Pacific Jewel

[The Fox]

When are P&O going to start telling the truth

 

The weather forcast for today in sydney was

Wednesday: NE 15/25 kts. Thursday: N/NE 10/20 kts tending NE 15/25 kts during the afternoon.

 

 

Sydney Coast

Wednesday: NE 20/30 kts. Thursday: N/NE 20/25 kts tending NE 20/30 kts during the afternoon.

 

 

or

Wednesday: Clear. Winds NE averaging up to 35 km/h decreasing below 30 km/h later in the evening. Cloudy. Isolated showers. Winds E/SE averaging up to 25 km/h.

 

and for thursday well more wind and the forcast for tomorrow is much the same if worse then today and is not going to get any better for at least another week.

 

 

Thursday: Sunny. Winds N/NE averaging up to 20 km/h becoming NE up to 30 km/h during the afternoon. Low to Moderate.

 

http://weather.smh.com.au/local.jsp

 

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/sydney/sydney

 

Hi,

 

I have taken my 12 foot tinnie on the harbour in worse conditions than that......gee its scarey if a 70000 ton cruise ship cant handle that....i understand docking could present a minor problem...

 

Col:o

[thied]

Hi,

 

I have taken my 12 foot tinnie on the harbour in worse conditions than that......gee its scarey if a 70000 ton cruise ship cant handle that....i understand docking could present a minor problem...

 

Col:o

Pacific Jewel was booked departure at 5.45 am today, but still no movement yet and high tide is at 11.16 am today those times are sydney times.

[am1984]

Sydney Ports website now shows the Pacific Jewel departure from Dry Dock at 12 noon Today.

[cme2c]

Hi,

 

I have taken my 12 foot tinnie on the harbour in worse conditions than that......gee its scarey if a 70000 ton cruise ship cant handle that....i understand docking could present a minor problem...

 

Col:o

 

The wind is a north easter so I can see how Mrs Macquaries point might be in danger:). However, they have to get it out of there sometime, and as Thied says, the forecast doesn't get any better!

 

Imagine, Captain Cook, after whom the dry dock is named, went around the world on Sail Power. When his ship needed repair , he careened it in in FNQ. Strangely, he missed Sydney Harbour altogether.

[cruiselover53]

I am so glad I am not one of those poor people waiting to hear if their cruise is going ahead on Saturday.What excuse are P&O going to use.Perhaps they can hitch a tow behind the Rhapsody.

[Riffraff]

Ships like Jewel and Dawn are more manouverable the faster they are going. So of course when they are manouvering slowly, they're not as easy to turn quickly. Coming out of dry dock is a slow process, and with the winds gusting, a strong gust will push the ship into the side of the dry dock.

Constant wind would probably be ok, but gusting winds would be a problem. And I think that tugs are required for anything over 15 knots for Jewel, so if the wind is gusting over 35 knots that could be too much.

 

Having said that they can't stay in there forever obviously, so I guess they'll move once the gusts settle down.

According to the schedule she's only going to an anchorage when she comes out anyway, and then sails from the anchorage at 5.45am tomorrow 26/11, then to Glebe Island, and then to Barangaroo 5 once Sun leaves.

[stanc61]

PJ is still aside at Garden Island and the tug Woona is on the move out of Darling Harbour heading who knows where?

[Shiprobbo]

Reading through the above comments, it seems to me that a fair number of you actually want the next Pacific Jewel cruise to be cancelled just so you can say "told you so" and sustain your belief that there is some hidden agenda which P&O are following.

 

For the person who commented that they have taken their tinnie out is worse wind than on the harbour at the moment - Mate your tinney does not have the windage of a 70,000 tonne cruise liner. To others, backing out of the tight confines of a drydock is not like backing a car out of the garage. If it is too windy then the Captain will make a judgement call based on the advise of the pilot, an taking into consideration the availability of tugs to steady as she goes astern - a ship moving astern at slow speed, or even forward at slow speed, is not at its most manouverable. The captain will not however consider the thoughts of posters here as to whether to move his ship as I am sure he has significantly more experience than the combined wisdom.

 

Folks, all I can say is wake up to yourselves, the ship will move as and when the captain and crew decide it is time, I'm sure you wouldn't want it to hit the side of the dock as it comes out, then again I'm actually sure some of you would!

[Drelix]

honestly I would like to see it move and i hope it is ok but i am not rushing it i would rather it go when it is ready.

[stanc61]

Woona has changed direction and gone around Goat island and heading into Mort Bay. no sign off any movement.

 

As for your post shiprobbo: Reading through the above comments, it seems to me that a fair number of you actually want the next Pacific Jewel cruise to be cancelled just so you can say "told you so" and sustain your belief that there is some hidden agenda which P&O are following.

 

I cant see where anyone has made comments of doom, just observations and P&O have not been entirely honest with their replies to some peoples direct questions and not once have they yet confirmed that PJ is OK. I personally want the ship back at sea for the sake of my work colleague who actually commenced her holidays yesterday and is already looking at alternate arrangements just in case; because P&O will not give her an assurance that J036 will go ahead.

[bobsydney]

Sydney Ports website now shows the Pacific Jewel departure from Dry Dock at 12 noon Today.

 

But hasn't happened ... FWIW, latest advice from a P&O operator (from a FB posting) is that it will hopefully be sometime this afternoon (my emphasis) ... not particularly reassuring for pax due to embark on Saturday.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Sandielle]

Riffraff and Shiprobbo, it is wonderful to read your non-judgmental and learned comments. :)

 

I am sure P&O has more to lose than any passengers but they are not stupid enough to take any risks with either passengers or ship. I don't know why people accuse them of not telling the truth. No point in that as 'fibbers' always get found out eventually! :cool:

 

Let's hope all will be OK on Saturday.

[Drelix]

What site are you watching to see if it moved is it http://marinetraffic.com ?

[bobsydney]

What site are you watching to see if it moved is it http://marinetraffic.com ?

 

 

I'm using the naked eye ... my office is in the MLC Centre so I have been seeing Pacific Jewel every time I look out the windo over the past few weeks.

 

I do have marinetraffic.com in my favourites list though, but I find its updates tend to be a little behind real time.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Sandielle]

Yes Drelix, that's the one and it's also on the Sydney webcam site:

 

http://www.sydney-webcam.com/index.php?nav=shipping

[cme2c]

Firstly, I really REALLY want Jewel to be up, running, shipshape and Bristol fashion. I'm booked to sail on her in a month's time;)

 

Secondly, I looked at the BOM observations for Fort Denison. At 7:00 am (the original time of departure ) winds were 2 km/hr, gusting to 6 km/hr. At 1:00 pm they were 20 km/hr, gusting to 32 km/hr :eek: from NE, that is, almost directly on her beam. Not ideal conditions to move something that has the effective sail area of a Sydney -Hobart fleet at 0.5 kt. (the Pacific Jewel, not the Yachts!)

 

Thirdly, I think lying is too harsh a term. In Sandielle's post yesterday P&O used the term "as soon as we can" . I'm sure that's just what they mean. Unless the winds abate, I can't see anything happening today.

 

John the armchair expert.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

You can see the front of the ship from the YHA cam

 

http://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/sydney-surrounds/sydney-harbour/

 

 

 

Is she actually floating in the drydock yet?

 

That might give a clue as to whether she is leaving or not.

[The_Big_M]

I personally want the ship back at sea for the sake of my work colleague who actually commenced her holidays yesterday and is already looking at alternate arrangements just in case; because P&O will not give her an assurance that J036 will go ahead.

 

Because they can't. To do that, they need to test the ship, and because they're being help up by the wind, they can't do that yet.

 

That's the reality of the situation. It doesn't appear there is anything to cause doubt, but equally you can't say everything will work when it hasn't been tested yet.

[bobsydney]

Is she actually floating in the drydock yet?

 

That might give a clue as to whether she is leaving or not.

 

I would say definitely yes, she is floating and has been for quite a long time ... she is actually very high against the surrounding landscape ... I can see all the windows on deck 6 and part of the windows on deck 5 and that's over the top of the surrounding Garden Island buildings.

 

Wish I had a camera with me.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Sandielle]

 

Thirdly, I think lying is too harsh a term. In Sandielle's post yesterday P&O used the term "as soon as we can" . I'm sure that's just what they mean. Unless the winds abate, I can't see anything happening today.

John the armchair expert.

 

I was referring to a poster asking when P&O will tell the truth! I don't think that was a fair question. If that is not accusing them of lying, what is?

It has been obvious to me all along - and I do not profess to be very knowledgeable on these matters - that P&O can't tell for sure whether the cruise will leave on time UNTIL the sea trials have been carried out.

[am1984]

You can see the front of the ship from the YHA cam

 

Is she actually floating in the drydock yet?

 

That might give a clue as to whether she is leaving or not.

 

Towards the end the video

posted by P&O earlier this week it shows the dock being filled & the Pacific Jewel floating in the water.

[cme2c]

Sandielle, I may not have put it too well, but I was actually agreeing with you.

 

John.

[bobsydney]

Because they can't. To do that, they need to test the ship, and because they're being help up by the wind, they can't do that yet.

 

That's the reality of the situation. It doesn't appear there is anything to cause doubt, but equally you can't say everything will work when it hasn't been tested yet.

 

Spot on. It's really no different to when your car is repaired ... the mechanic will always take it for a test drive to make sure everything is running properly before he hands it back over to you. And that is what P&O is doing, and until everything checks out, there is a degree of uncertainty about whether PJ will sail on schedule. But there is still plenty of time yet before she needs to be at Barangaroo to pick up passengers.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Sandielle]

Towards the end the video

posted by P&O earlier this week it shows the dock being filled & the Pacific Jewel floating in the water.

 

That was good spotting Alan. I didn't notice that before. It's a shame there is no web cam that shows the dock.

[bobsydney]

That was good spotting Alan. I didn't notice that before. It's a shame there is no web cam that shows the dock.

 

As the dry dock is in a military zone, I am sure there a lots and lots of video surveillence cameras that show the ship and dock ... unfortunately, none of them are public.