Seen in Mill Bay

Ah,life in British Columbia: a freshly coiffed Pomeranian attended the Christmas Light Up festivities at Mill Bay Shopping Centre. After the last cruise, I can hardly stand the excitement!

 

Other earth shaking Events: The Toronto Argonauts (argonuts?) won the Grey Cup, National Hockey League can safely stay off the ice and hold out for a few more cool millions of salary, poor chaps. The world has not ended yet despite Calgary losing against Toronto the Good (best?)...it may end once the Mayan Calendar runs out at the close of of December? The Mayans should have used a bigger stone for their carving, that might have postponed the End of the World. Makes for a Messy Christmas all that apocalypse business.

 

Vancouver Island News: A cougar was sighted downtown Victoria; 'conservation' officers are sniffing him out, probably not with the intention of conserving the poor puddy cat.

 

An elderly couple disturbed a bear mother and her two cubs during their little walk in the park...bear mother was not amused: two people in hospital in stable condition with their physique pretty well ripped up. Conservation officers are on the prowl for mother and cubs....maybe this mother will be conserved by a taxidermist.

A trail runner got lost on Grouse Mountain just at the edge of Vancouver, clad in nothing more than running shorts. For unknown reasons he had spent the night up there somewhere, freezing. Rescue teams found him alive, and helicopter flew him somewhere warm.

Well, off again by the end of December...going to check out Argentina's very own national Fiscal Cliff coming up. Talking about cliffs - I might even visit Iguazu Falls....

 

15 November 2012 - Landfall

May just as well face it, it's almost over...only 650 nautical miles to sail to Fort Lauderdale

We are definitely heading West right into the nightly sunset, although the weather did not always clear the sky sufficiently to observe the colours. One passenger actually complained, that he would never sail the route from Azores to Fort Lauderdale again, as there are 'no sunsets' to speak of. For his next transatlantic cruise he will make sure, that he sails via the Canary Islands,  (I quote) as the course angle is better and it's further south, ergo the sunsets are 'much better' on that route.
Well, I like them all....

The seas still rolled by in pretty high swells, and the wake of the ship formed snaky foam trails over and through the watery hills.

Quite a few squalls, quite a bit of wind, but almost always a few rays of sun bursting through the clouds. Almost everyday we were faithfully accompanied by a couple of double rainbows.



This sailboat under full sail crossed our stern with just a few yards to spare. Almost like a dwarf playing chicken with a Goliath...
She was under perfect control, navigation lights shining in the dusk, and heading - I guess - for Bermuda.

Even the 'colourless' sunsets are magical to me, with small fans of light floating from the clouds and softly brushing the sea; a few rain showers drawing dusky grey curtains across the horizon.

The Sargasso Sea, a body of water with no borders and filled with grape shaped sea weed, which floats in brown streaks on the water surface. Finally we glimpse a few flying fish...

The pool side bar has packed up, but here is a hopeful waiting for the last Happy Hour beer special....

The Casino tables packed up early as well, no one there to play anyway. All covered in cloth, the slot machines looks like mute ghosts.

The Great Cover Up....

As Prinsendam is heading for Dry Dock for a much needed overhaul. after the end of this journey. Crew are preparing the ship for the work to be done. As one of the preparations, all the lacquered wooden handrails are covered with carpet cut offs. Good Carpet, as our table mate, the carpet specialist assures us, it retails at 250 dollars a square meter....just remember on a ship one walks on a carpet worth its weight in gold.

My beloved 'beakfast room', an open air canvas covered area at the stern of the ship, where one could listen to the rushing waves and take in the surroundings without any glass windows separating man from nature. However, it was only useful during reasonably warm weather. And - the canvas kept ripping off in storms, sometimes so badly, that the heavy duty aluminum stanchions tore out of the teak decking as well.
It will be converted into a 'winter garden', housing an Italian restaurant (Canaletto) for dinner guests,  and used as well as extra space for hard to come by breakfast tables.
It will have a glass roof, which will adjust colour in tune with the brightness of sunlight, the floor to ceiling glass windows may be opened to 'almost' make the room 'al fresco'.

Watching the contract workers climbing the standing rigging or balancing on regular stepladders (stanchions and cross beams) whilst cruising full speed ahead in the rain, one foot away from the edge, and donning their safety harnesses, but not attaching them to anything solid on the ship, was somewhat scary and incomprehensible. Holland America is extremely safety conscious, and would never allow the crews to ignore safety rules. However, these workers wore a different uniform from the khaki coloured jumpsuits of our Crew, and we guessed that the newcomers followed their own inclinations.
I was having visions of one of them slithering off over the side and disappearing in the churning wake of the ship.
The aft deck was closed, of course, to passengers.

Pool is drained, deck chairs stored...definitely docked and ready to herd the passenger off as quickly as possible, in order to leave port again in a couple of hours time to head to Freeport and dry dock.

That means .....all is packed and ready to roll. Had to leave my towel animal behind, though.

One last stroll out to the future 'cristal palace', now stripped bare.

And home again, to dream of the next adventure....

Life Aboard Ship...

The Prinsendam, my home for a month

How can you stand it, all that time trapped on a ship with NOTHING to do? You must get so bored!!!

A lot of stairs to climb, if one is so inclined....or the elevators don't work.

Fat chance of that happening. After I have accumulated, over time, a little more than 600 days living aboard ships (not counting hundreds of days spent on my own little sailboat) I still hate to disembark at the end of a cruise.

Artistic flower arrangements grace the halls throughout the ship - and the florist gives lessons on the 'How to do it'

Of course there is the food and wine, both bane and pleasure for the body. Temptingly prepared and presented food (buffet/restaurant/elegant gourmet dining choices) is almost overwhelming in its variety and individual choice. If that is not enough, chefs prepare 'a-la-carte' to satisfy diet and religious food requirements - with pleasure.

Sushi section in the Lido Buffet

The Pinnacle, exclusive dining venue

Halloween dinner decoration - the chefs conducted a pumpkin carving competition - and here is the winning entry

Lizard Bread

Chocolate windmill

Then the wines....in addition to the line up of receptions, hosted luncheons, Captain's welcome, private invitations where the real and fake Champagne flow in abundance...wine tastings and wine lists (as well as the other alcoholic indulgences) offer the fitting beverage to any meal to any taste. At a cost, of course.

Rudy, a wine steward, setting up wine tasting array

To avoid building a cruise-waist-spread requires a serious exercise in self discipline. Some fight it with sticking to the same meal volumes as back home, some hit the fitness centre, yoga group, Tai Chi group or go for daily power walks.

The Cyber school - how to e-mail the grand kids....

People who need people are the luckiest people in the world. Goes for a cruise as well. On the longer cruises one collides - happily - with old friends from home or from previous cruises. Or one forms new ship-board friendships. Six degrees of separation or 'old home week' feeling.

To initiate and develop longer lasting friendships, the 'fixed dining' option is an almost sure fire option, as one meets up with the same group of guests for every dinner. I was very fortunate this time in terms of table mates, as for the first 14 days of the cruise our table of eight seated a 'life-of-the-party' couple (in their eighties) from Quebec who had cruised on Prinsendam throughout her various changes of ownership over the decades; a cultured, well connected and fascinating lady from Connecticut, an elderly couple from Britain (surely belonging to the landed gentry or aristocracy with a give away lordly accent and tales from The Family Manor), a relatively young couple from Silicon Valley (owner of a company providing all the glass windows to the dozens of glass office towers sprouting from the city like weeds) and yours truly. Conversation, debate and discussion amongst that eclectic group made for a couple of hours of lively dining each night.

By the time five of the above table mates left in Rome, another five 'mates' joined the table. The Quebecois and I were joined by a couple from Saskatchewan (travellers par excellence as well as toastmasters and home renovators), a 'beer expert' and systems analyst from Britain, a quietly funny elderly lady from Ohio, and another elegant lady, widow of a football league player and world traveller via tent to the Ritz, from California. The latter not only read - on her Kindle - every book ever written by Jane Eyre during this cruise, but she generously hosted the entire table in her Penthouse Suite to enjoy CHAMPAGNE of the genuine genre (delicious) and appetizers (scrumptious)...needless to say: a good time was had by all.



As they always say: A good time was had by all....




 When a table is 'compatible' and stimulating, there is nothing better to wish for in terms of dinner companions. We 'closed' the dining room almost every night, so much, that one of the dining stewards, after a long drawn out dinner, serenaded us with a guitar accompanied lullaby - hint, hint...

Serenade by our table waiter Imanuel, dressed in Beatles wig and armed with his guitar.
Beatles Song:  Ublada, Ublada.....

Of course there are the 'educational' events, lessons in Microsoft applications, lectures in 'well being', lectures by a Geologist from North Bay, Ontario, lectures by a 'how to live a better life' psychologist, (Tough to beat the good life we had on board...) lessons in Salsa dancing, cooking etc etc...

Library and Internet Cafe
Kindle readers almost outnumber hard cover book readers - well, kindles weigh little regardless of the number of books it contains. Whereas REAL books need valuable suitcase space, not a good thing in an era of luggage fees.

Nightly shows, and some of them of notable high quality, entertain the insomniacs. There is a casino - but only one or two passengers played the slots.

Not much action at the gaming tables or the slot machines...

Instead a lot of action during afternoon snooze time in the Exploration Lounge

Even shopping is offered. With time on one hands, one may spend small fortunes on diamonds, tanzanites, emeralds and a large choice of costume jewellery.

Want to book another cruise - easy! Just see this lady and it's a done deed.

If all else fails, one can people watch: the complaining Australian sisters, the dancers dancing waltz to chachacha music, the ersatz James Bond brandishing his brandy snifter (stirred not shaken) along the halls, the off duty show troupe chatting in stage 'whispers', audible across miles of deck and strutting their stuff, the quite mature companion traveller with her girlie ponytails, flowery ribbons and baby voice to match, the somewhat mismatched couples (Internet dating??) and the very well matched ones where both compete as to who can bicker better, and the great majority of just everyday really pleasant people.

Towel Pets, a different one each night, on your bed.

Dining Room Manager, dressed up for the All American BBQ...

For the less activity prone, like me, there is the library, the walk around the promenade deck, writing about whatever comes to mind and watching the SEA, ever the same and ever changing and seemingly endless.

Rainy Promenade....

Some of our Chefs....

Employee of the Month
Kudos to the crew of Prinsendam. Most of them hail from Indonesia or the Philippines, and genuine friendliness must be in their genes.
23 years old, a sweet slip of a girl, whose previous 'job' in Indonesia was to help her mother in herfamily home, before joining the ship. Her knowledge of English helped her to a job aboard, where she maintains the public washrooms in spotless cleanliness.
People like this young girl made the cruise a most memorable experience....

8 November 2012, Horta, Azores, Portugal

Welcome to Horta
Mosaic in a church yard

After a day of calm, and another of almost 50 knot winds and rolling seas, we lucked out. We had sailed out of the roughest of weather and anchored off Faial Island in sight of Horta in somewhat improved conditions. The seas were far from calm, swells still rolling rhythmically by, the wind still blowing a brisk breeze, but Prinsendam positioned herself around her anchor chain as a windbreak with middling success.

Tender lowering took some time, and bringing them alongside the opening in the ship's hull to provide a secure connection between the tender boat and the narrow two steps acting as 'access platform' at the ships door proved to be a tricky maneuver. I watched a while assessing the physical acrobatics required to leave Prinsendam, and joined the eager passengers lined up and piled up adjoining the 'gang way' to the tenders. This was not going to be either a quick operation nor a comfortable one, as the tenders kept banging against the ship's hull (huge fenders needed to be re-positioned several times), mooring lines snagged around protrusions and jarred the tenders around, and the actual passage was all but stable or reliably level.

Typical black and white coloured buildings

The number of wheel chair bound, walker bound and cane bound travellers awaiting tender embarkation was staggering. Well, first the person - somehow - and some individuals are quite corpulent...then the mobility aid. A few moments of panic ensued when it appeared that one of the wheelchairs had fallen into the drink, but it just had needed a couple of attempts to get it onto the boat reunited with its worried owner.

In summer, all these hedges are bright blue with Hortensia

A few facts about the Azores. The remote archipelago consists actually of three small groups of Volcanic Islands. They mark the point of intersection of three major tectonic plates: the Eurasian plate, the North American plate, and the African plate. Each of the three groups of islands occupies a different one of those plates, making for a curious and unique natural phenomena. Earth quake and sea quake activity is varied in strength, but almost constant in the surrounding area. Volcanic eruptions happen at frequent intervals.

Lookout over shore line, cinder cones and cliffs

The last major eruption happened in 1957 at Graciosa Capelinhos, a volcanic cape at the wet of Faial (Portuguese for Beech Wood) Island. During the series of eruptions which were happening almost daily and lasted almost two years, ash and lava formed a small islet off the coast, on which the British planted a Union Jack in the barely cool enough surface. A diplomatic kerfuffle ensued between Portugal and Britain, however, nature put a peaceful end to it, by letting the contested piece of hot ash disappear under the waves again, flag and all.

Upper left hand corner, note half buried house....

A road leading through ashes - to nowhere....

Today, there is still an eerie black barren landscape, in start contrast to the almost overwhelming lushness of greenery of the rest of the island. Ash had buried many houses and fields - fortunately without loss of life. One may still see old house structures partly uncovered, and half buried roads leading into the sea and nowhere. A lone light house is now the only landmark towering from the bleak mountain side.

Light house on lava flow....

Horta people have turned part of the area into parks, and installed giant basalt and lava BB Q's at vista points and in lush groves, and the populace enjoys their leisure here and celebrate with some of local wine, whose grapes are cultivated on volcanic slopes.

The islands themselves are in effect volcanic craters - or caldera rims, which emerge from the sea and are augmented at the very top of smooth sided mountains several thousand meters high and totally submerged except for the lush Azores Islands.

Customarily the islands are referred to as the archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic, however, in reality they are located 1/3 of the distance away from Portugal, and 2/3 of the distance away from Fort Lauderdale.

Dramatic cliffs all around the Islands....

Ashore in Horta, arriving in a stunning brand new Marine Terminal, which was still under construction on my last visit in May 2012, I armed myself with open umbrella and headed for Porto Pim just at the far end of Horta and separated from it by an Isthmus leading to yet another little extinct volcanic cone. A peaceful, but rock strewn bay, gave shelter to whalers ages ago. An old whale oil factory still stands, and the large 'launch ramp' of smooth rock still shows, where the unfortunate marine mammals were dragged up into the factory and rendered and into lamp oil and converted and corset stays.

Porto Pim

Old whaling factory, note the tunnel to the right, where whales were dragged up into the factory

Today, the annual whale migration from Northern to Southern Seas serves as one of the many tourist attractions of the islands. Eco tourism ranges from caving, mountain hiking, fishing, diving to golfing and camping. Of course, the cross Atlantic sailing community fills the marinas to the last docking spot during the weather window for travelling across the Atlantic.

The climate is mild year round, plant growth is definitely abundant. The landscape reminds one of Ireland with the many shades of green, emerald green being one of them. As well, local farmers have divided and terraced their fields with walls of volcanic rock, giving the hill sides a checkered appearance.The lush flora turns the islands into colourful paradises of flowers during July and August. Faisal is called 'the blue island' as blue Hydrangea hedges cover all these stone fences creating a striking composition of green and blue. Black and white Holstein cows compete with the black and white colours of local houses, churches as well as mosaic pavement.

There is an observatory on top of one of the volcanoes, dedicated to Prince Albert of Monaco



Typical architecture of Horta churches





Porto Pim seems even more laid back than Horta, which is somewhat 'cosmopolitan' with its shops and restaurants. Porto Pim is plain fishing town, where many houses are so small, they consist of one floor with one door and one window.

Horta cat taking in the view....

The town is picturesque and unspoilt, locals standing in their doorways, and attired in aprons chat across the narrow streets, cats fight amongst the stone fences, and little gardens sprout amongst the tightly packed buildings.

Porto Pim sea side and beach

One window, one door - a house!

Basalt, Lava, Pumice....all building materials

A happened to run across three ship mates, busily bartering with a taxi driver for a turn around the entire Island. The invited me to join, and we all squeezed into Paolo's Mercedes and set off. Up and down the many cliffs we went, along gently inclined and field covered slopes, along basaltic shore lines, over many steep sided arroyos where waterfalls tumbled into the verdant depth and took in the village like atmosphere all around. No crime here, not much movement of people either. Many stay their entire lives on one island with an occasional short working stint one one of the others.

Porto Pim harbour, peaceful but treacherous

Horta from a neighbouring hill

Downtown Horta

It still drizzled, then poured, then burst into bright sunshine, then back to drizzle again. It did not dampen spirits nor the appreciation of the island's undeniable charm and beauty.

Peters Bar

After a short obligatory dip into 'Peter's Bar', the iconic hang-out in Horta for locals and sailors alike, I took the last land based walk back along the beautiful sea side promenade to Horta's new Terminal.

Brand New Terminal

Sea Side Promenade

Holsteins and Hortensia

Pico, the neighbouring island was misted over, and its several thousand feet high perfectly sculpted Volcanic peak invisible.

The peak of Pico.

Horta's Terminal - what an imposing structure...paid in part by moneys from the European Union. Who knows, maybe on her next journey Prinsendam will be able to tie up to the - not quite completed - commercial dock. But - even for small Prinsendam it will still be a tight squeeze.

Six sea days await us, and we will be cruising through the Sargasso Sea, a sea without shores within the Atlantic Ocean. Sargasso originates from the word 'sargaco' - grape, and this area of the ocean between the West Indies and the Azores teems with grape like sea weed.

Anchors Aweigh....and off to Fort Lauderdale.