Travel chapter 10 Rock and Roll again

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 TV’s 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.
That’s 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

Travel Chapter 9 Morocco

Travel Chapter 9
Our visit to Morocco

At sea off the coast of Morocco.

Due to some very rough weather, our departure from Gibraltar was delayed causing us to arrive in Casablanca 18 hours behind schedule. The winds and waves on the way from Gibraltar to Casablanca reached 9 meters at times and the ship really rocked and rolled, pitched and yawed and whatever else a ship can do. We approached the entrance of the Casa harbor about 7 pm. The captain came on the loudspeaker to announce that he would have to retract the stabilizer fins when approaching the harbor and that the ship would start to rock seriously.  The stabilizer fins are actually fins which can be extended from the sides of the ship and act to reduce the amount of roll of the ship by counterbalancing the movement of the ship. This allows the ship to move ahead without reaching any great angles of roll. About 10 minutes after this announcement, at a time when many were still having dinner, the ship commenced to heel over to almost 30 degrees. Brigitte, Emmett and I had immediately gone up to the 7th deck lounge to watch the entry. We had to hang on with all our strength to the tables in the lounge which are fixed to the floor. The ship heeled over to a point that it was a little unnerving, particularly from this high point of the 7th deck. In fact, the result of this was that the ship lost many glasses and crockery as the kitchen crew did not have time to secure everything. Why the captain did not give more notice of the upcoming rolling is not known. He certainly new he would be retracting the fins and one wonders why he gave notice only 10 minutes before the event.

Once into the harbor, the water was calm. We learnt that the storm had caused enormous damage in Morocco, with flooding, heavy winds and snow in the Atlas Mountains. In fact, we learnt later that the local travel people had already scrubbed all our tours as they did not think we would make the harbor because of the storm.  But we did, we tied up and everybody got an early night. The trip I had booked had been a 3 night bus trip to Marrakesh, Essaouri, Safi and back to Casa. In fact, the first night was dropped from the tour and we were scheduled out the next morning early. I had looked into organizing our own trip to the same destinations but car rentals in Morocco were so expensive, I could not do it cheaper than the trip offered by the ship.

You can see pictures of our Moroccan trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/Morocco?authkey=xEJ_4JP0x2c&feat=directlink. The next morning at 8am we loaded on the bus with 40 other students and adults and headed for Marrakesh, a 3 hour drive from Casa. We had an excellent Moroccan guide with us who gave us a very good introduction to the country. We arrived in Marrakesh and had an hour walking through the main square and into the souk. The main square of Marrakesh is a huge flat area about the size of 3 football fields. It is an amazing area where all sorts of activities can be found from snake charmers to monkey trainers to groups singing and merchants selling their wares. The square is surrounded by a covered souk, or market place where there are hundreds of little stores side by side. The labyrinth of alleyways can be very disorienting and one can easily get lost as there are no reference points. 

After a good Moroccan lunch of couscous with lamb at a very traditional restaurant, we were back for another tour of the main place. As the trip time had been shortened we had little time on our own. By 6 pm we were at our hotel where we checked in for the night. Dinner was not scheduled until later that evening so Emmett and I set off to reconnoiter the area which was a shopping and residential area, away from the centre. We had been charged by B to find some small colored glass vases to add to her collection.  We came across a fine store selling all sorts of typical handicraft of the country. We looked for the glass vases but found none. Emmett had expressed an interest in buying a Jebella, which are long robes with a hood which is the typical garment worn by men in Morocco. We casually asked whether they had any and of course, they did and they had many. I had given Emmett instructions in bargaining and he took to the art of bargaining like a fish to water. He tried on various garments until he found one he like, he then enquired the price and indicated that that was far too expensive. As there was no other clients in the store, we now had 3 people dealing with the Jebella purchase and Emmett was having a wonderful time as he could finally use his French with these people. After quite some time and even more price reductions he arrived at a price which was agreeable to all. He then put on his Jebella and seemed quite proud of his new garb.   I bought a few long dresses, called booboos for Brigitte and Emmett added a pair of Moroccan slippers to his collection. We then went back to the hotel, Emmett looking like a local in his hooded garb. He was quite the hit at dinner when he appeared wearing it as well as his new slippers.

The next morning we boarded the bus and headed to the coast to visit Essaouri, a beach and resort area already built up and where the Moroccan government intends to invest some US$ 1.8 billion more in developing the tourist infrastructure.   We visited the medina which is the old walled city and reboarded the bus to Safi where we spent the night in a strange hotel from city center which had no facilities. So we all went to bed early as there was nothing else to do.  They did not even have internet connection.

The next morning we headed north towards Casa but stopped in the city of El Jadida where there is a very well preserved city built by the Portuguese. There is even a huge water cistern built by the Portuguese in the 16th century which was only rediscoved in the later part of the 20th century. The whole old walled city is a UNESCO world heritage site and is well worth the visit. We reboarded the bus and headed for the harbor where we loaded back on the ship.

The trip was a good view of Morocco and certainly gave everybody a good sense of the country. It is a huge country which is endowed with a temperate climate and huge gently rolling valleys which go from the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic. It is a fairly intensely cultivated country which exports it vegetables and fruits to Europe in the winter season. The politics seem reasonable with a king who seems to be doing the right things and who is liked, perhaps not loved, by his people. It is one of the most westernized Muslim countries which has a history and tradition of openness and hospitality. It has the problem many developing countries are facing of having a population of which over 50% is under 25 with high unemployment. Given it heavy reliance on tourism, Morocco will suffer until Europe gets over the current crisis.

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

Travel Chapter 8-- Cocoon Effect

SAS Travelogue Chapter 8
At sea off the coast of Morocco
February 5, 2009

We are currently just out of the harbor of Casablanca heading south towards Namibia. The sea is rough so there will be a lot of heavy sleeping by some and others will feel a bit or very woozy. The sickness bags are out everywhere just in case.

We just spent 3 days traveling around Morocco and I intend to report on this in the next chapter. 

For this chapter, I want to write about the cocoon effect of taking long voyages has on travelers. Despite having fairly small cabins, it does not take long for passengers to develop a strong attachment to their cabins and to the ship itself. It becomes a comfortable environment where one's world is secure in the four walls of the cabin as well as in the public spaces which become more and more one's home away from home. As one starts to get to know more and more fellow passengers, other adults and students, the sense of community builds a fairly tight bond to the ship and shipboard life. One of the features of this cocoon effect is that one feels some apprehension to leave the ship when one arrives in a new port. All of a sudden, one is forced to leave this known environment to confront new and challenging situations. I presume prisoners in a jail develop similar feelings while locked up and when the time comes to leave the prison.

On board the ship, the routine is known, the classes take place at fixed times and the day is structured which already gives a sense of comfort. Meals happen, meetings take place one is not confronted with a world where all sorts of things can and do happen which were not in the daily program. 

We have only been on voyage for 2 weeks and already this evening on returning from 3 days ashore, the students were commenting how happy they were to be getting back on board. They were saying that they were looking forward to being in their cabins and catching up with their fellow students they had not seen for 3 days!! And they only met their fellow students 2 weeks ago. It is interesting how such common and shared experiences can weld people together and create a shared world. I will be watching this effect in the course of this trip as I have watched it before. By the end of the voyage, very strong friendships have been built during the time in the cocoon.
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

Travel Chapter 7-- Hanging out off Gibraltar

Travel Chapter 7

Well, at sea everything can and does change. When we left last evening, Saturday January 31, we were headed for Gibraltar 100 nautical miles (115 normal miles) down the coast from Cadiz. The night was rough and things were falling off shelves as we are on the edge of a huge low pressure area just off the coast of southern Spain. We rocked and rolled but this morning we awoke to rough sees, rain and no visibility. We were in a holding pattern in the Med waiting for the weather to lift so we could get a fuel tender to come alongside and give us a load of bunker, or fuel. Around noon, the weather lifted and the sun came out but the winds were still howling. We steamed into the bay at the foot of Gibraltar and had a wonderful view of the great rock. At 5pm the fuel ship came alongside but 2 hours later it left as the seas were deemed too rough for refueling.

The whole idea of coming to Gibraltar was we need fuel to allow us to get to Dakar Senegal our next expected fueling point. Of course, the ship was in Cadiz for 4 days and surely it could have taken on fuel there. The reason we were given was that fuel in Gibraltar is cheaper.

But now we have been holding our position for almost 24 hours as we cannot anchor and I am sure any fuel savings have been consumed in just sitting here waiting. This evening it was announced that there will be another fueling attempt tomorrow if the seas quiet down but that is not expected to happen until later in the day. This means that will be arriving in Casablanca our next port at least 12 hours late and perhaps 24 hours. On a long voyage like this one can expect this kind of incident but it causes havoc with all the land arrangements the ship and the passengers have made. The original plan had been to arrive early tomorrow morning in Casa and most of the arranged trips were to leave by noon. We had booked onto a 3 night trip to Marrakesh and Essaouri. Now we are unsure what the arrangements will be but luckily that is a trip the ship organized and they will have to figure out what to do. Being on a ship, such an event is so much easier to deal with than a delay when flying. On the ship, it only means an extra day at sea, time to read, to chat, to nap and catch up with blogs all in the comfort of the great ship facilities. I would take a ship delay any time compared to sitting around an airport for hours on end with no place to relax.

This evening the ship is abuzz as there have been indications that the ship may get a signal allowing it to broadcast the super bowl. The students are all sitting around hoping to hear. Of course, as we are now 6 hours ahead of Florida, the game itself will not be played until 3 or 4 am. One kid I met at the purser’s office was seeing if he could purchase 300 minutes of internet time (at $ 250) so that he could watch it on his computer. He was fully garbed in a Pittsburg uniform which is a dead giveaway..

This evening the dean organized the second reception for the adults in the adult lounge, this time to welcome a new lecturer who lives in Morocco. The first time they held such a reception, we were not sure whether Emmett should also come but we brought him anyway as he is a full paying passenger. He loved it and spent his time chatting with various ladies in his usual suave manner. He has always been at ease with adults and being on the ship is no exception. No one minded and so he again came to the reception this evening. Up to now, he has not bonded with the college students and we hope he will eventually so that he can enjoy the student life. He does attend a 2 or 3 classes, interestingly these are science classes. Perhaps he will find his interest in the sciences later in his study life. This is one of the advantages for him to be on this trip as he can sit in on classes and get a sense of what is covered in various courses. He is also doing the reading assigned to him by his teachers back in Montreal.

Enough for today, I want to take a last look of Gibraltar all lit up at night.
We just left Casablanca. More on that later.
Cheers