At Sea Day

[duquephart]

We sailed out of Stockholm and headed (presumably) for Gdansk. The following day we sailed down the west coast of Gotland then rounded the bottom and sailed north on the east side. Later we turned back south on what appeared to be track we would have been on had we sailed from Tallinn. Can one of the resident mariners explain what was going on there? Why sail backwards?

[Jim Avery]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

We sailed out of Stockholm and headed (presumably) for Gdansk. The following day we sailed down the west coast of Gotland then rounded the bottom and sailed north on the east side. Later we turned back south on what appeared to be track we would have been on had we sailed from Tallinn. Can one of the resident mariners explain what was going on there? Why sail backwards?

To keep you occupied .  The illusion of going somewhere.  The other option is go anchor somewhere to eat up that day on the schedule.  But then I asked more or less the same question when we went day after day at 10-12 knots on a world cruise.  🍸

[Azulann]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

We sailed out of Stockholm and headed (presumably) for Gdansk. The following day we sailed down the west coast of Gotland then rounded the bottom and sailed north on the east side. Later we turned back south on what appeared to be track we would have been on had we sailed from Tallinn. Can one of the resident mariners explain what was going on there? Why sail backwards?

How was the sail away from Stockholm? How  is your cruise so far?

Edited June 26, 2022 by Azulann

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

We sailed out of Stockholm and headed (presumably) for Gdansk. The following day we sailed down the west coast of Gotland then rounded the bottom and sailed north on the east side. Later we turned back south on what appeared to be track we would have been on had we sailed from Tallinn. Can one of the resident mariners explain what was going on there? Why sail backwards?

 

Scenic cruising aka wasting time to attain the ETA.

[duquephart]

On 6/26/2022 at 4:30 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

Scenic cruising aka wasting time to attain the ETA.

 

And fuel.

[duquephart]

On 6/26/2022 at 4:13 PM, Azulann said:

How was the sail away from Stockholm? How  is your cruise so far?

 

Very nice!

[duquephart]

Between Gdansk and the Berlin port we turned around and backtracked for awhile. Could not dock at Bornholm due to winds so sailed around the island to synch up.

[Geosez]

4 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Very nice!

Oh good.  I was so hoping for a  positive comment from you.  Keep ‘em coming!

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

And fuel.

 

At slow speed the fuel consumption is significantly reduced and the additional fuel costs for the scenic cruising is probably less than the additional port fees for arriving early.

 

The ship cannot reduce speed too much, as it requires a minimum speed to maintain steerage and if the stabalisers are required.

 

 

[Jim Avery]

And to just anchor would probably get all kinds of kickback.  As to fuel, going slow saves motive fuel but not a drop of hotel service fuel.  Even dockside, unless cold ironing, fuel is being burned at the same rate as the hotel burn when cruising.  You can look it up.....🍺

[ericosmith]

Do I remember hearing somewhere that ships need to be under power to desalinate water?

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Do I remember hearing somewhere that ships need to be under power to desalinate water?

 

To make FW the ships must be off-shore.

 

The flash evaps use the high temperature cooling water coming out of the ME's/DG's, so therefore they must have sufficient engines running to use the flash evaps.

 

Not aware that the RO system requires anything more than circulating pumps, but yes this still requires a DG running.

[Jim Avery]

And most ports don't have decent water to run through the units....

[FetaCheese]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

To make FW the ships must be off-shore.

 

The flash evaps use the high temperature cooling water coming out of the ME's/DG's, so therefore they must have sufficient engines running to use the flash evaps.

 

Not aware that the RO system requires anything more than circulating pumps, but yes this still requires a DG running.

Andy, really appreciate you sharing your vast knowledge re: all things nautical/marine !  Would you be able to explain the above abbreviations/terms for us ?  Thanks

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, FetaCheese said:

Andy, really appreciate you sharing your vast knowledge re: all things nautical/marine !  Would you be able to explain the above abbreviations/terms for us ?  Thanks

 

Flash Evaps - flash evaporators, make fresh water from sea water using the hot cooling water that comes out the engines

 

ME - Main engine, which is normally attached to a gearbox or generator. Most cruise ships now have medium speed engines

 

DG - Main engine connected to a generator, which is connected to the main bus supplying propulsion, operations and hotel

 

RO - Reverse Osmosis, a membrane used for removing impurities from water. Sea water in and fresh water out