During my recent voyage on Explorer of the Seas, I was invited up to the bridge as the ship was leaving Bermuda. Explorer is a big ship, 138,000 tons, and thus cannot dock in Hamilton or St. George’s in Bermuda. Consequently, we were at the King’s Warf pier at the former Royal Navy dockyard.
Seemingly, one could just pull away from the pier from Kings Warf and head directly out to sea towards New York. Once you are clear of the dockyard area, there is just water extending to the horizon. However, hidden just below the surface are numerous rock outcroppings that surround the island. Consequently, cruise ships have to follow a narrow channel and make a circuit around the island before heading off in their desired direction.
At one point not all that far from the pier, the channel narrows down so that it is not much larger than Explorer’s 155-foot width. Because of the narrowness of the channel, any sideways drift would lead to disaster. Therefore, the ship would have to put on a burst of speed in order to pop straight through the opening.
Just beyond the opening, the Costa Fortuna sat waiting for Explorer to pass. The new second pier at King’s Warf was still under construction and so the Costa ship had to wait until Explorer vacated her berth.
The rocks on either side of the opening just below the turquoise water were clearly visible from the bridge. Captain Erik Standal and the Bermuda pilot stood at the center console while the Staff Captain was over by the port side bridge wing so that he could observe how closely the side of the ship was to the rocks. Explorer accelerated, not to her full speed, but to a speed much faster than the normal lazy pace that cruise ships follow going in and out of port. With seemingly only a few feet to spare, Explorer shot through the opening. The water was pushed back from the rock outcroppings and then surged back, swirling in Explorer’s wake.
Once the ship was out into open waters, I sat down with the Captain for an interview. Explorer’s glass enclosed bridge runs the width of the ship and extends out over the water on either side. The computerized technology used to navigate Explorer does not take up much of this vast space so there is room for an informal conference area with comfortable chairs and a sofa. As a result, the Captain was able to keep an eye on what was going on on the bridge as we spoke.
Captain Erik, as he calls himself in his daily announcements to the guests, is a quiet but approachable person. His youthful appearance gives no clue as to his substantial sea experience. Similarly, his easy, informal manner gives no clue as to the perseverance needed to go from working on ventilation systems shoreside in Norway to commanding one of the world’s largest ships.
I spoke with Captain Erik about his career, commanding Explorer and his thoughts about cruising in general. The interview is posted at http://beyondships.com/Explorer-Standal.html
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