Copenhagen can be approached in two ways. From the North through The Sound (Oresund) and from the South through Drogden channel. However Drogden channel has a limitation of maximum 8 meters draft. Ships with more draft that want to go to Copenhagen or other ports in The Sound, have to sail through the Great Belt… read more of “29 June 2009,…”
On our arrival at Visby one thing stood out. The local Visby fog bank. About 3 miles long, 1 mile wide and located exactly where I was planning to drop my anchor. Not a single whiff of smoke was to be seen anywhere in the whole Baltic around us, except at the Visby anchorage. A… read more of “28 June 2009,…”
It was a beautiful day, it was a gorgeous day. I hope that the guests onboard realized how privileged they were with the weather today. Arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon has the advantage that the sun is always in the back and thus lighting up the landscape for the best viewing…. read more of “27 June 2009,…”
Whether is was by coincidence or by farsighted City elders, Tallinn is a really un-spoilt city that kept its original charm, old fashioned housing and lay out inside the city walls. New Tallinn, everything that was built after the 2nd world war, was built outside the gates and more to the East. Thus you can… read more of “26 June 2009,…”
I enjoy overnight stays as it gives me a chance to catch up with some sleep and to square away paper work and emails that somehow were left outstanding. When a cruise ship becomes a static hotel, it virtually runs by itself as there are no influences from sailing and variable time schedules involved. This… read more of “25 June 2009, St….”
With the sun hardly setting, we approached the pilot station at 0400 hrs. more or less in the day light. Dusk and dawn faded into each other and real night never came. The pilot system in St. Petersburg is basically as it was in Holland for hundreds of years. A big mother ship for the… read more of “24 June 2009, St…”
Helsinki has several cruise terminals spread over the city. Most of them are near the South harbour and used for the smaller ships. The larger ships are normally delegated to a terminal further out (West Harbour) where you need a shuttle service to get to town. So it pays off again to be a smaller… read more of “23 June 2009,…”
It is a fair distance between Warnemunde and Helsinki as we basically have to sail almost the whole Baltic Sea from SW to NE to get there. Luckily we had sunny weather although it was a bit nippy due to the fact that there was an easterly wind blowing of a force 4 and the… read more of “22 June 2009, At…”
