We are half-way across the north Pacific and our route to Hawaii from San Diego. I mentioned in my last post that I was not going to take the ‘direct’ route towards Hilo; instead I had to head south-west, making as best speed as possible in order to avoid extreme weather on our intended track.
A snapshot. The most direct track is the upper one, the lower one is the track we actually took. The red area is the worst of the storm, where seas were 8m or 36 feet. We encountered 6m for a while, however ‘dodged’ the worst of it.
It involved almost 300 miles extra distance, however it would make matters far more comfortable for all of us on board. Prior to leaving San Diego we went to ‘Red’ securing, ensuring that everything that could move was as secure as possible. It can sometimes seem ‘overkill’ however it is always prudent to do so, weather forecasts are reasonably accurate nowadays, but one can never tell, mother Nature has a way of biting one’s backside if one let’s your guard down. The Pacific always has some swell, it’s inevitable in such a vast area. I crossed from San Diego to Hawaii frequently, when on the “Statendam” and one never forgets the Pacific’s idiosyncrasies.
As I write, we are still ‘moving’, however the stabilisers are reducing the motion of the “Amsterdam” and, of course, we have some experienced guests, some actually look forward to the rough weather! 😉 We are through the worst and the above video is by way of an experiment, insomuch I thought videos would make a nice addition to my posts, only I wasn’t sure how to do it, much research later, I believe I have ‘cracked’ it, so there will be more.
Despite the weather and the ‘rockin’ and rollin’ all has continued on board. Events and social functions included and our 2nd Captain’s dinner, with another in 2 days time, the night before reach Hilo. One never realises just how vast the Pacific Ocean is until one crosses it, we have days at sea, with but relatively brief stops at Hilo and Honolulu before sailing another 2,000 miles to Majuro, a Pacific atoll in the Marshall Islands. Being an avid history buff I am looking forward to this and our future calls at Guam and Saipan.
