Travel chapter 10
At sea between Casablanca and Dakar, February 7.
We reboarded the ship in Casablanca on time and again just before a huge rain downfall. All students and adults made it back on the ship in time. On this ship, everybody has to be on board the ship 2 hours before sailing time. Everyone, including adults, is subject to penalties if they do not make the deadline unless they are on a ship organized trip which returns late. The penalty is called:dock time. This implies that if one is late at a port, one is not allowed to go ashore for a determined number of hours depending on how late one was. It is a system which forces everybody to make every effort to be back by the time the ship leaves. As ships have fixed schedules to keep, if a passenger does not make it back to the ship their passport is left with the local agent and the passenger then has to make his or her own way to the next port. And this would also result in severe dock time penalties in addition to the embarrassment and the costs involved.
Before we pulled out of Casablanca harbor, the captain announced twice that due to heavy seas and the fact that the stabilizers would not be extended until well clear of the harbor, he expected serious rolling of the ship again. By this time, people took his announcement seriously after the mess our arrival made. We headed up to the 7th deck lounge for the departure and ship gently eased away from the pier. In the harbor, the water was calm as we made our way to the mouth of the harbor and the high seas. As we cleared the last wave breaker, the ship started again to roll very sharply to left and right reaching 28 or 29 degrees of list in both directions. In our lounge, chairs started to slide and people had to hang on tightly to the small tables which were secured to the deck. Many of the students sat on the floor in the main lobby using each other as support. The whole ordeal lasted only 10 minutes but caused huge damage around the ship and several people were injured by sliding or loose furniture. The toll was a cut head, a broken wrist and several leg and shoulder injuries. The roll was such that on the 7th deck one had the impression that the ship would roll all the way to its side. Of course, this did not happen but it was impressive.
Obviously, the port of Casablanca has a design fault if such waves occur so close to the harbor entrance. But also, it is clear that the ship crew did not do a very good job in securing the ship for this event. One has to wonder why they were not better prepared. The damage in several cabins was also quite extensive with TVs and computers flying off desks. I had luckily secured my laptop under our bed as everything on our desk and night table was on the floor when we got back to the cabin. Even the mini-fridge which is lodged in the wall above our chest of drawers came out of its hole and did not break only because the drawer below the fridge also opened and caught the fridge before it fell to the ground. Clearly these waves were much higher than is normal, but one wonders why these objects have not been properly secured. The ship has been around for 10 years and one wonders how much damage could have been avoided.
Then after a period which seemed quite a bit longer than it really was, the fins came out and the roll was reduced to more manageable proportions. One could now move around but one had to hold on to the rails to avoid being pitched against a wall or against an other person. So was the adventure of Casablanca.
We have steamed south now for 2 days and the seas have become gradually calmer. The winds have died down and the sun is again warm enough to lie out which the students are doing en masse. Yesterday afternoon, we passed close to the Canary Islands. It was a clear afternoon and one saw both of the big islands which are part of Spain. Now we are heading for Dakar where we will stop tomorrow to take on fuel for the last leg of the trip to Namibia where we will arrive in 7 days. At Dakar, we will not get off the ship as we would not get to Namibia in time to meet the schedule. We are steaming at 25 knots or 28 miles per hour which is fast for a cruise ship of this size. The ship can actually do 30 knots but its fuel consumption almost doubles. But this fast speed allows this ship to make destinations others would not reach in time to be able to stop for several days.
Classes have resumed after a period of 10 days and the school routine sets in again. Most people are operating at full tilt as the sea is quite smooth with gently rolling from ground swell. By now, most people have their sea legs and are starting to enjoy the pleasant days at sea that such a trip affords. Classes take place everyday while at sea so in this leg; there will be 9 days of class straight. This can be strenuous for both Profs and students as each class requires reading. However, on this trip, the students are allowed to drink almost every evening with a limitation of 2 bear per person. This controlled by issuing ration cards which are stamped each time a bear is ordered. It seems to work but when 500 students are standing around on the pool deck, it would be hard to control whether some students are not providing their beers to others.
One of the sad results of having more drinking evenings than on previous voyages (when there would be 1 beer night a week), is that the evening events are no longer well attended. Last evening after dinner, there was a session in the main union auditorium for students to tell of their experiences in Spain and Morocco. B and Emmett went and report that there were only 40 students. On previous voyages, these debriefing sessions were packed and the students exchanged some amazing travel stories. It is too bad as these stories enriched the experience of the places visited. Emmett got up and gave his views on Spain and Morocco noting how friendly the people of Moroccan had been, in his experience.
On my way back to the cabin, I went through the pool deck and I estimate that there were at least 450 to 500 students there having a beer or two. I guess the kids have their priorities but the travel story tradition which will get lost because of this change of policy.
Thats it for today. Must go off and attend a class.
Cheers
Alexander NIcolas Graf Keyserlingk,
Aboard the good ship Explorer
Somewhere going around the world in 104 days.
Time of my email Greenwich Mean Time
1 comment:
Thanks for your warnings about the approach to Casablanca. I am looking at one of the summer trips around the Mediterranean which includes a stop in Morocco.
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