SAA II Delivery - Day 9 15 April 2012

Hello All

We are starting to feel the effects of the lower latitudes and are slowly thawing out. The temperatures for both air and sea are shooting up as we make our way south. The wind remains moderate and following with the barometer rising steadily.

We will make land fall of the Canary Islands later this afternoon as we pass them relatively closely on our track. We are still meeting some north bound vessels. We are planning to route a little further offshore after the islands staying clear of any known piracy areas.

Otherwise all is well onboard and we have had a very good voyage this far with a nice bunch of people. We are all getting excited now to see the blue mountain and our families.

Have a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

All the best. 

SAA II Delivery - Day 8 14 April 2012

Hello All

Well it is Saturday and to be honest I do not have much to report today. Onboard it is as any other day and we are all still frantically sorting and packing, while trying to implement systems onboard that will make life easier in the  long run.

We are experiencing quite a strong WNW'ly wind of around 35 knots and a swell of about 3 meters slightly forward of the beam. Needless to say we are rolling slightly more and the non skid table covering has made its appearance, but it is nothing really and we are quite comfortable. We still have to see how she would behave in proper storm, but for now we will give her the time off since she will be seeing plenty of that in the next 30 years!

Again we have made very good progress and averaged around 14.5 knots. So while the going is good we are making hay while the sun shines as they say.

Enjoy your weekend and all thumbs up for the Stormers to beat the Crusaders today!!

SAA II Deilvery - Day 7 13 April 2012

Hello All

Is it already a week since we have left, sjoe it has gone by so quickly!!

We are now sailing almost due south with our heading at 195°T as we round the Portugese west coast. Our next hurdle would be the crossing traffic in and out of Gibraltar, but after the Dover Straits and the English channel it will probably seem less exciting. We made good progress yesterday and averaged 14.5 knots with the currents and following winds pushing us along. Perhaps the vessel knows her destination and is like a horse back to the stables....:-)

It is amasing how much paper work is required to seaworthy a vessel of this nature. It is still a mountain we are climbing at the moment to have it all organised and settled. We are lucky to have this couple of weeks during the delivery voyage to do exactly that. The cadets are also shown the basics of housekeeping by the Chief Officer, Bosun and the Chief Steward. They are all keen youngsters, which makes training them so much easier. The past view nights provided clear skies for them to practise their azimuths and the rising and setting sun has been good for an amplitude. Some had to shake off the rust to get these calculations right.

It feels like a normal passage now that there is more than 3km of water below us.

Even though it is Friday the 13th, we have had a good day so far and are glad to face in the right direction.

I am attaching two photographs. One is of the Great Belts bridge we passed under with a clearance of 65 meters, bridge to waterline. The other is of the pilot boat that came alongside shortly after passing underneath the bridge.

Have a good start to the weekend.

SAA II Delivery - Day 6 12 April 2012

Hello All

Finally we reached open ocean yesterday afternoon and we are experiencing the so familiar motion of the ocean, which is quite different to  the choppy seas of the gulf of Bothnia and the North Sea. The vessel has a gentle roll to the long north westerly swell reminding us what it is like to be at sea.

We continued to make good speed all through last night and today as the moderate winds kept on the quarter. Other than a couple of fisherman the traffic through the English channel was quite manageable and it was like going for a Sunday afternoon drive with everyone taking it easy and following the rules and their lanes.

I have attached two images. The photo of the wind farms  is from the south of Denmark shortly after we picked up the first pilot and the photo of the nice sunset was taken last night.

The to do lists are growing daily as we make the vessel our own and everyone on board is giving that little extra to get everything organised, I commend them.

The outside and sea water temperatures are rising rapidly and even though it is only at 11°C it feels like summer to the ones that has just experienced a harsh finish winter.

All the best.

SAA II delivery - Day 5 11 April 2012

Hello All

It was quite an exciting preceding 24 hours with us really taking the vessel through her paces to make sure all her functionalities are working without any glitches while still having the Converteam engineers on board to assist us in clearing up any issues. At one stage yesterday afternoon we were cruising at 18 knots while testing the full sea going mode and ice modes. The weather cleared up nicely so today we had quite an easy transfer of the Converteam engineers to the pilot boat at Cherbourg. We were even lucky enough to engage the dynamic positioning mode while we waited for the pilot boat for a short while to test if that is working well, which it was.

It is amazing how strong the tidal stream can get in the English channel and at the pilot boarding point I estimated we had around two knots flow, that is quite something.

The trainee officers on board is really getting good experience while we are traversing these more traffic dense areas and I hope they remember what they are learning here now.

The ship has been running well and other than a couple of leaks and a electronic device here or there we have not had any mayor problems....touch wood.

I hope that Neptune will grant us easy passage through the notorious bay of Biscay when we finally make our way more south.

All the best.

SAA II Delivery - Day 4 10 April 2012

Hello All

Today the heads winds and sea gave the vessel a good beating as the front passed the North Sea. We were knocked back slightly on speed and one could feel that she was digging into the short, steep sea the wind had built up. The front came through this morning and the weather is subsiding now.

The guys in the galley is really doing and amazing job of keeping us well fed even after hours when we are busy till late at night one is still able to pick up something from the "black pan"....happiness is!

We are scheduled to arrive at the 7 mile off port limits at Cherbough around 15:00LT tomorrow to disembark the 3 Converteam ETO's and then we can finally head for the English Channel, which I would expect would be like an ants nest with crossing ferries and the like.

All the best.

SAA II Delivery - Day 3 09 Aprim 2012

Hello All

We made the pilot boarding station at Gedser South Denmark early and they were willing to assist us with a pilot on arrival. The first pilot boarded the vessel shortly before four in the afternoon yesterday and requested max sea speed.

We managed good speed through the belt with good sailing conditions and clear visibility. Even though there were quite a bit of traffic it did not seem congested and we had plenty of room to move.

Crossing under the Great Belts bridge was the highlight of the night, with a anxcious feeling taking you over the moment you pass under the bridge and everyone ducking there heads. There were at least 20 meters to spare, but it still does not feel as if there is that much space available. We then changed out the first pilot for the second one shortly after the bridge. The last pilot boarded at around 3 in the morning and the Great Belt pilotage was completed this morning when we dropped the last pilot at around tea time.

We are making good way on our passage, but the weather is predicted to increase from the South East during the course of the night. We are scheduled to arrive at a point 7NM to the north of Cherbourgh at 15:00 LT on 11 April to disembark the 3 Converteam engineers at their home country.

I hope that everyone will have a good start to what will be a short week ahead.

All the best.

SAA II Delivery - Day 2 07 April 2012

Hello All

The winds kept their gale force strength through most of the day and night yesterday, luckily it was following. This morning however the wind back to the NW, but calmed down considerably. We were planning to only pick up the pilot at day break tomorrow, but they tracked us and saw that we would be early and asked if we would want immediate pilot boarding. We considered the benefits and agreed to that. I was hoping to pass under the bridge at Halsskov.... We will have 2 pilots on board from 16:00 on wards for the next 24 hours  to guide us through the great belts.

On board we are all still packing away and neatening up, but there is still lots to do. We do however feel somewhat relieved now that the rush is over and we can take a deep breath. It is nice to again have a Sunday that actually feels like a Sunday, since the last couple of weekends in the yard kept us running throughout the week.

I hope that you all are enjoying a nice Sunday lunch with your families.

All the best.

SAA II Delivery - 06 April 2012

Hello All

Sjoe, what a day!

The vessel departed rom Rauma as scheduled at midday Friday the 6th of April 2012. The morning yesterday started a bit grim with a northerly snow squall blowing over the vessel while she laid alongside the quay in Ruama for the last couple of hours. We had to tighten the moorings a bit to keep her alongside. Luckily the weather cleared towards sailing time and we could depart with good visibility ahead.

I felt quite sorry for the the pilot to disembark the vessel onto his small pilot boat which was really bobbing up and down in the bit of seaway that the northerly winds pushed up during the night. I hope he made it back to the port OK.

Our first 24 hours onboard the vessel was as expected extremely busy and we took to the early hours of the morning to get the vessel properly secured and all the spares, stores and equipment packed away. This task will continue during the course of the voyage.

We are taking it slow at first to let everything run in and settle, but needless to say that at the current speed of 10 knots with mostly follwing seas the engines are just ticking over.

I must admit that it is nice to back at sea for a change as we were land lubbers during the building process. We are expected to pick up the great belts pilot on the morning of the 9th. Tonight we will retard our clocks to come into line with South African time and will then remain on that time for the remainder of the voyage.

From a happy sailor and his crew I wish you all a Happy Easter.

On Leave

Hello All

On leave at last. I will treasure this rare occasion. Thanks to all the support. The next chapter is going to be very interesting with the end of the year being spent in Finland while the new ship is being constructed.

Watch this space.

Freddie