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Pilot in the cockpit of the tender, waiting the go-ahead to depart from
the ship. |
The Maasdam dropped her anchor not far from Tadine's harbour. The tenders were soon zipping across the water, taking guests ashore to explore the beautiful island.
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Islanders dancing for the officers - one chap asked one of the ladies
for a dance! |
Paul and a few officers attended a ceremony to welcome the ship on her first visit to the island. The whole ceremony didn't really get off to a good start - organised chaos! Some of the children and adults were shy and had to be coaxed to come and dance. After that there were some speeches and an exchange of gifts. It rained but it didn't stop the ceremony. The officers were invited to partake of refreshments but sadly guests from the ship observing the ceremony waded in and helped themselves, the mindset being that they were entitled to the refreshments, not leaving the officers much of a chance to partake. There was fruit juice, coconut milk, papaya, slices of dried breadfruit and sticks of sugarcane. Paul managed to get me a small piece of sugarcane. Memories of my early 20's in Natal came flooding back - getting sugarcane from the locals as they were cutting it in the fields.
There was a small market nearby so Paul and I wandered around and then headed back to the ship. We could have stayed on the island and have a wander but it was overcast and the wind was blowing fairly strongly, making us feel rather chilled.
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| Hoisting up the anchor |
There were problems with the anchor. It could be pulled up but not into its usual position within the hawsepipe because one of the lower links which connected to the anchor was squiff (odd angle), twisting the anchor into the wrong position. The anchor was lowered and pulled up a few times but the link refused to straighten out. Eventually it was decided that the anchor should be allowed to drag just below the waterline while the ship was in motion in the hope that the drag would loosen the kink. It didn't. In the end the anchor was pulled up, still in it's awkward state, as far as it could be pulled up without damaging the ship or the hawsepipe, and secured firmly. The crew will work on it again tomorrow and see what can be done.
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| En-route now to Noumea, New Caledonia |
Time for a yoga class!
PHOTOGRAPHS
The ceremony
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| The port agent giving a speech on the officers' behalf |
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| Exchanging of gifts |
Views from the ship
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| Panoramic view from the ship |
The anchor room - trying to sort out the squiff link
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| Hosing down the anchor chain as it is reeled up. Paul is inspecting the cogs. |
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| Officers outside looking down at the anchor as it is lifted and dropped again |
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| Paul inspecting the chain links as they are wound up |
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| The chain link to the anchor is squiff |
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Last look at the island as we move away, dragging the anchor
just below the water's surface |
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The anchor chain is still not right. Time to pull the anchor as far as it can
go into the hawserpipe and leave it until morning light. |
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