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30 ft Seas and Pearl Leaves Vancouver! HAL remains at dock.

MR NW GUY

By MR NW GUY,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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MR NW GUY

MR NW GUY

Posted
Posted

Wishing everyone on the Pearl a safe voyage...

 

30- foot Seas off the Washington coast.

 

NOAH REPORT:

SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE

HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE

MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.

 

 

 

PZZ081-301015-

CAPE FLATTERY TO CAPE LOOKOUT-

304 PM PDT SUN SEP 29 2013

 

STORM WARNING

 

 

TONIGHT

W TO SW WINDS 40 TO 50 KT...BECOMING W TO NW 45 TO 60

KT IN THE EVENING...THEN BECOMING W AND DIMINISHING TO 30 TO 40

KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 18 TO 30 FT. RAIN AND CHANCE OF TSTMS

WITH VSBY 1 NM OR LESS.

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c-legs

c-legs

Posted
Posted

I was stunned when I saw her leave this afternoon, in the face of weather systems that keep hollering '' s t a y p u t !!! "....Had she not been berthed at Bannantyne pier, might have been a different story : that pier is not a ''really practical'' operationnal port and only used once or twice a year at repo time. Not exactly a pier set up to handle overnights, long stays, etc....

IMO, she's ''flying'' down to Seattle for shelter until this massive weather system abades. Won't be a pleasant ride for sure as the winds funnel up the Georgia strait....but will be at least tolerable, compared to what ships would experience once past Juan de Fuca strait and Cape Flahertty ,in the open Pacific. Nobody is sailing there tonight !!

Oosterdam is staying put in Seattle, and , imo again, Sapphire Princess is tied up in Victoria-Ogden Point for the night.

Westerdam and Statendam, moored at Canada Place ( fully equipped...)are not going anywhere until Mother Nature relents....

Cheers

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snoodqueen

snoodqueen

Posted
Posted
I was stunned when I saw her leave this afternoon, in the face of weather systems that keep hollering '' s t a y p u t !!! "....Had she not been berthed at Bannantyne pier, might have been a different story : that pier is not a ''really practical'' operationnal port and only used once or twice a year at repo time. Not exactly a pier set up to handle overnights, long stays, etc....

IMO, she's ''flying'' down to Seattle for shelter until this massive weather system abades. Won't be a pleasant ride for sure as the winds funnel up the Georgia strait....but will be at least tolerable, compared to what ships would experience once past Juan de Fuca strait and Cape Flahertty ,in the open Pacific. Nobody is sailing there tonight !!

Oosterdam is staying put in Seattle, and , imo again, Sapphire Princess is tied up in Victoria-Ogden Point for the night.

Westerdam and Statendam, moored at Canada Place ( fully equipped...)are not going anywhere until Mother Nature relents....

Cheers

 

Ships have overnighted at Ballantyne before. There have also been 'wet' docks lasting well over a week so staying put would not be an issue.

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c-legs

c-legs

Posted
Posted

I might have been wrong in my initial opinion...as at 5 minutes ago, she was close to 20kn ,entering Juan de Fuca strait and tracking to starboard and towards Ogden Point ( pilot's drop ) and Cape Flaherty.

Perhaps the worse of the storm in that area is not severe enough to curtail navigation....Oh well, perhaps her bridge crew and local pilot knew something the HAL's equivalent didn't.....perhaps Miami rolled the dice and told them to go for it, where Seattle took a different view...( same routing as both Westerdam and Statendam were scheduled for Astoria and SanFransisco respectively....)...I wonder if USCG takes a hands off approach in these cases ( would be surprising....).

It'll be interesting to see if Sapphire Princess leaves Ogden Point later ( her next call is Seattle....).

Cheers

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Old As Dirt Mom

Old As Dirt Mom

Posted
Posted

If the Pearl is heading out to the Straits and Cape Flattery and the open seas they're nuts. Winds predicted to be 40 to 50 knots, seas 15 feet building to 25 feet overnight, according to NOAA:

 

 

"...STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM PDT MONDAY...

 

* WIND...EAST WIND 30 TO 40 KNOTS SHIFTING TO WEST 40 TO 50 KNOTS

THIS EVENING.

 

* SEAS...AT THE WEST ENTRANCE COMBINED SEAS 15 FEET BUILDING TO 25

FEET OVERNIGHT. IN THE CENTRAL STRAIT WIND WAVES 6 TO 10 FEET.

 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

 

A STORM WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 48 TO 63 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR

OCCURRING. RECREATIONAL BOATERS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT...OR TAKE

SHELTER UNTIL WIND AND SEAS SUBSIDE. COMMERCIAL VESSELS SHOULD

PREPARE FOR VERY STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS SEA CONDITIONS...AND

CONSIDER REMAINING IN PORT OR TAKING SHELTER IN PORT UNTIL WIND

AND SEAS SUBSIDE."

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billie5

billie5

Posted
Posted
..... Perhaps the worse of the storm in that area is not severe enough to curtail navigation....Oh well, perhaps her bridge crew and local pilot knew something the HAL's equivalent didn't.....perhaps Miami rolled the dice and told them to go for it, where Seattle took a different view...( same routing as both Westerdam and Statendam were scheduled for Astoria and SanFransisco respectively....)...I wonder if USCG takes a hands off approach in these cases ( would be surprising....).......

 

Different ships have different abilities to handle heavy seas. Most unlikely that HAL was in the dark about any aspect of the weather.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

Posted
Posted
Different ships have different abilities to handle heavy seas. Most unlikely that HAL was in the dark about any aspect of the weather.

 

I always wonder how these "cruise" ships really handle nasty weather. Top heavy, not much draft to them; do they start bobbing around like a cork or what? I know QM2 was designed as a ocean liner and not a "faux" liner (cruise ship made to look like an ocean liner) because of this concern and the fact that runs so much open waters.

 

I'd love to do a repo (in fact this NCL itinerary looks awesome) or trans-atlantic but have my concerns that the ships are not well suited to the weather. Experience anyone?'

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frankc98376

frankc98376

Posted
Posted
Different ships have different abilities to handle heavy seas. Most unlikely that HAL was in the dark about any aspect of the weather.

 

 

I'm sure the HAL ships could handle rough weather. I was on Statendam in 95 with 30-35 foot seas in an unexpected storm- no fun but she handled it fine. I've been sailing with HAL since late 70's and have always noticed that they always err toward caution. Might be the Dutch way. One CD told me they avoid that type of weather primarily for passenger comfort.

Besides. I'm sure the crew would rather avoid all of that cleanup.....

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www3traveler Holiday Sharing Rare

www3traveler

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Posted

Still shots is all you get. The Cam has been down since very early Saturday morning, so even this much is good. It is going to be a rough ride until sometime late this afternoon. Most of the storm system has come ashore and is in land by over a hundred miles. I am a little over 390 miles inland from the mouth of The Columbia River and we are beginning to get hit.

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Victoria_BC_Mom

Victoria_BC_Mom

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My son is on this ship. He phoned at 7pm last night and said that it wasn't too bad yet, but they were still in the straight with their escort. He said that the window in their room had been boarded shut because they were expecting strong winds. Astoria had informed them that they would not be sending a pilot boat, so they would not be able to land there.

 

His first cruise - what a way to experience cruising.

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www3traveler Holiday Sharing Rare

www3traveler

Posted
Posted
My son is on this ship. He phoned at 7pm last night and said that it wasn't too bad yet, but they were still in the straight with their escort. He said that the window in their room had been boarded shut because they were expecting strong winds. Astoria had informed them that they would not be sending a pilot boat, so they would not be able to land there.

 

His first cruise - what a way to experience cruising.

Yes, the Coast Guard and the Bar Pilots in Astoria have closed the Columbia River Bar until further notice.

 

How are you folks doing this morning? I would that at least some of your weather has settled.

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WaldosPepper

WaldosPepper

Posted
Posted
Just checked webcam for the Dawn and it shows calm seas and a time of 11:29 am and that's not possible. Time should be 9:29 am.

 

http://www.cruise-cams.com/pages/norwegian_cruise_line_(ncl)_norwegian_dawn_web_cam_zoom.htm

 

If I'm missing something or totally wrong here, let me know!

 

The Dawn is sailing the east coast right now, so the time is correct.

 

The Jewel, Pearl and Sun are all in the west at this time.

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www3traveler Holiday Sharing Rare

www3traveler

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Just checked the Pearl Bow Web Cam, She is still in some pretty rough seas. It might not settled down for another four to six hours. At least She is on the back side of this very ugly storm system.

 

It is rare for the Pacific Northwest to have a system like this now, more typical of November, December and January. I hope this is NOT an indication of what this winter will be like. For those of you in the Pacific Northwest, please stay safe.

 

Mandy

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