Our ship was broken. The azimuth pod drive system uses variable pitch propellers. One of these was not working correctly. It had failed a while ago and meant we could not get full power or efficiency from one of the two drive units. Not a fatal problem, the crew had been nursing it for a while. But it does need fixing before we get into Antarctic waters where help can be a long way away. The Boston to Miami leg was cancelled. Most of the passengers left in Boston and nobody got on. Those of us doing the pole-to-pole trip were allowed to stay on. There are less than sixty of us, so the ship started to feel empty and deserted. Just a small group huddled in one corner of the bar.
From Boston we sailed directly to Charleston. To keep us amused on the two-day trip, we got shown around the some of the ship internals. Sadly, the engine room was firmly off limits. However, we had an open day on the bridge when we were invited to spend time as we wanted there. We got shown around the kitchens. This was really interesting, but we were not allowed to take photographs. Passengers are not really allowed in the galley, so the chef did not want any evidence. We also got shown around the area where they keep the RHIBs and canoes. This came with a little talk about how the boats are prepared.
Hurtigruten had arranged for us to leave the ship at Boston. We were booked into a nice downtown hotel. Some trips and a meal had all been arranged. Sounded like it might be fun. However, first job was to get the ship into the dry dock. The idea is to sail the vessel into the dock, close the gate and then pump the water out. Sounds quite easy but sometimes the devil is in the detail.
When the ship was constructed the first thing the builders did was to make a set of shaped blocks, pillows, to rest the keel on. Then they could start building the keel. Long before the Roald Amundsen arrived at the dry dock, Hurtigruten had sent a detailed set of drawings for these pillows. The dry dock company built a replica set and laid them out in the bottom of the dock before they flooded. When we arrived at the dock there was a barge in the way. The skipper had to manoeuvre around this and then squeeze the ship into the doc. A very delicate parking exercise. There was about 30 cm clearance to some concrete pillars whose effect on the hull would have been a little like a tin opener. Using laser positioning the ship was tied into the correct position.
The gate for the dry dock is way to big for a simple hinged assembly. Instead, the whole gate floats. Two rather strange looking boats manoeuvre the gate into place. Then water is pumped into ballast tanks within the gate and it sinks into place. The big pumps start up and water is removed from the dry dock. The pressure of the outside water pushes the gate into its final position against some large rubber seals.
With the water being pumped out of the dock, the ship starts to settle. It has been accurately positioned over the pillows using laser beams. However, it is also essential that the ship settles evenly onto the pillows. Otherwise, the ship can twist. Only a small amount but even this can be enough cause tears in the hull. To make sure that it is settling evenly, two divers are underneath the hull watching it settle. This sounds to me like one of the more gnarly jobs in the world. Sitting under thousand of tons of ship, in dark murky water, while it settles down onto the pillows.
I was pleased we could stay on to watch the whole docking procedure which was quite fascinating. With the ship in position and sat on the pillows we could finally leave. Two coaches had been provided. We were taken on a guided tour of Charleston. This was moderately interesting. Charleston is a clean, colourful city with many older buildings that have been carefully preserved. Later in the afternoon, we arrived at the hotel. A lovely building, close to the city centre. The following day, Diane and I wandered around the city centre. It was very hot. A bit too hot for us and after a couple of hours we were both starting to melt. In the evening we all got taken out to a nice Italian restaurant. Just after the pasta course I got a text message. The ship was not fixed yet. In the morning, we were to be transferred to another hotel.
The Mariott in Charleston is a perfectly good, clean, efficient, modern hotel several miles from the city centre. It is also completely soulless. A trip had been laid on but when we checked the details the lunch menu had absolutely nothing for vegetarians. Rather than feeling like complete pariahs and being hungry, we gave it a miss. Instead, we tried to use the bus system to get into the city. Sadly, we failed. Busses only came every hour and it was too hot to stand around outside for long. That evening we got another text message about staying another day. The days were starting to drag and then we got another message. Then the hurricane arrived. Hurricane Helene. The main part of the storm was well away from Charleston but there was still a period of heavy rainfall and strong winds. The ship came out of dry dock but the Master thought the weather was too bad for embarking passengers. The day after, day six, things finally came good and we got back on the ship.
We sailed directly for Miami and the next set of passengers. Miami is an incredible concentration of wealth. Sailing up the channel to the cruise ship docking area we could see rows of millionaire, waterside houses with their superyachts parked at the end of the garden. This was all set against a backdrop of massive glass covered skyscrapers. The ship squeezed in to the dock between two enormous cruise ships. We were allowed off for a few hours to explore Miami. Bit of a dodgy start while the border officials messed everyone around. An hour later they finally let us ashore. It was very hot again. 35°C. The cruise dock area is well away from the city. Several thousands of people had arrived here to embark their ship. There were queues of people everywhere and literally thousands of suitcases piled up between them.
We jumped onto one of the free trolleys running into the city. These are all decked out with wood inside. Gives the vehicle a nice feel of being from an earlier age but the benches are a bit hard to sit on. It was Sunday. Most of the shops and restaurants were closed. The trolley went round a loop, so we just stayed on. The air conditioning was pleasant and we got a perfectly good tour of Miami.
The ship sailed in the late afternoon. Perfect timing. A new set of passengers were onboard for the leg to Panama.We got to see the famous Miami beach and some of the more extravagant superyachts. The day was rounded off with a spectacular sunset behind the many tall buildings.
