Holland America Blog
Safety Officer
Holland America Blog Has Just Posted the Following:
The weather in Seward and yesterday in the Gulf was really too nice and thus we had limited visibility from late yesterday afternoon until we entered Glacier Bay this morning. That is the price you pay for sunshine in Alaska. *Still restricted visibility only bothers the Captain and the navigators, the guests do not suffer much apart from the fact that there is no view outside the ship. It is still much better than having a bumpy ride in the Gulf of Alaska. A good example was autumn 2012.* Details can be found in the Blog archives. I was joining the ship in Seward and my colleague Capt. Consen was going home from there. There was a very nasty storm brewing under the Aleutians and all the worry was about getting to Seward on time for the overland tours and those who were going home. In the end the Captain had to make a very difficult decision and that was cancelling Glacier Bay. Highlight of the cruise and the ship was full of unhappy campers. In the end everybody understood the issue, they were still not happy, when they saw the bad weather approaching on CNN. The Statendam slipped in, just in time, into Resurrection Bay before all hell broke loose outside. The ship came early running ahead of the storm and that gave an overnight in Seward. This place is not exactly known for its abundant night life but everybody could leave on schedule when the time came. I joined that day, had one look at the weather, and decided not to sail as the swell at the entrance to the Bay was still about 25 feet. Luckily for me it was easier to do this as I had spare time on my sleeve to get to Glacier Bay. So I sailed the next morning when the swells had subsided to 15 feet and then with wind and waves in the back surfed to Glacier Bay without a worry in the world. As it was still windy there was no restricted visibility either so it was the best of […]
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The weather in Seward and yesterday in the Gulf was really too nice and thus we had limited visibility from late yesterday afternoon until we entered Glacier Bay this morning. That is the price you pay for sunshine in Alaska. *Still restricted visibility only bothers the Captain and the navigators, the guests do not suffer much apart from the fact that there is no view outside the ship. It is still much better than having a bumpy ride in the Gulf of Alaska. A good example was autumn 2012.* Details can be found in the Blog archives. I was joining the ship in Seward and my colleague Capt. Consen was going home from there. There was a very nasty storm brewing under the Aleutians and all the worry was about getting to Seward on time for the overland tours and those who were going home. In the end the Captain had to make a very difficult decision and that was cancelling Glacier Bay. Highlight of the cruise and the ship was full of unhappy campers. In the end everybody understood the issue, they were still not happy, when they saw the bad weather approaching on CNN. The Statendam slipped in, just in time, into Resurrection Bay before all hell broke loose outside. The ship came early running ahead of the storm and that gave an overnight in Seward. This place is not exactly known for its abundant night life but everybody could leave on schedule when the time came. I joined that day, had one look at the weather, and decided not to sail as the swell at the entrance to the Bay was still about 25 feet. Luckily for me it was easier to do this as I had spare time on my sleeve to get to Glacier Bay. So I sailed the next morning when the swells had subsided to 15 feet and then with wind and waves in the back surfed to Glacier Bay without a worry in the world. As it was still windy there was no restricted visibility either so it was the best of […]
Click here to view the article.
