Tracking Patrick Maclean up the Amazon

Patrick Maclean, Press Officer for the Oban Lifeboat and its former coxswain, is an inveterate traveller, constantly weaving  new journeys back into seas, routes and ports once travelled in his life as a former senior member of the merchant navy. Last night he got home to Oban, having berthed at Southampton that morning, back from the Amazon.

Patrick agreed to keep a diary for us on this cruise, seeing himself and Liz, his wife, sailing well up river into the Amazon rain forest area. Because of a catastrophic drought in 2010, the largest rainforest in the world actually gave odd more carbon dioxide than it absorbed -  because so many if its trees dried and died.

On this cruise, Patrick’s main target was the four Amazon ports they were to go in to (a typical Amazon river boat is pictured above). Last year he went through the Panama Canal for the first time, an adventure which did not happen during his service in the merchant navy and which he had long wanted to add to his portfolio of first hand maritime experiences.

Patrick and Liz sailed from Southampton at 17.45 on  30th January and Patrick starts his diary immediately below, with a typical ‘couple of at-sea’ days, to carry the sense of the experience of cruising.

First instalment

‘On 31st January, we rounded Ushant at 08.00,  leaving it 37 miles off to port and doing abut 16.5 knots. The Bay of Biscay was unusually calm for this time of year, a little cloudy, with light Northwesterly winds.

‘We went to lectures during the day, some to prepare for the first port of call – Funchal in Madeira, then went to the Captain’s cocktail party before dinner, followed by evening showtime with a violinist, singer and comedienne.

‘On 1st February we rounded Cape Finisterre about 08.00, heading SW at 16 knots with Force 4 winds from the Northwest -  therefore we are travelling in still air.  It’s a beautiful sunny day. Up at 08.00, shower then breakfast.  10.00 was a wildlife lecture ant another on The World is Flat at 11.0011  follwoed by a concert from 12.00 to 12.45  with the Rosario Trio before lunch on deck.

‘After lunch we took to loungers (as in photograph above) and read until 14.45. This beautiful weather came after only 40 hours out of Southampton.

‘At 15.00 we went to a lecture on The Titanic Conspiracy, with at 16.00 a classical concert and a cocktail party at 17.30 hosted by travel Company ROL.   At 20.00 we listened to the Rosario Trio again and then had dinner at 20.30. At 20.30 it was evening Showtime in the Neptune Lounge until 23.30.  Bed? Perhaps. Or a piano player in the observatory for a while? Who said being on holiday was easy?

‘On 2nd February we passed Cape St Vincent – or  Cabo de São Vincente, at around 08.00, at a distance of about 240 nautical miles off, still heading SW at 16 Knots or just over 18mph. Slightly cloudy but pleasant shirtsleeves weather on deck.

On 3rd February we berthed in Funchal ,Madeira at 08.00 – dead on time. Weather slightly overcast, temperature 17 degrees.

‘We’re about to go ashore and will find a Macdonald’s to send and receive emails before exploring.

‘Reports will always be of the last port we’ve been in – and the next one is Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands.’

Second instalment

By this stage,  Patrick was already having to use all of his legendary ingenuity to keep the reports coming in from the variety of places he’s visiting en route.

3rd February 2011

Berthed in Funchal Madeira at 8 AM, dead on time.   Slightly overcast, temp 17 degrees.   Going ashore and will find a Mcdonald’s to send and receive emails before exploring.   Emails sent over a coffee.   Took a bus up to the village of Monte high above Funchal -  stunning views over the town.   Explored the Church.   Discovered that the boater wearing sledgemen (below), who offer rides down the steep hill back to Funchal, park their hats and bags in the window gratings while enjoying a libation in the local hostelry.   We declined that mode of transport and set off walking back.   About one third of the way down, with the steepness causing painful knees, we gave up and took the bus back down as we had a further walk back to the ship.  Approaching the new passenger terminal we found ourselves walking along a wavy line worked into the block paving.   Presumably returning drunken sailors might feel that, by following it, they were, in fact, walking a straight line! Following a late lunch we lounged on deck reading until sailing time approached.   While we were on deck a replica of Columbus’s “Santa Maria” (top photo) motored past with a crowd of tourists aboard.   It is hard to believe that such a tiny vessel made such a voyage.   Just before 6 PM we cast off for Mindelo in the Cape Verde islands, ETA 0800 on Sunday 6^th.   The evening show featured an incredible magician/illusionist, Rick Green.

4th February 2011

0800 beautiful day. We are some 65 miles West of the Canaries heading SSW at 18 knots.   It promises to be another beautiful day.

NE trade wind blowing about force four on our port quarter.   Midday temperature 72 deg F.   Usual entertainment, lectures, music, stretching out on deck and culminating in the evening show with an excellent comedian.   Clocks to be retarded one hour at 2 AM

5th February 2011

Captain’s 9 AM broadcast has us still heading SSW at about 18 knots some 340 nautical miles west of Mauretania.   Slightly hazy day with the NE trade now about force six on the port quarter.   Midday temperature 75 deg F.   ETA Mindelo   8AM tomorrow.   Mindelo, a town of some 70,000, is one of the largest in the Cape Verde Islands and, due to its stragetic position was once an important coaling station.  Following the decline of coal fired ships the port’s fortunes have declined. (The photograph above  shows a possible maritime arrest, glimpsed at Mindelo.)

6th February 2011

Up at 7 AM to get photos of Mindelo from the sea but too much haze.  Wnd still a fresh easterly blowing a good force six. Many ships anchored off.   Picked up the pilot at 7 45 from what must be the world’s tattiest pilot boat (above) and berthed at 8 AM precisely.   On the next finger is a very familiar vessel, the ex Cal Mac ferry Iona (below), which later served in Orkney as the Pentalina B, the name she still carries today.   Walked into Mindelo this morning.   Election day on a Sunday – not the best time to be here as almost everything is shut.   Rather a poor town though there is some new development.   Could not find any WIFI so I shall send this from the ship.   Visibility now very poor, about two miles, due to the haze.   The Captain said the haze was due to dust from the Sahara but I’m sure it is just humidity.   Saharan dust tends to be slightly pink.   Still a pleasant force six from the East which has kept the temperature down to about 76F – warm enough for me though I expect the Amazon to be much hotter and much more humid.   We shall spend the rest of the day lazing around the ship.

The next instalment will be from Santarem on the Amazon.

Fifth and final instalment

And the next instalment wasn’t from Santarem after all. Patrick Maclean’s best efforts were jinxed in cyberspace. He sent several instalments in, never got any acknowledgment of receipt, never saw them appear on the site – and realised that whatever was going on, his emails were not arriving with us.

Not a man to be defeated, Patrick tried all sorts of routines to try and get material through, even recruiting ships’ officers to help by sending emails for him through their own system. Nothing worked.

He arrived back in Southampton on the morning of 6th March, got back to Oban that night and emailed his final instalment first thing yesterday morning, 7th March.

We’ve been taking time to get the chronology of the material we now have into order for this final publication – so now, over to Patrick.

24th February 2011

(The photograph above shows the Roman Catholic Cathedral and school in St Vincent.)

Docked in St John’s Antigua just after 7 AM    Up sharp for breakfast and off on a tour to the forts, Shirley Heights, English Harbour (below) and Nelson’s dockyard.   Nelson’s dockyard is fascinating with many buildings still in regular use though now mostly tourist orientated.   The careening slope and the capstans used to haul the ships over to be careened are restored and the pillars which supported the huge sail loft are still complete.   There is a lot of history here and the harbour is superbly secret.   Back to the ship for lunch and then a short run ashore before sailing.   There will be a sail away party on deck and then we have four sea days before reaching for Ponta Delgada in the Azores, our last port before returning to Southampton on March 6^th.   Later – Ate on deck again then went to the evening show which was excellent.

25th February 2011

Clocks advanced on hour at 2.00 AM.   We are now three hours after GMT. As we head east clocks will be advanced each 15 degrees of longitude until we return to GMT approaching the UK.  9 AM – Captain’s broadcast.   Our current longitude is around 58 Deg and he promises us a good day with a moderate NEasterly breeze.   We are currently heading ENE and the air and sea temperatures are 79 deg.   Ate on deck again at lunchtime.   Classical concert given by an excellent pianist in the afternoon.   Dinner in the Tintagel restaurant, formal, then on to the evening show, a James Bond theme.

26th February 2011

(The photograph above shows a new captain berthing the Boudicca in Tobago.)

Another typical sea day.   Read on deck between talks.  The noon position put us at longitude 50 deg. West so I suspect that we shall have a clock change tonight.   If so, there will be a note through our door this evening and it will also be in tomorrow’s Daily Times (example pictured above).  This will be placed on our pillow when the beds are turned down and it will give us all the details of tomorrow’s programme.  We went  to a concert given in the late afternoon by the resident Rosario Trio.   The theatre was packed and they were given a standing ovation, well deserved.  Though they play at various times throughout the day this was the first concert they had given and it would appear that the management were very much taken aback by the tremendous reaction so, though it is late in the cruise, I suspect that it will not be the last.   Ate in the dining room tonight and went to the show – a comedian/pianist who was very good.   Clocks to be advanced one hour at 2 AM as expected.

27th February 2011

The Captain’s 9 AM announcement promised us a Northerly gale throughout the day, moderating tomorrow, and we have some motion but not too much as we have reduced speed slightly to 14.5 knots.   From the point of view of avoiding the motion the best cabins to have are near the middle of the ship and as low as possible.   Just aft of midships is best.   Ironically, those who pay the most have the highest cabins and consequently the greatest motion.   As they say “you pay for the sway”, firstly in cash and, secondly, in a greater likelihood of discomfort in poor weather.   Cabins at the ends of the ship have most motion when pitching and, on propeller driven ships, the aftermost cabins can be subject to prop noise, a sort of slapping sound.   This is less marked  on more modern ships driven by “pods”.   Pods are rather like the bottom end of an outboard engine and some can be rotated through 360 degrees giving much increased manoeuverability.   For instance, the QM2 has three bow thrusters forward and four pods aft, two fixed and two capable of being rotated.   As a result she can manoeuvre without tugs in winds of up to 27 knots.

We have just heard that the inter departmental tug of war competition planned for the afternoon has been cancelled due to the weather as have the dance classes.   A film has been substituted.

28th February 2011

(The photograph above shows river boats loading and unloading at Manaus.)

The wind has moderated slightly to force 6 to seven and it has veered Easterly and is now on our starboard bow.

The plans for today are quite different with a Country Fayre planned in the Neptune Lounge for this afternoon.   First thing this morning a lie of coins was started on deck three and, after the first hour this had extended up the starboard stairs to deck nine and back down the port side.   It is now running up the stairwell for the second time.   The proceeds in sterling and euros go to an orphanage in Cebu, Phillipines with the sundry coins and dollars going to the RNLI,  Fred. Olsen’s main charity.   Many of the crew are from the Phillipines.

The whole event has been a huge success with a large numbers of stalls, raffles etc with Fred.Olsen putting up a large number of prizes and items for sale including a mini cruise as a raffle prize.  In addition, all collections following the Sunday services also go to the RNLI.

We later learned that a total of over £5,000 had been raised.

1st March 2011

Weather has moderated today and we learned that, as there is to be a strike in Ponta Delgada (above, in the Azores) commencing at 5 PM tomorrow, we have increased speed to 18.5 knots to arrive three hours earlier.

A wild life talk this morning was followed by “Can’t Cook Won’t Cook” featuring the executive chef, the comedian and singer/comedian.   This was great fun with constant banter between the comedians eg. “How do we find Madeira?   Captain says no problem – it’s a piece of cake”

2nd March 2011

9.00 AM   Docked in Ponta Delgada, Azores and went ashore after breakfast.   This is quite the most beautiful town we have visited this trip.   Most buildings are white and detailed in basalt and most town centre streets and squares are paved with white marble and basalt mosaics.   Traffic is light and the drivers restrained and courteous.   Following an hour or more wandering the town we took a taxi trip inland to visit the flooded volcano calderas, a very spectacular site.   We sailed at 4.30 and, after skirting round the east end of the island, set course for Ushant.   The course from Antigua to the Azores an on to Ushant is almost a straight line.   We now have only three sea days left until we dock at Southampton at 7 AM on Sunday 6^th.

3rd March 2011

9.00 AM  Heading NE into a slight NEasterly sea and swell.   Another typical sea day with all the usual entertainments.

4th March 2011

Clocks advanced one hour at 2 AM bringing us back to GMT.    The Captain’s 9 AM report puts us 230 miles west of Cape Finsterre ie. entering the west of the Bay of Biscay.

We attended the Captain’s farewell cocktail party before dinner and then went to the crew show, one of the highlights of the trip.

5th March 2011

(Above: This was a classroom in Boca de Valeria.)

The last sea day   Passed Ushant in mid morning and the noon position put us 59 miles from Bishop’s Rock lighthouse off the Scillies.   We had the passengers’ talent show this afternoon which was, surprisingly, very good.   It can be dire!   There was also a large exhibition of paintings from the watercolour classes which had been running throughout the cruise.   All cases, apart from carry on bags are to be placed outside the cabins before 1 AM.

6th March 2011

(Above: Tapping a Rubber Tree.)

Disembarkation day.   We picked up the Pilot off Nab Tower at 4.30 AM and were berthed n Southampton Cruise Terminal just after 7.   As we must vacate our cabin by 8 AM we take our small bags to breakfast with us and then assemble in the Neptune lounge.   The procedure is very well organised with passengers from the various decks being called in rotation.   In the cruise terminal all the cases are waiting in rows deck by deck and soon after 9 AM we are in a taxi bound for the airport to await our flight to Glasgow and thence by bus to Oban.   It is all over!

Why Cruise?

We first cruised about four years ago.   Liz had spotted a cruise in the Queen Mary 2 from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco via Cape Horn calling at Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Valparaiso and Acapulco, including return flights.  I was not keen as, having served in the merchant navy many years ago, I felt that, with over twenty sea days, these would seem like as many Sundays at sea.  Furthermore, neither of us is interested in sunbathing.   I just could not see the point.

I have to hold my hands up and say that I have never been so wrong and, after the first sea day, I was hooked and would not really have minded if we had not seen another port.   I had not appreciated the huge and varied nature of the entertainment provided.   There were lectures on diverse subjects by excellent speakers, films, a planetarium, classical concerts with the artists changing every few ports, an excellent string quartet playing in different parts of the ship during the day and evening, a production company putting on lavish shows in the evening, a well stocked library and all this in addition to all the usual shipboard activities.

We were immediately struck by the number of passengers who were seasoned cruisers and for whom cruising had become the holiday of choice.   With the exception of shore tours, drinks and some of the more specialised entertainment such as whiskey or wine tasting, the holiday is all-inclusive.

Why Fred. Olsen?

Following our QM2 cruise we enjoyed an 11 day cruise from Bergen up the coast of Norway, round the North Cape and back to Bergen with Hurtigruten – which was excellent, calling at thirty four ports each way.   Though as much a ferry as a cruise ship the ship, the ‘Norddcap’ was extremely comfortable with excellent food.   The principal difference in this trip was that there is no onboard entertainment.   With so many ports there is no need or, indeed, time.  The time in port varied between fifteen minutes and five hours.

Our next cruise was into the Baltic aboard the ‘Marco Polo’, a very beautiful and quite elderly, ship which has undergone an extensive re-fit.   Among the many ports visited in the eleven days was St Petersburg, an amazing experience.

Since then all our cruises, with one exception, have been with Fred. Olsen, this being our sixth with them.   Their four ships are relatively small in comparison to many, twenty four to forty three thousand tons, accommodating eight hundred to twelve hundred passengers, but they are attractive vessels unlike the “blocks of flats”, as many describe some of the mammoth cruise ships which take up to five thousand passengers.

Two advantages of these smaller ships are that they can get alongside in most ports avoiding the hassle of using the tenders and they can also visit the smaller places the larger vessels cannot enter.   Our only recent cruise which was not with Fred. Olsen was a transatlantic from New York to Southampton on the QM2 which proved a bit of a disappointment after out previous experience.   The quality of the entertainment and, in particular, some of the musicians, was not what we had expected so I do not think we shall be returning to Cunard.

If there is a downside to Fred. Olsen it might be that younger passengers might find the age range to be a little elderly for them.   This does not concern us as we find that the company fits the bill for us and the quality is very consistent.   The upside is that the large number of ‘repeaters’ tends to create an excellent atmosphere aboard the ships with many passengers and crew known to each other.   Crewmembers also seem to have a strong loyalty to the company with many having worked for Fred. Olsen for many years.   They generally seem to work nine months on with three months off.

Crewmembers tend to be mainly from the Phillipines, with some from Thailand and Goa.   In spite of the long hours they work they are unfailingly cheerful and helpful offering an excellent standard of service with an uncanny ability to remember names.

‘Foodies’ are well served with meals and snacks available pretty well every two hours from breakfast commencing at 7 AM to supper or a barbecue till midnight.   Bars are open from 10 AM to 1 AM.   The main dining rooms offer full or buffet service for breakfast and lunch with full a la carte service for dinner.   The Secret Garden dining room offers full or buffet service for all meals and the entire service is transferred to the afterdeck when the weather is suitable.   There is also a cafeteria style venue offering a more limited range of food on deck 9 when weather permits.

I attach a typical days programme (above) to give a sense of what’s on offer.

Patrick Maclean