Saga Ruby Captain's blog

After three glorious days at sea cruising the Whitsunday Passage and Great Barrier Reef we reached Cairns, our final port of call for the Saga Ruby in Australia.

Cairns, one of the most popular tourist cities in the whole of North Queensland, has a firmly established reputation for tourism. Located on the shores of Trinity Bay, Cairns has a backdrop of jungle-covered mountains. Their peaks are often shrouded in cloud, giving visitors a feeling of being on a tropical island.

Today was that typical scene as we slowed down to embarks our harbor pilot and sailed up the long and relatively shallow channel to our berth. There was a strong ebb tide flowing so I used to tugs to assist with swinging the Saga Ruby around and bringing her to our designated quay.

We arrived alongside at 9.15am and as soon as the ship was cleared by the local officials the passengers headed out to enjoy their shore excursions. Options included City Tour & Skyrail, Port Douglas, Green Island or Rainforestation.
The local forecast was for intermittent rain showers later in the day. We certainly had that; allegedly they have in excess of 2 meters of rain per year. I think we had 50% of that today and I thought it only rained that heavily in the Welsh valleys!
Incidentally the Welsh gang onboard was delighted to hear that we won the “Triple Crown”. That will go down well at the St.David’s Day party tomorrow.

Anyway, despite to cloud bursts of torrential rain everyone enjoyed the visit to Cairns and are sad to be leaving Australia for another year as we slipped our ropes at 6.0pm.
Our next stop is Bitung – Indonesia. Until then have a good weekend.

Greetings from the beautiful port of Sydney - Australia.

Today my wife and joined the Saga Ruby for the second half of the 2012 Round the World Cruise. We were both quite weary from the long and tedious flight from London but our spirits soon lifted as we sighted the elegant and distinctive profile of the Saga Ruby alongside the prime berth at Circular Quay. Once onboard we were greeted by welcoming and smiling faces of the loyal ship’s crew who we hadn’t seen for over three years. It was hard to believe that I was last here in 2009. My how quickly the time has passed!

Anyway, my first priority was to re-familiarize myself with the ship’s operation and after a good hand-over I took over command from Captain Steve Angove. The next challenge was to find all my uniform which had been transferred from the Saga Pearl II and more recently, from my last command, the Spirit of Adventure. Mark Santonil, our housekeeper, had it all, well nearly all, ready and waiting for my arrival. A quick “press” in the excellent ship’s laundry in no time at all I was back in a smartly pressed white tropical uniform.

After a Navigation briefing with my Bridge team of Officers and meeting Captain David Sanguinetti, our Great Barrier Reef Pilot I was ready for sailing on our next leg to Cairns.Whilst all this was going on, in the Engine Room, Chief Engineer Phil Jevons, who also joined from leave today, was busy with his team getting the engines ready from the 3 day hard slog against the counter current that runs down the Queensland coast.

In the Hotel, Marco Ciraulo, Hotel Director, was making sure that our newly joined passengers were settling in well. Working with our ship’s agents was Annie Popova, our Chief Purser, ensuring that the paperwork was completed for a timely manner for our departure this evening. Also newly joined from the UK is our Cruise Director, John Parton and together with his team he was busy meeting and greeting the newly joined guests. As soon every newly joined passenger was accounted for we carried out a Boat Drill to ensure that everyone was familiar with our Emergency procedures.

As the sun set over the magnificent Sydney harbor, guests were getting ready for an early dinner and then a short walk over to the nearby world famous Sydney Opera. A grand evening performance of Giacomo Puccin’s last opera “Turandot” was awaiting them and a fitting finale to the memorable call to Sydney. With everyone back on board by 11.30pm the ropes were slipped and we graciously sailed quietly out of the berth, leaving the Harbour Bridge in our wake we waved good bye to one of the most spectacular ports in the world!

Cairns next stop and restful 3 days as were cruise through the Great Barrier Reef.

From the busiest port in New Zealand, Tauranga, we headed to the largest, Auckland. Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two separate major bodies of water.

Auckland straddles the Auckland Volcanic Field, which has produced about 50 volcanoes. These take the form of cones, lakes, lagoons, islands and depressions, and several have produced extensive lava flows. Most of the cones have been partly or completely quarried away. The individual volcanoes are all considered extinct, although the volcanic field itself is merely dormant. Auckland has at least 14 large lava tube caves which run from the volcanoes down towards the sea.

Unlike the explosive subduction-driven volcanism in the central North Island, Auckland's volcanoes are fuelled entirely by basaltic magma. The most recent and by far the largest volcano, Rangitoto Island, was formed within the last 1000 years, and its eruptions destroyed the Māori settlements on neighbouring Motutapu Island some 700 years ago. Rangitoto's size, its symmetry, its position guarding the entrance to Waitemata Harbour and its visibility from many parts of the Auckland region make it Auckland's most iconic natural feature.

The pilot boarded a little earlier than the planned time of 05:30, and of course it was still dark for our transit to the city from the Pacific Ocean. By a quarter to seven we were all tied up alongside the jetty right in the heart of the city, and just in time to watch the sunrise. The early arrival is unfortunately a necessary evil to prevent disruption to ferry services that run at 0700. 

As I mentioned in my Bay of Islands blog, Auckland was chosen as the new capital after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and transfer of the administration was completed in 1842.

In response to the ongoing rebellion by Hone Heke in the mid 1840s the government encouraged retired but fit British soldiers and their families to migrate to Auckland to form a defense line around the port settlement as garrison soldiers. By the time the first Fencibles arrived in 1848, the rebels in the north had been defeated, so the outlying defensive towns were constructed to the south stretching in a line from the port village of Onehunga in the West, to Howick in the east. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads. In the early 1860s, Auckland became a base against the Maori King Movement. This, and continued road building towards the south into the Waikato, enabled European New Zealanders influence to spread from Auckland. Its population grew fairly rapidly, from 1,500 in 1841 to 12,423 by 1864. Auckland had a far greater population of ex soldiers than other settlements, many of whom were Irish. About 50% of the population was Irish which contrasted heavily with the majority English settlers in Wellington, Christchurch or New Plymouth. Most of the Irish, though not all were from Protestant Ulster. The majority of settlers in the early period were assisted by receiving a cheap passage to New Zealand.

However even in 1840 Port Nicholson, which later became Wellington, was seen as a better choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. Wellington became the capital in 1865.

Nowadays the majority of Aucklands inhabitants claim European, predominantly British, descent, but substantial Māori, Pacific Islander and Asian communities exist as well. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world and a higher proportion of people of Asian origin than the rest of New Zealand, which is clearly evident when walking about the city.

Auckland is also popularly known as the "City of Sails" because the harbour is often dotted with hundreds of yachts and has more per capita than any other city in the world, with around 135,000 yachts. About one in three Auckland households owns a boat. Viaduct Basin also hosted two America's Cup challenges in 2000 and 2003. There are also a large number of sailing clubs in Auckland, as well as Westhaven Marina, the largest of the Southern Hemisphere.

We departed Auckland at 18:00, which enabled passengers to see the transit to the Pacific Ocean in daylight, passing Rangitoto just before dropping off the pilot. Our next stop after a three-day crossing of the Tasman Sea is Sydney, Australia, where I shall be signing over the ship to Captain David Warden-Owen. So this will be my last blog for the 2012 World Cruise, but I shall return to the Saga Ruby on the 30th April when the ship completes her circumnavigation of the world.

The overnight passage from the Bay of Islands to Tauranga was a short but pleasant one, with the food and beverage department taking advantage of the clement weather to stage a BBQ on the Lido Deck for the passengers wishing to experience an evening of alfresco dining.

We picked the pilot up early in the morning just before sunrise a couple of miles from the entrance to the harbour in the shadow of Mount Maunganui, or Mauau, to give it its official Maori name.

The pilotage doesn’t take us into Tauranga itself, but to the berth in the affluent suburb of the same name as the mount, Mount Maunganui. The name Mount Maunganui was a “rebranding” by early developers, changing it from the previous name of Rakataura, a name chosen by the first town board. Mount Maunganui fought fiercely during the 1950’s to retain independence from Tauranga, then failed with the completion of the harbour bridge in 1988.

Once alongside the berth the passengers were free to proceed ashore and the crew remained aboard ready for a port state inspection, which was to include a fire and lifeboat drill. Port state inspections are inspections by the government (or an appointed body that acts on their behalf) of the port in which a ship visits. These inspections are designed to ensure that all ships visiting and operating within the waters of that particular coastal state are safe and operating in accordance with international regulations. Fortunately large groups of countries have got together to form what is termed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), so that a periodical inspection is not required in every separate country, just one within the MOU. New Zealand are part of the Tokyo MOU, as is Australia, which is one of the most prominent MOUs along with the Paris MOU, to which the UK is a member of.

The drill was finished just after 11am, which allowed most of the crew to then go ashore, whilst the rest of the inspection was completed for 2:30 pm. With the inspectors satisfied that indeed the Saga Ruby is “cruising done properly”, the rest of us were able to go about our normal duties.

I decided to head ashore for an hour to take a few photos for this blog. Unfortunately the fine weather of the morning and early afternoon had become more overcast so my photos will not really do Tauranga and Mount Maunganui justice.

Mount Maunganui is located on top of a sand bar that connects Mauao to the mainland, a geographical formation known as a tombolo. Because of this formation, the residents of Mount Maunganui have both a harbour beach (Pilot Bay) and an ocean beach with good surf, within a short distance. At the base of Mauao, the distance between the harbour and ocean side is only a couple of blocks.

The ocean beach has Mauao or Mount Maunganui at its western end, and a man made land bridge connecting Moturiki Island at its eastern end. Mauao is an extinct volcanic cone which rises above the town, but is colloquially known in New Zealand simply as “The Mount”. According to Maori legend, this hill was a pononga, or slave, to a mountain called Otanewainuku. The conical headland which gives the town its name is 761 ft in height, and dominates the mostly flat surrounding countryside. It was formerly a Maori “pa” (a fortified Maori village), and the remains of trenches can be seen in the ridges, as well as ancient shell middens. It is open to the public year round, and is a popular place to either walk around or climb up.

Tauranga, including its wider suburbs, is New Zealand’s busiest port and is situated in the Bay of Plenty. Recently the area has been in the news due to the wreck of the Greek owned container ship “Rena”, which leaked large amounts of fuel when it foundered on Astrolabe Reef less than 12 miles from the shore last year on the October 5. The authorities look to have done an excellent job of cleaning the area and containing the pollution however, as I couldn’t see any traces along the ocean beach. The vessel is still being salvaged - work that probably will take more than another year to complete in order to remove the remaining containers.

Early evening came around too quickly for our passengers and crew alike. The deck crew of the Saga Ruby cast off the lines keeping us in position on the berth and proceeded out to sea, rounding the imposing Mauao before sailing out into the Pacific Ocean once more.

There are only actually five full sea days on the passage from Bora Bora to the Bay of Islands even though it looks like six on the calendar. This is of course due to the fact that we crossed the international dateline and effectively lost the 16th, with everyone having to advance clocks 24 hours on the night of the 15th before retiring.

The passage itself took us through the Cook Islands over the Aguila Fracture Zone, Louisville and Kermadec Ridges and across the Kermadic Trench with depths of water in excess of six miles. Of course that sounds all very dramatic, though in truth, on the surface after passing the Cook Islands, all you see is blue sea!

We also encountered our first proper wet weather on 17th. It had rained hard the night before and the following morning heavy showers and periods of intermittent rain lingered, which lasted into mid afternoon. This was all due to an tropical cyclone, Jasmine, that had been down rated to a tropical storm and was way up to the north effecting Tonga and Fiji more intensely. The sea was still quite reasonable with only a two-metre (6ft) swell to remind everyone that the ship was at sea.

We arrived in the Bay of Islands, making first “landfall” on the coast of New Zealand a little after sunrise, and preceded into the bay to drop anchor a little under three cables (0.3 nautical miles) from the shallows off of the small town of Russell.

The Bay of Islands are in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand close to the northern tip of the country. The bay itself is an irregular 10-mile-wide inlet in the northeastern coast of the island. A natural harbour, it has several arms which extend into the land, notably Waikare Inlet in the south and Kerikeri and Te Puna (Mangonui) inlets in the northwest. The small town of Russell is located at the end of a short peninsula that extends into the bay from the southeast. Several islands lie to the north of this peninsula, notably Urupukapuka Island to the east and Moturoa Island to the north.

The first European to visit the area was Captain Cook, who named the region in 1769. The Bay of Islands was the first area in New Zealand to be settled by Europeans. Whalers arrived towards the end of the 18th century, while the first missionaries settled in 1814. The first full-blooded European child recorded as being born in the country, Thomas King, was born in 1815 at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands.

The Bay of Islands was another place I’d only ever visited the quayside, so I decided to change that today by getting a tender to shore and having a look around. The tender docked at Waitangi and took about 20 minutes from the ship. Waitangi was the original Maori capital and was where the first treaty was signed between the Maori Tribes and the British. The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6, 1840 and conflict between the British Crown and Maori tribes was to some extent inevitable after that. Ostensibly the Treaty established the legal basis for the British presence in New Zealand. It is still seen today as the document that established New Zealand. However, both parties, and indeed most of the signatories, had different understandings of its meaning. The Maori believed that it guaranteed them the continued possession of their land and the preservation of their customs. Many of the British thought that it had opened up the country to mass immigration and settlement. On May 21, 1840, New Zealand was formally annexed by the British Crown and the following year the capital moved to Auckland, some 125 miles south of Waitangi.

From Waitangi there was a shuttle bus into the closest town, Paihia, where ferries run continually to Russell just across the bay. Russell, the first European settlement in New Zealand, boasts the oldest church in New Zealand as well as the first establishment to hold a license to sell alcohol! My first task once landed on the shores in Russell was to climb Maiki Hill also known as Flagstaff Hill and the focus of the Flagstaff War (also known as Hone Heke's Rebellion, or the Northern War), which was fought between 11 March 1845 and 11 January 1846 in and around the Bay of Islands.

The conflict is best remembered for the actions of Hone Heke who challenged the authority of the British by cutting down the flagstaff on Flagstaff Hill. The flagstaff had been a gift from Hone Heke to James Busby, the first British Resident. The Northern War involved many major actions, including the battle at Russell on March 11, 1845 which saw a force of about 600 Maori armed with muskets, double-barrelled guns and tomahawks attack Russell resulting in the town evacuating to the ships moored in the bay. The force proceeded to plunder the buildings and most buildings in the north of the town were burned. However Heke had ordered that the southern end of the town, which included the missionaries' homes and the church, should be left untouched.

The next morning, all surviving inhabitants of Russell sailed for Auckland in HMS Hazard, (whose sailors had taken part in the fighting ashore), the 21-gun United States corvette USS St. Louis, the Government brigantine Victoria and the schooner Dolphin. Around 20 Europeans had been killed and a similar number wounded.

To be honest the historical significance of Flagstaff Hill was lost on me, particularly after walking up its steep slopes in the heat of the day. The 360-degree views however were breathtaking, with this beautiful part of the world and stunning blue skies making for a very picturesque sight that is just not quite possible to capture on a camera. In fact acording to a study, the Bay of Islands is supposed to have the second bluest sky in the world, after Rio de Janeiro.

My next task was far less arduous, lunch, which on this occasion was fish and chips from one of the waterfront establishments near the ferry landing back down in Russell. And something I can highly recommend!

With the onset of early evening came our time to depart the Bay of Islands. Once the anchor was aweigh the Saga Ruby retraced her steps, more or less, back out to the Pacific Ocean, deviating from our path on the odd occasion to keep clear of pleasure craft intent on making the most of the perfect sailing conditions.

The overnight passage to Bora Bora took us NW past other islands in the Leeward group of the Society Islands including Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea and Tahaa. A lagoon and a barrier reef surround Bora Bora itself. In the centre of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, which rises to 2385ft above sea level.

There is a narrow channel providing access through the barrier reef, and for vessels of a relatively deep draft like the Saga Ruby, this includes a small chicane before the run to the anchorage of just over a mile. The anchorage itself is very well sheltered though quite small, and care has to be taken to ensure that the anchor is not “let go” near any of the underwater cables that cross to the other small islands within the lagoon. Having been advised where to anchor by our pilot our starboard anchor was let go just 2 ½ cables (0.25 nautical miles, or just over 2 ship lengths) from the harbour complex at Vaitape, the administrative centre for the island and where our tenders would be delivering their precious cargo.

The island was first inhabited by Polynesian settlers around the 4th century. Its previous Polynesian name was Vava'u. As there is no B in the Tahitian language, it is actually called Pora Pora, but early visitors misheard it. The first European sighting was made by Jakob Roggeveen in 1722. James Cook sighted the island in 1770 and landed that same year. The London Missionary Society arrived in 1820 and founded a Protestant church in 1890. Bora Bora was an independent kingdom until 1888 when its last queen Teriimaevarua III was forced to abdicate by the French who annexed the island as a colony.

Following the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, the United States entered World War II. The U.S. chose Bora Bora as a South Pacific military supply base. An oil depot, airstrip, seaplane base and defensive fortifications were constructed. Known as "Operation Bobcat", it maintained a supply force of nine ships, 20,000 tons of equipment and nearly 7,000 men. Seven massive naval cannons were set up at strategic points around the island to protect it against potential military attack.

However, the island saw no combat as the American presence on Bora Bora went uncontested over the course of the war. Although the base was officially closed on June 2, 1946, many American personnel chose to remain on the island. The World War II airstrip, which was never able to accommodate large aircraft, was French Polynesias only international airport until Faa'a International Airport was opened in Papeete, Tahiti in 1960.

Bora Bora is, in my opinion, one of the world’s most beautiful places to visit by cruise ship, though I do have a long list! On my previous visits to Bora Bora I’d been tied up with tender operations as Staff Captain so this was my chance to actually go and see some of the island. Having not been ashore since Balboa on the 25th January, I had to laugh at myself, as my first act of shore leave was to climb into a small boat having negotiated a good price to go snorkeling with stingrays and reef sharks!

There were six of us in the boat from the ship plus two boat crew, and we set off across the lagoon past the Saga Ruby and towards the barrier reef. A small technical problem with the local boat soon had us switching to a slightly smaller vessel fitted with an outrigger on its portside. After the transfer to the new craft we arrived at a spot where numerous stingrays could be seen swimming underneath the boat. The water depth was only about 5ft, and armed with snorkel and mask we all entered the water between the hull and outrigger. One of my hobbies is diving, and I was fortunate enough to have my underwater camera with me on the day, so I set about photographing the fish and stingrays just away from the small boat when about eight reef sharks came to investigate. It is a little disconcerting to say the least being circled by sharks and having them approach you within a couple of feet, even if they were only around 4ft in length.

The stingrays were very friendly too; no doubt encouraged by the food the boat crew feed them on an almost daily basis. In their quest for food the stingrays quite happily brush up and down your legs and body, and almost seem to take pleasure in having their backs stroked, reminding me in many ways of a domestic cat when its feeding time. After over an hour in the water, agog at the variety of marine life, it was time to climb back into the boat and head back to shore. En-route we stopped at a small private island for a quick look around before returning to Vaitape.

Talking with passengers who’d been on the Lagoonarium Experience tour, they’d had a similar experience with the stingrays and had also seen turtles. It was in many respects a shame we couldn’t spend a few days in Bora Bora, with its beautiful scenery and exciting excursions.

Perhaps next time I’ll look at going on an Off Road Adventure, as passengers gave that excursion good reviews too.

It’s almost the same WNW course from Pitcairn to Tahiti with a small adjustment to avoid one of the many atolls en-route. The weather as you would expect was warm and humid but mostly sunny with the odd passing shower. We are back into cyclone territory now as well with sea temperatures approaching warm enough for their formation too, another thing to be on the alert for, and extra vigilance of the vessels meteorological instruments were required.

Before making landfall at Tahiti, we still had not seen any shipping except for that one ship just before Easter Island, so to say our routing is a little off the beaten track is a little bit of an understatement.

Papeete, which means water basket, is a fairly deep harbour encircled to seaward by a reef with a narrow channel providing the only way in or out. We picked up our Pilot a mile or so from the reef and proceeded inward. Just after the reef, ships cross the flight path for the only international airport, Faa’a airport, so co-ordination between port control and air traffic control is a must! The two finger piers that provide the berths for passenger ships in the port have been designed quite well and provide good facilities for visiting ships, evidence of its status as the hub for tourism for the French Polynesian Islands.

Papeete is the capital and administrative centre for the 130 islands that make up French Polynesia. Tahiti itself is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands. The British Explorer, Samuel Wallis, was the first European recorded to have visited Tahiti in 1767, two years before his more famous counterpart, Captain James Cook arrived. French Polynesia is an overseas territory of the French Republic, and Tahiti was annexed by France, becoming first a protectorate in 1842.

Tahiti is 28 miles across at its widest point. The highest peak is Mont Orohena, 7,352 ft. Mount Ronui in the southeast rises to 4,370 ft. The island consists of two roughly round portions centred on volcanic mountains and connected by a short isthmus named after the small town of Taravao, situated there. The northwestern portion is known as Tahiti Nui ("big Tahiti"), while the much smaller southeastern portion is known as Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti"). The interior of Tahiti Nui is almost entirely uninhabited. Tahiti Iti has remained isolated, as its southeastern half is accessible only to those travelling by boat or on foot.

With large parts of the island largely remaining unspoiled, Tahiti's lush rainforests around Mount Orohena provided an ideal destination for our passengers to explore as an alternative to the Lagoon or more famous black sandy beaches which are the usual places one thinks of when picturing Tahiti.

Before the sunset, with all passengers aboard, the Saga Ruby slipped her lines and made for sea through the narrow cut in the reef. The Pilot was to remain with us until our departure from our next port of call, Bora Bora, where we will be tomorrow.

The two and a half day passage from Easter Island to Pitcairn saw a notable change in the weather. Whilst still excellent, humidity levels were noticably higher as we approached Pitcairn and the number of nimbus type clouds was increasing.

We also entered what are effectively UK territorial seas on the day that marked the 60th Anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne on the 6th February. The Pitcairn Islands EEZ, which extends 200 miles from the landmass of the four islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno form a British Overseas Territory with the island of Pitcairn the only one inhabited.

Two days before our arrival we received news from Pitcairn that the excessive rain that the island had been subject to over the previous few days had caused landslip above the harbour at Adamstown and that the islanders were dredging out the harbour and clearing the Road of Difficulty, that leads up to Adamstown, of debris. The islanders were confident that sufficient work could be done in order to launch the longboats but that no other craft would be able to moor in the harbour, curtailing any hope of the possibility of landing passengers. Not that landing passengers was brochured anyway, but occasionally, once in a blue moon, the sea conditions do make it possible.

Pitcairn Island is, of course, most famous for the fact that it is home to the descendants of the Bounty Mutineers and that history is still apparent from the surnames of many of the islanders. 

In 1790, nine of the mutineers from the Bounty and Tahitian companions (six men, 11 women and a baby), some of whom may have been kidnapped from Tahiti, settled on Pitcairn Island and set fire to the Bounty. Although the settlers were able to survive by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among the settlers. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills took the lives of most mutineers and Tahitian men. John Adams and Ned Young turned to the scriptures using the ship's Bible as their guide for a new and peaceful society.

The Pitcairn islanders reported that it was not until 27 December 1795 that the first ship since the Bounty was seen from the island, but as it did not approach the land, they could not make out to what nation it belonged. A second appeared some time in 1801, but did not attempt to communicate with them. A third came sufficiently near to see their habitations, but did not venture to send a boat on shore. The American trading ship, Topaz, was the first to visit the island and communicate with them when they spent 10 hours at Pitcairn in February 1808. A report was forwarded to the Admiralty mentioning the mutineers and a more precise location of the island,  25° 2’ S latitude, 130° W longitude,  however, this rediscovery was not known to Sir Thomas Staines, who commanded a Royal Navy flotilla of two ships which found the island at 25° .4’ S on 17 September 1814. Staines sent a party ashore and wrote a detailed report for the Admiralty. Pitcairn become a British Colony in 1838 and with less than 50 inhabitants is the least populous jurisdiction in the world.

When we first made visual contact with the island on this occasion it was St. Paul’s Point that we saw breaking through the fine rain that was enveloping the island. A short conversation on VHF with the Mayor confirmed that the Pitcairners had indeed cleared their harbour sufficiently enough for them to launch their longboat and come out to us.

As we drew nearer to the island breaks in the cloud and rain appeared and with the locals onboard I decided to slow steam around the island instead of anchoring so that our passengers could see the whole of it. It also afforded us the opportunity to compile some hydrographic information to forward to the Admiralty so that they could look to see if any amendments needed to be promulgated for their charts and other publications. Soundings were logged every six minutes and a large number of photos were taken to provide a record of the island’s topography.

The Saga Ruby circumnavigated the island twice at an average speed of three knots, providing two separate runs of soundings, and affording many photo opportunities for both passengers and the impromptu survey. By the time the second run had started, the sun had taken up a position of dominance in the sky and the rain had disappeared too, making the scars created by the landslip across the islands verdant slops clearly visible, and the blood red soil washed away by the rain could be seen bleeding into the sea and extending up to half a mile offshore near Gudgeon Bay on the west side of the island.

The Pitcairners set up their stalls in the ballroom and the Pitcairn Choir also performed for us before they departed in Bounty Bay whilst I manoeuvred the Saga Ruby to provide a lee. Once they’d all boarded their longboat we set course for Tahiti as the sun set over the water, now also carrying Royal Mail to New Zealand, though not officially able to call ourselves RMS Saga Ruby.

Our voyage from Salaverry included 5 full days at sea, and highlighted the remoteness of this part of the world. Only one ship was sighted during this time, heading to Japan from Chile, and I recall during one lunchtime anouncement to passengers, telling them that the closest point of land was over 1000 nautical miles away. Easter Island’s closest inhabited neighbor is in fact Pitcairn, 1120 nautical miles away and our next stop.

There are steady trade winds from the east, as well as a favourable current that generally prevail from the South American continent across the equitorial and low southern latitudes. The Saga Ruby was able to take advantage of these on the first few days of the passage to Easter Island. The current weakened somewhat the further south we traveled, and the winds became more southeasterly as you would expect for this time of year in a non El Nino year. Sunny days with a cooling breeze allowed passengers the oportunity to work on their sun tan, and the odd passing shower that was sighted rarely crossed our decks during the daytime making for a pleasant journey.

Easter Island, or Isla de Pascua, or Rapa Nui, or Mata ki te rangi, or Te pito o te henua, or Te pito o te kainga a Hau Maka, take your pick, they’re all the same place. The first recorded European visitor was Jacob Roggeveen who landed there on Easter Day 1722 and named it Paasch-Eyland, which is Dutch for Easter Island.

We arrived early in the morning under the cover of darkness but then Easter Island is on Chilean time so the sun wasn’t due to rise until just a few minutes before 8am - it wasn’t really as early as it felt. Choosing to anchor in front of Hanga Roa, the Island’s Capital, we made our approach. The seabed shelves rapidly around the island limiting suitable anchorages, in the space of several ship lengths the depth of water changes from thousands of feet deep, to depths too shallow for a ship of our size…and they are the good anchorages! We anchored about 3½ cables from the shore in 90ft of water, with a swinging circle of 3 cables (a cable is a tenth of a nautical mile, 185m, just shorter than the length of the Saga Ruby) of safe water, using the port anchor. The prevailing wind would be offshore, from the east all day, keeping the bow pointed in the general direction of Tahai, an Ahu or ceremonial platform on which a number of Moai are mounted. The current from the north would ensure that a good lee was provided for our tenders.

Easter Island is a tender port with a reputation for having weather that makes landing passengers a bit hit and miss. I have been there four times including this call and fortunately managed successful operations every time. In fact the weather this time was the best I’d seen, with next to no swell to hamper operations. The tenders all have to have local pilots onboard to provide guidance to the Coxswains as they navigate through the reefs around the harbour. In truth the Coxswains have been here many times before so the guidance is not really necessary, but local regulations dictate that it is a requirement, much like Pilotage in many parts of the world for ships in general.

The large stone statues, or Moai, for which Easter Island is world-famous, were carved from 1100–1680 AD. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues are actually torsos, with most of them ending at the top of the thighs, although a small number of them are complete, with the figures kneeling on bent knees with their hands over their stomachs. Some upright Moai have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils and hence give the impression that they are just heads.

Only a quarter of the statues were installed, while nearly half remained in the quarry at Rano Raraku and the rest sat elsewhere, probably on their way to final locations. The largest Moai ever raised on a platform is known as "Paro" and it weighs 82 tons. It is not yet known how they transported the statues, and the number of statues that appear to be “en-route” would indicate that the problem was not really solved with complete satisfaction, relying on brute force and significant manpower to achieve. In 2011, a large Moai statue was excavated from the ground, suggesting that some of the statues may be much older and larger than previously thought.

During the late afternoon, just before sailing, a local show took place onboard. The traditional Polynesian dancing in feather costumes by the six dancers (three men and three women) was very athletic and high energy telling a local story in a Tamure style. The local musicians gave atmosphere to the performance in the ballroom too, with the traditional songs played in high tempo ensuring that the dancers got a good work out during their 45-minute show.

As the dancing in the ballroom reached a crescendo and concluded to a round of applause, the last of the tenders was being recovered as the Saga Ruby made ready to put to sea. Once the last of the Easter Islanders departed, the anchor was weighed and we set sail once more for the next leg of our Pacific crossing.

It’s not normal for me to submit a blog for a sea. After all, the day to day running of a ship and my administrative duties really wouldn’t make for good reading. Besides if I spent all day writing about it, I’d never get the work done in the first place.

However, on a World Cruise there are quite a number of sea days, and it struck me that a number of people would wonder about them. And more to the point wonder what there is to do for passengers? I thought the best way to describe a day at sea would be to ask someone experiencing it first hand to write a blog about it. So I held an onboard competition, which was won by Judith Almond of Cabin 581.

So here is Judy to answer the question; “What do you do on all those sea days?”

“My dear friends at home, you wanted to know how I spend my days on Saga Ruby, so here goes…

6.45am - There's a gentle tap on my door – “Good morning Mrs Judy” and my coffee tray arrives. Such luxury but essential as it is the only way I can make sure I have got the time right. The clocks go back and forward as we hammer through the sea and time zones. Today is a sea day, no bustle and excitement of excursions, a chance to relax. I shall lie in the sun with a good book, perhaps walk a lap or two round the deck, followed by a siesta after lunch, then a visit to the Ballroom to hear the talented pianist play around 4.15pm - nothing to do with the warm scones, jam and clotted cream tea being served! I’ll also have a chat with friends, a shower and smarten up before dinner and an early night. Yes, I shall chill out as the young say.

But big mistake, I glanced at the Today Programme...

9.00am - It's the end of a sponsored walk, run or jog by the Captain, Officers and Staff round the Promenade Deck to raise money for the RNLI SOS Fund – I must be there to cheer the last ones on. Then I might as well join the Beanbag Boules at 9.15am to see if I can do better than last time. Then it is a talk by our South American Heritage Lecturer – I  must go to that before coffee with the Singleton Travellers, it’s always a good chat and a laugh. I must get to the craft session next to make a necklace and remember to take the birthday card from the last time to finish. There are an incredible variety of crafts to try under a husband and wife team, all materials supplied free of charge. I’ll then just fit in another lecture by our Military Historian, his talks backed up by some fantastic old photos and pictures.

12.30pm - A Quick lunch; freshly made curry and all the trimmings and a selection of tropical fruits, trying to keep my eyes off the array of puddings, and on to the art class. There’s so much talent but plenty of help for those like me without. I managed to remove a flower or two from the lavish table arrangements to add to my Ascot hat I am making for a competition - I must find time to finish it. Men can be seen about the ship carrying various bits and pieces of wood, paper, plastic, coke cans… etc. They go back to their cabins to build a boat, hope they do not start dismantling a lifeboat.

Just time to drop the art stuff back in the cabin and off to another good lecture by our Aviation Specialist about the Red Arrows. It’s very funny and informative, those pilots must be mad. I shall now treat myself to a sit in the sun and watch the sea. No sign of flying fish today, but what a colour it is, deep blue to almost black, trimmed with white lace, lifting the ship on the swells effortlessly - such power. Midday information from the Bridge: that it is 2,700 metres deep under us.

I sit in the sun for a rather long, luckily I woke in time to go to another lecture, a very popular series by a young woman educationalist, whose subjects range from how to deal with teenagers, the differences between men and women (you would be surprised!) and today ‘Genius or Madness’. She always has us in fits of laughter.

5.30pm - A quick cup of tea, off to shower and change for the evening. The dress code today is informal but the ladies always look pretty smart to me, which is nice.

6.15pm – I meet up with friends from my table, all women and travelling alone who have become such good companions. We have a cocktail on the Upper Deck and watch the sunset; all shades from yellow, orange, deep pink and finally purple. It’s so warm tonight, so we decide to eat on deck. A table is brought out and laid up for us, a glass of chilled wine, lobster in a cream sauce, I won’t mention the pudding, and we sit under the stars and watch the moon come out.

I could have gone to a Classical Concert followed by a Saga Ruby special cabaret and Showtime, but I am writing this in my bed. I realise I only scratched the surface of what I could have done today, from dancing to darts, card games to film and, puzzles and quizzes. My eyes won’t stay open now and tomorrow is another day…love to you all…Judy x “

Captain Steve Angove & passenger, Judy Almond,