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Riders on the Storm

9K views 67 replies 17 participants last post by  mbianka 
#1 ·
I'm about to board the Norwegian Cruise Ship Breakaway in New York bound for Bermuda. I did not think the ship would sail in light of Tropical Storm Hermine kind of being in the way. But, they are. Should be an interesting passage. I'll try and update along the way on the conditions experienced.

There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. -Norwegian Proverb
 
#2 ·
REPORT 1
Position
40 45 93
74 00 002
At Pier

Beautiful sunny day here in New York. Got to Customs dock a little after eight. Went through Security and Check in and finally boarded a little before 11. Went to lunch and then the cabin. Cabin very very comfortable even has a bathtub. Thinking it might be fun to take a slosh bath if things get rough due to TS Hermine tonight. Will see how it goes. Still waiting for luggage to arrive Signed up for on board Internet very fast here in Port expect it to slow down considerably once at Sea.

Currently 1:41 Pm Ship was supposed to Depart 1:30 can see forklifts still loading things. Captain just came on PA and mentioned the reason that all ships had to sail at 1:30 was a Coast Guard restriction for ships to leave the piers. At 11 AM that restriction was lifted due to new storm position and now we can sail whenever. Interesting. Currently waiting for a few passengers who did not get the word about the earlier departure. Captain also mentioned that things might be a little rough for the next 12 to 16 hours. But, things should be calmer by lunch tomorrow. :)

Two interesting TV channels on the cabin TV. One is the "View from the Bridge" live camera looking at the bow from Bridge perspective.The other is called "Navigational Channel" has course and weather information including wind and wave height info. Will certainly be checking that as we head out to sea.

Lifeboat muster at 3PM I will also be very attentive during that drill. :)
 
#5 ·
Lifeboat muster at 3PM I will also be very attentive during that drill. :)
Ask really stupid questions just for fun like: "Your showing us this lifeboat. So how many ships have you abandoned? So you really don't have any experience, do you?"

"Is there internet in the Lifeboat? I've paid for internet..."

:)
 
#3 ·
BTW I traveled on a freighter a number of years ago and had to ride out a storm at sea because all the ports were closed to ships. It was not a tropical storm but, I'm interested to see how this voyage past TS Hermine compares. I made a video of the storm conditions on the freighter trip here:
 
#6 ·
Frankly, I'm not surprised they delayed the departure. The Breakaway only arrived in NY harbor last night close to 10 pm. They have to get the 1000+ passengers off, clean & re-stock the ship full of booze & food and then load you lot on there.
If the system keeps moving N/NE or E/NE it should be all the better for sneaking down the Jersey coast before heading to Bda.
I see that Breakaway is already down by Sandy Hook.
Bon voyage!
 
#11 · (Edited)
REPORT 2

Left the dock 2:47
Safety Drill 3:01 Bad timing because no one saw the ship sail by the Statue of Liberty :(

4PM
40.32.438, 074.01.420
Very gentle side to side motion. Have balcony door open and can hear the clanging of the buoys as we pass them. Nice sound.

4:30PM
40.27.82, 074.50.645
More pronounced side to side about 1 degree max but, still very nice for this sailor. Southeasterly swell.

Luggage still has not shown up. But, the 5161 Newport to Bermuda Plotting sheet I bought has arrived. Had to hang it on the wall in the cabin since I doubt the Captain will let me use the ships chart table. :)

4:45 PM Heard the sound of a power boat looked out and saw the Pilot Boat launch maneuvering to pick up the pilot. Bought him back to the big Pilot Boat No.1 that was hanging nearby.

Still have Sandy Hook and New York in sight. Internet still fast enough to stream You Tube video. Might even have a sunset tonight. Bonus!
 
#14 ·
REPORT 3 10:16PM
Note: My VHF GPS could not get a fix. But the ship is off Cape May New Jersey


6:20 PM Noticed a little more rocking.

6:28 PM Captain came on PA said we had about 10 to 12 foot swells. Expected them to increase to 14 to 16 later with 30 knots of wind. I'm on the leeward side so it's very pleasant. Captian said the plan was to head down to Cape Hatteras and make a course correction toward Bermuda. He also suggested people use the handrails in the hallways and to be careful on the treadmills too! :)

Sunset was perfect! No clouds on the horizon whatsoever.

Notice heavier rocking at 9:30 PM. Saw a list of 6 degrees briefly. Then settled back down to 3 to 4 degree swings. Swell now coming aft (north). Nothing falling off the tables but, pens rolling around on the desk. Should sleep real well tonight with the rocking. Though did hear about a number of passengers having some Mal de Mar even in these IMO benign conditions.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Especially when ones luggage does not show up. Got on board at 11 AM waited all day. Book says if you don't have luggage by 6 pm call guest services. I call at 6PM they are still delivering call again at 6:30. I call and am asked to come down to guest services since they have some unlabeled luggage it might be there. Go down to guest services which is in an atrium lobby where there is also musical entertainment. A duo doing all disco hits. I hate disco. But I have to wait on line 20 minutes to reach the desk. I got taken into the back where the wayward luggage is. No bag! Then Porter mentions he had just dropped a bag off at my cabin. Arrgh! This is why I like to stay in the cabin and just listen to the waves and stare out to sea.. :)
 
#16 ·
36:10.785
074.25.860
Course 186.5
8:11 AM
East of Kill Devil Hills

Had a good nights sleep and up at 5:45AM still rolling 2-3 degrees on the plumb bob. Up on deck it looked like white capped waves were coming out of the north and swells coming east to northeast.

Pool was a little more dramatic with the water sloshing to and fro. Jumped in a little before 7AM for a half hour swim. Kind of fun and a good workout swimming against swirling water sometimes. Went to breakfast and afterward things were calming down even more. Swings are now closer to 2 degrees. Though it looks like now things may be picking up a bit on the waters. See an occasional breaking wave. TV report says waves are 21 feet but, does not look that way to me.
Still heading to Hatteras before make turn toward Bermuda.
 
#24 ·
Spoke with the Captain today who presided over the Captain/Wedding vows thing for my grand niece. He confirms we saw 16 foot seas. The worst is now over.
I'm a little disappointed since I've felt my boat rock more in the harbor from power boat wakes. :) Saw a max 6 degree swing only once or twice most were in the 2 to 3 degree range. No rain either. IMO it was a rather pleasant cruise. Next stop Bermuda. Hope Hermine spares you any grief there in the big town. Thought it was heading out to sea?
 
#27 · (Edited)
I thought you left the Caribbean to get away from storms Mark? It looks like the TS force wind probabilities is inching closer to you as Hermine drifts westward. It's going to be close. At least it didn't re-gain hurricane status. Give her a boot up the bum as she passes by for me! Best of luck to you Mark.

Ralph
 
#32 ·
Report 5 4:59PM

34.06.55

074.09.014

Course 102 degrees

Ship has made it's turn Eastward to Bermuda. Clocks will be set forward one hour tonight at 2 AM. Still scheduled for arrival in Bermuda on Wednesday morning.
My AIS source hasn't updated in quite some time for your ship. Glad you are south of the slop.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#30 ·
Its doing me some good. May have been the best sailing conditions I've ever seen in Kingston. Dozens of sail boats out. Ironically the charter sail boats ansd the Kingston Sailing club racers seemed to stay inside the creek. I would have a picture but I was holding on for dear life. :)
 
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#38 · (Edited)
Just left my boat in Mystic, CT.. Very windy in my slip, gusting to maybe 30 and I'm in a very protected spot (except from the N NW and a that is where the wind is coming from). Lots of moaning and groaning from the docks and the boats around me. Did my good deed for today and walked the docks checking lines.

Some tree limbs on the roads back to Uncasville, but no rain.

I almost slept on the boat but no iPad or TV onboard at the time so I figured I'd just end up getting drunk. :) have some meetings with a vendor tomorrow so I'm going to be a good boy and be a good boy.
 
#44 ·
Remember that AIS is a VHF system and therefore line-of-sight. MarineTraffic.com uses mostly volunteer receive sites to pick up the AIS signals that are displayed. There are some satellites with dedicated VHF receivers for AIS. The path loss is high, particularly during weather. Even in the best of conditions only about 10% of the message packets get through.
 
#47 ·
I admit that my knowledge of AIS is rudimentary. I get the VHF ship to ship part but thought there was some requirement for satellite based ships to transmit data collected. The VHF satellite receivers make sense and would explain the gap in data under the storm. Thanks.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#49 ·
Day 3, Report 6, 9:13AM

32.59.22
069.43.161
Course 106.6 degrees
Speed 16 knots

Ship's time set 1 hour ahead over night. Calmed down greatly over night. No white caps just a little gentle swell. I'd call it a light breeze on the Beaufort scale. Still 24 hours out from Bermuda. Saw a Pelican flying around the ship this morning while having breakfast. I wonder if it got blown out here by TS Hermine?
 
#51 · (Edited)
My boat is in the Rondout creek and I've been noticing boats coming up from NYC and Jersey just as the hurricane got ( sort of) close. This big gal just anchored across the creek from my dock and no wonder why. The entire top level is open inside and they have a garden up there with tomato plants and everything you could want.. Imagine all that windage up there. More sail area than I have got! These pictures do not do this boat justice. That is a pretty big tender hanging on the back.



 
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