Rough sea condition

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

Our South America cruise story:  As we sailed into Ushuaia the weather was lovely and the sea was calm.  Within an hour of docking the winds picked up and our afternoon boat excursion was cancelled.  We were due to depart at 6 pm but the winds were so great the ship couldn't push off from the dock.  We didn't leave until after midnight when the wind calmed down enough to push away.  The next morning was rounding Cape Horn.  When he showered that morning, my DH came our of the bathroom and told me to check out the water in the bathtub.  It wasn't draining.  Instead it was pooling in the back of the tub because of the angle of the ship.  That phenomenon was a big topic of discussion at breakfast.  As we approached Cape Horn the captain made an announcement to take a look at it in the distance; we were on our way to the Falklands and the sail would be much calmer.  And it was.

 

The worst weather we ever experienced was on a Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale cruise in late October.  Our last port before Fort Lauderdale was Charleston, SC.  The sun was shining and we were in sight of the dock when the captain announced that the weather was due to change rapidly, he didn't want to be trapped at the dock, and we were heading back out to sea.  Over 40 passengers that had permission to disembark in Charleston were stuck going to Fort Lauderdale!  The tropical storm was impressive with 50 mph winds and waves crashing against the windows on Deck 7 during the dinner service.

 

Wasn't it the Falklands where a bunch of passengers had to do an unplanned overnight stay because the ship had to leave quickly before they could get the passengers back on board.  The last time we were in the Falklands, they had to get us back early so the ship could leave before the weather turned really bad.

 

DON

[clo]

15 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

Good point.  We actually did sort of the same cruise as you did but in the reverse direction.  Started in Ushuaia and ended up in Puntas Arenas.  The Chilean Fjords are amazing.  We have done them twice.

 

DON

I'm kinda shocked when I remember that we loved the land part pretty much the same as the sea. Patagonia was awesome - a word I try to avoid.

[matamanoa]

My husband and I cruised to New Zealand from Sydney in Feb. of 2018 and the crossing was very rough, so much so that we missed seeing Milford Sound as the ship had to slow down to avoid the heavy seas from doing any damage to the ship and also for the passenger's comfort.  We experienced the same type of seas in the Bay of Biscay en route to the Canary Islands in Oct. of 2019.  In March of 2021 we had very heavy seas around the Cape on our South American cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago and therefore had to go through the Beagle Channel instead of continuing around the Cape.  Is there a best time to go anywhere so as not to encounter heavy seas, probably not as sea conditions can be calm or rough at any time.  It's a matter of luck.

 

Barb