Sunday June 6, 1999

Bill was up late last night getting a new large hard disk installed on my computer. With the new digital camera, he wanted me to have plenty of picture storage! As usual with new computer additions the transfer to the new disk did not go as smoothly as it should have, but all files from the old disk finally got moved to the new. Today we were up early all excited for the trip ahead. In the late afternoon, PJ and Loretta ferried us up to the LA harbor where we all enjoyed dinner at Port’s of Call before heading over to the ship. PJ and Loretta were allowed on board with us and we all had a quick tour of the ship; although we did not make it past the bridge area in the time allowed. We were all interested in all the goodies on the bridge so spent quite a bit of time there. We then met with the Captain in the officers’ lounge and the tour agent that handled our trip. We had a nice visit and found out more about the ship and the Tour Company that handles freighter passenger travel. The ship has a small swimming pool and exercise room, which we will be shown eventually. We have also been promised a tour of the engine room and a visit to one of the cranes. Our friends left with the tour agent and after saying good-bye to them all, Bill and I returned to our cabin to unpack and check out what will be our home for the next month.

The Ship – Cielo de Canada

The ship that we are traveling on is only 7 months old. She is a 207m (627 ft) long container vessel of 33,500 gross tons, capable of carrying 2462 containers. (For contrast, the Titanic was 269m (882 ft) long and 46,000 gross tons). She is 29 meters wide (12 containers) and draws about 13 meters when loaded. Height above the water is about 50 meters. Containers are stacked up to 6 deep in the holds and 6 high on deck. (For contrast, a "Panamax"-class ship, the largest that can travel through the Panama Canal, is 1 container wider and possibly 200 feet longer). She has 3 cranes for handling containers (they were only used in Mazatlan, shore-based gantry cranes are much more efficient). She has the electrical generation capability and hookups to carry 320 refrigerated containers on deck; on this leg of the journey there is only one refrigerated container on board.

The main engine is only for ship propulsion and is directly connected to the propeller, no transmission, no neutral. The engine has to be stopped and restarted in the opposite direction to change from forward to reverse. It takes about 30 seconds to do this at slow speeds. For this they have large compressed-air starters. Makes for interesting maneuvering! The main engine is "only" a 6-cylinder diesel, but it is 40 feet tall and generates 22,000 horsepower. The fuel injectors are almost as big as person is! Maximum engine speed is 108 rpm, driving the ship at about 21 knots. Fuel consumption is about 60 tons per day. There are also 3 other smaller diesel engines to generate electricity (4,000 kW total) for the ship's use and to feed the refrigerated containers. Up to 100 tons of fresh water per day are distilled from seawater, mostly used to wash salt off the decks each day while underway. Also enough for nice long hot showers!

The Crew

There are 18 crew members on board. Eight officers (6 German, 2 Ukrainian), an officer apprentice (a German kid, 17 years old), and a Cook, a Steward and 7 deck crew, all Filipino. Almost all are quite young: mid-twenties to mid-thirties. The Captain is 31, the Chief Engineer is about our age. Both were involved in the detailed daily inspection of the ship during her construction. The Captain runs a very informal ship; shorts and t-shirts are the norm. During our time on the ship we got to know the officers as we shared mess room and the lounge with them. All were German except two Ukrainians (the 3^rd mate and the electrician), so German was the predominate language that we heard in the lounge. Everyone spoke English and that seems to be the language of communication between the various nationalities on ships. We also became friendly with several of the crew, many of them were quite shy with me but over the month that we were around became quite friendly.

Monday June 7, 1999 -- Los Angeles

We were up early as departure was set for 6AM. We actually got underway about an hour late. It was interesting to watch the tug that pulled us from the dock and then tied off to our stern to help us maneuver out of the harbor. We had been told that the engines on the ship, even at their slowest setting, propel the ship at 6 knots which is not slow enough for harbor maneuvering. The ship therefore always needs a tug for docking and harbor maneuvers. LA Harbor is a very large harbor enclosed by an extremely long breakwater, a real feat of construction. We actually cleared the breakwater about 8AM while we were eating our first breakfast on board.

Bill and I spent over an hour on the bridge checking out the instruments in use there. They use the same basic navigation tools that we use on Lanikai, only larger fancier models. The radar shows "north up" and has the ability to place the ship anywhere on the screen, so they placed the ship toward the edge with the max forward view. They actually use an electronic chart linked to the GPS to plot their course but are required to keep fixes plotted on paper charts as well. The table for the charts is quite large and the chart area contains the weather fax and depth recorder as well as a GPS unit.

The rest of the day was spent reading and relaxing with a few more trips to the bridge thrown in. While on the bridge the officers were very informative and we learned much about the organization of the crew, the ship, charterers and owners.

Tuesday June 8, 1999

Today the Chief Engineer gave us a tour of the engine spaces. Of course the main engine is huge and noisy. The rudder is turned hydraulically with a large electric pump and valves to control the direction of turn. There were actually two pumps, one in use and one as a spare. We climbed all the way down into the bilge to where the propeller shaft leaves the boat at a very large modern type stuffing box. The shaft was spinning at it’s maximum of 105 rpm and was slow enough that I could see each revolution of the shaft as I watched.

Tomorrow we arrive in Mazatlan where we will stay about 24 hours. That will give us time to return to Lanikai to check up on her, pick up some books and exchange some clothes. Dress onboard ship is very casual. I will pick up some shorts and long pants and return some of the light colored dresses that are very impractical for traveling.

Thursday June 10, 1999 -- Mazatlan

We arrived in port about 10AM yesterday and Bill and I took off for the town. I went to Lanikai and did the supply exchange leaving my computer and a few stateside purchases behind and gathering up the binoculars, non skid, and music CDs as well as making a few clothing exchanges. Bill went with the 2^nd Mate to help him find medicine for his cold.

It is very hot and humid in Mazatlan now. We noticed the warmth as soon as we stepped outside yesterday morning, while we were still well offshore. It was sure nice to have an air-conditioned cabin to return to last night.

After dinner the Chief Engineer and Chief Mate traveled with us by city bus to see part of the old town and then through the tourist area to the marina where we keep Lanikai. Afterwards, in the evening, we enjoyed beers outdoors near Plaza Machado with some of the crew.

This ship has wonderfully friendly, informal crew. We are really enjoying our time onboard and learning something about big ship operation. The officers are all willing to answer our questions and help us to understand what is going on.

The contrast in the port operations between here and in LA is very great. In LA the containers were placed on the ship very rapidly with huge gantry, cranes specially designed for the purpose of loading and unloading containers. Here in Mazatlan first empty containers were unloaded from the ship (using her own cranes), then trucks containing bags of cargo arrived. There was much activity transferring the cargo from the trucks into the containers and then re-loading of the full containers back onto the ship. The ships cranes were put into service for this and the process was much slower than in LA as the containers were swung onboard and then pushed into position by hand as they were dropped onto the deck. The loading was not completed until after dark but we quickly got underway and cleared the breakwater about 9:30PM.

Friday June 11, 1999

After a wonderful nights sleep we woke up with Cabo Corrientes off our port. The ship is following an inshore course to take advantage of the south flowing current there. The weather is becoming more humid as we move south and we picked up some afternoon clouds today, although they were mostly of the puffy variety. My glasses do steam up when I go on deck from the air-conditioned superstructure. There was also very little wind today above what was created by the ships own motion. Bill and I wandered up to the bow late this afternoon and it sure was quiet that far away from the machinery. There are some nice little platforms that can be climbed up onto to see over the high bow. The water is very clear and dark blue; from the bow we could see the ships nose bulb under the water.

Saturday June 13, 1999

Last night we were treated to a spectacular lightening display but thankfully it was all in the distance. We received a little rain with it and this morning the railings were all salt-free but by the afternoon the salt coating had returned to everything outside. The cloud patterns were quite interesting most of the day. They were white and puffy on top but all looked like their bottoms had been chopped off the same distance above the water. Some of them were still producing rain and the rain fell from the flattened bottoms of the clouds forming an interesting vertical pattern.

Bill and I spent much of the day reading, with occasional checks outside to watch the passage of other ships and keep track of the ever-changing clouds.

Sunday June 14, 1999

Bill and I received a tour of the forward parts of the ship, by the Captain. We even got to climb up into one of the cranes. The tour ended when we passed into a rain cloud and the deck got another freshwater wash. We were then in the office area and the First Mate gave us a grand look at the numerous computers there with an explanation of what they are used for. One of the computers keeps track of the containers that are being transported. It allows them to tell where to unload them, where they were picked up and what type of contents they contain, so that incompatible hazardous contents are stored the right distance apart. It also helps with balancing the loads to keep the ship in proper trim. There is another computer that keeps track of the fuel and ballast tanks on board so that at a glance the level in the tanks can be determined. There is even another machine to do the multitude of paperwork that an international vessel of this sort is always confronted with.

Lunch was a large meal and after it both Bill and later I found spots to curl up with good books. I found a particularly nice spot in the sun on the foredeck while Bill preferred to remain in the air-conditioned interior. The weather has remained relatively calm with almost flat and sometimes glassy seas.

The ship received word today that our passage through the canal will not be until Thursday so the boat speed has been slowed down and tomorrow there is a planned offshore stop. The ship will be allowed to drift for a few hours so that the dropping of the anchor in Panama City will occur in the daylight.

Monday June 14,1999

Lots of rain and clouds today. The ship’s engine was shut off for about 4 hours mid day and now we are expected to arrive at the anchorage area tomorrow morning about 8AM. We had a nice breeze during the four hours and the waves were large enough that the small rescue boat could not be launched as planned, but the captain did take the opportunity to have a fire drill. After which the First Mate showed Bill and I inside their very fancy lifeboat. It is fiberglass and completely enclosed with the seats facing aft. The crew climbs in, straps into aft facing seats, seals the door and an inside lever releases it from the ship. It is entered from the second deck of the superstructure, its nose is down at the level of the first deck, still quite a drop to the water and I would expect a good fall when it is released.

We then got underway again. Some more great reading and an evening spent visiting with the Captain filled up the rest of the day.

Wednesday June 16, 1999 -- Panama City

Yesterday was a busy day. We were nearing to Panama City as we awoke in the morning. The turn north had been completed some time earlier and the Isla Farralones were just coming into view through the clouds. It was again raining and we spent much of the early morning passing in and out from under rain clouds. While not actually in the rain ourselves, rain could be seen falling from several of the flat bottomed tropical clouds around us.

We entered the anchorage with Bill at the helm, the Captain was nearby helping out, and with me on the bow. The crew on the bow was most helpful in letting me know what was going on. Just like on our Lanikai, the anchor was lowered to just above the water as we approached the anchor spot. Then we waited for the boat to come to a complete stop. I could tell that we were stopped when the nose bulb quit producing any wake. We then received word from the bridge to drop the hook and the windlass clutch was released and down went the anchor. Three shackles of chain were dropped over, about 300 feet, and then the ship slowly backed down until the chain stretched out tight, lifted and turned the massive ship slightly toward its direction of pull. We were then declared anchored and the main engine was shut down. A watch is still maintained on the bridge while the ship is anchored.

Bill and I for a time just enjoyed just looking around. Panama City is a much larger city than we imagined and has some rather tall skyscrapers. The anchorage here is very large and forms another "city" of ships as there are at least 30 vessels currently anchored here.

Later in the afternoon, the Third Mate, having made contact with a friend on another vessel, launched the ships rescue boat (dinghy). He invited Bill and I to accompany him and Paul (the Electrician) to the other ship. It was on the far side of the anchorage, about 3 miles away but the 15-horse outboard made it a fun, although somewhat damp, ride over. We received permission to board the other ship and three of us climbed up the pilot ladder to the deck; Paul stayed behind to "guard" the rescue boat. This ship (the Pima) is a much older, well used but well kept-up bulk carrier; she is carrying ore from Chile to Mexico and was stopping here for the night to take on fuel and oil. They found a cadet crewmember to show Bill and I around while our Third Mate visited with his old friend (also the Third Mate). Our Third Mate, Paul and the whole crew of this ship are Ukrainian, so they enjoyed the opportunity to converse in their native Russian. The fuel barge arrived while we were there and both Bill and I enjoyed watching the happenings as it tied up and made the hose connections to deliver fuel to the ship. We then climbed down the ladder to where Paul was waiting in the dinghy and speeded back home. Bill and I climbed up the pilot ladder to our ship and the crewmembers returned the dinghy to the hoist area and thence back on deck.

Thursday June 17, 1999 -- Panama Canal

Today I was awoken before 5AM by the main engine starting up. By the time I was up, dressed and outside the ship was already underway with the anchor up. The pilot, who was scheduled to arrive at 5:15AM, had arrived a half-hour early with all the ship asleep, except the mate on watch. The sky lightened as we passed Balboa and got ready to enter the first lock. I spent the entire day watching and taking lots of photos with my new digital camera. Bill refreshed my "film" several times during the day (by copying the pictures to the computer) and by day’s end we had over 100 new photos!

The passage through the canal took 12 hours. Some of the locks were down for refurbishing before the transfer to Panama of the canal at the end of this year. Because of this, lockage was slower than usual as passage traveled in one direction only. We entered from the Pacific, locked up the three locks then passed through the narrow cut through the continental divide. After that there was a large lake that reminded Bill and me of the lower Columbia River with all the small flat islands dense with green foliage. Of course on close examination the foliage was all different from that up north containing warm weather plants and palm trees. Just above the Atlantic side locks is an anchorage area and there we anchored for 2 hours while we waited for the Pacific-bound ships to complete their lockage up. There was a sailboat waiting with us that was also bound for the Atlantic. The sailboat was the first to enter the locks and a smaller container ship entered with it. We then followed in the next lockage behind them.

We entered the Ocean through a break in the rock breakwater at 6PM. The breakwater was very weak looking being just a not too tall or wide pile of rocks.

Friday June 18, 1999 -- Cartagena, Columbia

Today was another early day. Since I had fallen asleep last night not long after 8:30, I was up soon after 5AM. We were getting close enough to Cartagena, Columbia that I could see lights of the city and the bright entrance navigation light was winking at us. The sky had the morning orange before-sunrise glow and I stood watching for a time. About an hour later we picked up the pilot and I again went on deck to watch the entrance into the harbor. The water was muddy colored and contained many plant clumps. It must be the raining season with rivers full.

Bill and I took off walking as soon as the official paperwork was finished. We walked all the way to the old walled city, along the waterfront as much as possible. The first part of the walk was not real interesting as we passed along the wall to the container storage area and parking lot for the commercial docks where we are tied up. We finally got to the walkway along the waterfront. It passed three small boat marinas and the anchorage area that contained about a dozen sailboats. The Cartagena Yacht Club was the last set of small boat docks that we passed. They are located at one of the old fort walls. The Yacht Club was staging up for a Regatta this weekend and we were allowed to wander on their docks and into their clubhouse. We continued on into Town and through the Gran Portal into the old city. There we wandered the narrow streets with the upper floor balconies overhanging the sidewalks. We picked up a few purchases and enjoyed a lunch at a small quaint restaurant with great food. We took a taxi back to the port and it sure seemed a lot farther returning than our slow walk into town. Looking at my watch we had been gone more than 5 hours, so it had been a long walk!!!

Saturday June 19, 1999

Last night we were again asleep fairly early, about 10PM so we were up ready to go again today. Since the ship loading will take at least the rest of the day we had plenty of time for more exploring in town. We took a cab to Fort San Felipe de Barajas and spent a few hours climbing around this imposing edifice. It was constructed by the Spaniards in 1657 as a defense against the British and is a massive structure with steep unclimbable outer walls and many inside damp narrow corridors that are open for walking through. From many of its walls we found great views of the city. We then walked across one of the many bridges into the walled old city where we did some shopping at Las Bovedas. They were in heavily constructed vaults along one corner of the city that now hold stalls selling local handcraft. We picked up some local coffee to take to Chris and Ginger and a few other items for Christmas gifts. It was getting quite warm and humid so we found a taxi and returned to the air-conditioned ship just in time for lunch.

We discussed returning to town in the evening to enjoy Saturday night in the plaza. After a few afternoon beers with the officers, dinner and a little reading was all we could manage before falling asleep. The ship may be ready to leave as early as 4 in the morning but the captain thinks that it will actually be several hours later.

Sunday June 20, 1999

Bill and I were up early today after another early-to-bed last night. They were still loading containers onto the ship and it was not until after 11AM that we got underway.

Off shore the wind and waves picked up as we entered the trade winds. Of course the winds were on the bow and in the late afternoon when the wind picked up slightly more, it added to our 20 knot boat speed making climbing the outside stairs a challenge that required a strong handhold. I made a trip to the bow and it was interesting to watch the water squirt out the anchor hawse-pipe when a particularly large wave would hit the bow.

We now cross the Atlantic and it will be about 9 days until we reach our next port, Valencia, Spain.

Tuesday June 22, 1999 -- mid-Atlantic

Early this afternoon we left the Caribbean Sea behind as we passed Guadeloupe Island and entered the Atlantic Ocean. The long sea swells are now with us! Now we have nothing but ocean for the 6 days it takes us to get to the Madera Islands. Then a few days later we pass through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea.

Thursday June 24, 1999

We woke up this morning to no engine noise. It had been shut down about an hour earlier due to a broken water pipe. The crew was busy welding the pipe to repair the leak and by 8:30 the engine was restarted and we were underway again.

The sky continues to be mostly overcast this morning but this afternoon, for the first time since arriving in Panama, the sky is showing blue and we are getting some sunshine.

We had a nice chat with the captain, electrician, and the apprentice last night. It seems that we are lucky to be on this ship as our captain runs a much more informal ship than many of the others. We along with many of the officers feel comfortable dressed in shorts and T-shirts and also feel free to ask any of the officers or crew questions that we might have regarding ships operations, routes etc. Bill and I are allowed on the bridge anytime to gather GPS positions, check on the weather fax pictures or just to look out at the sea. Bill has been keeping track of our GPS positions as we travel and using them to plot our track with our nav software.

Sunday June 27, 1999

Last night the captain threw a barbecue party for all the ships crew. It was a grand time with lots of great food as the cook outdid himself again. Karaoke singing followed the eating. The Filipino crew were fairly good singers but I could not say the same for the rest of us!! It actually got cool outside after sunset so the party broke up early. Bill and I retired to our cabin and watched our first video of the trip. Much of the rest of the crew partied until the wee hours, so today things are very quiet around here. .

Tuesday June 29, 1999 -- Strait of Gibraltar

Late this afternoon we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. We have had a good northerly wind blowing since sometime last night and as we entered the funnel into the strait the long swells died down. This was our first indication that we had reached the other side of the ocean. When we went up to the bridge, there were now lots of blips on the radar screen. A line of ships, seemingly evenly spaced, was heading west and other ships, going the other way, were entering the Straight, along with us, from various westerly directions. Also there were ferries making the crossing between Spain and Africa and lots of smaller fishing boats scattered around. It was a very busy place!! The wind picked up as we entered the narrows and we had wind against the current chop until it widened out on the Mediterranean side and became flat and calm. The eastbound lanes are on the African side of the channel so we could see the NW corner of Africa as we passed, but the marine haze obscured most of the lands to the north. We did get to see the Rock of Gibraltar as it stuck up above the haze and was quite visible.

Thursday July 1, 1999 -- Valencia, Spain

We arrived off the city at about 2PM yesterday afternoon but had to anchor until the middle of the night as all the docks space was full. The anchor came up just before 11PM and with the help of two tugs we were tied up to the dock by midnight. This is a very busy port and there was lots of activity when we arrived but no cranes ready for us. Bill and I watched the activity for quite awhile but finally decided that we should go to bed. There was much removing of containers from the ship aft of ours and we enjoyed watching other ships leaving and entering the harbor with their ships lights moving slowly past the breakwater end lights.

This afternoon Bill and I took a taxi from the port to the old town and spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening enjoying our first city on the continent. We walked the narrow twisty streets, sat for a bit in three of the many plazas and spent some time in the old Cathedral that is now a museum. We checked out the train station and walked by the central market, which was closed for the day and ate dinner at a fast food Spanish style place right next door to a Burger King. We returned to the ship to find that the unloading is still going on and that they are back to only one crane as the second broke down soon after it started working on our ship. That means that we will have more time tomorrow to spend in the city.

We woke up to loading operations and two working cranes. Bill tried to use the phone on the docks to send out our e-mails but could not get the system to work. We will try again when we get to Italy. We never made it back to town as the captain was hoping that we would get underway by 2:30PM but it was not until 8:30 when the tugs finally pulled us from the dock. We spent the day watching the dock operations. At one point we walked down the dock, past three other ships and watched the loading of new cars onto a car carrier. Five drivers drove five cars onto the ship followed by a van, which picked up the drivers and returned them to the lot for five more cars. After watching the efficiency of container operations this sure seemed like a big waste of manpower.

Mid afternoon we were treated to a grand display of jet plane acrobatics. A group of 7 fighters, possibly practicing, displayed about 30 minutes of air maneuvers right above our heads. Bill and I made a quick trip to the roof above the bridge to watch and had a great view of the jets from there.

Sunday July 4, 1999 -- Livarno, Italy

We arrived outside the harbor last night about 11PM but did not actually get tied up at the dock until after midnight. I did some star watching as we approached the harbor and the constellations were not where I expected to find them. We have moved quite far north in the last week and are actually approaching the latitude of The Dalles. The stars here are as we see them in Oregon and not in Baja!

The harbor seemed dead as we arrived but lots of activity picked up early in the morning and continued all day. There is a wonderful Mediterranean beach near the harbor, across the river and north of the dock. Bill and I walked on the road to the beach and enjoyed walking along the water with shoes off and feet wet. There were the Sunday nice-day crowds at the beach and we enjoyed people watching as we walked. On the return trip we crossed the mouth of the river by walking across on the sand bar and only got the legs of our shorts a little wet in the shallows there. We then finished the journey to the ship by climbing on the stones of the breakwater. The stones were quite pretty and seemed to be chunks of marble rocks.

The loading of the ship was completed shortly after 8PM and we were soon underway.

Monday July 5,1999 -- Genoa, Italy

We woke up to the ship at anchorage off of Genova. Another container ship left her berth at 1000 so we then moved onto the docks and unloading began almost immediately. Bill and I vacated our cabin and retired to the lounge to await the next step of our journey. The new passengers were soon on board and Bill and I spent a few hours visiting with them, telling them about our ship experience and showing them around a little. The officers were extremely busy as the flag of the ship was being changed today from Germany to Antigua. I watched two of the crew painting out the old homeport name on the stern. It will be replaced with a new city as soon as the paint dries.

Many crew changes will occur here. Many leave for vacation time at home, having been onboard for 8 months. Captain and First Mate remain, third mate is promoted to second mate, and one of the Filipino crew was promoted to 3^rd Engineer.

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