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Wind Spirit Status


msears101
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I just got off of the Wind Spirit.  If you do not know the boat lost power (complete black out) losing all propulsion while docking in Raiatea.  After drifting the rear of the boat came to rest on the public dock next to the "Shell Gas Station".  Power was restored quickly (15 mins).  We docked normally, about 15-20 mins late.  I believe the damage was very light.  A scratch is all I saw on the MSY Wind Spirit. The concrete of the dock was damaged, but no rebar was showing.

 

It seems that its current cruise is NOT happening (so far).  The ship is still in Papeete  https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-149.568/centery:-17.536/zoom:18

 

When I left all seemed normal.  They were taking on fuel (done once every three weeks or so).  Supplies were being loaded.  I saw several sprinter vans get unloaded onto the ship. They were slightly delayed in getting luggage off, and a tug boat helped us dock.  I am not sure if it normal, or if it was requested. We left port without a tug, I did not expect one on the way back.

 

ADDED NEWS LINKS:

https://www.radio1.pf/le-wind-spirit-endommage-le-quai-de-uturoa-video/

 

https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/polynesie/tahiti/polynesie-francaise/paquebot-wind-spirit-percute-quai-uturoa-716865.html

 

https://www.tahiti-infos.com/A-Raiatea-le-Wind-Spirit-percute-le-quai-de-Uturoa_a181870.html

 

Anyone know what is going on?  

Edited by msears101
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9 minutes ago, ducklite said:

After the Wind Song fiasco, I'm sure that this will be handled quickly and with the utmost caution, even if it means spending a night in port.

 

I’m sure it will be handled appropriately. But The Song was a lifetime ago I wouldn’t link them.

 

Quickky, I wouldn’t count on. We were caught in the Pride grounding (but not on that very itin) and it was days before we began to get information out of Seattle we could trust. 

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Some of the first news postings (all that I’ve found in French) are dated June 1st. We’re falling down on the job here!  

 

I’m amused by the shot of the stern crunched into to dock, boards all over the place and people strolling right past. 

 

For or those who haven’t been there, that dock is wood, with concrete pilings And the pics show no major damage to the Spirit. I’ve seen one of the twins slammed tight against a concrete wharf with just a dent after the whole ship shuddered (and we learned some new French from the captain screaming at the pilot). I recognized “you &@&$@ idiot”. 

 

The question here is what was the cause and how does this affect downstream irons. 

Edited by milepig
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3 hours ago, milepig said:

 

I’m sure it will be handled appropriately. But The Song was a lifetime ago I wouldn’t link them.

 Lordy- please don't say the Wind Song was a lifetime ago Milepig- I cruised Song! :0

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I'm 67 MP, and I'll do Wind Spirit and have a blast again before I croak! lol

 

Dang- if those 20 somethings who were on Wind Song who were bursting their boobies out of bikinis back in the days could only read this!

Edited by Petoonya
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14 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

I'm 67 MP, and I'll do Wind Spirit and have a blast again before I croak! lol

 

Dang- if those 20 somethings who were on Wind Song who were bursting their boobies out of bikinis back in the days could only read this!

 

I’m not that far behind, but it sounds like WS is attracting a different crowd. Or, maybe the same crowd but we have grand kids!!!

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Strange Milepig, but the crowd was different way back then. A lot younger....20's-30-40's predominantly. Lots of boobs for my husband to delight in. It was considered just a slightly less than luxury cruise back then, same as now. And $2500-3000/wk. Still outstanding service and dining. Felt like a very upscale Club Med.

I'd love to do Iceland. Would have to break husband's head to get him there though.

 

 

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Iceland- very excited about. Will drag hubby although he'd rather return to FP or even a TA for that matter. Just doesn't understand the appeal while when you mention the word geothermal to me I freak out.

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8 hours ago, milepig said:

Some of the first news postings (all that I’ve found in French) are dated June 1st. We’re falling down on the job here!  

 

I’m amused by the shot of the stern crunched into to dock, boards all over the place and people strolling right past. 

 

For or those who haven’t been there, that dock is wood, with concrete pilings And the pics show no major damage to the Spirit. I’ve seen one of the twins slammed tight against a concrete wharf with just a dent after the whole ship shuddered (and we learned some new French from the captain screaming at the pilot). I recognized “you &@&$@ idiot”. 

 

The question here is what was the cause and how does this affect downstream irons. 

 

June 1st is the day it happened.

 

The damage even to the pier is very superficial, in my opinion. Those pictures make it look kind of worse than it was.  One of my criticisms is that the information did not flow freely while on board.  Everyone was VERY tight lipped.  It was minor in my opinion, but please do not act like it did not happen.

 

I feel for the passengers on her now.  I am curious what is happening and the long term impact.  

 

It happened on Day two of my cruise, and we continued normally after that. 

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Wow- WS still in Papeete. I would be VERY sad if I was a passenger scheduled to go out on her now. Things like this happening are always in the back of your mind when you cruise though. Jeez- do you think they allowed passengers to board her? Or are those poor souls just stuck watching her in Papeete?

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I’m sitting on my deck in Moorea and can see her sailing right now .

No idea what happened to this week’s itinerary .

and now back in port in PPT.

Edited by naxos
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5 hours ago, msears101 said:

Wind Spirit is again moving.  She left Papeete at about 10 AM local time. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, naxos said:

I’m sitting on my deck in Moorea and can see her sailing right now .

No idea what happened to this week’s itinerary .

and now back in port in PPT.

 

I can’t follow this progression. 

 

She was moving again. 

 

you confirm you can “see her sailing right now” 

 

and then “now back in port in PPT. 

 

Did she sail sail out and then return??

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18 minutes ago, milepig said:

 

 

I can’t follow this progression. 

 

She was moving again. 

 

you confirm you can “see her sailing right now” 

 

and then “now back in port in PPT. 

 

Did she sail sail out and then return??

Yes can confirm! She was sailing into port PPT- according to website marine traffic, she departed PPT at 10:30 this morning and returned to PPT a bit after 3pm. I must have just so happened to see her before she entered the harbor.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-149.6/centery:-17.5/zoom:11

 

you can see her path today on that site 

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Wow. Do we know if there were pax on board or if they were out testing with no pax?

 

So odd that there’s been no press I’ve seen about this continuing situation or from the affected pax. Sort of shows how few people are on cruise critic! 

Edited by milepig
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I was on board when it happened. Two smaller fiberglass sailboats were hit. I would guess 45 ft (approx).  They looks so small compared to wind spirt. One was charter boat.  We did not even feel hitting them.  We only felt a small bump when we hit the pier before being tied off.

 

One of the articles suggested that the worst of it was "fear of what might have happened".  

 

 

 

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Well... if the power has been lost for the 15 or so minutes while navigating one of the tight lagoon passages, there would be much to be concerned about. 

I presume that the cause of the power failure may be on the process of being examined.

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I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I just looked and found a few more pieces of information on the 6/6 sailing roll call. They're saying that the 6/6 itinerary has been canceled and that the 6/13 may be as well. So many disappointed and inconvenienced pax. My first thought was that if WS would be willing to pay for a week on Moorea (in addition to other compensation) that wouldn't be the worst place in the world to be. Those PPT flights tend to be fairly full, I'd think it would be hard to find last minute flights, and the change fees would be huge.

 

My guess is that since the damage seems to be so minor that the issue is trying to sort out what happened to cause the loss of power, which is never a good thing. Also possible that they can't sail until the investigation is complete, but since they actually sailed back to PPT, that isn't completely logical.

Edited by milepig
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