Saga Ruby Captain's blog

The overnight passage from Paita to Salaverry was for the most part against the Humboldt Current (also called the Peru Current), though it was not as strong as I was expecting averaging around ½ knot. The effect on the seawater temperature was clearly evident however, dropping significantly from 24 deg C to 19 deg C overnight.

The Humboldt Current is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend over 500 nautical miles offshore. The Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem, named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, is one of the major upwelling systems of the world, supporting an extraordinary abundance of marine life.

This marine ecosystem is the most productive marine ecosystem in the world, as well as the largest upwelling system. The Humboldt’s high rates of primary and secondary productivity support the world’s largest fisheries and approximately 18-20% of the world’s fish catch comes from its waters.

The Engineers even managed to inadvertently catch some fish during the night! Approximately 20 lbs of anchovies were found to be responsible for a pressure drop on the sea water system that supplies the air conditioning system, and had to be removed from the sea chest filter.

Periodically, the upwelling that drives the system’s productivity is disrupted by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. When this occurs, fish abundance and distribution are significantly affected, often leading to stock crashes and cascading social and economic impacts.

The presence of the Humboldt Current and its associated wind shear does provide another benefit to us seafarers in that it prevents the formation of tropical cyclones in the area.

I’d been to Salaverry a couple times before as Staff Captain on both the Saga Rose and the Saga Ruby, so I knew what to expect. The approaches are very shallow for about eight nautical miles, and there is only between two-three metres (6-9 ft) of water beneath the keel and the silt/sand bottom. Previous times I’d been to Salaverry there had been a significant swell generated from out in the Pacific too, but not this time. Instead a bank of fog marked the shelving seabed for our approach that soon dissipated once we drew within 3 miles of the shoreline.

The Pilot, who boarded one mile from the port, was keen to point out the shallow nature of the seabed, in case we’d not already noticed it, and we proceeded at slow speed towards the berth to reduce the effects of “squat” (an apparent increase in draft due to a hydrodynamic phenomenon sometimes referred to as the Bernoulli principle).

With the thruster and engines used to control the manoeuvre alongside, a considerable amount of silt had been churned up by the time we’d finished, giving the seawater an appearance of a thick muddy soup!

Salaverry is known as the gateway to Trujillo, and is located 17 miles southeast of the country's second largest city. Founded by the Spanish conquistador Diego de Almagro in 1534, Trujillo has numerous archaeological sites with Chan Chan and the Temples of the Sun and Moon being the most well known.

Chan Chan is just 3 miles west of Trujillo and covers an area of about 8 square miles. The largest pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor around 850 AD and lasted until the conquest by the Inca Empire in 1470 AD.

The Temples of the Sun and the Moon are also nearby and were constructed by an even earlier pre Incan society, the Moche. The Temple of the Sun represents the largest adobe pyramid in Peru that has been found to date. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mud brick buildings and are extremely durable offering significant advantages over wooden buildings due to their greater thermal mass, but they are particularly susceptible to earthquake damage.

Before the sun set on Peru’s coastline, all of Saga Ruby’s archeological explorers had been accounted for and the Saga Ruby left the South American mainland behind.  We headed out across the Pacific to embark on a five-and-a-half day passage to Rapa Nui.

On our run down from Panama to the first of our two Peruvian ports, the Saga Ruby crossed over the equator into the Southern Hemisphere. This of course meant a visit from King Neptune and his Court to take a look at passenger and crew “pollywogs” (those who’d not crossed the equator before), before putting them on trial.

Like all kangaroo courts everyone is of course found guilty and punished accordingly. Passengers were invited to “kiss the fish”, which is exactly how it sounds, before getting gunged. Crew pollywogs were also thrown in the pool for good measure as extra punishment.

Once everyone had received their punishment they were then elevated to the status of “Trusty Shellbacks”, and given the freedom of the seas by Neptune.

This maritime rite of passage, has a tradition that goes back centuries and even our Queen took part in one (before her coronation), when she first crossed the equator in her youth. Though this ceremony is well known as is the title awarded, Shellback, there are a number of other similar fraternities less widely known that I thought you may be interested in. Indeed many of you could probably cross a few off the list:

· The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
· The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
· The Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors who have crossed the International Date Line.
· The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
· The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
· The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
· The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
· The Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (Equator crosses the Prime Meridian)
· The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
· The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the earth.
· The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.

From my perspective I’m short of the “Golden Shellback” and the “Order of the Lakes” to complete the list but I’ve still got time yet!

Paita itself proved to be an interesting place. On the morning of our arrival I awoke early to the pungent smell of fish. My first thoughts were along the lines of “what on earth are they serving passengers for breakfast this morning”, but then my brain woke up with the rest of me and concluded Paita must be a fishing port. My conclusions were right; Paita has a huge fishing fleet and a factory on the headland outside of the city, which was generating the smell.

Getting hold of the pilot for our early arrival proved to be quite a task, nothing on VHF and after half a dozen phone calls someone answered briefly in a groggy, just woken up Spanish voice before hanging up again.

Whilst we waited for the pilot and other officials, drifting approximately 1 mile from where I wanted to park, I looked at some of the local watercraft. The fishing boats were all brightly coloured, in varying shapes and sizes. And a barge went past under tow that looked like something more akin to what you would expect to see on the TV program, Scrap Heap Challenge, but less sea worthy. All in all it was a stark contrast to the tonnage we’d seen in our previous port, though perhaps almost equal in numbers.

45 minutes after the pilot was supposed to have boarded he arrived onboard. With only the most fundamental English, the pilot indicated our berth by pointing his finger in the general direction of the shore. There was only one berth suitable for us to moor at, so that is where I finally parked the ship, a little later than planned, but still with time in hand for our tours.

This was the Saga Ruby’s first visit to Paita so a plaque presentation was arranged to take place on the quayside to mark the occasion. A large number of Military Officers lined up with a Military Band playing, as I went to meet the Captain of the Port. He informed me that the Mayor was going to be late, obviously the fashionable thing to do here, so I waited a while.

Once the Mayor had arrived, a local dance troop performed the Marinera, a local coastal dance with Spanish influences, for the passengers. I then went across to the Mayor and his entourage to exchange a ships plaque for one from the city. The Mayor delivered a flowery speech that lasted several minutes. Of course it was in Spanish so I didn’t understand a word of it, so when I perceived that he had finished, and wasn’t just pausing for breath, I looked to the ships agent who was to act as a translator. The agent turned to me and said, “The Mayor welcomes you and your ship to the City of Paita”, evidently an abbreviated translation!

Once the pleasantries had been completed the Mayor and other dignitaries came aboard to have a brief tour of the ship, whilst our passengers finished their breakfast and readied themselves for the day.

The City of Paita, once Peru’s capital, was not used to cruise ships calling into her port and only receives about six per year. As is often the case with such ports they were very welcoming and promoted their small city admirably, though they do need to work on timekeeping a little.

With time to depart upon us, the wind had naturally whipped up to provide a strong breeze pinning us to the quayside. The tug that was compulsory anyway, was made fast to the stern to assist us off the berth. Gesticulating in fluent Spanish I managed to convey instructions to the tug via the pilot and the Saga Ruby set out to sea once more.

The passage to Balboa from Puerto Limon takes in the transit through the Panama Canal, for many a highlight of the world cruise. After several versions of our canal schedule were received, the last one at 22:00 the night before our arrival on the 24th, finally providing us with an ETA to work to.

Having weaved through the numerous vessels at anchor we passed through the breakwater at 07:30 and shortly afterward the Pilot boarded with a Panama Canal Authority Inspector. We commenced our transit shortly afterwards and arrived at the first set of locks, the Gatun Locks, just under an hour later.

The Gatun locks are triple flight locks that lift a vessel 25.9 m (85ft) from sea level on the Caribbean side up to the Gatun Lake and there is negligible tide to take into account. The lock chambers are 33.53 meters (110 ft) wide by 320.0 meters (1050 ft) long, with a usable length of 304.8 metres (1000 ft). These dimensions determine the maximum size of ships which can use the canal; this size is known as Panamax.

One subject people always appear fascinated with when it comes to the Panama Canal is how much it costs. Toll’s are calculated using a variety of factors but in our case, as a passenger vessel of less than 30,000 PC/UMS tons, it is charged per ton, in a similar fashion to freighters. The least expensive toll recorded was 36 cents to American adventurer Richard Halilburton, who swam the canal in 1928, whilst the most expensive was US$331,200 to the cruise ship, Disney Magic. We were somewhere in the middle with the Saga Ruby’s toll fee this year coming to US$87,615.02. However costs don’t stop there; there are costs for locomotive wires, wire handling, towage, transit booking fees, security fees, Inspection & Survey’s etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! In fact the total estimated cost for our passage came to a princely sum of US$147,143.37.

In order to ascend and later descend safely, the canal uses locomotives, or mules, to guide ships through. These mules are used for side-to-side and braking control in the rather narrow locks (narrow relative to modern-day ships). Forward motion into and through the locks is actually provided by the ship's engines and not the mules'. A ship approaching the locks first pulls up to the guide wall, which is an extension of the centre wall of the locks, where she is taken under control by the mules on the wall before proceeding into the lock. As she moves forward, additional lines are taken to mules on the other wall. We used two mules on each side at the bow, and one each side at the stern, six in total, allowing for precise control of the ship. Larger ships use an additional two on the stern

The mules themselves run on rack tracks, to which they are geared. Each mule has a powerful winch, operated by the driver; these are used to take two cables in or pay them out, to keep the ship centred in the lock while moving it from chamber to chamber.

Once we’d ascended into the Gatun Lake the last of the mules was cast off and we’d cleared the locks at 10:36, two hours after entering. Created in 1913 by the damming of the Charges River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal which forms a water passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, permitting ship transit in both directions. At the time it was formed Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world.

Unfortunately transiting the lake was not much faster than that of the locks due to traffic congestion. Though we didn’t have to anchor, we did have to wait for a Panamax container vessel to weigh anchor and proceed ahead of us before we could continue, and it was 16:40 before we arrived at the Pedro Miguel locks.

Pedro Miguel locks are only a single flight with a drop of 9.5 m (31ft), so the Saga Ruby only took 40 minutes to clear them and proceed the short distance to the final set of locks, the two-step Miraflores locks. The descent on the final set of locks varies due to the tide, but lies between 13.1m (43ft) at extreme high tide and 19.7m (64.5ft) at extreme low tide.

It was 19:00 by the time we were clear of the last of the locks and 30 minutes later we passed under the Bridge of the Americas before disembarking the pilot, 12 hours after entering the breakwaters on the Atlantic side.

Our first objective on entering the waters of the Pacific Ocean was to proceed to the “explosives anchorage” to the southwest of Flamenco Island and the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. This anchorage is designated for vessels requesting fuel oil bunkers, which was our intention. Opportunities to refuel crossing the Pacific are few and far between, particularly on the more “scenic” route we were taking so Balboa represented our best opportunity to top up until we got to New Zealand. It also meant that it was going to be a long night for the Chief Engineer.

The Bunker Barge was relatively prompt once we’d anchored, and refueling the ship commenced around half past eleven. By 4 am everything had been completed and we’d weighed our anchor and got back “underway” once more. We had two hours to pick our way through the anchorage and cross to the east of Flamenco Island where we re-anchored ready to run tender operations into the Yacht Club and Marina area for Balboa.

The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean. The name was suggested to the Canal Zone authorities by the Peruvian ambassador to Panama. Prior to being drained, filled and leveled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the hilly area north of Panama City was home to a few subsistence ranches and unused marshlands.

The town of Balboa, like most towns in the Canal Zone, was served by Canal Zone. Until 1979, when the Canal Zone as a solely United States territory was abolished under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaties, the town of Balboa was the administrative center of the Canal Zone (and remained so until mid-day of December 31, 1999, by which time, according to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the Panama Canal and all its assets, territories, etc., would be fully turned over to Panama and the Panamanian government to be run however the Panamanian government see and deems fit). Balboa is now considered part of Panama City's township of Ancón. Since its incorporation into the Republic of Panama and has been redeveloped to enhance the port.

If you’d have been in a small boat crossing the Caribbean Sea from Curacao, it would have been quite rough, with 6ft wind waves and a 6ft swell. Of course on the Saga Ruby it was quite pleasant, the force 5-6 wind was blowing from astern on the starboard quarter so by the time the ships speed had been taken into account the relative wind over the decks was nothing more than a cooling breeze to take the heat out of the warmth of the sun. The vessel cut through the waves as if they were not there and the motion due to the swell was quite relaxing and gentle.

Arriving in the morning, the swell near the coast for the last couple of miles was a little more noticeable, especially when the active stabilisers were housed prior to the pilot boarding. The pilot was left to enjoy a cup of coffee while I finished the simple task of berthing the ship. To be honest I’m not too sure the bridge instant coffee was really enjoyed the pilot; after all good coffee in Costa Rica is not hard to find!

Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies and constitutionally abolished its army in 1949.

In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election between the previous president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia and Otilio Ulate Blanco. The victorious rebels formed a government junta that abolished the military altogether, and oversaw the drafting of a new constitution by a democratically elected assembly. Having enacted these reforms, the junta relinquished its power on November 8, 1949, to the new democratic government. After the coup d'état, Figueres became a national hero, winning the country's first democratic election under the new constitution in 1953.

In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon-neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the "greenest" country in the world. Now that’s good coffee for you!

Puerto Limón itself, commonly known as Limón (Spanish for "lemon"), is home to a thriving Afro-Caribbean community. Part of the community traces its roots to Jamaican laborers who worked on a late nineteenth-century railroad project that connected San José to Puerto Limón. Other parts of the population trace their roots to the Nicaraguan, Panamanian, and Colombian turtle-hunters who eventually settled along the Province of Limón's coast. Until 1948, the Costa Rican government did not recognize Afro-Caribbean people as citizens and restricted their movement outside Limón province. As a result of this "travel ban", this Afro-Caribbean population became firmly established in the region, which influenced the decision to not move even after it was legally permitted.

Notorious pirates, Edward Mansvelt and and his vice admiral Henry Morgan, even landed near Limón in 1666. They proceeded inland to Cartago, the capital of Costa Rica at the time, but were driven away by the inhabitants. They left Costa Rica and did not return.

With the setting sun it came time for us to leave Costa Rica too. The pilot elected not to turn up and the port gave us permision to depart without one. The Saga Ruby backed away from the port, and when in sufficient water maneouvered through a 180 degree turn before proceeding out to sea.

Curacao is situated just north of the Venezuelan mainland and has one of the finest natural harbours in the Caribbean. Arriving just before sunrise we picked up a senior and junior Pilot one nautical mile from the harbour’s narrow entrance. An added consideration for arriving into this port is the pontoon bridge that effectively blockades the port when in use. As the Saga Ruby made her approach, with a strong current on the beam requiring a significant allowance for set in order to be countered, the Queen Emma pontoon bridge swung open to permit our passage into the channel. This stretch of waterway connects the short distance between the Caribbean Sea and the Schottegat, a large, deep and virtually enclosed bay just inland of Willemstad itself.

Despite the fact that the channel was home to our intended berth, we had to continue through to the Schottegat in order to turn the ship through the 180 degrees so that for departure we were pointing in the right direction. The turn is a little tight but not overly so. It certainly looks dramatic when you stop the ship 150 ft from an oil tanker and swing around with rocks and land a similar distance off during stages of the turn. Then it was just a case of proceeding back the way you came passing under the Queen Juliana Bridge, before mooring alongside opposite Willemstad’s city centre.

The original inhabitants of Curaçao were Arawak Amerindians. The first Europeans to see the island were members of a Spanish expedition under the leadership of Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. The Spaniards enslaved most of the indigenous population and forcibly relocated the survivors to other colonies where workers were needed. The island was occupied by the Dutch in 1634 and it was the Dutch West India Company that founded the capital of Willemstad. Curaçao had been ignored by colonists because it lacked many things that colonists were interested in, such as gold deposits. However, the natural harbour of Willemstad proved quickly to be an ideal spot for trade. Commerce, shipping, and indeed piracy quickly became Curaçao's most important economic activities.

More recently due to its location near the Venezuelan oilfields, its political stability and its natural deep water harbor, Willemstad became the site of an important seaport and refinery. Willemstad harbor is one of the largest oil handling ports in the Caribbean. The refinery, originally built and owned by Royal Dutch Shell in 1915, was sold to the Curaçao government for the symbolic sum of one guilder in 1985 and is now leased to PDVSA, the state owned Venezuelan oil company.

With all the hard work done in the morning departure was straight forward, and only required the bridge to be opened for us once more in order for us to proceed to sea.

Run southwest from Antigua down to La Guaira, incorporating a sea day was much as you would expect of a Caribbean voyage; warm, sunny with the odd passing shower and a steady breeze emanating from an east-north-easterly direction.

Arriving at the port, having completed our pre-arrival checks, and proceeding slowly whilst awaiting the pilot, you cant help noticing the similarity between the design of the port and those you would expect to see in the Canary Islands. A modest wall providing both berths and a defence against the sea, that runs parallel with the shore, with a couple of piers angled back like barbs running from the shoreline. A standard enough port really, functional, but without any outstanding features, set against a backdrop of mountains covered in lush greenery. As if to compensate for the ports utilitarian façade, the housing that terraced back up the mountainside was painted in every garish and bright colour you could think of with almost childlike abandon for colour protocol.

We soon had our pilot, whose English was a little limited, so I proceeded inbound to berth the Saga Ruby on the easternmost side of the second pier, carefully turning through the 120 degrees to starboard to ensure that our stern didn’t get too close to the cargo vessels along the outer wall. Once alongside a rather agricultural but effective overhead gangway was accepted into our upper deck shell door, and we were all ready to go.

All of the day’s tours incorporated a visit to Mount Avila and Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, in some form or another. I found out first hand that Venezuela’s coaches turn tours into some form of Russian roulette, though without the fatal consequences. I was on coach number 3, evidently a good choice as coach number 4 broke down...and so did its replacement. Oblivious to the plight of those on coach 4, us more fortunate travellers on coach 3, arrived at a small town on the outskirts of Caracas called El Hatillo, despite our drivers inability to find the gear he’d needed on a number of occasions. El Hatillo was a charming little town, though not particularly exciting, that continued the national competition of let’s see who can paint their house with the brightest colour. It was hard to pick a winner!

After El Hatillo we re-boarded our coach and with a grind and a clunk as the coach driver eventually found a suitable forward gear, we set off towards the cable car station for Mount Avila. The Caracas Aerial Tramway also known as the Mount Avila Gondola was originally designed to primarily carry people to a luxury hotel situated at the top and is the second highest in the world. Alexander von Humboldt first conquered the mountain in 1800 and the hotel in question bares his name. The hotel was undergoing some major refurbishment at the time of our visit and it was a little awkward to see how luxurious it was as it was largely enshrouded in cloud. But the cable car ride itself, which lasted nearly 20 minutes afforded fantastic views over the city of Caracas and the surrounding area. For those of you a little concerned for Coach 4, they did eventually get a vehicle that worked and though we were a little late back to the ship, managed to complete their tour nonetheless.

Sailing just after sunset, the locals must have been wondering what was going on, as the Cruise Department were hosting a “Pirates of the Caribbean” themed deck party with a sumptuous BBQ feast laid on by the Food and Beverage Team before hand to ensure that none of our “Pirates” would suffer from scurvy!

On leaving Funchal there was just the small task of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean before our next port of call. The 2620 nautical mile trip (just over 3000 statute miles), would take us the better part of a week to complete, with 6 full sea days in between for our passengers to relax and enjoy before being compelled to experience the culture of the next foreign land.

Following the route taken by sailors of old, with a strong wind on the quarter, and a favourable current, the ships engines were not required to labour hard to make our pre-arranged arrival time. The steady wind of 20-25 knots that remained during the crossing was reduced to an apparent breeze across the decks once the vessels 16 knots or so had been taken into account. With most days spent in sunshine and only a low swell of 3-6 feet gently moving the ship from the perpendicular, this has to be one of the best North Atlantic crossings I’ve had, a sentiment shared by many of our repeat circumnavigators.

A narrow buoyed channel leading in from the sea at Fort James, almost straight to the finger pier that would be our moorings for the day, marks the run into St John’s harbour. Another cruise ship, the Braemar, already occupied the southern side of the pier, so we tied up on the north side and ran the gangway out in the morning sunshine. No doubt there would be many passengers itching to place foot upon land again after six sea days - there would certainly be many crew looking to escape the confines of the ship for a few hours.

The vessels compliment taking leave ashore in Antigua usually divide in two if leaving the vicinity of the island’s capital, half head north to Dickenson’s Bay for a day on the beach whilst the other half head south to Shirley Heights, English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard.

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to take up a spare seat on the helicopter trip to look at the island of Montserrat. The helicopter took off from north of St. John’s, flying over the harbour where the ship was moored and out across the see to beleaguered volcanic island. As the island drew nearer the stark grey of the path of the more recent and devastating pyroclastic flows stood in stark contrast to the lush green of the rest of the island. In July 1995 the Soufriere Hills volcano had been quiet for centuries, before it rumbled into life and began an eruption, which eventually buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in more than 12 metres (39 ft) of mud and destroyed its airport, docking facilities and rendered the southern half of the island uninhabitable.

We flew over the remains of the buildings and the apocalyptic scene was revealed to us with the smell of sulphur dioxide unpleasantly invading our nostrils. The volcano has been quiet now since 2010, and a new capitol is being constructed in the North of the island for the remaining 5000 inhabitants of the British Overseas Territory. We then retraced our flight path past the smouldering volcano and over the area where there was once an airport and headed back towards Antigua.

Christopher Columbus named the island "Antigua" in 1493 in honour of the "Virgin of the Old Cathedral" found in Seville Cathedral in southern Spain. On his 1493 voyage, honouring a vow, he named many islands after different aspects of St. Mary, including Montserrat and Guadaloupe.

In 1632, a group of English colonists left St. Kitts to settle on Antigua. Sir Christopher Codrington, an Englishman, established the first permanent European settlement. From that point on, Antigua’s history took a dramatic turn. Codrington guided development on the island as a profitable sugar colony. For a large portion of Antigua’s history, the island was considered Britain's "Gateway to the Caribbean". It was located on the major sailing routes among the region's resource-rich colonies. Lord Horatio Nelson, a major figure in Antigua history, arrived in the late 18th century to preserve the island's commercial shipping prowess. Now of course it was our “Gateway to the Caribbean”, for our time spent in the warm tropical waters during this section of our journey around the world.

On departing Southampton for the start of the World Cruise, the weather had abated and the transformation compared to 24 hours ago was spectacular. Only the day before, winds gusting up to 60 knots had been experienced in the port creating all sorts of problems for the shipping within its limits. “What a difference a day makes” as the song says.

Taking advantage of the now clement weather, we slipped our lines and backed out of the Ocean Terminal berth, into Southampton water, swinging the bow to starboard inside the line of the red port hand lateral marks (buoys) that marked the shallow waters beyond and the bit that we didn’t want to be in! With the turn competed and both engines propelling us ahead, I handed the Ship to the pilot to take out past Fawley Oil Terminal, and through the Calshot turn, rounding Castle Point, and on down towards the East Lepe Buoy where he disembarked.

We then proceeded down the Needles Channel, west of the Isle of Wight and out into the English Channel. Evidence of the recent storms were still in evidence in the form of the Southwest Shingles buoy having been relocated by mother nature nearly half a mile from her normal mooring - that signifies the extremity of the Shingles Bank and its shallow water. Looking back at the shore lights and the silhouette of the shore, the Saga Ruby bid farewell to the UK for 114 nights.

The passage down to Funchal through the Bay of Biscay and west of the Portuguese mainland was largely calm. There was a little movement around the Ile d’Ouessant traffic separation scheme with a 6-9 ft swell, but beyond that the passage was fine with the air temperature gradually warming as we approached our first port of call for the 2012 World Cruise.

We’d picked up a favourable current for most of the passage, as well as taking advantage of the following wind as used in the days of sail for ships heading out to the West Indies and the New World. With such favourable conditions we were in danger of arriving too early despite the engines being kept at their lowest sea speed. Deciding to take the pilot 30 mins ahead of schedule, I approached the harbour and stoped just outside of the breakwaters reach. Pivoting on the spot using the bow thruster and engines, we completed a 180 degree turn and backed up to the berth in calm conditions before making fast alongside.

In contrast to over 250 passengers completing the full world cruise, we also had just over 150 on for the short run down to Madeira, most of which were new to cruising. So we bid fairwell to them in the hope that their short holiday with us would kindle an interest to sail with us again. We wished them a safe and pleasant onward journey.

The Saga Pearl II was due in to Funchal at lunchtime having also made passage from Southampton on the start of her Caribbean Calypso cruise. She actually departed 2 hours ahead of us but would arrive some 4 hours after us after we overtook her on the second night. Despite being an older vessel, the Saga Ruby still has the legs on her younger and smaller sibling due to a finer hull form and a few extra horses propelling her through the seas!

Funchal itself has become quite familaiar to us during the last few weeks having called in on the Christmas cruise, as well as visiting the bay to view the New Year fireworks, so I’ll not risk repeating myself with my usual blurb on local history. The weather was fabulous and needlesstosay the port proved to be a big success with our remaining globe trotters.

Having left the haven of the port of Lisbon is was not long before Saga Ruby Started to feel the effects of the Atlantic’s latest storm, way up to the NNW and causing mayhem across the UK. Despite the winds being nothing more than a breath along the coast of Northern Portugal, the swell was 12ft and short enough to cause discomfort, emanating from the low pressure system over 1000 miles away.

The approach to Leixoes was made all the more awkward by the fact that the outer harbour wall runs parallel to the shore line, ensuring that ships entering the harbour have to approach with the Atlantic swell on their “beam”. With the active stabilisers housed in order to board the pilot and to berth, this meant significant rolling was unavoidable. Fortunately the early hour meant that most passengers would still be sleeping and safely in bed. Only a short distance from the beach before entering the shelter of the outer harbour you could see and hear the waves breaking, the power and uniformity of the break would have had most surfers drooling back home in Cornwall. Whilst onboard Saga Ruby the Crew in the Galley would no doubt be cursing its effect on the vessel and scurrying around to ensure that breakfast and lunch wasn’t going to be some sort of mixed hash with scrambled everything!

Leixoes is the port for Porto, and the second largest city in Portugal. Located along the Douro river estuary, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its Latin name, Portus Cale, has been referred to as the origin for the name "Portugal," based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese the name of the city is spelled with a definite article as "o Porto". Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and is referred to as "Oporto" in modern literature and by many speakers.

One of Portugal's internationally famous exports, port wine, is named for Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the adegas of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the production and export of the fortified wine.

We were not the only Saga Ship to be in Leixoes (pronounced like “delicious” but without the “de”), on the 3rd. Saga Pearl II arrived shortly after us and moored along the adjacent berth, offering passengers and crew alike the chance to catch up with old friends on each other’s ship, or generally just have a look around. I met up with Wesley Dunlop, the current Master on the Saga Pearl II, a friend and colleague whom I first sailed on Saga Rose on the 2005 World Cruise and have sailed with many times before we were both promoted to Master.

Whilst our passengers were off ashore in Port or on tour, my biggest concern was the size of the swell and the weather forecast in the Bay of Biscay and western approaches to the English Channel. Fortunately our schedule was not to tight for time and speed for this passage which afforded me the opportunity to delay sailing by 5 hours until 2300 allowing our passengers the chance to dine in comfort and see the evening’s magic show (slight of hand can be tricky when you have to use one to hold on to something to remain steady), as well as extending “shore leave” for those who wished to spend more time ashore.

According to the computer program we use onboard that provides a simulation of the sea state and swell, this would also mean that the expected sea would be vastly improved, with the worst of it having passed through. Though I expected it to be uncomfortable for 36 hours, and passengers were warned about moderate movement I was confident that everything possible to mitigate nature’s hand was done. And with a slight tweak to the passage plan in order to hug the UK coast between Start Point and the Isle of Wight, thus obtaining shelter from the swell, I was confident that the last night of the cruise would be a smooth one.

On leaving Lanzarote our next port of call was to be Lisbon. But instead of taking a direct route we headed back to Funchal in order to celebrate New Year in style under a canopy of fireworks. Funchal’s New Year’s Eve fire works are world famous and set the World Record for the biggest number of fireworks used in a single display, 66326, which were used on New Years Eve 2006. Of course you do have to feel for the adjudicator from the Guinness Book of Records that had to verify it!

Arriving 5 miles South of the breakwater at 2200, we slowly proceeded close into harbour and positioned ourselves to best observe the display. Eight other Cruise Ships were alongside, or at anchor including the Saga Pearl II as well as a couple of others remaining “underway”, but stopped like ourselves. At approximately 1.5 nautical miles from the harbour, and just before midnight, I turned the vessel using the engines and bow thruster to present the stern towards the focal point of where the firework display would be, so that our passengers could enjoy the spectacle from the lido deck and preview bar balconies.

Counting down the turn of the New Year, having carefully synchronised my watch to the second with Greenwich Mean Time, the bell and whistle were readied. In good maritime tradition the oldest crewmember was ready to ring out the old year and the youngest crewmember was ready to ring in the New Year on the ships bell, whilst Rhys, our Safety Officer stood poised with his finger over the button to sound the ships whistles which were both active for that little bit of extra oomph.
As midnight struck and the cacophony of noise sounded from the ships sound signal apparatus, broadcast over the PA system, the first of the fireworks lit up the sky.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The fireworks continued to light the sky in a myriad of colour, whilst the small explosions as each firework burst into colour, resonated around the bay like a war zone in the middle of a firefight. After 7 or 8 minutes of the constant bombardment, there was a few seconds of silence as the smoke dissipated before the whistles of all the ships in the harbour, at anchor, and in the bay sounded a discordant fanfare. I gave the order for both engines to go ahead, and the Saga Ruby resumed passage to Lisbon.

Lisbon, in my opinion, is one of the most spectacular ports to sail into in Europe. Alongside Venice and Valletta it is one of my favourites, though admittedly less challenging. The pilot boards just off of the symbolic Belem Tower, before you sail past the statue of Henry the Navigator, and under the 25th April Bridge with the statue of Christ looking down from the Southern Bank. Then its just a case of making a wide turn using the breadth of the Tagus and allowing for the strong tidal currents, before docking at the Alcantara Passenger Terminal in the shadow of the Bridge that draws comparisons to the San Francisco Bridge in its visual impact.

The day in Lisbon turned out to be a fine sunny day, although at 8 degrees Celsius (degrees Fahrenheit), it was a lot cooler than we’d had for a while. During the evening sail out there was hardly a breath of wind too, which is more than could be said for the UK and Eire that were getting a bit of a battering. In fact the weather system effecting home, was generating quite a swell that was going to make for a less than comfortable return across the Bay of Biscay after our next port.