Rick Steves Blog on Cruising

[MMDown Under]

http://blog.ricksteves.com/

 

An example of an interesting read -

 

It's a special honor to be on the bridge with the captain when leaving a port, and I was there to bid farewell to my favorite port — Istanbul. The captain was very gracious and generous with me. He explained the process with the local pilot (who knows his home port intimately); told me about the wind, the current, and the uncontrollable ferries of the Bosphorus; and handed me a nice cup of coffee. Knowing how my dad always loved to be "on the bridge" in his boat — a 38-foot-yacht that seemed so big to me growing up but would fit three times across on this bridge — I felt my dad was with me in spirit. • The Turkish pilot bundled in like a doctor making a house call. The captain was nervously chewing his gum while he and the pilot huddled to chat about the wind and current. (A 15-story-tall ship catches the wind like a huge sail.) The Turkish pilot asked, "What's your power?" Considering his 100,000-horsepower thrust, the captain responded, "I could pull your pier out to sea." • The Bosphorus was churning with ferries and littered with fishing boats — "countless uncontrollable little boats," the captain called them. A security guard, arms folded, stood under a sign carved in wood that read "Eternal Vigilance Is the Price of Safety." The captain touched few controls on the bridge. He just barked out coordinates and commands. In spite of wind, current, and the confusion of boats, our ship majestically maneuvered out of port, heading south down the Bosphorus. Eventually — after an hour of urban sprawl — the city of 14 million was no more to be seen.

Interesting comment that "A 15 story tall ship catches the wind like a huge sale". I have often wondered if the design/size of a ship affects its ability to get into and out of a port, in difficult sailing conditions.

[Sven51]

Hi Marion,

Interesting to read. Our Xmas cruise last year on the Dawn Princess was an example of this.

We berthed in Napier and the wind was blowing from the starboard side.

There were 3 tugs on the port side for the entire day pushing the Dawn against the pier despite all of the mooring hawsers.

[bazzaw]

There were 3 tugs on the port side for the entire day pushing the Dawn against the pier despite all of the mooring hawsers.

 

That would have been to protect the wharf!!

[ceejay3377]

We were stuck at Luganville until midnight several years ago. This was on the Pac Sun, and the wind was too strong for the ship to manoeuvre away from the dock. And on our recent Pac Dawn cruise from Portside we didn't sail until about 6pm (instead of 2pm) because of the wind. (Although I didn't think it was all that windy, but it is a tight manoeuvre out of there).