standard procedure for this and the whole evolution takes about 10 minutes.

One of our ships ladies reads out the start of the ceremony.

It starts with the calling to order of all the crew present. Then the invited guests are lined up (headed by the captain) and then the commander of ceremonies steps forward.

The commander of Ceremonies, the Ship’s Bo’sun.

(Normally the Bo ‘sun, in being the most senior Petty Officer on board) We have Indonesian officers on board but somehow the Bo ‘sun is always the big man. He approves the start of the ceremony and then three crew step forward to raise the flag. As we nowadays also have Ladies from Indonesia in the crew it means that one of the flag bearers is a Lady.

In 1945 it was not possible to create and distribute a new flag. so the solution was use a dutch flag, as there were plenty of those around, and remove the blue part and thus have a new country flag.

During the hoisting of the flag, the Indonesian anthem is sung while the flag goes up. Then there is a minute of silence for those who have fallen for their country and that is followed by the reading of the Indonesian Independence Declaration.

A section of Housekeeping saluting the flag.

The man who issued it, Mr. Soekarno Hatta, must have been a man of few words as the declaration is not very long. I always thought if you issue such a momentous statement which is the start of a new country, you would have spent a few more lines on it. But it is short and to the point.

Special Day, Special Food. This is philippino crew but they also like a party and Indonesian Food.

The remainder of the festivities consists of a dinner, which was held this afternoon and a party, which will take place in a few days as tomorrow we have another tender port so everybody has to go to bed early tonight. So this year the Indonesian Independence day has been split in three parts. Quite unusual but what else can we do.

To get to Isafjordur we have to sail all the way to the top of Iceland. We just miss the 66oN.

Our next port of call is Isafjordur located on the middle north part of the island. It is located just south of the Arctic Circle (66oN). For me it is basically the quintessential port in Iceland. The area is bare and stark, in the middle of nowhere and a large mountain ridge looms over the town. If you think about Iceland, then this is what is on your mind. And that is why we are going there. To sample the real Icelandic situation. It has a nice port but the R class of our company (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Volendam, Zaandam) are the longest ships that fit in. Anything longer and part of the ship will be stuck in the mud. Not something a ship is built for and thus we have to tender.  Sailing in is very scenic. Luckily for those who do not want to get up at 05.30 in the morning, sailing out is very scenic as well and then you can see it all after the 17.00 hrs. time.

The drizzle is supposed be blown away by an increasing wind and that will bring sunshine with temperatures of 14oC / 15oF.  If the wind does what it has told the forecasters then it should not be of any concern. It is supposed to blow from the East and that puts a big mountain between the wind and the ship.

During the evening the wind and waves picked up further but the Koningsdam surfed nicely and we had a steady ride. By this morning we were completely outside the influence sphere of the bad weather near Ireland and it turned into a nice and sunny day.  A nice happening was the passing by of the Prinsendam last night which was coming from Iceland and on its way to Europe. We passed her at 18.00 hrs. at a one mile distance, which at sea is the regular clearance distance that we have to maintain. Certainly when both ships are going at full speed. The Prinsendam guests had an unexpected surprise as they got an announcement from Capt. Emiel de Vries. The Master of the Prinsendam, Capt. Tim Roberts thought it good fun to hold the vhf speaker in front of the ships P.A system so the captain on the biggest ship in the fleet could say hello to the guests on the smallest ship. I do not think we have ever done that before.

The ms Prinsendam charging East bound at 18 knots. The Koningsdam was going Westbound also with 18 knots. Hence the passing was quick with a relative speed of 36 knots.

Coming from the South East you sail to Reykjavik via the south side of the island and that means by 08.00 in the morning we made landfall and could see the coast. By 10 am we were so close that the buildings on the land were clearly visible. On the south side there is quite a bit of Industry, including agricultural with green houses and from those you could see white steam leaving the chimneys. Most of that white steam is heat, freely available in Iceland due to the volcanic action under a very thin crust.  It also pays for cheap heating costs in the winter. The whole city is under tunneled with a large piping system which brings boiling water to every house in the area. I have been told that houses which are more outlying have a private system. As it is not expected that this volcanic action here will stop in the foreseeable future, people will not have any problems with keeping their houses warm.

The Radar screen shows it clearly……… the dock is full.

Reykjavik had to deal with a luxury problem today: two big ships in port. We had also the MSC Splendida in which had arrived earlier. Both the Splendida and the Koningsdam are too long for any of the other piers and thus they had to share the main cruise pier. And that only just fitted . The Splendida only had bow lines going sideways and the Koningsdam only stern lines going sideways and the ducktail of the ship was still sticking out. I have seldom seen two ships so using a dock space in such an optimum way as today.  It is not ideal to have the mooring ropes under a 90o angle, as the better the spread, the better the ropes can hold the ship against the wind or passing ships which might make the ship surge. Today with the good weather it was less critical and the most important item of mooring today were the spring lines. They keep the ship from moving aft or moving forward. Extremely important for the gangway but today also for not drifting into the MSC Splendor who was docked quite close once the local authorities were happy with location of the Koningsdam.

We could only use the bollards at the end of the dock and as the ship was at the end of the dock, all lines went sideways.

When we park the ship for an overnight stay we increase the mooring lines with at least two more lines. Would we normally dock with 4 and 2 (four lines going forward and 2 –spring-lines going aft) it would then go up to 5 & 3. Due to the unusual configuration today the captain decided for 7 & 3 and that will keep the Koningsdam happily alongside. Two people, who will not be happy, will be the sailors who constantly have to adjust the ropes. The ship docked at low water and then it only went up. And as it was spring tide today, it even went higher than normal. So the good ship Koningsdam was taken up by a big hydraulic elevator to a height of 14.0 ft. or 4.27 meters. And then after 19.51 hrs. tonight it will go about the same distance down again. In the coming days when the spring tide influence fades away, the tidal difference will go down to 9 feet and maybe even less.

This means the lines have to be paid out (given slack) or heaved in (made tight) to allow for the height difference, continuously,  while at the same time keeping the ship alongside the dock and the gangway free of movement.

On arrival we could use two gangways as the tide was just starting to go up and thus nearly 3000 guests could march ashore without much waiting.

To make dealing with this height difference a little bit easier, the port has made available two long gangways. One for the gangway door which will be above the dock at high tide; and one which will stay above the dock even after going down by 4 meters for the low tide. Guests will be going on and off all day and night as in Iceland we also run tours in the evening and thus constant access to the ship is critical.

For the weather tomorrow we will have to look and see. In the late afternoon a weak frontal system moved in with overcast skies and those skies might have some clouds which will produce showers tomorrow. And that will bring the temperatures down to 58oF or 14oC. Luckily the water of the blue lagoon will be warm. Also courtesy of all the volcanic action.

With a lot of bag pipe music on the pier, it was really the “massed bands” of Invergordon who sent us off, as it seemed they had asked everybody available to come out for the farewell of the ship. So we had a very nice and very Scottish sail away although the weather was a bit un-Scottish, very sunny. Next is our North Atlantic crossing towards Iceland. To get there we have to sail either through the Pentland Firth between Scotland and the Orkneys or go north of the Orkneys but that is a much longer distance. The Pentland Firth is a fairly narrow passage and the currents can be very strong there. 14 knots has been measured on occasion and 10 knots is not unusual. Thus the ships select the slack tide or the beginning of the Ebb tide when you sail through with the current in the stern. Saves fuel and you do not have to buck the tide.  

Our crossing to Iceland with the Norwegian Sea to starboard and the North Atlantic Ocean to port. The 18 islands of the Faroer remained several hundred miles away from us.

For us this was around midnight and the Koningsdam sailed a bit faster from Invergordon than the average speed needed to get to Iceland to get there at the most perfect moment. Once in the entrance it could go back to the average speed required and now we are happily moving along with a speed of 19 knots. Sailing through an area where normally a lot of depressions move through, pushed along by the Jet Stream and fed by the warm water of the Gulf Stream.  Hence me saying yesterday that I only believed the forecast for the little wind once I saw it with my own eyes.

The Shipping Forecast clearly shows that we are in the good area and somewhere south they are not in a very good area. We are sailing through a section called Bailey. (Courtesy the Shipping Forecast, England)

It did it start out that way; the North Sea East of Scotland was very nice. North of Scotland it was nice as well and when going clear of the coast, it was not bad either. Then the wind and waves started to increase. Not caused by any naughtiness in the area we are sailing in but influenced by mayhem in the south west of England. Here a wind force nine depression is expected to bring rain and wind into Ireland and from there into the English Channel. Although it will stay far away from us, a 976 millibar low pressure system (that is very low…………..) will always influence a large area as it draws the winds towards it from higher pressure areas. Thus we are now having winds which vary from the NNE to the ESE and that makes them following winds. Their velocity is about the same as the ships speed and thus there is nobody complaining as it is quite bearable on the outside decks. With the sustained winds there will be an increase of swell, also going with us, and it will be interesting to see how good a “surfer” the Koningsdam is. We have already found out during last cruise that she is a very good sea ship with getting very bad weather on the bow, now we will be able to find out what winds and swell on the stern do.

Our location at the moment is South West of the Faroer, the island group half way between the Orkneys and Iceland. They are just outside the current weather band and they had very nice weather today. We are somewhat in between, and further down to the south it is just plain miserable.  I am just happy that at home the balcony painting was finished before this wind and rain is starting to come over. The refurbishment of the outside of my apartment building is still going, and while away, I had organized for a painter to touch up a number of balconies where the Scaffolders (see May entries) had been less than gentle with their equipment.

On board, life goes on and we have a very diverse clientele on board not just because of Nationality but also in interest. There is a part ship charter for art on board (we have 80 pallets of paintings on board) for exhibition and to buy; and on deck 1 where we have the meeting rooms, there is a Quilt Seminar in action with ladies (although I think I saw two men as well) who are quilting their way from Amsterdam all the way to Iceland and back again.

It looks like Iceland is going to stay completely clear of the mayhem near the English Channel and so we are expecting partly cloudy skies and temperatures around 17oC, or 62oF and little wind. We are expected to dock around 2 pm. and then stay overnight. We will not be by ourselves, if the cruise schedule of the port is still correct, then we should be in port with the MSC Splendida which has 3300 lower beds, against the Koningsdam 2600. Luckily Reykjavik & Iceland is more than big enough to accommodate around 6000 eager explorers.  Might a bit tight at the blue lagoon though if they all went at the same time.

Question from one our our blog readers: How did we get those very long lines ashore yesteday in Invergordon? : By Boat.

Heavy work boat, big buoy, long ropes and lots of man power to get the Koningsdam safely moored.

South Queensferry is located deep inside the Firth of Forth and Invergordon has a similar location but then in the Cromarty Firth; and the only way to get from one to the other is to sail back out, go up the coast and then sail back in again. And that is what we did. By 00.30 all the guests (we had 419 on tour this evening) who went to the Edinburgh Tattoo or to the Fringe Festival were back on board and then we sailed after what was an extraordinary day in the Firth.

The ms Koningsdam basking in the Scottish sunshine at South Queens Ferry anchorage.

It is seldom as nice as it was during the call to Queensferry. Hardly any wind, lots of sunshine and not too much current to make the life of the tender drivers miserable. As it can be a very challenging place for a tender service, if the weather is a bit worse than it was today.

Oil rig alley, while sailing up the Firth.

And thus we were looking forward to another sunny day as Scotland seems to go through a heat wave at the moment and we are taking advantage of it. Sailing into the Cromarty Firth (Cromarty is the county around the Firth) is very interesting as it is Oil Rig alley. Rig after rig is there in lay up or under repair for the oil industry.  The oil industry is at the moment in a bit of a slump and thus there were a good number of rigs or platforms parked along the Firth while we sailed in. Also at the 2^nd pier of the town there was a large one parked and it was clearly visible that a lot of work was being carried out. The Cromarty Firth is nice and deep in the center and the large tidal variation makes it possible to park these giants on the flat bottom and have the tide lift them off again when the time is there.

The Koningsdam basking in the Scottish sunshine in Invergordon. The barge alongside was there to collect the ships recycleables.

Invergordon is a little bit hampered by the lack of a good cruise ship pier or ships pier in general. They have one major dock which is in use by oil tankers and that is also the dock for the cruise ships. For smaller ships it is not such a challenge, as long as they are not larger than the oil tanker the dock Is meant for, but for a large ship as the Koningsdam the dock is a bit on the small side. Apart from one line, going to a buoy and all our other lines were spring lines. Normally you dock 5 or 6 and 2 here (5 or 6 headlines and 2 spring lines) today on the bow we had 1 and 7. One head line to the buoy and all the other lines were leading aft and thus became spring lines.

A short pier means very long lines.

Not dangerous, today was a very nice day, but it meant that the bridge was on heightened alert in case the wind would pick up. Then we would have to put bow thrusters and Azi pods on to keep the ship safely alongside in that way. Koningsdam is not even the largest cruise ship that calls here and those ships must have even more challenges. Hopefully the local authority will use some of the tourist dollars we bring in to install another dolphin or another buoy so a large cruise ship can lay alongside a bit more comfortable. It is calculated that in each port the average cruise guest spends between 100 and 120 dollars on tours or other items to support the local economy. So today the local economy was boosted in the region of $ 350,000 by the Koningsdam guests not counting what the company pays in fees to be able to be here.

The long part of the T pier is quite long as the dock has to come to the edge of the deepwater part of the Firth.

Still the town did their best to make the guests feel welcome as they always do. This is the only town / port where there is a constant bag pipe player in attendance. So you know that as soon as you step off the gangway that you are in Scotland. Normally on departure the lone piper has found a few friends by then to help out and then there is always a nice send off for those still on deck to wave goodbye.

This is our last port in Great Britain. Tomorrow we will be at sea and on the way to Iceland. We will arrive there the day after tomorrow in the early afternoon and then stay overnight. In the same way as the Rotterdam did a few weeks ago. Iceland has simply too much to offer to see it all in a few hours.  As a result it will be getting chillier and the temperatures on deck should be in the region of 12oC / or 50oF with a chance of rain later in the day. Good news is that very little wind has been predicted for this sea day but for this area I will believe it when I see it.

During the night we crossed Hadrian’s Wall (if it had been extended over the water) and entered Scotland. And by 05.30 this morning we had dropped the hook outside South Queensferry for our call at Edinburgh. As the name indicates there was a ferry here that goes to the other side, the North side of the Firth of Forth. There has been a ferry connection here since the 13th. century and as Edinburgh is a Royal Burgh the connection with a Queen is not so difficult to imagine.

Calling at Edinburgh has its issues as is does not have a harbor itself and what it has is only big enough for cruise ships the size of the Prinsendam.  On the East side there is Leith which harbor can be reached by going through a lock. So the ship that wants to go through has to fit in. Then you can only go through the lock at high water as that is the only time when there is sufficient water in the approach to the lock. Thus leaving depends on when it is high tide and that creates a challenge for the cruise schedule as the tides changes about 50 minutes every day and you can be “adrift” from your planned cruise schedule of about 6 hours. Thus if the cruise planner decides in 2014 that the ship should sail at 6 pm. from Leith, the captain might have to wait until 9 or 10 pm. before there would be enough  water to make it possible.  Thus Leith is a limited option.

The other port where you can dock is Rosyth. Again it cannot take too large a ship, not because of the dock but because of getting in and out. You have to make two almost 90o turns to get out of the port and to go under the bridges. And those bridges are the second hurdle. Large ships do not fit under them. The Koningsdam does not for certain and so we have to stay east of the bridge. Then there is the option of anchoring more towards the Leith area on the East side of Edinburgh and tender into New Haven. Very well doable but a very long tender ride. The Celebrity Silhouette was doing that today.  Two other cruise ships, the Astor and the Seven Seas Navigator, which we also saw in Newcastle upon Tyne, went to Rosyth. The only real big dock is the oil terminal. In the past the Queen Elizabeth 2 docked there once but I have never seen another cruise ship going there so I assume it was not a spectacular success.

The ships radar screen. The green stripes indicate the bridges over the Firth of Forth. The red “Pac Man” circle around the ship indicates the safe swinging area the ship has to stay in.

So we anchored just north east of Queensferry as close as we could safely do near the Railroad Bridge. They have three bridges over the Firth of Forth, a railroad bridge and two car bridges. When you swing around on the tide and the chain gets stretched, you have to ensure that your ship lying behind the stretched chain does not come too close to the bridge. When you then anchor on the outgoing tide the ship looks to be quite far away from where you have to go but when the ship swings around on the incoming tide, you are suddenly much closer. Still it is a fair distance to travel and we had six ships tenders in operation and an extra shore tender to keep a good and fast tender service going.

The “Maid of the Forth” which can take 180 guests and that helped to relieve the pressure on the tender service.

The tender pier is not the greatest of tender piers as they go, as it is a ramp. This is not so much of an issue for the guests but it is for the tender operation. With the incoming tide we have to shift the tender landing location further and further up the ramp and with the tide going out, we have to go the other way again. I hope one day, that the Edinburgh council sees the light and builds a pontoon pier to dock at, which will go up and down with the tide and if we still have to tender then also a pontoon / floating dock for the tender service. In Alaska they have been doing that for years and even in remote places such as Manaus in Brazil it is not an issue. So Edinburgh……………………………please………………………

This is the Hawes Pier and the tender landing we have to use. Not the easiest of docking locations.

When the first guests where coming ashore, they were greeted by welcoming bag pipe music and then we really knew we were in Scotland. Most went to Edinburgh but Queensferry itself is nice as well. Not too big, but if you decide to visit each pub in between each historical sight, then you will still have a very happy day.

We were blessed today with wonderful weather.  At 0700, we suddenly could not see anything as a low white blanket blew in from the sea but it lifted shortly after and then the sun came out in full swing. Scotland looks very nice on a sunny day and our guests were making the most of it. Nearly the whole ship emptied out. We are staying here until 01.00 am, or until everybody from the evening tour is back and then hop on to Invergordon where we should be docked before 13.00 hrs.

The weather looks good again 68oF/ 20oC with partly sunny skies and hardly any wind. The Scots might find it wee bit too warm to wear those heavy kilts tomorrow.

Today we were from 08.00 until 17.00 hrs. in Newcastle upon Tyne which is located on the East side of England just south of the Scottish border. Although it is more the area which is also called Newcastle upon Tyne, than the city itself as the terminal itself is a fair ways from down town.  

Newcastle Upon Tyne is really made up out of a lot of smaller towns. Newcastle itself is more to the centre left. (Map Courtesy Google…….)

The Cruise terminal, although it is not much more than a dock with a security railing, is located on the north bank of the river Tyne. It is a busy port, it is a main hub for the car carriers and there were several in port today loading and unloading cars, mainly of Japanese brands. It has a ferry connection with Denmark and it is a favorite port for cruise ships. Partly because of the hinter land and the city, and partly because it fits so very nicely in most cruise schedules. When we arrived, the Aida Vita came out as she vacated our berth to make room for us, after an overnight. Then there was the Seven Seas Navigator and at lunch time the little Astor came in as well. The port is also used as a changeover port but I would really like to see a covered terminal before Holland America would attempt it here. New Castle Airport about 20 minutes away and that helps considerably with international connections. They have a Big Red Bus here but the route does not come to the cruise terminal. If they did with over 4000 cruise guests into port, they would have made a killing.

Radar shot showing the whole route from Pilot station to dock.

Newcastle is not an easy port to get in and out of. Especially not, if you are the size of the Koningsdam. The cruise docks are 3 miles inland from the harbor entrance, which means you have to swing on the river to get the nose back to open sea gain. There is a turning basin with the official claim for having space for a 350 meter ship, but 300 meters is about the max, you want to do. The Koningsdam is just shy of 300 meters and with ships parked along the docks at the swinging basin, it just fitted for our ship. And then there is current which means you are to sitting in a fixed location while spinning around.

I like Newcastle but if this claim is right……. I leave open for discussion.

So the good ship Koningsdam arrived at the pilot station at 06.00 hrs. and then sailed upstream for the next 30 minutes. I use the word stream, as the water is really “streaming” here. The River Tyne is an estuary river which means the ebb and flood is pushed in with great force and has hardly anywhere to go, so it has to go up on the flood tide. Today we had about 12 feet (3.30 meters) of tidal difference. When we came it was flooding and it made the turning around in the turning basin even more interesting. We docked at 8 am which was one hour and 16 minutes before high water and then between 9. 20 and 14.30 we went up those 12 feet. Then water started to rush out again so by the time we left at 17.00 hrs. we had a nice push back to sea. And that means fussing around with gangway’s to prevent them from going too steep. The port is well equipped for this and has special gangways available which are long enough to make the steepness not too spectacular.

So all the guests went ashore under sunny skies and hopefully had a grand day seeing the North of England and the City of Newcastle. The crew who went ashore today had another focus: Pound land. For non-British this needs a big of an explanation. In the UK we have a store chain called Pound land where everything costs 1 pound or less. As it is a discounter you never know what they have and which brands but it is something that you need, and it is extremely good value. I buy my lightbulbs there if I get the chance. Our crew can get really excited about this and normally come back loaded with gifts for the home front. If you are an Asian crewmember you normally have an extended family with lots of small nephews and nieces and they all want a gift. And fluffy toys for under a pound keep everything within a reasonable budget. I once saw a Pilipino Bartender go home with 57 fluffy toys in a carton box. Must have had a very large family.

Tomorrow we are at South Queensferry one of the landing points for visiting Edinburgh. We should have the anchor down by 07.00 hrs. and stay until 01.00 in the morning as we have over 400 guests going to the Edinburgh Tattoo or performances at the Fringe. It is a tender port and thus we all have a long and strenuous day ahead of us to maintain an all day tender service. Weather for tomorrow: Partly Cloudy, gentle breeze and 66oF / 19oC. Could be a lot worse in Scotland.