Today we were on our last leg of our North Atlantic Crossing. By 8 pm tonight we will be entering the North East Providence Channel which connects to the North West Providence Channel. Whoever dreamt up those names was not very imaginative as it is basically the same stretch of water. Still it is the… read more of “28 November 2010;…”
With the stormy day fading into memory we sailed today through the North Atlantic Ocean with sunshine, smooth seas and only a low rippling swell from the North West. We are now south of the 30o Latitude North and that means that we are in near tropical waters. This area is normally reasonably quiet as… read more of “27 November 2010;…”
By 3 am. the swell direction did indeed change and then came from a more Northerly direction. So the pitching of the ship accompanied by the occasional banging changed into a more “swaying” movement. Officially it is called rolling, but it did not really do that. The ships stabilizers kept the Prinsendam nicely upright but… read more of “26 November 2010;…”
It is becoming monotonous but again my first action of the day was to check the weather forecast to see how this “Cape Hatteras special” was developing. Especially, how far was the wave field going to come down towards our course line. Well it did not look that good. We were going to have a… read more of “25 November 2010;…”
It was a nice day, although it started with thunder and lighting and clouds that emptied a considerable amount of hail stones onto the ship. Luckily it lasted only a few minutes and then the frontal system was past and the skies cleared. Good timing as well; it cleared the ship from the salt and… read more of “24 November 2010;…”
At 7 am. I switched on my computer and all was revealed. In the late afternoon of the day before two bad weather systems, both generated near Cape Hatteras, had merged and its combined force was sustaining the swell running South East over the North Atlantic and in our direction. One system had been moving… read more of “23 November 2010;…”
Crossing the North Atlantic means a whole change in the way of looking at the navigation. Instead of little stretches between ports, where you have to go weather or no weather; the vast expanse of an open ocean gives more options. Decision number one to make, how will I cross the ocean? There are basically… read more of “22 November 2010;…”
As part of the continuous upgrade of the Prinsendam, the ship received 320 new cabin chairs during the call at Barcelona on 15 November 2010. The new chairs have a slightly higher back but most importantly are more fire retardant. Chief Officer Ryan Whitaker, in charge of interior maintenance, asked the agent in Barcelona whether… read more of “Captain’s…”
